Daily strategy: Sun Tzu

Sun Tzu(544b.Ch.-496b.Ch) is the author of The art of war he tells the tools necessary to war but he considered, and it is surprising the side psychological of army, evidently for direct experience he has ascertained that the wit must be assured from some strategy that the chiefs must know perfectly, and some step aid us to understand: “before the battle, regard to kill our enemies, our men must be excited to hate; they must believe that they are going a direct and immediate vantage for the defeat of enemy, and they are going to receive an award. In the battle among the wagons, when then or more we have took from enemy, we must award who has took them”, it is normal war strategy, therefore nothing; yes, certainly, but we must consider that in this case is the psychology the true war, and we can think to Francesco Guicciardini(1483-1540), that for defense of a city as Florence he spoke of civil militia, this the citizens that shaped an army; but he spoken also of “particulare”, this is the estate of owner, that has every citizen, hence it is the motive to press for hate to enemy, because the estate is valid motive to fight. Other step of this book is tacitly psychological: “Hence fight and win a hundred of battles is a proof of supreme excellence: the supreme ability is fold the will of enemy without fight”, it is the deterrence, from Latin “deterrere”, this is tremble from long, that is a psychological expedient. Other step is more explicative: “When the army is uneasy and distrustful, are certainly difficult to other sovereigns. It is said from the motto. “The confusion in the army leads to the victory of enemy”. The obvious is a side of art of war, in fact Sun Tzu used this strategy: “The chief that avoid the defeat, for this he can’t defeats the enemy; hence is valid the motto: “One guy can knows how win without win.”; these thinks are absolutely obvious, but difficultly we think it, and not alone for war, but also for common matters. And other step evidences other truths: “in the confusion of battle it can seems that the disorder reigns. In the confusion the disposition of army can seems without the logic, but it can be useful to avoid the defeat. The shammed confusion is truly a perfect discipline, a shammed dread is the true courage, a shammed weak is very strong. So one army that is ready to take the enemy when it is during the movement, it assumes fake behaviors that are going to confounds the ideas to enemy”, it is a strategy that certainly can be used in a battle, but that we can use also during the day, for report to other, that is other strategy but likewise important. These strategies are used above all in war and single battle, but we can adopted the strategies also in common life; feign weakness is opportune because we can so know who have in front, because he is going stressed for open his wit, because he think that we are weak, hence he will makes all is necessary to strike us, because it is sign of strong, instead he is opening his wit and he show himself, that is very weak, because everybody needs of these manifestation is a weak, that behind the fake strong hide a monumental weakness; but we could study his words and his behavior that are sign of weakness. Other step that in the battle is wrong but in rapport interpersonal are very useful: “It allows vantage to enemy if we bestow to him take a position that to him like”, it is in battle, I repeat, is wrong but in battle with army, because in human rapport instead this is the better strategy, because other person thinks that we are very weak and hence he can study him, and his buffoonery, but we must bestow time and place; and other rule of war that we must not apply to interpersonal rapports: “If the enemy manage tranquilly we must disturb him…”, absolutely not, because he recognized that we can interfere to him; instead he must be sure that we can make it, because so alone he show his weakness; and the better explication of this strategy is, for the army, explained from Sun Tzu: “An army can rune great distances without trouble if it rune in the country where isn’t enemy  army”, it is normal hence it isn’t certainly a great discovery, but if we consider this strategy for interpersonal rapports, we must same, this is bestow the free place and time to enemy, so that he thinks that the victory is very easy. Other teaching from Sun Tzu, regard the war but that we can use to our rapports is the following: “For to be sure of our attacks we must attack alone the places that aren’t defensed. And to stay in sure positions is necessary stay in positions unassailable”, we should make the same thing to protect us from attacks, this is to have position unassailable, how? Simple admit our weakness, that meanings the strong, because nobody admit the owner weak, but make it is opportune when somebody evidences it, and we can answer: “Yes, it is true!, But the my weakness is strong because I admit it, instead you no, therefore the weak you are”, apart from this that we have weakness or no; the strategy teaches that deny a weakness is to admit it, that we have or not, why? Simple because the adversary is going assured around our wit, he is going to think that we are weak as him, instead we subdue him with our moral strong, how? Underline his weakness; the strategy that Sun Tzu uses in military strategy, is useful for rapports more pacific, but alone dialectic. Other step: “Accordingly is very able in attack the chief whose enemy doesn’t knows what he must defend, and is able for defence the chief whose enemy doesn’t knows what he must defend”, it is possible in human rapports, when we know something of interlocutor that he doesn’t that we know, whereby we can use this strategy to attack when somebody underlining the our weakness, but without cry, because it is the manifestation of dread, and these advisements are underlined from Sun Tzu is the following words: “Divine art of secrecy! For your merit we can learn to be invisible and not heard, so we can hold the destiny of enemy in our hands”; it is the truth, because in silence we can study other, and  know the weakness and also the strong.

Alessandro Lusana