Skip to content

Concentration of Force

Why It Matters

Dispersed resources achieve dispersed results. Concentration creates local superiority even when globally inferior.

The Key Move

Identify the decisive point - the place where success matters most. Concentrate resources there, accepting risk elsewhere. Being weak in unimportant areas enables being strong where it counts.

Classic Application

Napoleon's strategy. Face a coalition of enemies with combined superior forces. Concentrate against each in turn, achieving local superiority despite global inferiority. Defeat them in detail before they can combine.

Surprising Application

Startup strategy. Can't compete with incumbents on all fronts. Concentrate on one niche/segment/use case. Win decisively there before expanding. Being weak in segments you're not contesting enables being strong where you are.

Failure Modes

  • Spreading resources evenly (strong nowhere)
  • Concentrating on non-decisive points
  • Concentrating so heavily that weakness elsewhere becomes exploitable

Go Deeper

Napoleon's campaigns. Fuller's "Generalship of Alexander the Great."