Sun Zi's Teaching on Strategies - Understanding International Warfares

Sun Zi's Art of War Chapter 3 is about 谋攻 Attack Strategies/Plan. 

The key verses are:

是故百战百胜，非善之善者也；不战而屈人之兵，善之善者也。

故上兵伐谋，其次伐交，其次伐兵，其下攻城。

The literal translation is:

"Therefore, winning a hundred battles is not the best of strategies; subduing the enemy's army without fighting is the best of strategies.

Thus, the best strategy is to attack the enemy's plans, the next is to disrupt their alliances, the next is to attack their troops, and the worst is to attack their cities."

I normally give my dynamic translation as:

Winning every battle is not the best. The best is to win without a fight.

The best is to win by strategies, next by alliances and negotiations, the third is to fight and the worst is to be forced to attack a castle/city.

The Ukraine-Russian Conflicts

I have covered that in the following posts:

What can we learn from the Present Russian Ukraine War? (Art of War in Action)

What can we learn from the Present Russian Ukraine War? (Art of War in Action - Part 2)

What can we learn from the Present Russian Ukraine War? (Art of War in Action - Part 3)

What can we learn from the Present Russian Ukraine War? (Art of War in Action - Part 4) The Better Way

China Unification of Taiwan

With the principles shown above, it is understandable that China's preferred choice is to unify Taiwan peacefully.  The US's strategy is to force China to take the worst-case scenario of street-fightings in Taiwan and it is doing that by supporting the pro-Taiwan independence fractions indirectly.

The four alternatives of attack can also be seen as four stages of war if winning cannot be achieved at the earlier and better strategies.

Stage 1 China's best strategy to unify Taiwan peacefully is done in two major trusts:

1. Push - Threats of War. China is building its military strengths to be superior to Taiwan's, surrounding Taiwan with many war simulations etc.

2. Pull - Soft approach of gaining Taiwanese people's support through better trading terms (reducing them since it does not seem to work well), cultural, information, etc.

Stage 2 Negotiations and Alliances

1. Reducing Taiwanese' diplomatic relations with countries. Now is down to 10. If it is zero, then Taiwan is not recognized as a country by anyone any more.

2. Establishing channels for contact and negotiations.

Stage 3 Attack - Hopefully this does not happen because it will result in great loss of lives.

Stage 4 Fighting in Cities - This is the worst case and hopefully it does not happen. 

 

Generative AI Engines Compared using An Ancient Chinese Story

How good are the various AI engines that can give you principles from the cases given to them?

I took a historical case from 《战国策》赵四·赵太后新用事  “The Warring States Stratagems” Zhao Chapter 4 – Zhao Empress Began to Rule -to make sure the case study used is a real one.

I fed the Chinese version of the story to all the tested AI engines. The translation from Chinese to English was done using ChatGPT.  Below is the mind map comparing them.

From the same story, I also distill my principles, which are included for comparison with AI engines.

Personally, with some bias, of course, my distill principles are better than all the AI engines. 
It shows that AI engines give reasonable answers but human beings with the right expertise can do better.

Among the AI engines, I think, for this particular case, KIMI is the best.

What do you think? Please add your comments to this post.

The above map (except for the branch Lim Liat) is translated from the following Chinese text mind map:

The Case Study Story:

