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Where the 92 Strategic Principles come from
The 92 Strategic Principles are WEGVISOR’s own selection from the strategy literature: from Sun Tzu and Carl von Clausewitz through Basil Henry Liddell Hart to Michael E. Porter, Richard P. Rumelt and game theory. Here we show openly which traditions they come from and what each principle is based on.
“Purpose comes first, then the means: what you ultimately want to achieve determines which means you use and which you forbid yourself.”
Selected from the strategy literature
People have been thinking about strategy for more than 2,000 years: in the writings of military commanders and in political advice books, in game theory, in management research and in the psychology of decision-making. The collection brings these insights together.
WEGVISOR chose principles that carry over to leadership in everyday life: in business, in the family, in the church. They are arranged in 12 groups, each with a guiding question, from “What are you fighting for, and what should be left standing at the end?” to “How do you make use of what the situation itself provides?”
The core statements are our own wording, not quotations. Each page states under “Background” which work the principle goes back to. Where a core statement goes further than its source, this is noted under “Limitation.” The blog explains principles from war and competition without glorifying violence or deception; where a principle is ethically delicate, the page says so openly.
Eight traditions of the strategy literature
Each principle belongs to one tradition from which it draws most. Many have roots in several; the most important one is named.
1 Primacy of Purpose2 Principle of the Objective6 Center of Gravity7 Concentration of Force8 Relative Superiority9 Economy of Force10 Square Law of Strength12 Reserve13 Culminating Point15 Logistics18 Friction19 Fog of Uncertainty20 Paradoxical Trinity21 Plan and Adaptation22 Mission Command23 Unity of Command24 Simplicity32 Surprise36 Interior Lines37 Strength of the Defense43 Initiative44 Annihilation and Exhaustion45 Preparation in Peacetime46 Moral Forces
16 Know the Enemy and Yourself17 Foreknowledge26 Deception27 Victory without Fighting28 The Direct and the Indirect29 Emptiness and Fullness30 Formlessness33 Art of Stratagems35 Terrain39 First Make Yourself Invincible41 Speed42 Rhythm and Timing47 Unity of Leaders and People52 Golden Bridge53 Four Means58 Mandala of States59 Six Measures84 Become the Enemy85 Death Ground91 Potential of the Situation92 The Soft Overcomes the Hard
3 Better End State25 OODA Loop31 Indirect Approach34 Paradoxical Logic38 Maneuver40 Freedom of Action56 Asymmetry
14 Overstretch48 Fortuna and Virtù49 Fear and Love50 Resistance to the New51 Fear, Honor and Interest54 Soft Power55 Strategic Narrative60 Balance of Power61 Security Dilemma87 Worldly Wisdom
57 Strategic Interdependence62 Tit for Tat64 Credible Commitment65 Focal Points66 Brinkmanship67 Salami Tactics68 Escalation Ladder69 Best Alternative
4 Kernel of Good Strategy5 Power of Proximate Objectives11 Bottleneck Focus63 Co-opetition70 Positioning71 Value Chain72 Blue Ocean73 Core Competence74 Valuable, Rare Resources75 Experience Curve76 Disruption77 Network Effects78 First Movers and Followers80 Emergent Strategy81 Path Dependence
82 Loss Aversion83 Principles of Influence86 Unintended Consequences
79 Exploration and Exploitation88 Scenario Thinking89 Antifragility90 Red Queen Effect
Three sources of truth
WEGVISOR examines every statement from several directions. For each principle, that means:
Each principle is shown through examples from history and the present day, 368 in all, including one film or series for each. Cautionary examples are included too.
All examplesFor each principle, the page lists its sources with links, states how well the core statement is supported and names its limitation. 327 source references in total.
To the 92 Strategic PrinciplesEvery core statement must hold together on its own and fit with the others. Where two principles are in tension with each other, the “Related principles” section says so.
