兵
"Calculate before you commit. The supreme art is not winning every battle — it is not having to fight."
Framework
Five factors (Way · Heaven · Earth · Command · Method) and seven comparisons. Score your side against theirs across all twelve. If the totals don't favour you, withdraw — do not commit on hope.
Best for
- ✦Risk · is this worth fighting for?
- ✦Negotiation · winning without combat
- ✦Knowing self vs other
- ✦Trade-offs · what you give up to gain
From the canon
"Know self and other — a hundred battles, no peril. Know self alone — one win, one loss."
— 孙子兵法 · 谋攻篇
"To win every battle is not the height of skill. The height of skill is to subdue the other without battle."
— 孙子兵法 · 谋攻篇
"War is the way of indirection."
— 孙子兵法 · 计篇
Consult Sun Wu
Lay out your situation. They'll run it through their framework, lean on one canonical quote, and end with one concrete next step for today.