Theme: Resource Mastery, Relentless Precision, and the Cost of Delay
I. Brutal Truth: Every War Costs, and Time Is the Most Expensive Currency
“There is no instance of a nation benefitting from prolonged warfare.”
Sun Tzu is ruthless here. He’s telling you:
If your conflict, campaign, or business fight is dragging, you’ve already made a strategic error.
Why?
Because war consumes:
Troops (your team, energy, reputation)
Resources (capital, attention, goodwill)
Position (while you fight, others move)
If you get stuck, you’re not fighting a war.
You’re bleeding in a simulation of one.
II. Key Doctrine: Win Fast, Strike Deep, Exit Clean
“Let your great object be victory, not lengthy campaigns.”
This is where most founders, leaders, and movements fail:
Endless marketing with no conversion
Over-built MVPs with no traction
Spirals of meetings, feedback loops, perfectionism
Sun Tzu would cut all of it.
III. Strategic Leverage: Feed Your Army From the Enemy
“Where the army is, prices are high. When resources are exhausted, the people are drained.”
He’s not just talking food. He means:
The best strategy feeds on the opponent’s resources.
This is asymmetric advantage:
Use competitors’ momentum against them (judo)
Let their ads educate your market, then undercut
Let their ego blind them, while you reposition silently
You shouldn’t carry the load if you can make them carry it for you.
High-Leverage Insight: A Fast War Requires Perfect Preparation
Speed ≠ recklessness.
Speed is the result of ruthless clarity, defined objectives, and clean execution pipelines.
You don’t have time to be confused.
Direct Challenge
Name the War You’re Waging
Define it clearly in one sentence.
If you can’t state it cleanly, you can’t win it.
Set the Deadline for Decisive Victory
No more open-ended fights.
Set the date by which it ends, on your terms.
Identify the Leverage Point
Where can you win without increasing effort, by turning the enemy’s resources, momentum, or attention into fuel?
Next Chapter Preview:
Attack by Stratagem – Sun Tzu makes it crystal clear: the best victory is the one where no battle occurs, because your enemy breaks themselves before engaging you.