To the overviewWhich principle comes from where
All 92 principles with their background and their tradition. The details are on each page under “Background” and “What research shows.”
| No. | Principle | Background | Tradition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Primacy of Purpose | From Carl von Clausewitz’s “On War” (1832). | T1Classical Theory of War |
| 2 | Principle of the Objective | From John Frederick Charles Fuller’s “The Foundations of the Science of War” (1926). | T1Classical Theory of War |
| 3 | Better End State | From Basil Henry Liddell Hart’s “Strategy” (1954). | T3Indirect Strategy and Maneuver |
| 4 | Kernel of Good Strategy | From Richard P. Rumelt’s book “Good Strategy/Bad Strategy” (2011). | T6Business Strategy |
| 5 | Power of Proximate Objectives | From Richard P. Rumelt’s book “Good Strategy/Bad Strategy” (2011), the chapter on proximate objectives. | T6Business Strategy |
| 6 | Center of Gravity | From Carl von Clausewitz’s “On War” (1832–1834). | T1Classical Theory of War |
| 7 | Concentration of Force | From Carl von Clausewitz’s “On War” (1832), Book III, Chapter 11. | T1Classical Theory of War |
| 8 | Relative Superiority | From Carl von Clausewitz’s “On War” (1832), Book III, Chapter 8. | T1Classical Theory of War |
| 9 | Economy of Force | From Carl von Clausewitz’s “On War” (1832), Book III, Chapter 14. | T1Classical Theory of War |
| 10 | Square Law of Strength | From Frederick William Lanchester’s book “Aircraft in Warfare: The Dawn of the Fourth Arm” (1916). | T1Classical Theory of War |
| 11 | Bottleneck Focus | From Wolfgang Mewes’s bottleneck-focused strategy, taught as the correspondence course “Die kybernetische Managementlehre (EKS)” (1971–1977). | T6Business Strategy |
| 12 | Reserve | From Carl von Clausewitz’s “On War” (1832), Book III, Chapter 13. | T1Classical Theory of War |
| 13 | Culminating Point | From Carl von Clausewitz’s “On War” (1832–1834), Book VII, Chapter 5, and the section on the culminating point of victory. | T1Classical Theory of War |
| 14 | Overstretch | From Paul Kennedy’s “The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers” (1987). | T4Political Prudence |
| 15 | Logistics | From Martin van Creveld’s “Supplying War: Logistics from Wallenstein to Patton” (1977). | T1Classical Theory of War |
| 16 | Know the Enemy and Yourself | From Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War,” Chapter 3 (China, traditionally dated to the 6th or 5th century BC; English translation by Lionel Giles, 1910). | T2Eastern Strategy |
| 17 | Foreknowledge | From Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War,” Chapter 13 on the use of spies (English translation by Lionel Giles, 1910), supplemented by Roberta Wohlstetter’s and Richard K. Betts’s research on warning and surprise. | T2Eastern Strategy |
| 18 | Friction | From Clausewitz’s “On War” (1832), Book I, Chapter 7, supplemented by Barry D. Watts’s work, Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky’s planning fallacy and Bent Flyvbjerg’s research on major projects. | T1Classical Theory of War |
| 19 | Fog of Uncertainty | From Clausewitz’s “On War” (1832), Book I, Chapter 3, supplemented by Knight’s distinction between risk and uncertainty, Tetlock’s forecasting research and Gigerenzer’s work on rules of thumb. | T1Classical Theory of War |
| 20 | Paradoxical Trinity | From Clausewitz’s “On War” (1832), Book I, Chapter 1, supplemented by the interpretations of Edward J. Villacres and Christopher Bassford and of Alan D. Beyerchen. | T1Classical Theory of War |
| 21 | Plan and Adaptation | From the essay “On Strategy” (1871) by Helmuth von Moltke the Elder, supplemented by Henry Mintzberg and James A. Waters, “Of Strategies, Deliberate and Emergent” (1985), and Eric Ries, “The Lean Startup” (2011). | T1Classical Theory of War |
| 22 | Mission Command | From the “Verordnungen für die höheren Truppenführer” (1869) by Helmuth von Moltke the Elder, prepared by the Prussian army reformers after 1806. | T1Classical Theory of War |
| 23 | Unity of Command | From the classic principles of war, as listed today in the U.S. Army’s Field Manual 3-0 “Operations” (2022). | T1Classical Theory of War |
