What's this?
This sentence comes from "Sun Tzu's Art of War: Strategy Chapter". It is one of the shortest tactical principles in the book, but it is the most powerful:
> Attack where the opponent is unprepared and surprise the opponent.
Note that Sun Tzu did not mean "carrying out a sneak attack while others are unprepared" - that is the villain's understanding. Sun Tzu's meaning is: Don't fight the battle the other party has prepared. If your opponent is fully armed and waiting for you to come, and you charge hard, you are a fool. You want to make your opponent "unprepared" - not because he is negligent, but because you have chosen an angle that he cannot guard against.
In today’s words:
> Don't compete with your opponent on their home court. In another dimension, it would be useless no matter how strong he is.
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Why is it important?
The way most people solve problems is to be aggressive and aggressive. He insisted on attacking the opponent's most heavily defended place. If you look at those people who work overtime in the workplace - it's not that they don't work hard, they are improving on the dimensions that their opponents are best at. The other party also works overtime, the other party also works hard, and you two can never tell the winner.
Sun Tzu said: If you want to win, you must make the opponent "unprepared." It's not because you are better than him, it's because you hit him where he wasn't prepared.
Come, take a look at some amazing examples.
Case 1: Side overtaking
On the highway, two cars were side by side. Car A stepped on the accelerator as hard as possible, trying to pass Car B from the front - Car B was also accelerating and could never pass. The fuel consumption of the two skyrocketed and their speed was almost the same.
Car C does not accelerate. Car C observes car B - car B's attention is entirely on body A. Car C passed quietly from the right lane, and Car B didn't even notice.
At the same speed, car C won. Why? Because car C chose the "unprepared" side of car B.
It's the same in the workplace. If you want to get promoted, compare your overtime and reporting head-on with your competitors - both of you are in the same dimension. Really smart people look for an angle where the boss is "unprepared": take the initiative to take on a cross-department project, and you have already made achievements before the boss realizes that the project is important.
Don't outrun your opponent on his track, change the track.
Case 2: Trojan horse
The Greeks fought against Troy for ten years and could not conquer the city from the front. The city wall is too thick and the defenders are too tenacious. Odysseus thought of a way: build a big wooden horse, pretend to retreat, and leave the wooden horse as a "gift".
The Trojans dragged the Trojan horse into the city as a trophy—celebrating their victory and drinking and reveling. In the middle of the night, the Greek soldiers from Trojan came out and opened the city gate. A city that had not been conquered for ten years was captured in one night.
Key point: The Greeks did not suddenly become stronger in the tenth year. They just changed the perspective of the other party's "unpreparedness". The Trojans were "prepared" for the rain of arrows on the city wall, but what they were not "prepared" for was a gift containing soldiers.
Case 3: Steve Jobs’ iPhone
Before the iPhone launch in 2007, the whole world was speculating on what Apple would release. Nokia, Motorola, BlackBerry - they are the giants in mobile phones. What they are "preparing" is: Apple may make a better music phone, or a phone with a touch screen.
No one thought that Jobs would redefine the word "mobile phone" itself. When the iPhone came out, Nokia's CEO said: "This is just a niche product." Why was he so judgmental? Because he is using the premise that "mobile phones are for making calls" to evaluate the iPhone. But it was precisely this premise that Jobs attacked.
In the 25 years since I came to Europe, I have seen too many traditional European companies being subverted—not because their opponents were stronger, but because their opponents emerged from a direction that they were completely unprepared for.
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This reminds me of the German Blitzkrieg
At the beginning of World War II, the French spent ten years building the Maginot Line - an impenetrable line that the Germans could not attack from the front. What was the German response? Don't attack. They circled around Belgium, passed through the Ardennes Forest, and reached Paris in two weeks.
The French had been "preparing" for ten years, and the German army "attacked" a place they were completely unprepared for. This is Blitzkrieg (Blitzkrieg) - not head-on, but when you are not prepared, I have already arrived behind you.
In business, this is called Disruptive Innovation. Clayton Christensen of Harvard Business School has studied for a lifetime and concluded that market leaders are often defeated not by more powerful opponents, but by an opponent that is "too small, too low-end, and not worthy of attention" from the flank. This is exactly the same as what Sun Tzu said about "attacking the unprepared and taking the enemy by surprise" - it's not about defeating you head-on, it's about growing up in a corner that you ignored. By the time you find out, it's already too late.
