I often teach my kids about the Battle of Dien Bien Phu that occurred during the Vietnam War.  I won’t recap all of it but it involved unconventional methods against a fortress that was thought to be unconquerable.  When you look more closely, however, everything the Vietnamese used makes a lot of sense and even seems obvious.  The Vietnamese attack was designed by a strategist I admired and tried to emulate – General Vo Nguyen Giap.  A lawyer by training and a teacher by vocation, he had no formal military training but was a genius.  He understood hearts and minds over technology and force.  He is credited for beating superior nations and their militaries – the French and US directly and the Chinese indirectly.  I do not comment on the rightness of his cause – I know people who fought for both sides.

This one is about looking at the board correctly.

I used to teach my students about the US Revolutionary War.  Once during class, I realized the parallels between that war and the one in Vietnam.  An invading force consisting of many who didn’t want to be there, an increasingly costly and unpopular conflict, fighting in unfamiliar terrain against irregular forces, using the wrong measure for success, etc.  This scenario often repeats itself – Afghanistan and Russia over the ages, now maybe Ukraine.  Malaysia as well – Indonesia tried it once, we blew them out of the sky.  They never tried again.

The girl out of left field/with the short fuse is really good at board games.  But these are actually not the best ways to learn and practice strategy as they only capture a portion of what’s necessary to win.  I’ll write more on that later maybe but maybe I won’t either.  The big factors, though, are the role of emotions and time.  Although there is a role of emotion in games (play the man, not the board), it’s not as prominent as real life.  Time too.  This is often underestimated.  Prolonged conflicts tend to favor the defender.  I saw this on a professional and personal level.  But also on offense, sometimes you grind them down.

A death by a thousand cuts is still a death.

Someone asked me where my interest in strategy came from.  I’m just mediocre to ok in games like chess.  Others like Risk, it depends on how I woke up that morning.  I didn’t really formally study it until Boston in my 30s but the roots originate from everything else.

And there is God.

I started to read and think about the Bible more critically from a strategic lens.  You can see many examples on a grand and individual level.  God is smart.  His ways are not our ways.  So many counterintuitive moves that make perfect sense when implemented.

I also emphasize to my kids the importance of hearts and minds.  But make sure to bring along the gun with the cannoli.