Principles of War Life
When I studied Air War College (AWC) as an Air Force officer, one topic was Principles of War, including writings of Sun Tzu and Carl von Clausewitz.
Now today’s discussion isn’t about actual armed conflict, but let’s start by acknowledging our respect, appreciation, and pray for our Armed Forces who are directly in harm’s way!
I’ll share more about a very real “enemy” we all face in a few moments. But even without acknowledging him, doesn’t it seem there’s “something” standing against us?
Here are some “principles of war” that seem to be arrayed against us, our marriages, families, jobs or businesses; and everything else important to us. I’ve also suggested a few examples, and ask you to add some more.
- Divide and Conquer
- Cause marriages, teams, churches, political organizations, etc. to “major on the minors” so they don’t see and respond to true, significant problems until it’s too late.
- Blame people instead of processes. (Don’t blame a person when the fault is poor instruction, bad or unstated policies, not providing adequate support or the like.)
- Being inflexible toward meaningful, necessary change; or being insensitive to an organization or group’s culture, and pushing through unnecessary changes.
- Separate from Source of Supply
- On a personal level: Lack of adequate sleep, nutrition, exercise, and “down time.”
- Separation from the purpose: As Michael Hyatt would say, forgetting your “why.” We can lose the vision for why we married, the goals of our organization, why you’re fighting for liberty, etc.
- Speaking of liberty, the “why” for the U.S. is our Declaration of Independence, followed by our Constitution and Amendments. If we don’t understand these, we allow others to say what is and isn’t “Constitutional” and don’t hold them accountable when they’re wrong!
- Reserves
- On a personal level, “Reserves” could be friends or family who help out during times of sickness or personal crisis… or keep the kids so you and your spouse can “re-connect.”
- Militarily, we need “fresh troops” who can come in and temporarily relieve over-tasked personnel in combat; or who can be added to the conflict at a critical juncture.
- On the job, is there adequate depth? Is there back-up to help during vacations, illnesses, or production surges? Some companies over-hire but then have to cut back during lean times. Others go use Temp services to bring in help as needed. Still others have part-time people, especially retired former employees, who can be brought in on a short term basis as needed.
We’ll leave other principles for another day, such as deception, force concentration, and surprise. What others would you add?
If these “Principles of War” come against us so successfully, what are some good counter-strategies?
Foundational Principles: Here are some “Principles of Life”:
- Awareness! Many “principles of war” are neutralized by an eye-in-the-sky at 40,000 feet (reporting troop movements, strength, etc.). Similarly, knowing what’s going on is crucial to “winning” in our daily battles.
- Once you know what the attack is, you can choose better strategies. Examples:
- Choose long-term fulfillment over short-term happiness (it’s called “self-discipline”)
- Re-balance time with spouse and family versus work and other activities
- Give highest priority to what really matters
- Take care of yourself! You can’t help others if you don’t take care of yourself. Remember to encourage and help your spouse to do the same!
- Others?
Biblical applications for those who want to go deeper:
Do those tactics sound familiar? We’re told that Satan is out to steal, and kill, and destroy (John 10:10). He will divide couples, families, churches, and ministries. He does all he can to separate us from our “sources of supply” – Bible study, prayer, and fellowship with other Christians. And he certainly excels in distracting us from foundations of the Christian faith, while we worry over non-essentials. And Reserves? Far too few are doing too much with too little support.
May we all learn and apply Principles of Life in 2016!
Respectfully,
Bill