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List of Sun Tzu's Warrior's Rules Articles

Article ID Description
1.0.0 Competitive Positioning Sun Tzu's eight rules defining competitive strategy in terms of developing relatively superior positions.
1.1.0 Position Paths Sun Tzu's six rules defining the continuity of strategic positions over time.
1.1.1 Position Dynamics Sun Tzu's seven rules defining how all current positions are always getting better or worse.
1.1.2 Defending Positions Sun Tzu's six rules defining the basic ways that we defend our current positions until new positions are established.
1.1.3 Advancing Against Resistance Sun Tzu's eight rules on the most effective ways for advancing competitive positions.
1.2 Subobjective Positions Sun Tzu's eight rules describing the subjective and objective aspects of a position.
1.2.1 Competitive Landscapes Sun Tzu's seven rules regarding the arenas in which rivals jockey for position.
1.2.2 Exploiting Exploration Sun Tzu's seven rules on how competitive landscapes are searched and positions utilized.
1.2.3 Position Complexity Sun Tzu's seven rules regarding how strategic positions arise from interactions in complex environments.
1.3 Elemental Analysis Sun Tzu's eight rules defining the relevant components of all competitive positions.
1.3.1 Competitive Comparison Sun Tzu's six rules defining competition as the comparison of positions.
1.3.2 Element Scalability Sun Tzu's six rules regarding how positions are analyzed by both component positions and elements.
1.4 The External Environment Sun Tzu's seven rules defining the key external conditions shaping strategic positions.
1.4.1 Climate Shift Sun Tzu's nine key rules regarding forces of environmental change shaping temporary conditions.
1.4.2 Ground Features Sun Tzu's ten rules defining the persistent resources that we can control.
1.5 Competing Agents Sun Tzu's seven rules regarding characteristics of competitors.
1.5.1 Command Leadership Twelve rules regarding individual decision-making (leaders).
1.5.2. Group Methods Sun Tzu's ten rules regarding systems for executing decisions (skills).
1.6 Mission Values Sun Tzu's eight rules about the goals and values needed for motivation.
1.6.1 Shared Mission Sun Tzu's ten rules on finding goals that others can share.
1.6.2 Types of Motivations Sun Tzu's six rules regarding hierarchies of motivation that define missions.
1.6.3 Shifting Priorities Sun Tzu seven rules about how missions change according to temporary conditions.
1.7 Competitive Power Sun Tzu's ten rules describing the sources of superiority in challenges.
1.7.1 Team Unity Sun Tzu's ten rules for increasing our strength by the way we join with others.
1.7.2 Goal Focus Five rules regarding strength as arising from concentrating efforts.
1.8 Progress Cycle Sun Tzu's ten rules regarding the adaptive loop by which positions are advanced.
1.8.1 Creation and Destruction Sun Tzu's five rules on the creation and destruction of competitive positions.
1.8.2 The Adaptive Loop Sun Tzu's eight rules on the continual reiteration of position analysis.
1.8.3 Cycle Time Sun Tzu's four rules regarding the importance of speed in feedback and reaction.
1.8.4 Probabilistic Process Sun Tzu's six rules regarding the role of chance in strategic processes and systems.
1.9 Competition and Production Sun Tzu's seven rules regarding the two opposing skill sets of competition and production.
