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Online since 1999

Optimism and Sun Tzu's Art of War. Do they mix?

3/10/2018

6 Comments

 
Picture
Credit: Max Pixel
"Barn's burnt down --
now
I can see the moon."
Mizuta Masahide (17th century Japanese samurai)
Masahide's quote above captures well the idea of optimism. It is being positive even when there are things to be negative about. It isn't ignoring reality but focusing on the possibility, no matter how small, because nobody knows what the future holds. In short, it's very much the act of living, and that is to choose our path instead of allowing outside forces to choose it for us.

​One reason why I am always enthusiastic about Sun Tzu and his wisdom is that I am by nature optimistic. Perhaps it's reading too many Zig Ziglar books growing up. Whatever the case, I tend to be confident and hopeful that things will work out in the future. When I am armed with Sun Tzu's practical strategies, I have a more tangible reason to be confident and hopeful.

Since youth, my confidence and hope depended upon a tremendous amount of preparation. In school, I wanted a deadline date that is far off, not because I wanted to wait, but I wanted to have more time refining and perfecting my work before the teacher sees it. Needless to say, the grades I received would make any Asian parent happy. Maybe.

There were numerous instances when I would forget to eat and lose track of time completely. That continues to this day. Part of that is because I enjoy working, and part of that is because I want the satisfaction of achieving something outstanding. Overall, the harder I work, the more confident and hopeful I get.

Going back to the quote above, Mizuta Masahide had every right to feel discouraged after his barn burned down. But as a warrior, he understood that strength lies not in things but in people, namely within himself. To still not forget our heavenly gift despite misfortune is analogous to maintaining a small beachhead despite an enemy attack to later build upon. With time and diligence, one can imagine the progress that can be made from a seemingly humble beginning.

With optimism, we give it the old college try against the odds. And should we fail, as Teddy Roosevelt once said, "at least [we fail] while daring greatly, so that [our] place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."

​Too often what we call realistic or reasonable is really our doubt taking hold. In much of life, especially with many people involved, there are simply too many variables to account to truly determine failure or success in the future. And so logically we choose not to make a decision at all. Doubt causes us to stop working. And stop working is something I can't imagine myself doing.

​Of course Masahide isn't the only warrior who's optimistic. I would argue there is another warrior with plenty of optimism, even in the midst of considerable danger and concern:
"The day the general leads his troops into battle, it is like climbing up high and throwing away the ladder. He leads his troops deep into enemy ground, and releases the trigger. He burns his boats and destroys the cooking pots." Sun Tzu
Or how about this one:
"Get them to face danger, but do not reveal the advantages. Throw them into danger and they will survive; put them on deadly ground and they will live. Only if the troops are in situations of danger will they turn defeat into victory." Sun Tzu
​What gives Sun Tzu such confidence and hope that his soldiers will survive and achieve victory? It could be based on past experience. But it is more to do with knowing his army, the enemy's army, and the environment they engage in.

Sun Tzu's thorough preparation allows him to place his soldiers in the best possible advantageous position to achieve success. Business leaders can learn from this lesson. If they aren't constantly setting the stage for their team to do great work, then they aren't doing their jobs.

Notice Sun Tzu doesn't depend on superstars to produce the results he seeks. He depended upon rather ordinary soldiers to produce extraordinary results, thanks to the strategy he conceived. Strategy leverages limited resources and enables the leader to calculate if they are sufficient for success.

​However, as much as Sun Tzu emphasized doing many calculations and ensuring no miscalculations are made to make certain of victory, it would seem implausible he wasn't at all concerned about how the battle would turn out. Leaders who treat their people like their own beloved children would always be concerned, no matter how certain they feel. So without optimism, and letting doubts set in, Sun Tzu couldn't logically "release the trigger." He would pack his bags and go home. Yet he stayed and pushed his troops forward.


Furthermore, if we believe Sun Tzu lived in the real world, we would also have to believe he knew there are no guarantees in life. Except death and taxes. But victory isn't one of them. Anything that can happen might (or will) happen. Failing to calculate an unknown factor is a possibility. That factor contributing to defeat is a possibility. Sound strategy can only assure our success in the long run; the chances of making costly mistakes in the short-term, in one battle, are significantly greater.

Yet throughout The Art of War, Sun Tzu expresses complete certainty:
"No miscalculations mean the victories are certain, achieving victory over those who have already lost." Sun Tzu
"I know who will win and who will lose. A general who listens to my principles, and applies them, will surely be victorious; keep him. A general who does not listen to my principles, and does not apply them, will surely be defeated; remove him." Sun Tzu
​How could that be if Sun Tzu was a realist, never mind a pessimist? He would use more moderating words. It simply doesn't make sense -- unless Sun Tzu was indeed an optimist.

Therefore, Sun Tzu's principles don't run counter to optimism -- they run beside and parallel to it. They complement it.

This complementary mix then demands that along with our optimism we must do the hard work to plan and prepare. Things will likely go well but there will be unforeseen setbacks, which we will learn from as we move forward. No matter what, we must not stop being proactive.

