兵勢篇
孫子曰： 凡治眾如治寡，分數是也﹔鬥眾如鬥寡，形名是也﹔三軍之 眾，可使必受敵而無敗，奇正是也﹔兵之所加，如以碫投卵者，虛實是也。
凡戰者，以正合，以奇勝。故善出奇者，無窮如天地，不竭如江河。 終而復始，日月是也。死而復生，四時是也。聲不過五，五聲之變， 不可勝聽也。色不過五，五色之變，不可勝觀也。味不過五，五味之 變，不可勝嘗也。戰勢不過奇正，奇正之變，不可勝窮之也。奇正相生，如環之無端，孰能窮之？
激水之疾，至于漂石者，勢也﹔鷙鳥之疾，至于毀折者，節也。是故 善戰者，其勢險，其節短。勢如張弩，節如發機。
紛紛紜紜，鬥亂而不可亂也。渾渾沌沌，形圓而不可敗也。
亂生于治，怯生于勇，弱生于強。治亂，數也﹔勇怯，勢也﹔強弱， 形也。
故善動敵者，形之，敵必從之﹔予之，敵必取之。以利動之，以卒動 之。
故善戰者，求之于勢，不責于人，故能擇人而任勢。任勢者，其戰人 也，如轉木石。木石之性，安則靜，危則動，方則止，圓則行。故善 戰人之勢，如轉圓石于千仞之山者，勢也。
Let's continue ...
凡戰者，以正合，以奇勝。故善出奇者，無窮如天地，不竭如江河。 終而復始，日月是也。死而復生，四時是也。聲不過五，五聲之變， 不可勝聽也。色不過五，五色之變，不可勝觀也。味不過五，五味之 變，不可勝嘗也。戰勢不過奇正，奇正之變，不可勝窮之也。奇正相生，如環之無端，孰能窮之？
Some translation suggested:
In all fighting, the direct method may be used for joining battle, but indirect methods will be needed in order to secure victory. Indirect tactics, efficiently applied, are inexhaustible as Heaven and Earth, unending as the flow of rivers and streams; like the sun and moon, they end but to begin anew; like the four seasons, they pass away to return once more. There are not more than five musical notes, yet the combinations of these five give rise to more melodies than can ever be heard. There are not more than five primary colors (blue, yellow, red, white, and black), yet in combination they produce more hues than can ever been seen. There are not more than five cardinal tastes (sour, acrid, salt, sweet, bitter), yet combinations of them yield more flavors than can ever be tasted. In battle, there are not more than two methods of attack -- the direct and the indirect; yet these two in combination give rise to an endless series of maneuvers. The direct and the indirect lead on to each other in turn. It is like moving in a circle--you never come to an end. Who can exhaust the possibilities of their combination?
Moran: In all warfare, engagements occur on the up and up, but it is by deception or misdirection that one wins. So those who are good in the ways of deception are boundless like Heaven and Earth, inexhaustible like the Yangtze and the Yellow Rivers. Coming to the end, they begin again, just as do the days and months. Dying, they come to life again, just as do the four seasons. There are no more than five notes in the musical scale, but the changes that can be rung on those five notes are infinite in our hearing. 【PEM: By a kind of analogy to the five visible planets (regarded as gods in China as in the ancient Western world), the Chinese listed fives of other kinds of things that were keyed to the lists of the planets. So Mars and the color red were associated, for instance, and the pentatonic scale was explained as a parallel to the other sets of five.】
There are no more than five colors, yet the changes that can be produced among them exceed our powers of discrimination. There are only five flavors to our palates, yet the changes among them exceed our powers of taste. The power configurations of warfare do not exceed the deceptive and the straightforward, yet the changes that can be rung on these two are inexhaustible. Deception and straightforwardness produce each other, like the endlessness of a circulatory system. Who could terminate such a loop?
Let's discuss:
凡戰者，以正合，以奇勝。: In battle, use conventional methods to join, use unconventional methods to win.
故善出奇者，無窮如天地，不竭如江河。: For generals who are good at deploying unconventional methods, they are as inexhaustible as Heaven and Earth, as unending as the flow of rivers and streams;
終而復始，日月是也。: When the ending would start the beginning, as surely as the sun sets and the moon rises next.
死而復生，四時是也。: When death would bring forth life, as surely as the four flowing seasons of the year.
聲不過五，五聲之變， 不可勝聽也。: There are no more than five primary notes on the musical scale, but its combination is never ending music to the ears.
色不過五，五色之變，不可勝觀也。: There are no more than five primary colours (blue, yellow, red, white, black), but its combination is never ending hue to the eyes.