赵太后新用事，秦急攻之。赵氏求救于齐，齐曰：“必以长安君为质，兵乃出。”太后不肯，大臣强谏。太后明谓左右：“有复言令长安君为质者，老妇必唾其面。” 　　左师触龙言愿见太后。太后盛气而揖之。入而徐趋，至而自谢，曰：“老臣病足，曾不能疾走，不得见久矣。窃自恕，而恐太后玉体之有所郄也，故愿望见太后。”太后曰：“老妇恃辇而行。”曰：“日食饮得无衰乎？”曰：“恃粥耳。”曰：“老臣今者殊不欲食，乃自强步，日三四里，少益耆食，和于身。”太后曰：“老妇不能。”太后之色少解。 　　左师公曰：“老臣贱息舒祺，最少，不肖；而臣衰，窃爱怜之。愿令得补黑衣之数，以卫王宫。没死以闻。”太后曰：“敬诺。年几何矣？”对曰：“十五岁矣。虽少，愿及未填沟壑而托之。”太后曰：“丈夫亦爱怜其少子乎？”对曰：“甚于妇人。”太后笑曰：“妇人异甚。”对曰：“老臣窃以为媪之爱燕后贤于长安君。”曰：“君过矣！不若长安君之甚。”左师公曰：“父母之爱子，则为之计深远。媪之送燕后也，持其踵，为之泣，念悲其远也，亦哀之矣。已行，非弗思也，祭祀必祝之，祝曰：‘必勿使反。’岂非计久长，有子孙相继为王也哉？”太后曰：“然。” 　　左师公曰：“今三世以前，至于赵之为赵，赵王之子孙侯者，其继有在者乎？”曰：“无有。”曰：“微独赵，诸侯有在者乎？”曰：“老妇不闻也。”“此其近者祸及身，远者及其子孙。岂人主之子孙则必不善哉？位尊而无功，奉厚而无劳，而挟重器多也。今媪尊长安君之位，而封之以膏腴之地，多予之重器，而不及今令有功于国，一旦山陵崩，长安君何以自托于赵？老臣以媪为长安君计短也，故以为其爱不若燕后。”太后曰：“诺，恣君之所使之。” 　　于是为长安君约车百乘，质于齐，齐兵乃出。 　　子义闻之曰：“人主之子也，骨肉之亲也，犹不能恃无功之尊、无劳之奉，而守金玉之重也，而况人臣乎。”

The translation:

The Queen Dowager of Zhao had just taken power, and Qin launched a sudden attack. Zhao sought help from Qi, but Qi said, "Only if the Lord of Chang'an is sent as a hostage will we send troops." The Queen Dowager refused, and the ministers strongly urged her. The Queen Dowager openly declared to her attendants, "If anyone dares to suggest sending the Lord of Chang'an as a hostage again, I will spit in their face."

The senior official, Chu Long, requested to see the Queen Dowager. She received him angrily. Upon entering, he walked slowly and apologized, saying, "I am an old servant with leg problems and cannot walk quickly. I have not seen you for a long time. I worry about your health and have come to see you." The Queen Dowager replied, "I rely on a carriage to move around." He asked, "Has your daily food and drink intake decreased?" She said, "I rely on porridge." He said, "I have no appetite lately, but I force myself to walk three or four miles a day, which improves my appetite and benefits my health." The Queen Dowager said, "I cannot do that." Her expression softened a little.

Chu Long said, "I have an unworthy youngest son, Shu Qi, whom I love dearly because I am old. I wish to have him serve as the palace guard to protect the royal family. Even if I die, I will be at peace." The Queen Dowager said, "Agreed. How old is he?" He replied, "Fifteen. Though young, I hope he can serve before it’s too late." The Queen Dowager asked, "Do men love their youngest sons as much as women do?" He answered, "More so than women." The Queen Dowager laughed, "Women are very different." He said, "I think you love the Lord of Yan more than the Lord of Chang'an." She replied, "You are mistaken! My love for the Lord of Chang'an is much greater." Chu Long said, "Parents who love their children plan for their long-term future. When you sent the Lord of Yan away, you held his heel and cried because you were sad about his departure. But once he left, you did not forget him and prayed during rituals, hoping he would not return. Isn’t this planning for the long-term so that your descendants can continue to rule?" The Queen Dowager said, "Indeed."

Chu Long continued, "From three generations ago to the present, among the descendants of the Zhao kings, are there any who still hold noble titles?" She said, "None." He asked, "Not just in Zhao, but among the other feudal lords, are there any descendants still holding titles?" She replied, "I have not heard of any." He said, "This is because the closer ones faced disaster themselves, and the farther ones affected their descendants. Is it that the rulers’ descendants are necessarily incompetent? No, it’s because they have high status without merit, receive great rewards without labor, and possess many valuable items. Now you honor the Lord of Chang'an, grant him fertile lands, and give him many valuable items. Yet, if he does not contribute to the country now, how will he secure his position in Zhao if something happens to you? I think your plan for the Lord of Chang'an is short-sighted and shows less love than for the Lord of Yan." The Queen Dowager said, "You are right, do as you suggest."

