Your Opponent Is Not Your Main Opponent | Lumirism

Chapter 2: Waging War | The Art of War | Sun Tzu

Who is your main opponent in a war? Is it the one who fights against you? Most of you say yes, but it is not like that. Yes, he is the enemy, but the one that is truly crucial for victory is not him, but the stateless illusion that governs our lives every day: TIME.

Chapter 2: Waging War | The Art of War | Sun Tzu

We can see what Sun Tzu is saying. There is no country in history that has gained from a prolonged war. A long war eventually drains resources and weakens the mental state of the people. So the real victory is a fast victory.

Some people say that fast movement is foolishness. Sun Tzu argues that there may be something called foolish haste, but there is nothing called intelligent slowness in war. So it is about time, but why? Because in a long war, you start burning your resources, and it eventually leads to serious problems. The warriors on your side begin losing confidence and mental stability due to the prolonged conflict, which then affects their physical strength as well.

When you reach such a weakened state, that is the best time for the enemy to attack and win. If your enemies understand this principle, they can exploit that situation to defeat you. So time decides who wins and what real victory truly means.

So how can we win? 

There are also answers from him on this:

1. Move fast but efficiently, as this will definitely help you save your resources. However, there is a chance of bad moves or poor decisions, so mitigate that risk instead of moving slowly, which will definitely burn your resources and still offers no guarantee of winning.
2. Use the enemy’s resources to fight instead of focusing only on your own. For example: seize their food, use their weapons, ride their horses, occupy their equipment and transport, feed your army from enemy territory, turn captured soldiers, and use them as guides or intelligence sources.
3. Treat your own army very well. Give them recognition and rewards based on their performance; this will help you keep the fire inside them from being extinguished. That famous idea:

Treat soldiers like your own sons, and they will follow you into the deepest valleys.

How can we use this in business?

1. If you are in a startup, move fast but efficiently to find product-market fit rather than burning your resources on a long-term plan. First, make sure you can stand on your own and that there are people who actually need your product.
2. Use your opponents’ resources. For example: instead of building distribution from scratch, sell through platforms they rely on, advertise where their users already gather, rank for keywords they have already educated the market about, and build integrations with tools their users already use. Using competitor users does not mean stealing databases. Target dissatisfied users, study their negative reviews, and build solutions around their complaints.
3. Treat your team very well and give them what they deserve.

Conclusion

Understand your opponents and yourself, as mentioned in Chapter 1. Also understand that time is crucial, and come up with a strategy to find a faster yet efficient way to win rather than engaging in a prolonged war. Use the three principles to execute it properly.