[December 19, 2017] This is not a post about combat but the application of what has been a basic principle of it since recorded time; chose the battlefield. If you want to defeat your enemy (or win in business) then you must choose the time, place, and tactics of your actions and not let others determine what you do.
As an instructor, I ran a little experiment back when I taught at Oklahoma State University. A number of my students (cannot remember which class but it doesn’t matter) agreed to act as confederates to demonstrate a simple principle of human psychology. When a particular student (chosen ahead of time) entered the classroom, my confederates would comment how “sickly” they looked. This was to go on for a few days.
The experiment did not last the day before that student went to the university’s health clinic complaining of not feeling well. A lesson for us all was that we are who we are because of those around us and how they behave. Yet, to be in control means bucking the norm and having an idea where you were going, how to get there, and ensuring we have the right time, place, and tactics.
This is why I always say it is the best thing to select the battlefield of your own choosing; not what others want it to be. Certainly, it takes a strong, resilient personality to succeed but that is the point. Knowing in advance and practicing the right approach (being prepared) will go a long way for anyone, regardless of mindset, to make a choice that is best for them.
A recent article in American Greatness reinforced this point. Titled Pink McCarthyism, the author states that followers of the political left employ “accusations against men, public figures, of sexual misconduct … and then force him to deny it.”1 By doing so, the leftists choose the field of conflict forcing the accused to fight in the valley where it is nearly impossible to win. The author’s recommendation is to never play their tactic but to accuse the accusers “forcing battle elsewhere.” He then goes on to give several examples.
A more enduring example is when the Allies in World War II began offensive operations against the Axis powers. Instead of attacking northwestern Europe where it had to take place (and later did on D-Day), the initial invasion of Europe came in the south through Italy and well before the Axis powers predicted. Again, choosing your battlefield goes a long way to ensuring victory.
One last example … on this date, December 19, 1777, General George Washington’s Continental Army entered their winter camp at Valley Forge. On Christmas Day, less than a week later, he used this as a staging point for an attack on Hessian forces in Trenton, New Jersey and ultimately scoring the first victory against the British Empire. He chose his own battlefield.
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