| 24 | Simplicity | From Carl von Clausewitz’s “On War” (1832), Book I, Chapter 7 on friction, and the classic principles of war. | T1Classical Theory of War |
| 25 | OODA Loop | From John Richard Boyd’s briefing “Patterns of Conflict” (final version 1986) and his essay “Destruction and Creation” (1976). | T3Indirect Strategy and Maneuver |
| 26 | Deception | From the first chapter of “The Art of War,” attributed to Sun Tzu (Sun Wu, 6th or 5th century BC); known in Europe through the translations by Jean Joseph Marie Amiot (1772) and Lionel Giles (1910). | T2Eastern Strategy |
| 27 | Victory without Fighting | From the third chapter of “The Art of War,” attributed to Sun Tzu (Sun Wu, 6th or 5th century BC). | T2Eastern Strategy |
| 28 | The Direct and the Indirect | From the fifth chapter of “The Art of War,” attributed to Sun Tzu (Sun Wu, 6th or 5th century BC), as interpreted in the commentary of the commander Cao Cao (around AD 200). | T2Eastern Strategy |
| 29 | Emptiness and Fullness | From the sixth chapter (“Xu Shi,” emptiness and fullness) of “The Art of War,” which is attributed to Sun Tzu (China, around the 5th century BC). | T2Eastern Strategy |
| 30 | Formlessness | From the sixth chapter of “The Art of War,” which is attributed to Sun Tzu (China, around the 5th century BC), with the image of water that the Tao Te Ching, attributed to Laozi, also uses. | T2Eastern Strategy |
| 31 | Indirect Approach | From Basil Henry Liddell Hart’s work “Strategy” (1954; earlier versions 1929 and 1941). | T3Indirect Strategy and Maneuver |
| 32 | Surprise | From Carl von Clausewitz’s work “On War” (1832), Book III, Chapter 9. | T1Classical Theory of War |
| 33 | Art of Stratagems | From the anonymous Chinese collection of the Thirty-Six Stratagems (printed 1941), made known in the German-speaking world by Harro von Senger’s book “Strategeme” (1988; published in English as “The Book of Stratagems”). | T2Eastern Strategy |
| 34 | Paradoxical Logic | From Edward N. Luttwak’s work “Strategy: The Logic of War and Peace” (1987, revised 2001). | T3Indirect Strategy and Maneuver |
| 35 | Terrain | From Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War” (probably 5th century BC), chapters 10 and 11. | T2Eastern Strategy |
| 36 | Interior Lines | From Antoine-Henri Jomini’s work “Précis de l’art de la guerre” (1838). | T1Classical Theory of War |
| 37 | Strength of the Defense | From Carl von Clausewitz’s work “On War” (1832–1834), Book VI. | T1Classical Theory of War |
| 38 | Maneuver | From William S. Lind’s “Maneuver Warfare Handbook” (1985), based on John Boyd. | T3Indirect Strategy and Maneuver |
| 39 | First Make Yourself Invincible | From Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War” (c. 5th century BC), Chapter 4. | T2Eastern Strategy |
| 40 | Freedom of Action | From André Beaufre’s work “An Introduction to Strategy” (1963), foreshadowed by Ferdinand Foch’s “The Principles of War” (1903). | T3Indirect Strategy and Maneuver |
| 41 | Speed | From Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War” (China, probably 5th century BC), above all Chapters 2 and 11. | T2Eastern Strategy |
| 42 | Rhythm and Timing | From Miyamoto Musashi’s “The Book of Five Rings” (Japan, 1645). | T2Eastern Strategy |
| 43 | Initiative | From the principles of war of John Frederick Charles Fuller, summarized in “The Foundations of the Science of War” (1926). | T1Classical Theory of War |
| 44 | Annihilation and Exhaustion | From Hans Delbrück’s “History of the Art of War” (1900–1920), building on Carl von Clausewitz’s distinction between two kinds of war in “On War” (1832). | T1Classical Theory of War |
| 45 | Preparation in Peacetime | From Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus’s textbook “Epitoma rei militaris” (around AD 400), whose sentence later became the short form “Si vis pacem, para bellum.” Supplemented by today’s disaster research. | T1Classical Theory of War |
| 46 | Moral Forces | From Carl von Clausewitz’s work “On War” (1832–1834), Book III, Chapters 3 to 5. | T1Classical Theory of War |
| 47 | Unity of Leaders and People | From the first chapter of “The Art of War,” attributed to Sun Tzu (probably 5th or 4th century BC). | T2Eastern Strategy |