1.9.1 Production Comparisons Sun Tzu's six rules describing how production naturally creates competition.
1.9.2 Span of Control Sun Tzu's eight rules regarding the boundaries of competition and productiion.
2.0.0 Developing Perspective Sun Tzu seven rules for adding depth to competitive analysis.
2.1 Information Value Sun Tzu's twelve rules regarding knowledge and communication as the basis of strategy.
2.1.1 Information Limits Sun Tzu's eight rules for making good decisions with limited information.
2.1.2 Leveraging Uncertainty Sun Tzu's five rules for leveraging the elemental nature of uncertainty.
2.1.3 Strategic Deception Sun Tzu nine rules in misinformation and disinformation in competition.
2.1.4 Surprise Sun Tzu's five rules on the creation of surprise depends on the nature of information.
2.2 Information Gathering Sun Tzu five rules on gathering competitive information.
2.2.1 Personal Relationships Sun Tzu's five rules on why information depends on personal relationships.
2.2.2 Mental Models Sun Tzu's five rules on how mental models simplify decision-making.
2.2.3 Standard Terminology Sun Tzu five rules regarding how mental models must be shared to enable communication.
2.3 Personal Interactions Sun Tzu's six rules on making progress through personal interactions.
2.3.1 Action and Reaction Sun Tzu's eight rules on how we advance based on how others reaction to our actions.
2.3.2 Reaction Unpredictability Sun Tzu's seven rules explaining why we can never exactly predict the reactions of others.
2.3.3 Likely Reactions Six rules regarding the range of potential reactions in gathering information.
2.3.4 Using Questions Sun Tzus five rules for using questions in gathering information and predicting reactions.
2.3.5 Infinite Loops Four principles predicting reactions on the basis of the "you-know-that-I-know-that-you-know" problem.
2.3.6 Promises and Threats Sun Tzu's six rules on the use of promises and threats as strategic moves.
2.4 Contact Networks Five rules regarding the range of contacts needed to create perspective.
2.4.1 Ground Perspective Sun Tzu's three rules about getting information on a new competitive arena.
2.4.2 Climate Perspective Sun Tzu's four rules on getting perspective on temporary external conditions.
2.4.3 Command Perspective Sun Tzu's six rules for understanding developing sources for understanding decision-makers.
2.4.4 Methods Perspective Sun Tzu's five rules for developing contacts who understand best practices.
2.4.5 Mission Perspective Sun Tzu's seven rules on how we develop and use a perspective on motivation.
2.5 The Big Picture Sun Tzu's nine rules on building big picture strategic awareness.
2.6 Knowledge Leverage Sun Tzu's five rules for getting competitive value out of knowledge.
2.7 Information Secrecy Sun Tzu's nine rules defining the role of secrecy in relationships.
3.0.0 Identifying Opportunities Sun Tzu's five rules regarding the use of opportunities to advance a position.
3.1 Strategic Economics Sun Tzu's six rules balancing the cost and benefits of positioning.
3.1.1 Resource Limitations Sun Tzu's six rules regarding the inherent limitation of strategic resources.
3.1.2 Strategic Profitability Sun Tzu's nine rules for understanding gains and losses.
3.1.3 Conflict Cost Sun Tzu's six rules on the costly nature of resolving competitive comparisons by conflict.
3.1.4 Openings Sun Tzu's seven rules on seeking openings avoids costly conflict.
3.1.5 Unpredictable Value Seven rules regarding the limitations of predicting the value of positions.
3.1.6 Time Limitations Sun Tzu nine rules for understanding the time limits on opportunities.
3.2 Opportunity Creation Five rules regarding how change creates opportunities.
3.2.1 Environmental Dominance Sun Tzu's five rules on why openings must be created by others.
3.2.2 Opportunity Invisibility Sun Tzu five rules on why opportunities are always hidden.
3.2.3 Complementary Opposites Five rules regarding the dynamics of balance from opposing forces.
3.2.4 Emptiness and Fullness Sun Tzu's nine rules on the transformations between emptiness and fullness.
3.2.5 Dynamic Reversal Sun Tzu's five rules regarding how situations reverse themselves naturally.
3.3 Opportunity Resources Eight rules regarding the nature of the excess resources needed to fill openings.
3.4 Dis-Economies of Scale Sun Tzu's six rules on opportunities created by the size of others.
3.4.1 Unity Breakdown Sun Tzu's eight rules regarding the opposition of size and unity.
3.4.2 Opportunity Fit Sun Tzu's seven rules describing the problems for large organization finding new opportunities that fit their size.