So if we continue on our mission, our gains will outnumber our losses. In baseball as in life, going home most of the time would be considered an extraordinary accomplishment. And in warfare as in life, going home at all would be considered an even greater accomplishment.
6 Comments
Marv Kramer link
3/11/2018 06:25:23 am

Sun Tzu is about gaining SYMMETRY through intelligence gathering. Understanding the enemy as well as himself assured his success. Thus, OPTIMISM goes hand and hand with the wisdom contained in The Art of War. As you have always so well articulated, Sun Tzu is basically a man of PEACE. Only a fool would challenge his insight. Nevertheless, as there are many fools in this world, war was always a possibility, as it still is in our time.

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Thomas Huynh link
3/11/2018 08:01:48 am

Outside of physical conditions that certain individuals have, I haven't met too many fools. Maybe I haven't looked hard enough. Almost everyone has opinions and beliefs. It isn't necessarily they are wrong but they seem right from their perspective due to their experiences in life. So if the student hasn't learned what is wise, is it his or her fault or is it the fault of the teacher? Perhaps both. So first the duty lies with the instructor and then with the receiver. I'm quite open to the idea that the instructor is also a motivator and influencer such that the receiver would want to take in instruction. That's a topic for another day.

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Chris Orndorff link
3/11/2018 04:09:50 pm

Very well said, Thomas!

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Thomas Huynh link
3/11/2018 05:10:57 pm

Thank you Chris! Hope all is well with you.

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John Sullivan link
4/3/2018 01:45:21 pm

I will have to respectfully disagree with the viewpoint that the quotes you use reflect Sun Tzu’s optimism, and instead would argue the opposite: that they show Sun Tzu held a pessimistic view regarding whether or not he could trust his own soldiers to stand and fight in the face of the enemy— thereby necessitating the development of unique strategies to force them to fight against their will. But this, of course, is what makes The Art of War endlessly fascinating; two people can look at the exact same verses and derive completely different viewpoints from it.

Sun Tzu was writing at a unique time. As described by Mark Edward Lewis in Sanctioned Violence in Early China, warfare was shifting from being mostly small-scale and involving mainly a small cadre of the elite soldiers who grew up training and preparing for war, to by the early Warring States period being much more large scale and primarily fought by large conscript armies drawn from the common populace. These new soldiers, though, lacked both extensive training, nor the tight bonds with the political leadership as shown by the warriors of old. To see an example of this, take a look at a remarkable scene from the Zuozhuan, which describes the conversation amongst a chariot crew, all grievously wounded in the midst of battle. One says to the rest:

“We can complete our mission so long as there is one of us to control the chariot. How can you let your injury ruin our ruler’s enterprise? To don armor and take up weapons is to ready to meet death. You are wounded but not yet dying. You, sir, have to brace yourself!” Xie Zhang grasped all the reins together with his left hand while his right he wielded the drumstick and beat the war drums. The horses raced forward and could not be stopped, and the army followed his chariot. The Qi troops were completely defeated. (Lord Cheng, Year 2)

Now compare this with a passage from The Art of War from Chapter 11 which describes the reaction of his conscript soldiers upon being told that they are mobilizing for battle:

“On the day when the order to set forth to war is issued, one's officers and troops may sit weeping till their lapels are soaked with tears, and they may lie on their backs with tears streaming down their cheeks. But when you throw them into positions from which there is no outlet, they will be as brave as Zhuan Zhu and Cao Gui.” (Mair)

Vanished, obviously, is the innate sense of duty and willingness to face death for glory in battle. To counteract this, Sun Tzu’s solution is to use various methods to overcome the deficiency of his own troops. These include using terrain to offset the weakness of his forces (shi) and throwing them onto “death ground,” an inescapable position from which they must either fight or die or perish—thereby forcing them to gain the courage that they otherwise wouldn’t have. Saying you are going to throw away the ladder (the means of escape) and burn your boats and break your cooking pots (showing your own soldiers that your only choice is to fight of perish, through either drowning or starvation). But Sun Tzu also recognizes that if he can artificially instill courage to force his soldiers to fight, so can the enemy, that is why Sun Tzu is also determined to thwart the enemy from also gaining this advantage. This is the reason for Sun Tzu stating in Chapter 7 that one shouldn’t push a desperate foe too hard (since they are already on death ground) and leave the enemy an means of escape (so they will take it, thus denying them the ability to be on death ground).

But all of this is based on a deep pessimism he has with the overall quality of his own soldiers, not the optimism that we generally ascribe to modern managers and leaders of voluntary soldiers who are highly trained and willing to communally sacrifice themselves for a greater cause. We need to be mindful of the historical context Sun Tzu was writing in before making broad, sweeping judgements concerning the meaning of random verses a applied to modern realities. As ancient China scholars E. Bruce and A. Taeko Brooks wisely remind us: “The ancient texts weren’t speaking to us; they were arguing with each other.”

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Thomas Huynh link
4/3/2018 01:56:13 pm

What a wonderful response to my post. You made solid points, many I actually agree with. For example, yes he doesn't think much of his soldiers' abilities but then again he doesn't expect much from any one individual, as he mentioned in The Art of War. It is the momentum and the need to go along with others in the group are what Sun Tzu depended on. Let's discuss this some more at the SunTzucCenter.com.

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