There's also Apple's culture of secrecy. In the Steve Jobs era, before Apple’s new products were released, the outside world had almost no idea what they looked like. Why? Because "surprise" is a weapon in itself. If the opponent knows what you are going to do in advance, he will have time to "prepare". Apple takes confidentiality to the extreme in order to make its opponents "unprepared."
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How to do it?
1. Find the "least defensed" place of the other party
It's not the weakest place, it's the place where you least pay attention.
What are your opponent’s KPIs? What indicator does he value most? ——Then his blind spot is outside the KPI.
After coming to Europe for 25 years, I have learned in business negotiations: If the opponent's KPI this year is "sales growth", then their focus is entirely on sales. If you talk about "reducing costs" or "improving customer retention", they may not be seriously prepared at all - this is "unprepared".
2. Your "surprise" must be based on a lot of preparation
"Sudden surprise" is not a slap on the head, it is carefully designed.
Sun Tzu didn't say "attack casually", he said "attack where you are unprepared" - you must first know where you are unprepared. This requires a lot of observation, research, and analysis. The real "surprise" is behind the long preparation that others cannot see.
Just like Steve Jobs prepared the iPhone not in a few months, but in five years. Apple had been quietly preparing for five years before it was "unexpected" in 2007.
3. Don’t repeat yourself
Once your strategy is figured out by your opponent, you will no longer be able to "take it by surprise".
In the twenty-five years since I came to Europe, I have learned an iron rule in business negotiations: whatever strategy you use to win the first time, you will never use the same strategy the second time. Because the other party is "prepared". Every time I have to change the angle, the rhythm, and the entry point.
Sun Tzu's Art of War is not used once, it is different every time.
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when?
"Attack the unprepared and take them by surprise" does not teach you to cheat, but teaches you to change dimensions at critical moments:
When the competitors are strong - If you can't beat them head-on, look to the side. Don't compete with him about who works harder, find a dimension that he doesn't care about and build an advantage there.
When entering a new market – Don’t play by the rules of the old players. Redefine the rules of the game so that old players can't "prepare" it. When Netflix was doing streaming media, Blockbuster was still charging overdue fees - Blockbuster was preparing for "how to rent DVDs better", while Netflix was attacking "should you still rent DVDs?"
When there is a deadlock in negotiations - Break the deadlock by changing a condition that the other party did not expect. The other party is ready to negotiate the price with you, and you suddenly discuss the payment method; the other party is ready to negotiate the terms, and you suddenly discuss the long-term cooperation framework.
When creativity runs out - Instead of thinking harder, go to a completely unrelated field to find inspiration. The best ideas often come from "irrelevant" connections.
When the opponent is heavily defensive - Stop and ask yourself: Where is it impossible for him to defend? The answer is usually where he thinks "this can't be happening".
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Where?
The rule of this sentence is applicable everywhere.
In the military, the Normandy landing was chosen on a beach that the Germans considered "impossible" because of the complex tides and terrain. The Allies spent three years studying "where they are most unprepared" - not studying how strong they are, but studying the opponent's blind spots.
In business, IKEA entered the Chinese market not to compete with traditional furniture stores, but to position itself as a "weekend family outing destination." Out of the blue - you came to buy a bookshelf, but ended up eating Swedish meatballs and playing with your kids for two hours. How to prepare traditional furniture stores? What they sell is "furniture", while IKEA sells "lifestyle".
In art, Picasso's Cubism is not a better painting, but a more "wrong" painting. What traditional painters "prepare" is "paint likeness", while Picasso attacked "why should we paint likeness". Once this premise is subverted, the rules of the game in the entire art world change.
In technology, SpaceX’s recyclable rocket. Space agencies around the world are "preparing" to "throw away rockets after use", but Musk asked "Why can't they be recycled?". This "unexpected" problem has reduced the cost of spaceflight tenfold.
In Italian cuisine, traditional tiramisu is made with mascarpone cheese. One chef substituted goat's milk cheese (ricotta) - the taste was completely different and surprisingly good. In the 25 years since I came to Europe, I have eaten too many "unexpected" dishes in Florence - tradition mixed with a little rebellion, but it is the most amazing. As Sun Tzu said, your opponent is "prepared" with traditional methods. If you change an angle that he has not tried before, that is the way to win.
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One sentence summary
> Not fighting the battle he prepared.
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Original article by Coach Liu. Please cite source when sharing.