Know the enemy and yourself
OfficialOfficial · updated Nov 4, 2026 · v1.0.1
Compares you and one named competitor on Sun Tzu's five factors and seven comparisons, marks every unknown, then picks where to engage, where to avoid, and what to learn first.
Sign up free to add this skill to your pod
You come back here after you sign in, and add it with one click.
When to use it
- A named competitor keeps showing up and the team disagrees on how strong they are
- Before entering a segment or making a move a rival will answer
- When you know the rival's features better than your own weak points
What you give it
- The contest: which customers you both compete for
- The decision the assessment should serve
- Public facts about the competitor
- Honest facts about your own side (win-loss, churn, team, runway)
What you get
A two-sided table on the five factors and seven comparisons with sources and unknowns, the rival's solid and empty points, where to engage or avoid, a learning plan, and a decision.
Changelog
- v1.0.1 · Nov 4, 2026 · Description: the five factors now carry the names the steps use (purpose, timing and conditions, terrain, leadership, method), not "discipline" for method.
- v1.0.0 · Nov 4, 2026 · First release.
Sources
- 孫子兵法 (original Chinese text) - Wikisource (2026-11-04)
- Ritsumeikan University, College of Letters: faculty column on the Sunzi and the Yinqueshan bamboo slips (2026-11-04)
- The Art of War - Literary Themes for Students (Gale), Encyclopedia.com (2026-11-04)
Related skills
- Competitor battlecard Builds a one-page battlecard against one rival: when we win and lose, their strengths, landmine questions, what not to say, and an honest comparison.
- Win-loss analysis Analyses won and lost deal notes or interviews into the buyer's real reasons, patterns by segment and competitor, and up to 5 changes with owners.
- Competitor product teardown Writes a competitor teardown from public pages or trial notes: onboarding steps, pricing, core loop, strengths, gaps, what to copy or not, unverified marked.
- SWOT and TOWS analysis Builds an evidence-backed SWOT, external factors first, then pairs the items into SO, WO, ST, and WT strategies and picks 3 to 5 with owners, first steps, and dates.
- Wide-view situational review Steps back from an urgent number or event in the way Musashi's Book of Five Rings describes the gaze: lists the surface, sets it against history, reads the other side, then acts, watches, or lets go.