Thus, they prepared a hundred carriages and sent the Lord of Chang'an to Qi as a hostage, and Qi dispatched troops.

Zi Yi, upon hearing this, said, "Even the son of a ruler, though of royal blood, cannot rely on status without merit or rewards without labor to secure precious items. How much more so for ministers?"

Lim Liat (c) 24 Jun 24

Creative Ideas for the Next Smart Phone using Generative AI & BVITS Ideas-generator

Using Generative AI for Creative Ideas Generation

Generative AI is based on collections of large existing data. Since it is based on past data, could it be used for creativity and innovation? The answer is yes with some limitations. Take an example, say what the next generation smartphone will be like. The internet does contain many posts that talk about the next smartphone. So, Generative AI, based on such, will be able to tell us about the future of smartphones. Below is the summary of such an exploration, using Generative AI like ChatGPT4o, Doubao, Kimi, Germini & Perplexity.

The prompt was: 

present mobile phone has reached the saturation state, what will be the next kind of mobile phone. what functions will they have?

I combined their results and regrouped them into 17 categories which are shown in the mind map below:

Using BVITS For 'Absurd' Ideas Generation

However, to be extremely creative, and to have radical ideas, we need to have some methods that will break our prejudices and see into our blindspots. 

Some years back, I created a method called "BVITS“, see the post for the details.

“If at first the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it.” ― Albert Einstein

While the BVITS method shows us how to think 'absurdly', it is very difficult for us to follow since it is acting against our stereotype fixed mindset.  The best is to let the computer generate absurd ideas for us. I had done that using Axon Idea Processor software. Unfortunately, it is no longer available. So I wrote an improved version using Python named "BVITS Ideas Generator ".

The BVITS basic method just uses 3 lines of text. Using the smartphone as an example:

   1st Line: New System Name e.g. NewPhone

   2nd Line: Components e.g. Screen CPU Memory Camera Apps Battery Sensor

   3rd Line: Environment Components e.g. 'People', 'Internet', 'Satellites', 'Things'

We can generate as many absurd ideas as we wish. 

Below is a run of the program:

BVITS Ideas Generator 0.0 by Lim Liat 11-6-2024 copyrighted

BVITS Ideas Generator 0.0 by Lim Liat 11-6-2024 copyrighted

BVITSIGEN Input File Format:

3 lines of text as descrbed below

   1st Line: New System Name e.g. NewPhone

   2nd Line: Components e.g. Screen CPU Memory Camera Apps Battery

   3rd Line: Environment Components e.g. People Building

BVITGEN-Input.txt Example:

NewPhone

Screen CPU Memory Camera Apps Battery

People Building

========================================

New system is:

NewPhone

The Components are:Screen CPU Memory Camera Apps Battery Sensor

['Screen', 'CPU', 'Memory', 'Camera', 'Apps', 'Battery', 'Sensor']

Size is 7

The Environment Elements are:

['People', 'Internet', 'Satellites', 'Things']

The Generated Ideas are:

------------------------

The ideas generated are kept in a file BVITSGenIdeas.txt

Ideas are appended to the file. So you can run many times and all ideas are kept

Enter the number of ideas wanted: 20

-----

Intensify:Change and Intensify the value of CPU's parameters

Outsource:For NewPhone replace Apps by Internet

Irregularize: Create a dependency between Battery and Memory

Combine: Merge Screen and Camera

TakeOut:NewPhone without Sensor

Irregularize: Create a dependency between Battery and Camera

TakeOut:NewPhone without CPU

Adopt: Bring into NewPhone a function or attribute in Things

TakeOut:NewPhone without Memory

DropIn: Take in the practices from other industries, countries, living things or nature.