3.4.3 Reaction Lag Six rules regarding how size created temporary openings.
3.5 Strength and Weakness Six rules regarding openings created by the strength of others.
3.6 Leveraging Subjectivity Sun Tzu's seven rules regarding openings between subjective and objective positions.
3.7 Defining the Ground Sun Tzu's eight rules on redefining a competitive arena to create relative mismatches.
3.8 Strategic Matrix Analysis Four rules regarding two-dimensional representations of strategic space.
4.0 Leveraging Probability Sun Tzu's nine principles for making better decisions regarding our choice of opportunities.
4.1 Future Potential Five rules regarding the limitations and potential of current and future positions.
4.2 Choosing Non-Action Sun Tzu's seven rules about choosing between action and non-action.
4.3 Leveraging Form Sun Tzu's seven rules on how we can leverage the form of a territory.
4.3.1 Tilted Forms Sun Tzu's six rules regarding space that is dominated by uneven features.
4.3.2 Fluid Forms Sun Tzu's six rules on selecting opportunities in fast-changing environments.
4.3.3 Soft Forms Sun Tzu's six rules regarding space that is dominated by non-supporting features.
4.3.4 Neutral Form Sun Tzu's seven rules for evaluating opportunities with no dominant ground form.
4.4 Strategic Distance Sun Tzu's nine rules regarding relative proximity in strategic space.
4.4.1 Physical Distance Sun Tzu's six rules regarding the issues of proximity in physical space.
4.4.2 Intellectual Distance Sun Tzu's six rules regarding the challenges of moving through intellectual space.
4.5 Opportunity Surfaces Sun Tzu's six rules on judging potential opportunities from a distance.
4.5.1 Surface Area Sun Tzu's seven rules for choosing opportunities on the basis of their size.
4.5.2 Surface Barriers Five rules regarding how to select opportunities by evaluating obstacles.
4.5.3 Surface Holding Power Sun Tzu's seven rules regarding sticky and slippery situations.
4.6 Six Benchmarks Five rules regarding simplifying the comparisons of opportunities.
4.6.1 Spread-Out Conditions Sun Tzu's five rules for recognizing opportunities that are too large.
4.6.2 Constricted Conditions Sun Tzu's five rules for identifying and using constricted positions.
4.6.3 Barricaded Conditions Sun Tzu's seven rules regarding the issues related to the extremes of obstacles.
4.6.4 Wide-Open Conditions Six rules regarding the issues related to an absence of barriers.
4.6.5 Fixed Conditions Sun Tzu's nine rules regarding positions with extreme holding power.
4.6.6 Sensitive Conditions Six rules regarding the affects of positions with no holding power on pursuing opportunities.
4.7 Competitive Weakness Sun Tzu's six rules on how certain opportunities can bring out our weaknesses.
4.7.1 Command Weaknesses Sun Tzu's ten rules on the character flaws of leaders and how to exploit them.
4.7.2 Group Weaknesses Sun Tzu's six rules regarding organizational weakness and where they fail.
4.8 Climate Support Sun Tzu's eight rules to help us choose new positions based on future changes.
4.9 Opportunity Mapping Five rules regarding a two-dimensional tool for comparing opportunities probabilities.
5.0.0 Minimizing Mistakes Sun Tzu's five general rules for minimizing mistakes in advancing a position.
5.1 Mission Priorities Sun Tzu's five rules for aligning our actions with mission.
5.1.1 Event Pressure Sun Tzu's eight rules on how to avoid mistakes under the pressure of events.
5.1.2 Unproductive Responsibility Sun Tzu's seven rules on how our planned activities develop a life of their own.
5.2 Opportunity Exploration Sun Tzu's seven rules regarding a mental framework for exploring opportunities.
5.2.1 Choosing Adaptability Sun Tzu's five rules for choosing actions that allow us a maximum of future flexibility.
5.2.2 Campaign Methods Sun Tzu's five rules describing the use of campaigns and their methods.