味不過五，五味之 變，不可勝嘗也。: There are no more than five cardinal tastes (sour, acrid, salt, sweet, bitter), but its combination is never ending flavour to the palate.
戰勢不過奇正，奇正之變，不可勝窮之也。: There are no more than two methods in warfare formation, unconventional and conventional, but its combination is never ending variation to the battle field.
奇正相生，如環之無端，孰能窮之？: Hence, unconventional method would bring forth conventional method and vice versa, as perfectly rounded like a smooth ring, how can one exhaust thee.
“孙子兵法，奇正虚实” 中指出：“有正无奇，虽整不烈，无以致胜也；有奇无正，虽锐无恃，难以控御也。” 其大意是：作战只有正兵而无奇兵，阵势虽很严整，但不能给敌方造成突然猛烈的打击，就无法取胜； 只有奇兵而无正兵，攻势虽很锋锐，但无可作依靠的钳制力量，就难以控制住敌人。
This translation is very weak here. The spirit of Sun Tzu was not captured. In this segment, the words were too flowery, mostly not useful. It is sufficed to say that this segment dealt with the most important aspect of the warfare, i.e., creativity.
In business, no two businesses past or present are similar. To attack or to defend, to consume or to dismemberment, to stay or to leave are each unique decision. No two methods can be duplicated. Hence, the only way to success is creativity. Once creativity is sustained, nothing in this world will cause you death. This is most important lesson in life arena.
Let's not talk about IBM or Microsoft, let's deal with Nokia's rise and fall. I am not advocating doing a technology start-up.
Nokia started as a wood cutter in 1865, slowly moved into electronics by 1990s. Her first success was in 1987 where Nokia produced a "large screen" cell phone. After that, it was history. From 1998 to 2012, Nokia became the largest cell phone seller, making tons of money. But, sadly at the same time, Nokia never did innovate beyond the "large screen". She was overtaken by Apple, a nobody in cell phone market by the product known as "smart phone".
From the above story, you would realize that creativity (奇) is key to the success of both Nokia (1987) and Apple (2007).
In 2013, Nokia sold out her cell phone division to Microsoft. She would not die but she has lost her prize.
人無我有，人有我優，人優我廉，人廉我轉，人轉我走。
Very common in chinese business, the above statement rang true to their philosophy. This is indeed the best opportunity to understand and defeat this philosophy.
人無我有，is the start of creativity, i.e., you are able to create something that others don't currently possess. This is correct. Creativity at its best.
人有我優，is also another great point. When others have the same product, we shall improve its quality to differentiate ourselves from our competition. This is also creativity.
人優我廉，is the start of the fall. By cheapening the product sale price, you wouldn't have enough to do R&D. If not enough R&D, you will lose product quality. There is no such thing as no more R&D required. Just look at Nokia at her peak, she could have easily come out with a smart phone concept. It was so easily implementable by her as she was the largest cell phone supplier in the market. The failing is confirmed by cheapening prices. Therefore, never reduce price, instead, increase product quality without increasing or decreasing price.
人廉我轉，is when the product line is now switched to some other product range. This is the most stupid idea. No product can be obsoleted. Every product was produced and succeeded due to a real need. Take for example, lights. Initially, it was candle based. After become the largest supplier of candle wax, when the filament lamps become possible, the rich wax supplier can surely invest in a filament lamp factory to produce light bulbs. His distribution channels were intact and strong as all his customers will still go to the candle stores for candles as lights. If the bulbs are available, they can consume the newer product. Similarly when fluorescent tubes became the new world order. The largest filament bulb manufacturer can surely produce fluorescent tubes as well. What I am saying is the need remained the same, the products answering the need may change. But, everything else such as bankers, distribution channels, suppliers, shippers and customers remained unchanged. If you already have these channels in place, it would be near impossible for newbies such Apple Computer to enter the cell phone arena. It was a fool-mate for Nokia. Eheim till date still produces the best motors for the market, Eheim has produced motors for the Panzer tanks in the world wars. Till now, they are still the best in price and reliability. They only need to continually innovate its product quality.
人轉我走。is the most stupid concept. After investing in the millions and thousand of hours, you walk away to hand the new comer the market. That must be the most stupid idea yet. Nokia did exactly that. The owners of Nokia have no ideas of what they have destroyed.
After writing this essay today, I am very happy. Happy in that the business arena out there is not as clever as I hope them to be. To be my worthy opponent, it really needs power of the mind.
This new year is going to be fun. 黑皮 New Year, everyone ...
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