| 48 | Fortuna and Virtù | From Niccolò Machiavelli’s book “The Prince” (written in 1513, printed in 1532), Chapter 25, with Cesare Borgia as an example in Chapter 7. | T4Political Prudence |
| 49 | Fear and Love | From Niccolò Machiavelli’s book “The Prince” (written in 1513, printed in 1532), Chapter 17. | T4Political Prudence |
| 50 | Resistance to the New | From Niccolò Machiavelli’s book “The Prince” (written in 1513, printed in 1532), Chapter 6. | T4Political Prudence |
| 51 | Fear, Honor and Interest | From Thucydides’s work “History of the Peloponnesian War” (around 400 BC), Book I, 75–76. | T4Political Prudence |
| 52 | Golden Bridge | From Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War” (around the 5th century BC), Chapters 7 and 11. | T2Eastern Strategy |
| 53 | Four Means | From the Arthashastra, the textbook of statecraft attributed to Kautilya (compiled in layers between roughly 150 BC and AD 300). | T2Eastern Strategy |
| 54 | Soft Power | From Joseph S. Nye Jr.’s book “Bound to Lead” and his essay “Soft Power” (both 1990), developed further in “Soft Power” (2004). | T4Political Prudence |
| 55 | Strategic Narrative | From Lawrence Freedman’s “Strategy: A History” (2013). | T4Political Prudence |
| 56 | Asymmetry | From Ivan Arreguín-Toft’s book “How the Weak Win Wars” (2005), prepared in his article of the same name (2001). | T3Indirect Strategy and Maneuver |
| 57 | Strategic Interdependence | From John von Neumann and Oskar Morgenstern’s work “Theory of Games and Economic Behavior” (1944). | T5Game Theory, Negotiation and Conflict |
| 58 | Mandala of States | From Kautilya’s Arthashastra, Book 6, an ancient Indian textbook of statecraft that took shape in layers between about 150 BC and AD 300 and became known in the West through Rudrapatna Shamasastry’s translation (1915). | T2Eastern Strategy |
| 59 | Six Measures | From Kautilya’s Arthashastra, Book 7, which took shape in layers between about 150 BC and AD 300, in Rudrapatna Shamasastry’s translation (1915). | T2Eastern Strategy |
| 60 | Balance of Power | From Hans J. Morgenthau’s work “Politics Among Nations” (1948). | T4Political Prudence |
| 61 | Security Dilemma | From John H. Herz’s essay “Idealist Internationalism and the Security Dilemma” (1950). | T4Political Prudence |
| 62 | Tit for Tat | From Robert Axelrod’s book “The Evolution of Cooperation” (1984), which evaluates his computer tournaments from around 1980; the winning rule came from Anatol Rapoport. | T5Game Theory, Negotiation and Conflict |
| 63 | Co-opetition | From Adam M. Brandenburger and Barry J. Nalebuff’s book “Co-opetition” (1996). | T6Business Strategy |
| 64 | Credible Commitment | From Thomas C. Schelling’s book “The Strategy of Conflict” (1960). | T5Game Theory, Negotiation and Conflict |
| 65 | Focal Points | From Thomas C. Schelling’s book “The Strategy of Conflict” (1960). | T5Game Theory, Negotiation and Conflict |
| 66 | Brinkmanship | From Thomas C. Schelling’s work “The Strategy of Conflict” (1960). | T5Game Theory, Negotiation and Conflict |
| 67 | Salami Tactics | From Thomas C. Schelling’s work “Arms and Influence” (1966); the term goes back to Mátyás Rákosi, who described the seizure of power in Hungary this way in 1952. | T5Game Theory, Negotiation and Conflict |
| 68 | Escalation Ladder | From Herman Kahn’s work “On Escalation: Metaphors and Scenarios” (1965). | T5Game Theory, Negotiation and Conflict |
| 69 | Best Alternative | From Roger Fisher and William Ury’s book “Getting to Yes” (1981). | T5Game Theory, Negotiation and Conflict |
| 70 | Positioning | From Michael E. Porter’s book “Competitive Strategy” (1980), sharpened in his article “What Is Strategy?” (1996). | T6Business Strategy |
| 71 | Value Chain | From Michael E. Porter’s book “Competitive Advantage” (1985). | T6Business Strategy |
| 72 | Blue Ocean | From the article “Blue Ocean Strategy” by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne in the Harvard Business Review (2004) and their book of the same name (2005). | T6Business Strategy |
| 73 | Core Competence | From the article “The Core Competence of the Corporation” by C. K. Prahalad and Gary Hamel (1990). | T6Business Strategy |
| 74 | Valuable, Rare Resources | From Jay B. Barney’s article “Firm Resources and Sustained Competitive Advantage” (1991). | T6Business Strategy |
