謀攻篇
孫子曰：凡用兵之法，全國為上，破國次之﹔全軍為上，破軍次之﹔ 全旅為上，破旅次之﹔全卒為上，破卒次之﹔全伍為上，破伍次之。 是故百戰百勝，非善之善也﹔不戰而屈人之兵，善之善者也。
故上兵伐謀，其次伐交，其次伐兵，其下攻城。攻城之法為不得已。 修櫓轒轀、具器械、三月而後成，距闉，又三月而後已。將不勝其忿 ，而蟻附之，殺士三分之一，而城不拔者，此攻之災也。故善用兵者 ，屈人之兵而非戰也。拔人之城而非攻也，破人之國而非久也，必以 全爭于天下，故兵不頓，而利可全，此謀攻之法也。
故用兵之法，十則圍之，五則攻之，倍則分之，敵則能戰之，少則能逃之，不若則能避之。故小敵之堅，大敵之擒也。
夫將者，國之輔也。輔周則國必強，輔隙則國必弱。
故君之所以患于軍者三：不知軍之不可以進而謂之進，不知軍之不可 以退而謂之退，是為縻軍﹔不知三軍之事，而同三軍之政者，則軍士惑矣﹔不知三軍之權，而同三軍之任，則軍士疑矣。三軍既惑且疑， 則諸侯之難至矣，是謂亂軍引勝。
故知勝有五：知可以戰與不可以戰者勝，識眾寡之用者勝，上下同欲 者勝，以虞待不虞者勝，將能而君不御者勝。此五者，知勝之道也。
故曰：知己知彼，百戰不貽﹔不知彼而知己，一勝一負﹔不知彼不知 己，每戰必貽。
Let's continue ...
故知勝有五：知可以戰與不可以戰者勝，識眾寡之用者勝，上下同欲 者勝，以虞待不虞者勝，將能而君不御者勝。此五者，知勝之道也。
故曰：知己知彼，百戰不貽﹔不知彼而知己，一勝一負﹔不知彼不知 己，每戰必貽。
Some translation suggested:
Thus we may know that there are five essentials for victory:
(1) He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight.
(2) He will win who knows how to handle both superior and inferior forces.
(3) He will win whose army is animated by the same spirit throughout all its ranks.
(4) He will win who, prepared himself, waits to take the enemy unprepared.
(5) He will win who has military capacity and is not interfered with by the sovereign.
Hence the saying: If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.
Moran: So it is known that victory has five components: (1) Those who know when it is all right to go to war and when it is not all right to go to war will have victory. (2) Those who recognize the way to use both forces that are superior and forces that are inferior in number to the opposition will have victory. (3) Those who see to it that those who are superior and those who are subordinate have the same desires will have victory. (4) Those who will put the forewarned in wait for the heedless will have victory. (5) The generals who have ability and who do not suffer the interference of their sovereigns will have victory. These five things are the ways by which one may recognize victory. So it is said: Know the other side, and know yourself. Then in one hundred conflicts you will not be in peril. If you do not know the other side yet know yourself, you will win some and lose some. If you neither know the other side nor know yourself, then in every battle you must face defeat.
Let's discuss:
故知勝有五: Therefore, victory is known in 5 situations:
知可以戰與不可以戰者勝，: (1) If one knows when one will fight and when one will not fight, wins.
識眾寡之用者勝，: (2) If one recognises the use of superior and inferior numbers, wins.
上下同欲者勝，: (3) If the desires of upper and lower echelons are the same, wins.
以虞待不虞者勝，: (4) If one is prepared lies in wait the unprepared, wins.
將能而君不御者勝。: (5) If the general is able and free from interference of the ruler, wins.
此五者，知勝之道也。: With these 5 situations, one knows the way to victory.
故曰﹕ Therefore it is said:
知彼，知己，百戰不殆﹔: Know other, and know thyself, in one hundred battles, one will not perish.
不知彼，而知己，一勝一負﹔: Don't know other, but know thyself, one victory, one defeat.
不知彼，不知己，每戰必敗。: Don't know other, don't know thyself, every battle faces defeat.
In business battles, if one knows when or not to engage, the correct use of numbers, the ambition of entire organisation is the same, be prepared and each soldier is free to give his level best, victory is assured. Then it will lead to the very famous saying: Know the enemy and know thyself, a hundred battle a hundred victory. (Although not very accurately translated.)
To win a business battle, we must not only know ourselves well, we must also know the strengths and weaknesses of our enemy's, only then can we be assured of non-peril. We might not always win, but we will not perish.
SunTzu is very clear about this concept of non-peril. It is alright not to win all the time, but first, we must not perish. Self-preservation is key in any business games.
One of most interesting trick I noticed in business games is that of the ambitions of every player. Like in game theory suggested by John Nash:
In game theory, the Nash equilibrium is a solution concept of a non-cooperative game involving two or more players, in which each player is assumed to know the equilibrium strategies of the other players, and no player has anything to gain by changing only their own strategy. If each player has chosen a strategy and no player can benefit by changing strategies while the other players keep theirs unchanged, then the current set of strategy choices and the corresponding payoffs constitute a Nash equilibrium.
Stated simply, Amy and Wili are in Nash equilibrium if Amy is making the best decision she can, taking into account Wili's decision, and Wili is making the best decision he can, taking into account Amy's decision. Likewise, a group of players are in Nash equilibrium if each one is making the best decision that he or she can, taking into account the decisions of the others.
A strategy is dominant if, regardless of what any other players do, the strategy earns a player a larger payoff than any other. Hence, a strategy is dominant if it is always better than any other strategy, for any profile of other players' actions. Depending on whether "better" is defined with weak or strict inequalities, the strategy is termed strictly dominant or weakly dominant. If one strategy is dominant, than all others are dominated. For example, in the prisoner's dilemma, each player has a dominant strategy.
Master therefore the Art of War, the way of business is never simpler.
In fact the reason why John Nash won a nobel prize is because this is precisely what the entire SunTzu's Art of War meant in a few short words - the Nash Equilibrium.
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