While Trump can certainly boast he is the acclaimed author of the bestselling Art of the Deal, there is simply nothing Sun Tzu about him. So, please stop aligning his campaign attempt with the Art of War. No basis for comparison exists. Trump learned to play a game, one championed by the established elite. He was ruthless, hence successful, but his campaign for the White House is fraught with inconsistencies and policy fluff.
To win the presidency, he must have more than luck and skill. He must have a winning strategy. Alienating a large chunk of the voter base of the party he hijacked won't work. Hoping that tons of Democrats jump ship and vote Trump instead of Clinton is a pipe dream. Remember that the win does not only go to the lucky or the skilled. It goes to the one with the best strategy and response to current conditions.
According to the Science of Strategy, Sun Tzu's war playbook has specific platforms to address specific challenges:
1) understanding strategic positions, 2) developing perspective on your position, 3) discovering opportunities, 4) using probability to choose the best options, 5) avoiding common mistakes, 6) selecting the right responses to common situations, 7) using creativity to generate momentum, 8) winning rewards, and 9) protecting or attacking vulnerabilities.Let's take the recent Twitter war of the wives and see if Donald was being Sun Tzu in his strategy.
- Did he understand strategic positions? Maybe, though it is unclear if Trump truly takes the time to consider much based on the way he reacts and spouts off late at night on Twitter.
- Did he develop a perspective on his position? Definitely, but did he really think Melania's past and photos taken while she was a model wouldn't surface?
- Did he discover opportunities? Perhaps, only he truly knows.
- Did he employ probability to choose the best options? Who knows, but if he did, his critical thinking skills failed him.
- Did he avoid common mistakes? Nope, he charged full steam ahead and fell for Liz Mair's trap. She intended to push his buttons, much like Marco and his "little hands" attack.
- Did he select the right response to a common situation? Hell to the no - attacking another woman, threatening to "spills the beans" then tweeting an unflattering picture of Heidi Cruz backfired. Greatly. Believe me.
- Did he use creativity to generate momentum? Again - negatory, he could have easily flipped Mair's script and at the same time taken a swipe at Cruz with two simple hashtags: #Jealous #MakeFirstLadiesHotAgain. Few are truly offended that Melania posed nude when she was a model. She is a beautiful lady, why not use that obvious fact to an advantage? Stupid. Sad.
- Did he win awards based on his response? Hmmm . . . take a gander at #TrumpLovesPecker and decide for yourself. I know Trump and his supporters are blaming the subsequent tabloid smear of Senator Cruz as coming from the Rubio camp, and perhaps it initially did. However, logic tells anyone that the timing of the smear was meant to aide Trump not Rubio, so the National Enquirer's endorsement of Trump and slap at Cruz didn't produce the expected win.
- Did he protect or attack vulnerabilities? No - this whole episode reaffirms what those in the #NeverTrump camp already know to be true. A weak, cowardly man attacks women and tries to destroy opponents with cheap gutter politics. His response did nothing to protect his image and project strength nor did it destroy Cruz, as some would like to believe.
In all, it was a YUGE fail. One only hopes it is not too late for the rest of the primary voters to wake up and hop off the #TrumpTrain before it derails into a Clinton presidency.
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