Ease
Sun Tzu said, “If he is taking his ease, give him no rest. If his forces are united, separate them.”
What this means is that you should always keep your opponent engaged. When people are always irritated, they will make mistakes. If you want to rest and are always bothered, you may get angry and make poor decisions. You are looking for an opportunity to attack.
In business, a company may have a subsidiary that is quite large. If the company and subsidiary make a great pair, maybe you can divide them in some way. Maybe you can purchase the subsidiary or find a way to divide the management at the company.
One common way companies grow is through acquisitions. Large companies continue to buy up small ones. If you are a competitor, you may look to purchase acquisitions just to keep your competitor from becoming more united in the market. On the internet, many companies buy up a lot of domains that they do not ever use. The only purpose of holding the domains is to keep competitors out. This is actually a way of defending against dividing.
Some employees may pit two managers against each other to try and separate them. In many companies gossipers can be deadly. They may stir up trouble against people that they see as their competition. For example, some people will spread rumors about someone they feel is outperforming them. Gossip is a devious way to divide loyalties.
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