Thread by @ThyConsigliori

John Minford, #SunTzu 6: 27 "But if neither day nor place is known, then left cannot help right, right cannot help left, vanguard cannot help rear, rear cannot help vanguard. It is still worse if the troops are separated by a dozen miles or even by a mile or two."

If, like me, you're the reviewing type, then now would be a great time to go back to verses 18 - 23 in this chapter. The key phrase Master Sun gives us, is that the enemy, not knowing where he'll be attacked, must reinforce everywhere, weaken everywhere.

I feel like I have to flip back to a positive case in order to tease out his meaning. He begins his negative case, not knowing the day or place, and goes on to say what we cannot do. But if we did know? What then? Why every part would be able to help every other part.

I checked multiple versions for the logic here, and my guys are all uniform. In verses 18 - 23, they use a term having to do with reaction in a negative way, a way that won't work. Here, they all follow Master Sun's positive vision, yet stated in the negative. Confusing, I know.

Meditating, I arrive at are the following complementary opposites: successful help vs unsuccessful; reactive vs proactive; too late vs on time. If you place these on a Yin/Yang map it will help.

Remember:

1) Rising Yin
2) Cresting Yin
3) Rising Yang
4) Cresting Yang

I've been studying something called Systems Theory since the late 1980s. At essence, it is about the following relationships in any system (and everything is a system!):

1) Part to Part
2) Part to Whole
3) Whole to Environment

I admit, it's absolutely a rabbit hole.

A combat unit is a whole. It faces an enemy on the field of combat in war. That's the environment. What are the parts? We already know, but here they are again:

1) Van
2) Rear
3) Left Flank
4) Right Flank
5) Core

And they all add up to the whole.

Now let's return to Master Sun's positive vision. How does the van help the rear? Realizing the rear is weak and tired, it veers the unit's angle of attack, so that it faces the stiffest resistance, for example. How does the rear help the van? Light and agile it follows readily.

Have you ever been a member of a great team? Do you recall how help arrived, almost magically, when you needed it most? Usually unconsciously, team members are always performing Sun Tzu analysis of weakness and strength on their team members.

When weak, a team member reaches out with help. When strong, respect and recognition are naturally given, and the art of making strength stronger is immediately engaged. Perhaps Master Sun has given us the definition of a working team in these verses.

Within a system, no part is capable of complete isolation from the other parts. Each part has an impact on the performance of all the other parts, and on each other part. What's more, to be defined as a part, the whole must also be affected by the performance of the part.

Let's turn negative. If you think you're a part of a team, but find you have no impact on any other team member's performance - they each don't need you - and no impact on the team's outcomes, then you're not actually a member of the team. That's the moment to leave.

On a team, the van is leadership. The rear are those who randomly contribute just by showing up and following orders. The right flank are those charged with critical missions. The left flank those who support critical missions. The core are those counted upon at all times.

In this, the day and place of battle must be known. The objective must be crystal clear, the goal absolutely defined. It is the knowledge in advance of the day and place of battle that brings all parts together, not only into an integrated whole, but an unstoppable one.

To be a leader is to create a whole. The whole must have a purpose, a day and place of battle, and it must have warriors who sign on; which is to say you must recruit. Don't be disappointed by your followers in the rear, they serve a purpose. Remember the importance of the core.

Honor your left flank, their support of the right flank may be the most important pivot on which battle turns. But, note your right flank, your fellow leaders who follow your lead, ready to lead themselves. When all five parts work together, you will be 100% unbeatable.

Return now to today's verse. What is Master Sun telling us? If you can't set the goal, you will not win. If you are to be a leader, you must determine the day and place of battle. Other than that, you're that losing general who shows up hoping to win, when his enemy already has.

137 verses completed, 285 to go.

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