Tag Archives: 36 Strategies

36 Strategies : Strategy 2 (圍魏救趙)

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The second Advantageous Strategy is “Beseiging Wei to Save Zhao” ( 圍魏救趙 ).

Instead of an upfront confrontation with an enemy, sometimes it is better to wait for a better opportunity to attack him, when he is weaker.

Historical Background:-

During the period of Warring States, many States were fighting against each other eg. the States of Wei, Zhao, Qi etc..

One day, the State of Zhao was attacked by the State of Wei. The King of Zhao then asked for help from the King of Qi.

The King of Qi sent his General Tian Ji to save Zhao. Tian ji wanted to have an upfront confrontation with the Wei’s army at the capital of Zhao. However, he was advised by Sun Bin, to attack the capital of Wei instead.

Tian Ji then attacked the capital of Wei. The Wei’s troops were then forced to return to Wei from Zhao. On the way back, they were ambushed by the troops of Qi.

The State of Qi came out victorious. Not only did the State of Qi destroyed the State of Wei, the State of Zhao also owed the State of Qi, a very big favor.

Application:-
1) Compete only in areas where you are stronger eg. service, product etc.
2) Compete in areas ignored by your competitors
3) Create your own niche market

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Why is it called 36 Strategies

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Why is it called 36 Strategies ? Six multiplied by Six is 36. The word “calculation” conceals another word, “strategy”. In the application of a strategy, careful calculation is required.

Only when one is able to calculate the pattern of how a situations develop, he will be able to find the required strategy. A strategy cannot be detached from an objective assessment of a situation. It cannot work by subjective imagination.

36 Strategies : Strategy 1 (瞒天过海)

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The first six strategies are called Advantageous Strategies or 勝 戰 計. They are used when time and resources are to one’s advantage. There is no need to rush and detailed planning can be done.

1) Deceiving the Heaven to cross the sea ( 瞒天过海 )

It means to create a false impression to distract the target. It works because people are more careful when in unfamiliar surroundings but tend to be careless in familiar situations.

Example:-
1) Free trial period with money back guarantee
2) Free or low cost lessons on usage of product / service
3) Allowing products to be bought piecemeal eg. Ikea
4) Selling a basic unit with options for upgrading or add-ons
5) Selling Game Consoles (Nintendo – GameBoy, Wii ; Microsoft – XBOX360 ; Sony – PlayStation, PSP) at an affordable price (Microsoft makes a loss for every console they sells) and making the profits from the Games (Very High Profit Margins), where the consumer will likely continue to buy once they are hooked to gaming ( from tankie )
6) HP Printers. The printers are cheap but the ink refills are expensive.
7) Razors – they can give u the set for free but u got to buy their razors for refill ( from HengHeng )

Historical Background of Strategy # 1 ( Deceiving the heaven to cross the sea ):-

“Heaven” here means emperor. So this strategy meant deceiving the emperor to cross the sea. Supposedly, during the Tang dynasty, an emperor wanted to lead his troops to battle. However, he had to cross the sea first and he did not like the vast water.

However, one of his Generals, tricked the emperor into having a feast in a big tent. The feasts went on for a few days inside the tent. However, the tent was actually a ship. When the king found out about the trick, he was almost on the other side.

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