Thirteenth of #ThirtySixStratagems: Beat the grass and frighten away the snake. 打草惊蛇 (打草驚蛇) – Dǎcǎojīngshé.

Mini strategy series @soerenbax: The #ThirtySixStratagems, a collection of ancient Chinese military thought and experience.
Characters of the Thirteenth of Thirty-Six Stratagems: 打草惊蛇(打草驚蛇) – Dǎcǎojīngshé.  打, dǎ: beat, fight. 草, cǎo: grass. 惊, jīng: shock, surprise, be frightened. 蛇, shé: snake.
Meaning: Test the opponents reaction with smaller strikes and attacks. Provoke the enemy to reveal his strength and intentions.
Business example: Sometimes it is necessary to take an incremental approach to strategic change, in order to test the grounds and gather more competitive intelligence. Thus beating the grass to scare the snake. Simply put: Test the situation and find out how all the other players may behave, without the risk of large scale confrontation or damage to the own strategic position.
This is a very common approach to change management and development in China. It is often preferred to take action, make smaller steps and then see how it goes. Or as I always used to tell my employees in China: 计划还不如变化 (Jìhuà hái bùrú biànhuà) Change supersedes planning.

Eleventh of #ThirtySixStratagems: The plum tree dies for the peach tree. 李代桃僵 (李代桃僵) – Lǐdàitáojiāng.

Eleventh of #ThirtySixStratagems: The plum tree dies for the peach tree. 李代桃僵 (李代桃僵) – Lǐdàitáojiāng.

Mini strategy series @soerenbax: The #ThirtySixStratagems, a collection of ancient Chinese military thought and experience.

Characters of the eleventh of Thirty-Six Stratagems: 李代桃僵 (李代桃僵) – Lǐdàitáojiāng. , : plum. , dài: replace. , táo: peach. , jiāng: stiff, remain stiff.

Meaning: The plum gets the insects while the peach remains stiff and strong. The plum dies to save the peach. When loss can not be avoided, sacrifice may be necessary for the benefit of whole.

Business example: See the big picture and long term trends. In order to stay in business in the long run, it may be necessary to sacrifice a successful business unit now, in order to promote a new business unit for long term success.

This is what is currently happening at SAP. The cloud business is growing, while the traditional software license business is under thread. SAP is sacrificing the plum, to harvest the peach.

Sixth of #ThirtySixStratagems: Making noise in the east and attack from west. 声东击西 (聲東擊西) – Shēngdōngjīxī.

Mini strategy series @soerenbax: The #ThirtySixStratagems, a collection of ancient Chinese military thought and experience.

Characters of the sixth of Thirty-Six Stratagems: 声东击西 (聲東擊西) – Shēngdōngjīxī. 声, shēn: sound. 东, dōng: East. 击, jī: strike, attack. 西, xī: West.

Meaning: Making noise in the east and attack from west. Create Diversions.

Business example: Create an distraction or false attack. The opponent will concentrate its defences accordingly on one front, making him vulnerable for your attack where he least anticipates an attack.

For example in sales for insurance policies, the sales person would emphasize the high (predicted, not guaranteed) yield, but not mention the ruinous upfront fees and hidden costs.

Fifth of #ThirtySixStratagems: Loot the burning house. 趁火打劫 (趁火打劫) – Chènhuǒdǎjié.

 

Mini strategy series @soerenbax: The #ThirtySixStratagems, a collection of ancient Chinese military thought and experience.

Characters of the Fifth of Thirty-Six Stratagems: 趁火打劫(趁火打劫) – Chènhuǒdǎjié. , Chèn: take advantage of. , huǒ: fire. , dǎ: fight. , jié: rob. 打劫, dǎjié: plunder.

Meaning: A clever fighter wins with ease by exploiting the weakness of the enemy.

Business example: Be ready to act on your opponent weakness or inaction. In this example a large manufacturer and supplier of ball bearings had a long and close cooperation with a Global manufacturer of forklifts. This supplier started to have quality problems due to poor management that did not recognize weaknesses in some of its raw material.

Only the factory manager of that ball bearing supplier recognized the problem, but decided not to solve or mention it. Instead he told his uncle about these weaknesses who was already copying the manufacturing process. Together they seized the opportunity to offer superior bearings and start a successful relationship with the the large forklift customer. Take advantage of problems to plunder.

Third of #ThirtySixStratagems: Kill with a borrowed knife. 借刀杀人(借刀殺人) – Jièdāoshārén.

Mini strategy series @soerenbax: The #ThirtySixStratagems, a collection of ancient Chinese military thought and experience.

Characters of the third of Thirty-Six Stratagems: 借刀杀人(借刀殺人) – Jièdāoshārén. , Jiè: borrow. , dāo: knife. , shā: kill. , rén: people, person.

Meaning: Kill with a borrowed knife. One man’s loss is another man’s gain.

Business example: A factory may have the problem that the only reliable supplier for certain components has rather high prices and is a very tough negotiator. It seems impossible to lower the prices through negotiation.

In that case it is wise to add suppliers that are very keen to enter a business relationship with the factory. If this smaller supplier is then kept small and hungry for more orders, then he will start to use all the tricks in the book in order to gain the upper hand over the first supplier. This urge for more orders is even increased if the factory requires the new smaller supplier to invest into special machines and tools.

During talks with the factory, he may accuse the first supplier of fraud, make below cost price offers, spy on his operations etc. – just to get more orders.

In any case, that new supplier will be a great source of information and puts the factory back into control of the negotiation.

Second of #ThirtySixStratagems: Besiege Wei to save Zhao 围魏救赵 (圍魏救趙) – Wéiwèijiùzhào.

Mini strategy series @soerenbax: The #ThirtySixStratagems, a collection of ancient Chinese military thought and experience.

Characters of the second of Thirty-Six Stratagems: 围魏救赵 (圍魏救趙) – Wéiwèijiùzhào. 围, wéi: surround, enclose. 魏, wèi: Wei (family name). 救, jiù: save, rescue, help. 赵, zhào: Zhao (family name).

Meaning: Besiege Wei to save Zhao. Your friend and ally may besiege the home base of your opponent after his forces left to attack you. Thus finding and attacking the weak and exposed flank of your attacker. The opponent will fight on two fronts, which increases the chance of victory.

Business example: When a strong group (aggressor) is about to take over a weaker group (defender), then a third party may gain a good reputation by attacking the aggressor in apparent behalf of the defender. The third party may succeed to eventually take over both parties without the nasty side effects of outright aggression.

First of #ThirtySixStratagems: 瞒天过海 (瞞天過海) – Mántiānguòhǎi; #English: Sneak across the ocean in broad daylight

Mini strategy series @soerenbax: The Thirty-Six Stratagems, a collection of ancient Chinese military thought and experience.

Characters of the first of Thirty-Six Stratagems: 瞒天过海 (瞞天過海) – Mántiānguòhǎi. , mán: conceal. , tiān: sky. , guò: to cross. , hǎi: sea, ocean.

Meaning: To hide action within a unsuspicious, everyday action. To pretend everyting is just business as usual, but actually striking at the opponent.

Business example: When preparing a hostile take over of a stock listed company, it may be wise to hide the true intention, because of possible counter measures. At least at first and until enough shares are already collected. This maybe done through intermediate banks and traders and in small steps. The purchase will look like everyday trade and won’t attract too much attention. When enough shares are collected, then the takeover can be announced. Sneak across the ocean in broad daylight.