Divide:Segment NewPhone over phase change (Solid->Liquid->Gas)

Combine: Merge Memory and Apps

Outsource:For NewPhone replace CPU by Satellites

TakeOut:NewPhone without Sensor

Intensify:Change and Intensify the value of Camera's parameters

DropIn: Take in the practices from other industries, countries, living things or nature.

Adopt: Bring into NewPhone a function or attribute in People

Invert: Reverse the relationship between Screen and Sensor over force (gravity, mechanical, thermal, chemical, Sonar, ElectroMagnetic, AI)

Combine: Merge Sensor and Sensor

Invert: Reverse the relationship between Memory and CPU over Time (start,end,duration,pre/post-action, cycle, frequency) 

 

To continue (Y/N)?n 

Data has been appended to BVITSGenIdeas.txt

To sort the ideas (Y/N)?n

Duplicated ideas are removed and put in BVITSGenIdeasP.txt

That's all folk. Hope it helps

Hit <Enter> to exit program

Feeding the Absurd Ideas Back to Generative AI

We can take any of the generated ideas and feed it back to the Generative AI.

Take the following one --- Irregularize: Create a dependency between Battery and Memory.
Our initial response would be, "What's that? So silly."
But when we use it as a prompt to ChatGPT 4o model, we get a long list of suggested features ending with a prototype:

Conceptual Smartphone Example

Model Name: EcoSmart X1

Key Features:

• Adaptive Power and Memory Management: Adjusts memory allocation and power usage dynamically based on battery levels.
• Smart Application Control: Limits background processes and prioritizes essential apps when battery is low.
• Energy-Efficient Memory: Incorporates LPDDR5 and non-volatile memory for reduced power consumption.
• Real-Time Monitoring: Provides real-time alerts and adjustments for optimal performance and power efficiency.
• Machine Learning Optimization: Learns user behavior to predict and optimize resource allocation.

By integrating these features, the EcoSmart X1 ensures a balance between high performance and energy efficiency, providing users with a longer-lasting and more reliable smartphone experience.

Try another one:  Adopt: Bring into NewPhone a function or attribute in Internet

Integrating advanced internet-based features into a new smartphone can significantly enhance user experience and functionality. Here's a conceptual overview of a new smartphone with an innovative internet-dependent feature:

Conceptual Smartphone: ConnectSmart Z1

Key Feature: Smart Web Optimizer

Description: The Smart Web Optimizer is an intelligent feature designed to enhance browsing speed, data usage efficiency, and overall internet experience on the smartphone. It leverages AI, cloud computing, and advanced network protocols to optimize web content delivery based on user habits, network conditions, and battery levels.

Features and Functionalities:

1. AI-Driven Content Caching:

   • Predictive Caching: Uses machine learning to predict and pre-load frequently accessed websites and web pages based on user habits. This ensures faster load times and a smoother browsing experience.
   • Local and Cloud Caching: Balances caching between local storage and cloud servers to optimize performance and storage usage.

2. Dynamic Data Compression:

   • Adaptive Compression: Compresses web content dynamically based on the current network speed and battery level. Higher compression rates can be applied during slower network connections or when the battery is low to save data and power.
   • Content-Specific Compression: Applies different compression techniques for text, images, and videos to maintain a balance between quality and data efficiency.

3. Enhanced Security and Privacy:

   • Encrypted Browsing: Ensures all web traffic is encrypted for secure browsing, protecting user data from potential threats.
   • Ad and Tracker Blocking: Includes built-in ad and tracker blocking to enhance privacy and reduce data usage.

4. Seamless Connectivity Management:

   • Smart Network Switching: Automatically switches between Wi-Fi, LTE, and 5G based on signal strength and data needs, ensuring the best connection at all times.
   • Data Usage Monitoring: Provides real-time monitoring of data usage with detailed insights, allowing users to manage their data plans effectively.

5. Battery and Performance Optimization:

   • Energy-Efficient Browsing: Reduces power consumption by optimizing the rendering process of web content, especially during low battery conditions.
   • Background Activity Management: Limits background data usage of apps when the battery is low or when on a limited data plan.