5.2.3 Unplanned Steps Sun Tzu's seven rules distinguishing campaign adjustments from steps in a plan.
5.3 Reaction Time Sun Tzu's five rules on the use of speed in choosing actions.
5.3.1 Speed and Quickness Sun Tzu's seven rules regarding the use of pace within a dynamic environment.
5.3.2 Opportunity Windows Sun Tzu's five rules on the effect of speed upon opposition.
5.3.3 Information Freshness Sun Tzu's six rules on the choosing actions based on freshness of information.
5.4 Minimizing Action Sun Tzu's six rules regarding minimizing waste, i.e. less is more.
5.4.1 Testing Value Sun Tzu's five rules on choosing actions to test for value.
5.4.2 Successful Mistakes Six rules regarding the advantages in learning from our mistakes.
5.5 Focused Power Sun Tzu's five rules about size consideration in safe experimentation.
5.5.1 Force Size Sun Tzu's eight rules about limiting the size of force in an advance.
5.5.2 Distance Limitations Sun Tzu's eight rules on the use of short steps to reach distant goals.
5.5.3 Evaluation Deadlines Sun Tzu's six rules for setting deadlines for evaluating progress.
5.6 Defensive Advances Sun Tzu's six rules on balancing defending and advancing positions.
5.6.1 Defense Priority Seven rules regarding why defense has first claim on our resources.
5.6.2 Acting Now Sun Tzu's eight rules on acting on opportunities immediately.
6.0 Situation Response Sun Tzu's eight rules on selecting the actions most appropriate to a situation.
6.1 Situation Recognition Sun Tzu's seven rules on situation recognition in making advances.
6.1.1 Conditioned Reflexes Sun Tzu's four rules on how we develop automatic, instantaneous responses.
6.1.2 Prioritizing Conditions Sun Tzu's six rules for parsing complex competitive conditions into simple responses.
6.2 Campaign Evaluation Sun Tzu's five rules on how we justify continued investment in an on-going campaign.
6.2.1 Campaign Flow Sun Tzu's six rules for seeing campaigns as a series of situations that flow logically from one to another
6.2.2 Campaign Goals Sun Tzu's five rules for assessing the value of a campaign by a larger mission.
6.3 Campaign Patterns Sun Tzu's seven rules on how knowing campaign stages gives us insight into our situation.
6.3.1 Early-Stage Situations Sun Tzu's six rules describing the common situations that arise the earliest in campaigns.
6.3.2 Middle-Stage Situations Sun Tzu's six rules on how progress creates transitional situations in campaigns.
6.3.3 Late-Stage Situations Sun Tzu's six rules for understanding the final and most dangerous stages of campaigns.
6.4 Nine Situations Sun Tzu's ten rules defining the nine common competitive situations.
6.4.1 Dissipating Situations
6.4.2 Easy Situations Sun Tzu's five rules for recognizing situations of easy initial progress.
6.4.3 Contentious Situations Sun Tzu's four rules for identifying situations that invite conflict.
6.4.4 Open Situations Sun Tzu's five rules for recognizing situations of that are races without a course.
6.4.5 Intersecting Situations Sun Tzu's five rules for recognizing situations that bring people together.
6.4.6 Serious Situations Sun Tzu's six rules for identifying situations where resources can be cut off.
6.4.7 Difficult Situations Sun Tzu's six rules for recognizing situations where serious barriers must be overcome.
6.4.8 Limited Situations Sun Tzu's six rules for identifying situations defined by a bottleneck.
6.4.9 Desperate Situations Sun Tzu's three rules for identifying situations where destruction is possible.
6.5 Nine Responses Sun Tzu's twelve rules for using the best responses to the nine common competitive situations.
6.5.1 Dissipating Response Sun Tzu's five rules for responding to dissipation by the use of offense as defense.
6.5.2 Easy Response Sun Tzu's five rules regarding overcoming complacency.
6.5.3 Contentious Response Sun Tzu's five rules for responding to contentious situations by knowing how to avoid conflict.