| 75 | Experience Curve | From Theodore Paul Wright’s article “Factors Affecting the Cost of Airplanes” (1936). | T6Business Strategy |
| 76 | Disruption | From Clayton M. Christensen’s book “The Innovator’s Dilemma” (1997), anticipated in his article with Joseph L. Bower (1995). | T6Business Strategy |
| 77 | Network Effects | From Carl Shapiro and Hal R. Varian’s work “Information Rules” (1999), building on Michael L. Katz and Carl Shapiro (1985) and W. Brian Arthur (1989). | T6Business Strategy |
| 78 | First Movers and Followers | From the article “First-Mover Advantages” by Marvin B. Lieberman and David B. Montgomery (1988). | T6Business Strategy |
| 79 | Exploration and Exploitation | From James G. March’s article “Exploration and Exploitation in Organizational Learning” (1991). | T8Uncertainty and Change |
| 80 | Emergent Strategy | From the article “Of Strategies, Deliberate and Emergent” by Henry Mintzberg and James A. Waters (1985). | T6Business Strategy |
| 81 | Path Dependence | From Paul A. David’s essay “Clio and the Economics of QWERTY” (1985) and W. Brian Arthur’s model “Competing Technologies, Increasing Returns, and Lock-In by Historical Events” (1989). | T6Business Strategy |
| 82 | Loss Aversion | From the prospect theory of Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky, set out in the article “Prospect Theory: An Analysis of Decision under Risk” in the journal Econometrica (1979). | T7Psychology and Decision-Making |
| 83 | Principles of Influence | From Robert B. Cialdini’s book “Influence” (1984). | T7Psychology and Decision-Making |
| 84 | Become the Enemy | From Miyamoto Musashi’s “Gorin no Sho” (“The Book of Five Rings,” 1645), the Fire Book. | T2Eastern Strategy |
| 85 | Death Ground | From Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War” (probably 5th century BC), chapters 11 and 7. | T2Eastern Strategy |
| 86 | Unintended Consequences | From Robert K. Merton’s essay “The Unanticipated Consequences of Purposive Social Action” (1936). | T7Psychology and Decision-Making |
| 87 | Worldly Wisdom | From Baltasar Gracián’s “Oráculo manual y arte de prudencia” (1647), known in English as “The Art of Worldly Wisdom”; in the German-speaking world, it became known through Arthur Schopenhauer’s translation (1862). | T4Political Prudence |
| 88 | Scenario Thinking | From the work of Herman Kahn at the RAND Corporation and the Hudson Institute (1950s and 1960s) and from Pierre Wack’s articles “Scenarios: Uncharted Waters Ahead” and “Scenarios: Shooting the Rapids” (1985). | T8Uncertainty and Change |
| 89 | Antifragility | The principle comes from Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s book “Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder” (2012), part of his series on uncertainty that includes “The Black Swan” (2007). | T8Uncertainty and Change |
| 90 | Red Queen Effect | The principle comes from Lewis Carroll’s “Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There” (1871) and Leigh Van Valen’s essay “A New Evolutionary Law” (1973). | T8Uncertainty and Change |
| 91 | Potential of the Situation | The principle comes from chapter 5 of Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War,” on shi; Chinese tradition dates the work to around 500 BC. | T2Eastern Strategy |
| 92 | The Soft Overcomes the Hard | The principle comes from chapters 43, 76 and 78 of the Tao Te Ching, which Chinese tradition attributes to Laozi; the work probably took its present form in the 4th or 3rd century BC. | T2Eastern Strategy |
The most frequently cited names
You will meet these thinkers and institutions on several pages. The numbers take you straight to the principles.
WEGVISOR
Titus LindlFounder of WEGVISOR, coach and business angelTitus Lindl is the founder of WEGVISOR. The selection of the principles and the explanations, examples and animations on this page come from WEGVISOR.
368 examples from the 7 spheres of society
The examples show each principle in real life, spread across all seven spheres that shape a society:
In addition, there are animations for every principle and the Strategy Check, which lets you assess how consciously and effectively you use the principles yourself.