Art of War Notes #1: How do you use strategic deception?
And how its more than trickery
Hi, this People’s Art of War 👋. There was great success with the strategy series (Thank you!). I’ll be expanding this with analysis of the Art of War. This will be another ongoing series.
Deception is an uncomfortable word, but it's a key part of strategy. It’s an uncomfortable word—you get a slight unease just by saying it. Deception gets a pretty bad reputation. Mention it and people get up in arms about it.
We may dislike it. But the Art of War teaches that deception is crucial for success and survival.
In strategy, deception isn’t about being dishonest; it’s about creating advantages by controlling what others know or perceive. Misleading the opponent isn’t enough. You need to know how to shape their perception. That’s the goal.
A military operation involves deception. Even though you are competent, appear incompetent. Though effective, appear ineffective.
The Art of War (Shambala Translation)
Its pretty clear its critical. So in today’s Art of War notes, I’ll talk about:
What is strategic deception?
What are the types of strategic deception?
Why you’re not a bad person for using it.
These are very deep topics on their own, which I might visit another day. I’ll start by defining what is deception - and how it applies to strategy.
What is deception?
Deception gets a pretty bad reputation. Mention it and people get up in arms about it. They think its lying. That’s far from the truth.
The main objective of deception is to mislead about your true form or direction. With the intent to reach a goal and gain an advantage. The assumption is often this means lying.
But is much more than that in the Art of War. The core idea: deception is key to competition in strategy. It shapes assumptions. And the opponents assumptions - whether they are cultural, psychological, historical - shape how you do deception.
Mastering it gives you maintain competitive advantage. There’s key points to it:
Tie it to a strategic goal. Starting with strategic goals is crucial because deception should be a means to an end, not an end in itself. With a clear goal, every deceptive act supports it. You can lose from doing too much deception or using it for insignificant gains. It avoids risks and keeps you in control.
Misdirection. False information is one method. Multiple branches is another. Deception involves feeding the enemy misleading data or creating several possible scenarios, leaving them uncertain about your true intentions. By presenting conflicting options, you force them to spread their resources thin, making it difficult for them to anticipate your actual move and giving you a strategic advantage.
Narrative First. We call this playing with the narrative in my line of work. Sun Tzu emphasizes the importance of controlling what the enemy sees and understands. By shaping their perception, you can influence their decisions. This could involve spreading disinformation, creating false appearances, or using psychological tactics to sow doubt and uncertainty.
Surprise and Timing. Precision beats speed. Discipline shapes timing. Great deception lies on knowing when you’re opponent is unbalanced. Their doubt exceeds their ability to trust their knowledge or sense. Strike then, with clear intent. Deception isn’t just about the act; it’s about the patience before it. By controlling the pace, you guide your opponent into a trap, and in that crucial moment, you make your move, securing your victory.
Adaptability. Strategy is never rigid. It evolves with the situation. Deception, too, must be fluid, shifting as the enemy reacts. The purpose is to keep pressure on your opponent, making them constantly adjust. When they begin to see through your plan, you must change your approach swiftly. The art of deception lies in the initiative- and keeping them off balance.
Without deception you cannot carry out strategy. Without strategy you cannot position, outmaneuver, or gain a relative advantage on your opponent.
Deception is about altering the context around facts, leading opponents to make assumptions or confirm ones they already hold. A strategist uses deception to reshape reality subtly, presenting just enough truth to seem credible while guiding others toward the conclusions they desire.
By creating a framework where assumptions seem logical, they control the narrative without ever revealing their true intentions. Deception is a tool to shape perception and achieve aims.
And if you know why you are playing deception, you need to know….
The Types of Deception
The greatest deceptions must have truths at their core. Great strategists learn to play with the context—to change how it's perceived. There’s power in guiding others toward conclusions that serve your purpose, without them ever realizing they’ve been led.
I classify deception into three types: passive, active, and hybrid. Knowing the difference is crucial if you want to gain an advantage in any situation.
#1 Passive Deception
Passive deception is silence by implication. You let people make assumptions without taking any action or pressure. Deception here is silence and assumptions. The greatest victories come not from battles fought, but from assumptions misplaced.
You let the opponent’s assumptions of you sit. Without correcting them.
Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak.
The Art of War
Silence as Strategy. Passive deception involves letting others form their own assumptions. By staying quiet, you allow your opponent to build a picture based on their own ideas. This approach is like how Napoleon Bonaparte famously said, "Never interrupt your enemy when he’s making a mistake." Sometimes, the best move is to simply let things unfold.
Confirming Assumptions. You act as a mirror, reflecting back what your opponent already believes. Your reputation plays a key role in shaping these perceptions. For example, during the American Civil War, Robert E Lee used this tactic by allowing the Union to believe his army was stronger than it actually was. Simply by not correcting their assumptions. They saw what they expected to see - enhanced by his reputation.
Guiding Without Action. In passive deception, you control the situation by doing nothing. Imagine a chess game where you quietly influence your opponent’s moves by setting up subtle cues. This is like the Chinese strategist Zhuge Liang, who used empty forts and calm demeanor to convince his enemies that he had hidden forces, when in reality, he had none. The enemy’s assumptions became his greatest ally.
