Sun Tzu's The Art of War and Its Rules for Winning without Conflict

2. Best Opportunities and Actions > 3. Minimizing Mistakes > 3. Strong Moves

Which of the following best describes what you need to know to create stronger moves?

1. I need to know which element in a position creates power.
   1.7 Competitive Power

   1.7 Competitive Power

   "Manage to avoid battle until your organization can count on certain victory."
   You must calculate many advantages."
   Sun Tzu's The Art of War 1:5:1-2

   Situation: 

   How we determine if one strategic position is superior to another? How do we predict which strategic position will triumph in a comparison with competing positions? Our expectations are often very wrong. We expect larger organizations to be successful. We also expect organizations that have been successful in the past to continue to be successful in the future. We also expect the volume of resources used to have an impact. The problem is that these factors have very little effect on competitive outcomes. Size and wealth are the result of past success, but that success may have little relationship with the current mission. Sun Tzu teaches that size is not power and that past success is not momentum. In the real world, smaller forces often triumph over larger ones. Newer organizations often overcome established ones. Vast resources are often squandered in failed endeavors. This meant that something deeper was going on, something that isn't obvious to most of us without training.

2. I understand a position's power, but I need to understand how that strength translates into actions .
   5.5 Focused Power

   5.5 Focused Power

   "You can do it with small attacks.
   You can destroy the men of a nation."
   Sun Tzu's The Art of War 3:3:5-6

   Situation: 

   We cannot be successful if we fail to understand the critical relationship between safety and power. Most people confuse size with power. Large efforts seem more powerful even when they entail taking greater risks. This gets the formula for power exactly backwards. Properly understood, small moves are not only safer but more powerful. We cannot confuse a small, concentrated action with a weak, half-hearted one. The problem is that many of us do not know how to concentrate our actions to create power and minimize risk simultaneously.

3. I understand strong moves, but I need to understand the effect of my weaknesses as well.5.6 Defensive Advances)