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1. At all cost you must gain control of the impulse to fight your opponents directly. Instead occupy their flank. 2. Find their flank--the support people crave, the kindness they will respond to, the favor that will disarm them. 3. Start by seeming to take your opponents' side on some issue, occupying their flank. 4. Take the center position, it can be physical-an actual place - OR more subtle and psychological--and the enemy will naturally break into parts, trying to hit you from more than one side. These smaller parts are now manageable, can be defeated in detail or forced to divide again. And once something large is divided, it is prone to further division to being splintered into nothingness. 5. The wisest course is to take a risk, meet the enemy before it comes to you, and try to blunt its momentum by forcing or enticing it to divide. And the best way to make a enemy divide is to occupy the center. 6. Distract your opponents' attention to the front, then attack t...

When you look at your enemies, do not be intimidated by their appearance. Instead look at the parts that make up the whole. By separating the parts, sowing dissension and division from within, you can weaken and bring down even the most formidable foe. In setting up your attack, work on their minds to create internal conflict. Look for the joints and links, the things that connect the people in a group or connect one group to another. Division is weakness, and the joints are the weakest part of any structure. When you are facing troubles or enemies, turn a large problem into small, eminently defeatable parts. There were, however,many occasions when the French were faced not by one but by two or a whole series of enemy armies within supporting distance of one another. Faced with such a difficult situation, Napoleon often adopted a second system of maneuver--the "strategy of the central position." Very often under these circumstances the French found themselves operatin...

A person, like an army, usually gets his OR her power from 3 (three) OR 4 (four) simultaneous sources: 1. Money 2. Popularity 3. Skillful maneuvering 4. Some particular advantage he has fostered Knock out one and he will have to depend more on the others; knock out those and he is lost. Your enemy's center of gravity can be something abstract, 1. Like a quality 2. Concept 3. Aptitude on which he depends 4. His reputation 5. His capacity to deceive 6. His unpredictability But such strengths become critical vulnerabilities if you can make them unattractive OR unusable. The enemy has to communicate and depends on a network that is vulnerable to attack. No defense

Everyone has a source of power on which he or she depends. When you look at your rivals, search below the surface for that source, the center of gravity that holds the entire structure together. That center can be their wealth, their popularity, a key position, a winning strategy. Hitting them there will inflict disproportionate pain. Find what the other side most cherishes and protects--that is where you must strike. PILLARS OF COLLAPSE In 210 B.C. a young Roman general named Publius Scipio the Younger (later called Scipio Africanus) was sent to northeastern Spain with a simple mission: to hold the Ebro River against the powerful Carthaginian armies that were threatening to cross it and take control of the peninsula. This was Scipio's first assignment as commander, and as he looked out on the river and plotted his strategy, he felt a strange mix of emotions. Eight years earlier the great Carthaginian commander Hannibal had crossed this river heading north. Onward he had go...

People are constantly struggling to control you--getting you to act in their interests, keeping the dynamic on their terms. The only way to get the upper hand is to make your play for control more intelligent and insidious. Instead of trying to dominate the other side's every move, work to define the nature of the relationship itself. Shift the conflict to terrain of your choice, altering the pace and stakes to suit you. Maneuver to control your opponents' minds, pushing their emotional buttons, and compelling them to make mistakes. If necessary, let them feel they are in control in order to get them to lower their guard. If you control the overall direction and framing of the battle, anything they do will play into your hands. THE ART OF ULTIMATE CONTROL Control is an issue in all relationships. It is human nature to abhor feelings of helplessness and to strive for power. Whenever two people or groups interact, there is a constant maneuvering between them to define the ...

In a world in which many people are indecisive and overly cautious, the use of speed will bring you untold power. Striking first, before your opponents have time to think or prepare, will make them emotional, unbalanced, and prone to error. When you follow with another swift and sudden maneuver, you will induce further panic and confusion. This strategy works best with a setup, a lull--your unexpected action catches your enemy off guard. When you strike, hit with unrelenting force. Acting with speed and decisiveness will garner you respect, awe, and irresistible momentum. War is such that the supreme consideration is speed. This to take advantage of what is beyond the reach of the enemy, to go by way of routes where he least expects you, and to attack where he has made no preparations. SUN-TZU, FOURTH CENTURY B.C. SLOW-SLOW-QUICK QUICK In 1218, Muhammad II, the shah of Khwarizm, received a visit from three ambassadors on behalf of Genghis Khan, the leader of the Mongol Empire to ...