Humans are creatures of assumption. When action is absent, our minds seek patterns, eager to impose order on chaos. But we are impatient, too quick to complete the picture with what little we see.
Passive deception lies not in false strength, but in the mastery of appearing powerless.
Passive deception is like setting up a painting. You give your opponent the canvas and paint, but let them pick the colors. They end up painting a horse pink, making a mistake without you lifting a finger.
You set the stage, and they make the wrong choice on their own.
#2 Active Deception
Active deception involves creating a pattern. You create patterns or forms so that the opponent doubts the knowledge, senses, or even common sense.
Active strategic deception has several traits:
Alluring patterns. You act in a way that leads your opponent to expect certain things from you. You create a pattern in their mind, and just when they think they’ve figured you out, you change it. This sudden shift makes them doubt their assumptions. Think of the Trojan Horse—a gift that seemed like a peace offering but was really a trap. The Greeks pretended to retreat, letting the Trojans assume they had won, only to strike at the perfect moment.
Multibranched. You craft a deception that’s part of a bigger plan. Even if your opponent doesn’t fall for the first trick, they still get caught up in the larger story you’re telling. Napoleon mastered this by dividing his army into smaller corps, each attacking from different angles. Even when the enemy uncovered one part of the plan, they couldn’t see the whole picture. These multiple, coordinated threats kept them off balance, unable to respond effectively. They were constantly reactive, and responding to his moves.
Pressure. You keep the initiative by creating a narrative that forces your opponent to react to you. The steady pressure you apply makes them act within the boundaries you’ve set. They think they’re in control, but you’re the one guiding their moves—just like Louis XI, the Universal Spider, who trapped his enemies in the web he spun, always making them respond to his actions.
Active strategic deception is to make the opponent react or lose patience. It forces them out of their rhythm. Your goal is to draw them into your patterns, and breaking up theirs. You create false information or distractions to trick opponents into believing something that isn’t true.
It puts pressure on the opponent, to place themselves in an unfavorable mentally and you in an advantageous situation. It’s about controlling the narrative with bold, calculated moves that drive your opponent into making less errors than you. And entrapping them in your patterns.
#3 Hybrid Deception
By far, I think hybrid deception is the hardest. Its not easy to master, and takes a lot of work.
Hybrid deception mixes both passive and active methods. You plant a false idea and then step back, letting others convince themselves it's true.
This approach is particularly powerful, combining the subtlety of passive deception with the assertiveness of active tactics:
Timing and unpredictability. By varying your actions, you keep them off balance. When they expect you to move, you hold back. When they assume you're waiting, you step forward. You create multiple assumptions in their head. This keeps them uncertain and heightens the pressure, forcing them to act without full confidence.
Counter Attacks. Pressure the opponent into an action then committing to it. When they’re overstretched, you counter attack. The best counter attack isn’t in reaction to an action, but at the first sign of their action. This does require you to pressure them, and have an idea what they will do.
Layered tactics. By carefully layering these tactics, you create a strategy that keeps others off balance. At one moment, they may be responding to what appears to be a straightforward move; the next, they’re adjusting to a new development.
It creates a web of confusion, leading the opponent to defeat themselves. It’s a strategy of balance, using both patience and pressure to achieve maximum impact.
Example:
A company launches a small campaign for a secondary product. This puts pressure on competitors, making them focus on that product. While they’re adjusting, the company stays quiet about their main product.
This creates timing and unpredictability. The competitors aren’t sure what’s coming next. Just when they think they’ve caught on, the company launches a big campaign for the main product. This catches the competitors off guard. Then, the company uses the secondary product to support the main one, adding additional pressure. This is a classic example of layered tactics, keeping the competition on their toes.
In the hands of a skilled strategist, each type of hybrid deception is a feedback loop. It uses passive assumptions to alter perception or a narrative. Then turns them into active tactics to support the main movement.
Is using strategic deception wrong?
I get asked this a lot, so let’s not dance around it: it depends. Like any tool, it can be good and bad. Fire can warm us on a cold night, but it can also start a forest fire.
And here’s why its not wrong:
There’s a bigger picture. Strategic deception isn’t about being dishonest just to win; it’s about getting to a positive outcome. Sometimes, guiding your opponent’s decisions is what you need to do to achieve success. When the goal is important, how you get there can be justified by the results.
You need to protect what matters. It might seem better to play fair and avoid deception, thinking that honor will help you win. No matter if you lost honorably, the opponent will paint you as villain - because that legitimizes their victory. Strategic deception, you’re making sure you have the tools to succeed and protect what’s important to you.
Strategic ends. When used carefully, strategic deception can lead to outcomes that benefit more than just you. It can help prevent conflicts, reduce risks, or lead to a better solution. In these cases, strategic deception isn’t just about winning—it’s about guiding things toward a better result for everyone involved.
We don’t ban all fire because someone commits arson. But we shouldn’t commit arson either. Nor should we ignore the dangers of fire altogether.
Here’s a rule I live by—never use deception when honest and good faith diplomacy can get the job done. In our chaotic world, that can go far.
But don’t waste time on diplomacy when deception is what’s needed. Even with diplomacy, you need to shape the opponents assumptions and expectation. Know your tools, and use them wisely.
That’s all for this issue.
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