Implementation:

• Software Integration: The Smart Web Optimizer can be integrated into the phone's operating system, working seamlessly with the default browser and other internet-dependent apps.
• Cloud Services: Utilizes cloud computing for predictive caching and dynamic data compression, ensuring minimal impact on local device resources.
• User Interface: Offers an intuitive interface within the settings menu, allowing users to customize their browsing experience, such as adjusting compression levels, managing cache storage, and setting data usage alerts.

Example Scenario:

A user frequently visits news websites in the morning. The Smart Web Optimizer predicts this behavior and pre-loads the latest news articles during off-peak hours or when the device is charging overnight. As the user opens their browser, the pages load instantly. When the user is on a limited data plan, the feature compresses images and videos to reduce data usage, ensuring they can access more content without exceeding their data limits. If the battery is low, the optimizer reduces background activity and switches to a less power-intensive network mode to save energy.

By incorporating the Smart Web Optimizer, the ConnectSmart Z1 ensures users enjoy a fast, efficient, and secure internet experience, tailored to their usage patterns and network conditions.

This ConnectSmartZ1 idea is a superset of Apple Intelligence: every new AI feature coming to the iPhone and Mac latest

Try another seemingly ridiculous one:

The new smartphone can be: Segment NewPhone over phase change (Solid->Liquid->Gas)

ChatGPT:

Segmenting the marketing campaign for the new smartphone, "NewPhone," over the phases of a phase change (solid -> liquid -> gas) can provide a creative and memorable way to highlight its features and lifecycle. Here’s how you can break it down:

Solid Phase: Stability and Durability

• Tagline: "Solid as a rock."
• Features to Highlight: Build quality, durability, long battery life, robust design, and reliability.
• Marketing Focus:
  • Showcase the phone's resistance to drops, scratches, and everyday wear and tear.
  • Emphasize the long-lasting battery and the reliability of the hardware.
  • Customer testimonials focusing on durability and reliability in various environments.

Liquid Phase: Flexibility and Adaptability

• Tagline: "Flows with you."
• Features to Highlight: Versatile software, adaptive performance, seamless connectivity, and fluid user experience.
• Marketing Focus:
  • Demonstrate how the software adapts to different user needs and preferences.
  • Highlight features like multitasking, seamless app integration, and smooth transitions between tasks.
  • Use scenarios showing how NewPhone fits into different lifestyles, from professional to personal use.

Gas Phase: Innovation and Expansion

• Tagline: "Reaching new heights."
• Features to Highlight: Cutting-edge technology, innovation, advanced camera features, and expansive capabilities.
• Marketing Focus:
  • Showcase the latest innovations and advanced technology incorporated into the NewPhone.
  • Emphasize features like high-resolution cameras, AI capabilities, and future-proof technology.
  • Use aspirational imagery and narratives to position the NewPhone as a leader in innovation, showing it pushing the boundaries of what a smartphone can do.

Integrated Campaign Strategy

• Visuals and Media:

  • Solid Phase: Strong, bold visuals with emphasis on strength and durability. Use imagery of rugged environments, showcasing the phone's build.
  • Liquid Phase: Smooth, flowing visuals that depict flexibility and ease of use. Show diverse use cases and environments, emphasizing adaptability.
  • Gas Phase: Airy, expansive visuals that symbolize freedom and limitless possibilities. Highlight futuristic elements and cutting-edge technology.

• Promotional Events:

  • Launch events that transition through the phases, starting with a showcase of durability tests (solid), moving to live demos of software and user interface (liquid), and concluding with a reveal of innovative features and future updates (gas).
  • Social media campaigns that progressively unveil each phase, building anticipation and engagement over time.

• Customer Engagement:

  • Encourage user-generated content by asking customers to share their experiences relating to each phase, using specific hashtags for each phase to create a sense of progression and community involvement.
  • Provide incentives for customers who participate in all three phases, such as exclusive access to new features or special discounts.

