Kyo 's Key Ideas from The 33 Strategies Of War
by Robert Greene

4. CREATE A SENSE OF URGENCY AND DESPERATION

Once you come face to face with death, you eliminate life's non-essentials. You overcome trivialities we foolishly care about every day taking our lives for granted.

5. AVOID THE SNARES OF GROUPTHINK

You want a chain of command you can rely on. You are the General, but you cannot have your head everywhere. Put remote systems and loyal leaders into place that will guarantee the desired outcome.

6. SEGMENT YOUR FORCES

It's on you to know, when to unite and when to divide your army. Slow, but strong or fast and precise.

7. TRANSFORM YOUR WAR INTO A CRUSADE

281 BC Hannibal arranged competitive war games to demonstrate how far his men would go to join the upcoming fight, to show what they were made of. This is a lesson in leadership.

8. PICK YOUR BATTLES CAREFULLY

Some battles you can win, but at too high a cost. Make your battles worth your time and resources. Your energy is limited. Don't waste it.

9. TURN THE TABLES

In history defenders are more often victorious, than attackers. Stay calm and turn the situation into your favor.

10. CREATE A THREATENING PRESENCE

Make them believe they cannot win and they will retreat. To scare them means to break them. But be careful. Your opponent may call your bluff, if you're unwilling to back up your words with action. Don't merely bark.

11. TRADE SPACE FOR TIME

Frustrate them by fighting on your terms. This is classic Sun Tzu's Art of War material. The enemy gives you chase you retreat. The enemy retreats you pursue. It's all about the advantage that determines the end result.

12. LOSE BATTLES BUT WIN THE WAR

It wasn't obvious until it was too late. Determine the bullseye, plan to the end and confuse your opponent leaving him unable to read your actions, since they don't seem to have a connection.

13. KNOW YOUR ENEMY

Know thyself and know thy rival. One of the greatest skills in war, as in seduction as in business is the ability to read people. Master non-verbal communication, hide your observations and devise the most effective tactics based on your insights.

14. OVERWHELM RESISTANCE WITH SPEED AND SUDDENNESS

You start by making slow moves to set the pace to which your rival adjusts, then exploit to win the war quickly.

15. CONTROL THE DYNAMIC

You're in control. Be assertive. Zugzwang, navigate your opponent by forcing him to move, directly into your area of defense. The only downside to control might be not admitting that you have it.

16. HIT THEM WHERE IT HURTS

Everything has a center of gravity. Take a hold of it and unbalance the remaining structure, cutting supply lines, belief systems and chains of command.

17. DEFEAT THEM IN DETAIL

Divide large units and they're easier targets. When your enemies are on the defensive, they will try to unite and face you with their full force. You do not allow them such strength.

18. EXPOSE AND ATTACK YOUR OPPONENT'S SOFT FLANK

Disorient your rival, make him drop his guard through indirection, then deliver a powerful blow to his exposed and vulnerable side.

19. ENVELOP THE ENEMY

Enclosing the opponent does a number on his mental well-being. Feeling trapped they will retreat, if they can.

20. MANEUVER THEM INTO WEAKNESS

Outsmart the opponent, avoiding an advantageless direct attack, through calculated moves, which grant you greater control over the situation at hand.

21. NEGOTIATE WHILE ADVANCING

Negotiate, willing to come to a win-win arrangement, but keep moving focusing on your organization's progress. You avoid immediate conflict, while furthering your interests.

22. KNOW HOW TO END THINGS

Show humility in victory and let fresh wounds heal. It's in your best interest that everyone accepts the outcome, comes to terms with it and moves on.

23. WEAVE A SEAMLESS BLEND OF FACT AND FICTION

Misinform your opponent, make him see upside down, while you see what is at all times. Make a weak spot look strong, make a strong spot look weak.

24. TAKE THE LINE OF LEAST EXPECTATION

Great advantage comes from not meeting your opponent's expectations. Others have a mental model of you based on past experiences, stories and conflict.

25. OCCUPY THE MORAL HIGH GROUND

You're good, your opponent is evil. You create an us versus them dynamic, demonize the other and present your side as the virtuous one.

26. DENY THEM TARGETS

Guerrilla warfare works best on the minds of large armies, tiring and starving the enemy, using nature to your advantage by letting them freeze in the cold or dry up in the sun. When your rival is ready to fight, frustrate him through your absence.

27. SEEM TO WORK FOR THE INTERESTS OF OTHERS WHILE FURTHERING YOUR OWN

Make strategic alliances that benefit you. Do not hesitate to do favors for those who will be of help in the future. As you treat others kindly and generously, you put them in your debt.

28. GIVE YOUR RIVALS ENOUGH ROPE TO HANG THEMSELVES

Some individuals are inherently self-destructive. You let your adversaries end themselves as active agents in their own demise.

29. TAKE SMALL BITES

In order to avoid confrontation, people will give you more leeway and give in to small demands. With short attention spans they repeat mistakes, allowing your power to grow, as you play for time.

30. PENETRATE THEIR MINDS

Words are weapons. Articulate and profound communication, the precise expression of valuable ideas, can lift you out of poverty, make powerful friends

31. DESTROY FROM WITHIN

Troy's walls were unbreakable, their archers well-seasoned and devestatingly accurate, but it was the Trojan horse that they willingly let inside the city, mistaking it for a gift, that crushed them. Do not attack a fortification with full force, use deception and destroy from within.

32. DOMINATE WHILE SEEMING TO SUBMIT

Peaceful non-aggression can be more effective, than any act of violence. Your animosity is subtle. While your opponent feels in control, since you don't appear to be eager for power, you covertly fight for your cause.

33. SOW UNCERTAINTY AND PANIC THROUGH ACTS OF TERROR

You can be the change you want to see in the world and in popularizing this sentiment with your help good may triumph over evil. (Or vise versa)

(The book encourages readers to cultivate a strategic mindset and apply these principles judiciously to achieve their goals.)