To separate yourself from the mechanical and reactive types, you need to get rid of a common misconception: the essence of strategy is not to carry out a brilliant plan that proceeds in steps; it is to put yourself in situations where you have more options than the enemy does. Instead of grasping at Option A as the single right answer, true strategy is positioning yourself to be able to do A, B, or C depending on the circumstances. That is strategic depth of thinking, as opposed to formulaic thinking. Sun Tzu expressed this idea differently: what you aim for in strategy, he said, is shih, a position of potential force—the position of a boulder perched precariously on a hilltop, say, or of a bowstring stretched taut. A tap on the boulder, the release of the bowstring, and potential force is violently unleashed. The boulder or arrow can go in any direction; it is geared to the actions of the enemy. What matters is not following preordained steps but placing yourself in shih and giving yourself options.
Daily Law: Rid yourself of the illusion that strategy is a series of steps to be followed toward a goal. Run in the opposite direction of any expert or guru proclaiming to possess a secret formula for success and power.
The 33 Strategies of War
, Strategy 6: Segment Your Forces—The Controlled-Chaos Strategy