Conclusion

This segmented approach not only highlights different aspects of the NewPhone's capabilities but also creates a narrative that captures the product's journey from being a sturdy, reliable device to a flexible, user-friendly tool, and ultimately to a cutting-edge, innovative gadget. This phased marketing strategy can engage customers at different levels and keep them interested throughout the product lifecycle.

Endless Radical Ideas

By using the BVITS Idea generator with Generative AI, we can come up with endless innovations that could be made.

Lim Liat (c) 17 June 2024

 

Life Lessons from Programming

Life Lessons from Programming:

1. It is all about decision-making...

If..then...else...

Know the conditions for success and those for failures.

Study the consequences.

Learn from the mistakes. Don't blame. Don't complain. Those actions are futile. Such a concept in management is called 'above the line' thinking.

2. Errors happen at the boundaries.

Two types of errors --- starting and ending.

Type 1 Starting: Forget to initialize the variables.

Don't just anyhow start. Many people failed because they heard that "Entrepreneurs must take risks." But the truth is that "Successful serial entrepreneurs minimize risks first before they start." That's why they are serially successful. Sun Zi tells us, "Winners calculate first and only fight the war that they can win. Losers start a war first and then try to win.". So you know the secret of "hundreds of batters hundreds of wins". Initial the variables rightly. Compute and start only if you can still make it even if the worse happens.

Type 2 Ending: Don't know how to stop.

The program runs without end or until it crashes with an error.

Sun Zi tells us that we must stop when there are no more benefits. Many gamblers wishfully hope that one more attempt will win back all after a long series of losses. They became bankrupt. Must know the conditions for stopping when enough is enough. Sunk costs are lost costs, don't try to invest more good money to recover sunk costs. Face the facts, read the trends, and stop with contentment. Rest that you may go even further.

3. It is about Data Types:

A string '123' is not the same as an integer 123. They operate differently. '123'+'456'='123456', whereas, 123+456=579.

People are of different types. No way to treat them the same. They are good for different types of jobs. So key in human capital management is the matching of people-types and job-types. Got them right and the company will do well. Got them wrong, you will be spending time solving relationship and productivity problems and living a stress-filled life.

So learn from programming well.

Lim Liat (c) 7-Mar-21

opSdronest1

7

Mind Mapping Generative AI Outputs for Enhanced Answers & Knowledge

With Generative AI, we can get relatively good answers quickly. To get better answers, we can use a number of Generative AI engines. But we need a tool to combine the answers to arrive at a better answer. Such a tool is Mind Mapping. By using mind mapping to consolidate and re-organize the answers, we will get not just better answers but a better framework of knowledge to think and decide.

Let's use an example. 

Question: What are things we should not do in life? Why?

I use 4 different AI engines to give me the answers and mind map them as follows:

You can see that the various AI engines give some similar answers and some different ones.

By combining and re-organizing them, we can get a more complete list. It is very to do with a mind mapping software like Freeplane shown above and below:

Here is the combined answers mind map:

I spent some more time grouping the answers and came out with 4 key groups shown with the yellow background. It immediately helped me to understand the total better and pointed me to where I should focus on improving my life. 

On this map, I can add my own learning from other sources and put them into the right group such as 'never says never', never be proud, never pre-judge, never assume, etc.

Using mind mapping to consolidate and reorganize the answers from various generative AI engines enable us to get better knowledge and enhanced answer. 

Hope you learn both mind mapping with generative ai.

Lim Liat (c) 27-3-2024

A Guide for New Year Resolutions - Wisdom from Ancient Chinese

With the coming of Chinese New Year 2024, maybe we can review and make New Year resolutions for the coming year. Here is a list of dos and don'ts for the noble persons from Ancient Chinese Classics. 