6.5.4 Open Response Sun Tzu's five rules to help us keep up with the opposition.
6.5.5 Intersecting Response Sun Tzu's five rules on the formation of situational alliances.
6.5.6 Serious Response Sun Tzu's six rules for responding to serious situations by finding immediate income.
6.5.7 Difficult Response Five rules regarding the role of persistence.
6.5.8 Limited Response Sun Tzu's four rules on the need for secret speed in tight situations.
6.5.9 Desperate Response Sun Tzu's five rules on when to use all our resources.
6.6 Campaign Pause Sun Tzu's five rules on knowing when to stop advancing a position.
6.7 Tailoring to Conditions Seven rules regarding overcoming opposition using conditions in the environment.
6.7.1 Form Adjustments Sun Tzu's five rules on adapting our responses based on the form of the ground.
6.7.2 Size Adjustments Sun Tzu's seven rules regarding adapting responses based on the relative size of opposing forces.
6.7.3 Strength Adjustments Sun Tzu's nine rules on how to adapt responses based on relative strength of opposing missions.
6.8 Competitive Psychology Sun Tzu's nine rules for improving competitive psychology even in adversity and failure.
6.8.1 Adversity and Creativity Sun Tzu's nine rules for how we use adversity to spark our creativity.
6.8.2 Strength in Adversity Sun Tzu's seven rules on using adversity to increase a group's unity and focus.
6.8.3 Individual Toughness Sun Tzu's eight rules on how failure develops character.
7.0 Creating Momentum Sun Tzu's seven rules on how momentum requires creativity.
7.1 Order from Chaos Sun Tzu's seven rules teaching the value of chaos in creating competitive momentum.
7.1.1 Creating Surprise Sun Tzu's five rules for creating surprise using our chaotic environment.
7.1.2 Momentum Psychology Sun Tzu's five rules on the psychology of surprise.
7.1.3 Standards and Innovation Sun Tzu's seven rules on the methodology of creativity.
7.2 Standards First Sun Tzu's seven rules on the role of standards in creating connections with others.
7.2.1 Proven Methods
7.2.2 Preparing Expectations Sun Tzu's eight rules on how we shape other people's expectation.
7.3 Strategic Innovation Sun Tzu's six rules defining a simple system for innovation.
7.3.1 Expected Elements Sun Tzu's seven rules on dividing processes and systems into components.
7.3.2 Elemental Rearrangement Sun Tzu's six rules for seeing invention as rearranging proven elements.
7.3.3 Creative Innovation Sun Tzu's seven rules on the more advanced methods for innovation
7.4 Competitive Timing Sun Tzu's six rules on the role of timing in creating momentum.
7.4.1 Timing Methods Sun Tzu's four rules about the three simplest methods of controlling timing.
7.4.2 Momentum Timing Sun Tzu's five rules on the relative value of momentum at various times in a campaign.
7.4.3 Interrupting Patterns Six rules regarding how repetition creates patterns for surprise.
7.5 Momentum Limitations Sun Tzu's six rules on the implications of momentum's temporary nature.
7.5.1 Momentum Conversion Sun Tzu's six rules on converting momentum into positions with more value.
7.5.2 The Spread of Innovation Sun Tzu's four rules for using the spread of innovation to advance our position.
7.6 Productive Competition Sun Tzu's eight rules for using momentum to produce more resources.
7.6.1 Resource Discovery Sun Tzu's six rules for using innovation to create value from seemingly worthless resources.
7.6.2 Ground Creation Sun Tzu's six rules describing how we use the creation of new competitive ground to be successful.
8.0 Winning Rewards Sun Tzu's six rules on how we harvest the rewards of a new position.
8.1 Successful Positions Sun Tzu's four rules describing the nature of a profitable position.
8.1.1 Transforming Resources Sun Tzu's six rules for converting the intangible value of positions to the resources we need.
