Economy of Force

Fighting with perfect efficiency: making the war expensive for opponents while cheap for yourself, and knowing when battles aren’t worth fighting.

The principle emerges from hard constraints. Every organism has limited energy; every army has limited resources. The cat instinctively practices economy of motion, never wasting effort. People in poverty, forced to make the most of what they have, become endlessly inventive. Necessity sharpens creativity.

“The problem faced by those of us who live in societies of abundance is that we lose a sense of limit… we imagine endless energy to draw on, thinking we can get what we want simply by trying harder.”

Strategic economy involves:

• Knowing your limits and selecting battles accordingly
• Considering hidden costs: time lost, goodwill squandered, enemies created
• Attacking weaknesses with strengths rather than strength against strength
• Using deception which costs little but yields powerful results
• Building on easy victories that enhance reputation and momentum

The counterintuitive finding: limitations often produce better outcomes than abundance. When you have less, you naturally become more inventive. When you must be efficient, you think more carefully about what actually matters.

“Even if you have the technology, fight the peasant’s war.”

Related:, 07-atom—friction