The Behavior of the Noble Person:   

• 1 君子有三立

  Aspiration: 3 establishments

  • + 古人云君子三立：立德、立功（行）、立言。立德，如果是一棵树，那他就是主干。 立功，如果是一棵树，他就是花和果实。立言，如果是一棵树那他就是种子，传下去。

    As the ancients said, a noble person establishes three things: the establishment of virtue, the establishment of achievements (actions), and the establishment of words. The establishment of virtue is like the trunk of a tree; it forms the core. The establishment of achievements is like the flowers and fruits of a tree; it represents the visible results. The establishment of words is like the seeds of a tree; it is passed down and propagated.
• 2 君子有三畏。 Respect：3 fears
  • + 子曰：畏天命，畏大人，畏圣人之言。 小人不知天命而不畏也，狎大人，侮圣人之言。

    Confucius. "Fear of the heavenly mandate, fear of great individuals, and fear of the words of the wise.  Petty individuals do not understand the heavenly mandate and thus do not fear it. They treat great individuals with disrespect and scorn the words of the wise."
• 3 君子有三道。Attributes: 3 Principles
  • + 子曰：仁者不忧，智者不惑，勇者不惧。

    Love without worry; Wisdom without confusion; Boldness without fear.
• 4 君子有三乐 Contentment: 3 Joys
  • + 孟子曰：“君子有三乐，而王天下不与存焉。父母俱存，兄弟无故，一乐也；仰不愧于天，俯不怍于人，二乐也；得天下英才而教育之，三乐也。君子有三乐，而王天下不与存焉。”

    Happy family; Clear conscience;Talented Students
• 5 君子有三愆 Speech: 3 faults
  • 子曰：君子待人有三愆，言未及之而言，谓之躁。言及之而不言，谓之隐。未见颜色而言，谓之瞽。

    Confucius said: "A noble person dealing with others, there are three faults: Speaking before it is the time to speak is called rashness. Knowing when to speak but choosing not to is called discretion. Speaking without observing the other person's expression is called blindness."

• 6 君子有三戒。Age: 3 Avoidances
  • 子曰：少之时，血气未定，戒之在色；及其壮也，血气方刚，戒之在斗；及其老也，血气既衰，戒之在得。

    when young with vigours not controlled, avoid the temptation of sex; when strong, and full of sap, avoid fighting; when old with vigours diminishing, avoid greed to gain.

• 7 君子有三患：Learning: 3 perils
  • 未之闻，患弗得闻也；既闻之，患弗得学也；既学之，患弗能行也。

    Before hearing about it, the concern is not being able to hear of it;

    After hearing about it, the concern is not being able to learn it;

    After learning it, the concern is not being able to practice it.

• 8 子绝四：Mindset: 4 Abstinence
  • + 毋意、毋必、毋固、毋我。

    Do not be subjective; Do not be absolute/extreme; Do not be rigid; Do not be egocentric/selfish
• 9 君子有四不 Actions: 4 'Nots'
  • + 第一，君子不妄动，动必有道：

    Firstly, a noble person does not act recklessly; every action must follow the proper way.
  • + 第二，君子不徒语，语必有理

    Secondly, a noble person does not speak without purpose; every word must have reason.
  • + 第三，君子不苟求，求必有义

    Thirdly, a noble person does not seek without reason; every pursuit must have righteousness.
  • + 第四，君子不虚行，行必有正

    Fourthly, a noble person does not engage in empty actions; every conduct must be upright."
• 10 君子有五耻：5 shames
  • 居其位，无其言，君子耻之；

    To hold a position but lack the corresponding speech

  • 有其言，无其行，君子耻之；

    To have the speech but lack corresponding actions

  • 既得之而又失之，君子耻之；

    To acquire something and then lose it

  • 地有余而民不足，君子耻之；

    When there is a surplus in the land but the people lack

  • + 众寡均而倍焉，君子耻之。

    When the distribution is fair, but one takes more than their share
• 11 君子有九思。9 reflections
  • 子曰：“君子有九思：视思明、听思聪、色思温、貌思恭、言思忠、事思敬、疑思问、忿思难、见得思义。”

    In seeing, one reflects on clarity. In listening, one reflects on understanding. In facial expression, one reflects on warmth. In appearance, one reflects on humility. In a speech, one reflects on faithfulness. In actions, one reflects on respect. In doubt, one reflects on inquiry. In anger, one reflects on suffering. In getting, one reflects on righteousness.

