Book SummaryThe 33 Strategies of War, by Robert Greene

1-Page Summary1-Page Book Summary of The 33 Strategies of War

Best-selling author Robert Greene (The 48 Laws of Power, The Laws of Human Nature) asserts that life is a daily struggle—a war between you and the people, organizations, or other forces that work against you. To be successful in life you need to win the war, and to win the war you need a winning strategy. In The 33 Strategies of War, he presents strategic insights based on his synthesis of military history, historic writings on strategy, and modern-day business dealings. Greene argues that applying these principles of strategy can help you succeed in almost any arena of life.

In this guide, we’ll compare Greene’s recommendations to those from other experts in the fields of business, strategy, and marketing, examining advice from W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne’s Blue Ocean Strategy, Richard Rumelt’s _[Good...

The 33 Strategies of War Summary General Principles

Greene cautions that “strategy” is not a formula that you can blindly follow to achieve success. Every situation is unique and constantly changing, so you need to formulate your own strategy for your own situation and adapt it over time. Greene presents his 33 strategies as general principles that can help you develop your strategy.

(Shortform note: Greene’s observation that your strategy needs to adapt to changing scenarios is a well-acknowledged topic in management advice books. One of the first books...

The 33 Strategies of War Summary Understand Who You’re Fighting and Why

It’s hard to fight a war if you don’t know what you’re fighting for. As Greene explains, the starting point for any strategy should be to identify your desired end state: What exactly are you trying to gain by fighting? Your end goal should be ambitious enough that you find it inspiring, but also small enough that you can realistically achieve it.

(Shortform note: Understanding your end goal can help you succeed in any area of life, not just business or military strategy. In The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey advises you to imagine yourself at the end of your life or career, taking stock of your impact or accomplishments. What...

The 33 Strategies of War Summary Use the Power of Knowledge

Once you know what you want to achieve and what enemies stand in your way, you can begin planning your war. To do this, Greene recommends that you immerse yourself in the best available information on the environment in which you’ll be fighting, the condition of your own forces, and the enemies that you must overcome. Try to anticipate how your enemies will act and react to each of your moves. Consider different ways things could turn out, and make detailed plans for how you would respond to each possible situation.

Greene advocates this method of creating detailed plans branching into many alternative scenarios because it allows you to adapt quickly to changing conditions. Plans that depend on a rigid schedule quickly fall apart because things never turn out exactly according to plan.

Strategizing With Limited Information

In Crossing the Chasm, Geoffrey Moore applies a similar principle to the business problem of choosing the best market segment to target with a new product. His analysis highlights a nuance of the principle: Even after studying the best information that you have, you’ll still have to...

The 33 Strategies of War Summary Keep Your Enemies Guessing

The better you can predict what your enemies will do, the more easily you can develop a strategy to defeat them. But the better your enemies can anticipate what you will do, the more effectively they’ll counter it. Thus, a key element of any strategy is to prevent your enemies from figuring out what you’re up to until it's too late. Greene discusses several ways to achieve this.

(Shortform note: Sometimes just having a proactive strategy is enough to catch your opponents off-guard. In Good Strategy Bad Strategy, Richard Rumelt observes that most people and organizations don’t have a defined strategy—instead, they just react to circumstances. And they tend to assume that everyone else does the same, so they won’t expect you to plan ahead.)

Keep Your Options Open

Greene advises you to keep your options open. The more actions you can take, the harder it is for someone to anticipate what you will do.

As a way to increase the flexibility of your forces, he suggests splitting up your army into...

The 33 Strategies of War Summary Don’t Let Small Size Hold You Back

When you first start out on any conquest, chances are that your enemies will have more resources than you. However, this isn’t necessarily a problem. Greene points out that smaller armies are more mobile and easier to conceal. And if you don’t seem large enough to pose a significant threat, your opponents may simply ignore you.

Greene suggests that you can use this to your advantage by building up your empire from many small conquests. You suddenly take possession of something that, by itself, is not worth your opponents’ time or energy to fight over. Then bide your time, building up your strength and waiting for others to forget about your recent conquest. Once they’ve forgotten about it, you can repeat the process. Greene asserts that over time you can quietly take over a large territory without anyone realizing what you’re up to until it’s too late for them to stop you.

Conquer Niche Markets

In Crossing the Chasm, Geoffrey Moore presents a business application of Greene’s strategy of building up an empire from pieces that, individually, your opponents don’t consider worth fighting for.

Moore’s...

The 33 Strategies of War Summary Plan a Decisive Victory

Greene discusses a number of strategic concepts to consider when you’re ready to crush an enemy force for good.

Target the Source of Your Enemy’s Power

First, he says you should consider the root of your enemy’s power. What is it that truly enables your enemy to stand in your way? For example, perhaps you’re outgunned, but their high-tech weapons are dependent on a steady stream of supplies, so the root of their strength is their supply lines. Cut off their supply lines, and they won’t be able to fight you effectively anymore.

(Shortform note: Once again, Greene’s strategy of identifying and eliminating the source of your enemy’s power isn’t limited to military applications. Ray Dalio prescribes this same strategy for dealing with problems in organizations and in your personal life. Whenever a problem arises, or something doesn’t go the way you wanted it to, Dalio advises you to ask, “Why?” not just once, but repeatedly, until you get past the symptoms to the source of the problem. Whether the problem is a bad habit, a defective procedure, or something else,...

Shortform Exercise: Start Developing Your Strategy

Take a minute to think about how you could apply some of Greene’s advice to winning the battles in your own life.

Greene says one of the keys to developing an effective strategy is knowing exactly what you want to accomplish. Think of a project or something you’d like to accomplish in the near future and briefly describe your desired end-state. (For example, paying off debt, getting a promotion, or positioning your product as the market leader in a certain sector.)