*Strategic Principles are those principles that underlay nearly all strategy, no matter what that strategy pertains to. By understanding these principles, one has a skeleton key to the art of Strategy, and whatever field it is applied to is irrelevant-all fields become manifestations of the same base.
It is not what we cannot do, but what we will not do that is the source of our weakness. Flexibility, then-is the first Strategic Principle. Even a small and weak group can overcome by being flexible.
"A Tree that is unbending yet powerful is snapped by the wind. It is the sapling that is weak yet flexible can move to and fro that survives the storm."
-Lao Tzu "The Tao Te Ching"
So how far does this go, and what does it mean? Buddha was not just speaking of happiness and lowering stress when he spoke of being unattached. Being unattached-and therefore, flexible-was the key to power over oneself just as much as it is power over an army, nation or life as a whole.
"Leading an army is like leading one person, it is a matter of division."
-Sun Tzu, "The Art of War"
It is more about unwillingness and rigidness then about incompetence or weakness. Japanese Jujitsu can be performed by people of nearly any strength or size. Like water-the most adaptable thing on this Earth, Jujitsu teaches to flow with the attack and turn it back on the enemy.
Queen Elizabeth I knew well of what she was saying when she stated-
"I would rather be a beggar and single than a queen and married."
For a queen, this seems very odd of her to say, but the context of her reign shows her wisdom in this regard. Queen Elizabeth went down in history as "The Virgin Queen". She ruled in her own right, and never committed to any bachelor-she never became attached or held down. The power she gained and the stability she brought to England were legendary. Others competed for her favor and hand in marriage, but she never relented. Men all over England and indeed most of Europe saw her as a type of Mecca for marriage. Who was this Queen who would not marry-who would not settle down and become attached? The answer? She was the most powerful Queen and arguably Monarch England would ever have.
Some attachments are a part of life. Marriage is a type of attachment, and I am not out to give marriage advice. Children demand a level of attachment as well. But one should never be more attached then is necessary. Never become so attached that you squander your ability to live life as you wish, and never become so dependent on a system of way of doing things that you cease to grow.
After all, it is growth that is life, and without flexibility-without room-one cannot grow.
It is not what we cannot do, but what we will not do that is the source of our weakness. Flexibility, then-is the first Strategic Principle. Even a small and weak group can overcome by being flexible.
"A Tree that is unbending yet powerful is snapped by the wind. It is the sapling that is weak yet flexible can move to and fro that survives the storm."
-Lao Tzu "The Tao Te Ching"
So how far does this go, and what does it mean? Buddha was not just speaking of happiness and lowering stress when he spoke of being unattached. Being unattached-and therefore, flexible-was the key to power over oneself just as much as it is power over an army, nation or life as a whole.
"Leading an army is like leading one person, it is a matter of division."
-Sun Tzu, "The Art of War"
It is more about unwillingness and rigidness then about incompetence or weakness. Japanese Jujitsu can be performed by people of nearly any strength or size. Like water-the most adaptable thing on this Earth, Jujitsu teaches to flow with the attack and turn it back on the enemy.
Queen Elizabeth I knew well of what she was saying when she stated-
"I would rather be a beggar and single than a queen and married."
For a queen, this seems very odd of her to say, but the context of her reign shows her wisdom in this regard. Queen Elizabeth went down in history as "The Virgin Queen". She ruled in her own right, and never committed to any bachelor-she never became attached or held down. The power she gained and the stability she brought to England were legendary. Others competed for her favor and hand in marriage, but she never relented. Men all over England and indeed most of Europe saw her as a type of Mecca for marriage. Who was this Queen who would not marry-who would not settle down and become attached? The answer? She was the most powerful Queen and arguably Monarch England would ever have.
Some attachments are a part of life. Marriage is a type of attachment, and I am not out to give marriage advice. Children demand a level of attachment as well. But one should never be more attached then is necessary. Never become so attached that you squander your ability to live life as you wish, and never become so dependent on a system of way of doing things that you cease to grow.
After all, it is growth that is life, and without flexibility-without room-one cannot grow.
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