Fire Attacks
A fire is something that must be dealt with quickly. It can be used effectively in the hot dry Summer months. There are five fire attacks, according to Sun Tzu. They are:
1- When fire breaks out inside to enemy's camp, respond at once with an attack from without.
2- If there is an outbreak of fire, but the enemy's soldiers remain quiet, bide your time and do not attack.
3- When the force of the flames has reached its height, follow it up with an attack, if that is practicable; if not, stay where you are.
4- If it is possible to make an assault with fire from without, do not wait for it to break out within, but deliver your attack at a favorable moment.
5- When you start a fire, be to windward of it. Do not attack from the leeward.
In business, the use of fire can be applied. You can attack a competitor with something that must be dealt with quickly. For example, information that makes a company look poorly would be akin to a fire. They must deal with it quickly to keep the public image so that sales will not suffer. As a competitor, you can create fires for others. Once the fire breaks out, it is a good time to attack.
If the opponent company gets confused and doesn't know what to do, you might go in for further attack and try to wound them or destroy them.
If you attack a company and they don't flinch, then you should avoid attacking them further. It will likely mean that they will just come back stronger than ever. A company that doesn't feel threatened will do nothing.
When you start problems for a company, make sure that you are not going to get hurt by it. Some people might give out false information to reporters about a competitor and that could come back as a backlash because the reporters will figure it out and report that you are a bad company. This is akin to being windward. You want to stay away from the wind that can bring fire your way. In other words, choose wisely the things that you do. Sometimes people try to cause problems for others and it comes back to hurt them just as much. If your company has a similar problem, it wouldn't be a good thing to report on. The competition may then do the same thing back to you.
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