8.1.2 Reward Boundaries Sun Tzu's six rules defining the limits of our control over a position and its rewards.
8.1.3 Reward Timing Sun Tzu's six rules for identifying rewarding positions based upon timing.
8.2 Making Claims Sun Tzu's five rules for claiming rewards after winning positions.
8.3 Securing Rewards Sun Tzu's five rules on maximizing the rewards from a position.
8.3.1 Gauging Value Sun Tzu's five rules on the methods for correctly measuring a position's value.
8.3.2 Distinctive Packaging Sun Tzu's nine rules for creating the perception of value.
8.3.3 Rules of Engagement Sun Tzu's nine rules outlining the do's and don't of making claims.
8.3.4 Position Production Sun Tzu's seven rules describing the shift from profitable competition to profitable production.
8.4 Individual Support Sun Tzu's eight rules describing the general techniques for winning the support of individuals.
8.5 Leveraging Emotions Sun Tzu's eight rules describing how we use emotion to obtain rewards.
8.6 Winning Attention Sun Tzu's eight rules describing how to win the attention of others for our claims.
8.7 Productivity Improvement Sun Tzu's seven rules for improving internal production to support external competition.
8.7.1 Evaluating Erosion Sun Tzu's eight rules for gauging the erosion of our current positions.
8.7.2 Abandoning Positions Sun Tzu's six rules describing how we abandon a losing position safely.
9.0 Understanding Vulnerability Sun Tu's six rules regarding the use of common environmental attacks.
9.1 Climate Vulnerability Sun Tzu's seven rules describing our vulnerability to environmental crises.
9.1.1 Climate Rivals Sun Tzu's six rules for preparing against how changing conditions create opponents.
9.1.2 Threat Development Sun Tzu's seven rules on how changing conditions create environmental threats.
9.2 Points of Vulnerability Sun Tzu's five rules on our points of vulnerability during an environmental crisis.
9.2.1 Personnel Risk Sun Tzu's five rules on the vulnerability of key individuals.
9.2.2 Immediate Resource Risk Sun Tzu's five rules on the resources required for immediate use.
9.2.3 Transportation/Communication Risk Sun Tzu's four rules on how firestorms choke normal channels of movement and communication.
9.2.4 Asset Risk Sun Tzu's four rules regarding the threats to our fixed assets.
9.2.5 Organizational Risk Sun Tzu's five rules on the targeting the roles and responsibilities within an organization.
9.3 Crisis Leadership Sun Tzu's nine rules for maintaining the support of our supporters during attacks.
9.3.1 Mutual Danger Sun Tzu's six rules describing how we use mutual danger to create mutual strength.
9.3.2 Message Control Sun Tzu's five rules on communication methods to use during a crisis.
9.4 Crisis Defense Sun Tzu's five rules on how vulnerabilities are exploited and defended during a crisis.
9.4.1 Division Defense Sun Tzu's five rules for preventing organizational division during a crisis.
9.4.2 Panic Defense Sun Tzu's four rules to prevent the mistakes from panic during a crisis.
9.4.3 Defending Openings Sun Tzu's four rules on how to defend openings created by a crisis.
9.4.4 Defending Alliances Sun Tzu's five rules for dealing with guilt-by-association.
9.4.5 Defensive Balance Sun Tzu's four rules for using short-term conditions to tip the balance in a crisis.
9.5 Crisis Exploitation Sun Tzu's five rules about how to successfully use an opponent's crisis.
9.5.1 Adversarial Opportunities Sun Tzu's eight rules on how our opponents' crises can create opportunities.
9.5.2 Avoiding Emotion Sun Tzu's six rules on the danger of exploiting environmental vulnerabilities for purely emotion reasons.
9.6 Constant Vigilance Sun Tzu's five rules describing where to focus our attention to preserve our positions.