Chinese New Year 2024 Wish and How To Achieve It

 Spend some time getting ready for the CNY wishes that are coming. Instead of just wishing back with "happiness and prosperity" etc, come out with the following two pictures.

P1. Since it is the year of the dragon, wishing all to rise and become the flying dragon. Hexagram#1 乾卦 stands for 天 Heaven, the Creator, ... the stage 5 is the flying dragon. It is the number for the king as well.

Chinese words are made up of pictures and combinations of other words. The word for dragon is 龙, with the traditional font as 龍. Putting three 龍 together, representing a group of dragons gives 龘, pronounced as 'da'. It is the picture of a group of dragons soaring together with joy and fun. Similarly, we can put 3 horses 马 together to get 骉 biāo showing a group of horses running together, a stampede.

P2. Having a positive and confident outlook is a start. The next is to know how to achieve it. We need creativity, innovation, and persistence to complete. The creative method is BVITS, 10 operators for systematic creativity. The BVITS creative method is described here.

Wishing all a good 2024 and the wisdom to achieve your wish.

By the way, the Chinese Dragon is different from the Western dragon. Chinese Dragon represents God, the all-powerful and merciful One. It represents goodness. Chinese called themselves the descendants of the dragon. Chinese kings are called 天子 Son of God, and clothed with dragon this and that.

See also: Learning from "I-Ching" Part 04 1-乾 Heaven - Creative Force

Values and Attributes Should Not be 1 Dimension but be Complementary

 

Complementary Values from Chinese Zodiac Signs

Posted on 29/10/2010 by limliat

In the Corporation Performance Management (CPM) methodology, the first thing to do is do define the MVV which stands for Mission, Vision, and Values. The mission is the identity of the business. It is the reason for its existence. It is the unique value contribution of the business. Vision is a picture, a future, of the mission through time. It is the mission in explicit and clearer terms. It is how the corporation will become, and look like in 5, 10, or 20 years time. The vision is the dream and sets the milestones for defining the strategies. Values are the values, character, and beliefs of the corporation or accurately, the values of the people who run the organization. Values are not just moral values but also beliefs that are key to realizing the vision of the organization. Hence, if a business is in food, then a key value will be cleanliness or health besides the moral values of integrity.  Values must be expressed, implemented, and enforced in policies, procedures, incentives, hiring, and firing of staff. It is best to have a published storybook containing cases of actual experiences of staff and customers displaying and experiencing the values.

Complementary Values

In this post, I want to share complementary values. Innovation is not just about creativity but also about discipline execution to convert intangible creative new ideas into tangible products, services, and business models that deliver business value.  Boldness is best moderated by carefulness to ensure maximum success with minimum risk.

The Wisdom of Chinese Zodiac Signs

Interestingly, the Chinese Zodiac Signs expressed these complementary values. Here is a mind map that shows them:

For a more scholastic discussion on complementary values, see

Learning Innovation from Confucius Part 9 Innovate para 4 reproduced below:

Analects 17:8 子曰: 六言六蔽  Six Virtues and Six Viruses:

1. 好『仁』不好学，其蔽也『愚』；
   Great in caring but not in learning will suffer from stupidity. (easily misled and taken advantage of)
2. 好『知』不好学，其蔽也『荡』；
   Great in knowledge but not in learning will suffer from uncontrolled wild conduct. (too smart and do all kinds of mischievous things)
3. 好『信』不好学，其蔽也『贼』；
   Great in trusting and not in learning will suffer from theft. (Being cheated).
4. 好『直』不好学，其蔽也『绞』；
   Great in forthrightness and not in learning will suffer from hurting people
5. 好『勇』不好学，其蔽也『乱』；
   Great in courage but not in learning will suffer from creating a big mess.
6. 好『刚』不好学，其蔽也『狂』。
   Great in strength and not in learning will suffer from violent acts.

Learning The Universal Principle of Rightly Balanced (Doctrine of Mean or Pivot), or Understanding The Doctrine of the Mean in One Minute.

Bvotech Copyrighted 2010