From grimoire
Classifies competitive terrain to avoid fighting on ground that advantages the opponent, and creates or occupies terrain that structurally favours your position. Based on Sun Tzu and Porter.
How this skill is triggered — by the user, by Claude, or both
Slash command
/grimoire:apply-terrain-strategyThe summary Claude sees in its skill listing — used to decide when to auto-load this skill
Classify the competitive terrain before engaging, occupy favourable ground before the opponent, never fight where the terrain advantages them, and create terrain — through standards, switching costs, or ecosystem position — that structures the contest in your favour.
Classify the competitive terrain before engaging, occupy favourable ground before the opponent, never fight where the terrain advantages them, and create terrain — through standards, switching costs, or ecosystem position — that structures the contest in your favour.
Origin: Chapter 10 of The Art of War — Di Xing (地形, Terrain) — argues that knowledge of the terrain is a prerequisite for victory. "He who knows these things, and in fighting puts his knowledge into practice, will win his battles. He who knows them not, nor practices them, will surely be defeated." (Ch.10, Giles trans.) Chapter 4 (Tactical Dispositions) establishes the invincibility-first principle: make yourself impossible to defeat before seeking the opportunity to defeat the opponent. This requires occupying terrain the opponent cannot dislodge you from.
Adopted by: Michael Porter's competitive advantage framework — cost leadership, differentiation, focus — is a terrain classification system: which ground do you occupy and does it structurally protect your position? Geoffrey Moore's Crossing the Chasm operationalises the narrow-beachhead approach (occupy a narrow, defensible segment completely before expanding) — the direct business application of the fortified-terrain principle. Amazon's marketplace, Apple's App Store, and Salesforce's AppExchange all create terrain — through platform economics — that structures competition in the platform owner's favour.
Impact: Companies that choose terrain well before committing resources win a structural advantage that compounds over time. Companies that fight on the opponent's chosen terrain — competing in the incumbent's strongest segment, on the incumbent's technology platform, through the incumbent's distribution channel — face a structural disadvantage regardless of product or team quality.
Why best: Terrain selection is a commitment decision — once you are in a market, switching terrain is expensive. Choosing correctly before commitment avoids years of fighting from an inferior position. Creating terrain (standards, ecosystems, network effects) converts a temporary competitive advantage into a structural one that is difficult to replicate.
Sources: Sun Tzu, The Art of War (Giles trans. 1910) — Ch.4 (Tactical Dispositions), Ch.10 (Terrain); Porter, Competitive Advantage (1985) — generic strategies as terrain positions; Moore, Crossing the Chasm (1991) — beachhead strategy; Rochet & Tirole, Platform Competition in Two-Sided Markets (2003) — platform terrain
Sun Tzu identifies six terrain types, each mapped here to business equivalents:
| Terrain | Military description | Business equivalent | Strategic implication |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accessible (通) | Both sides can traverse freely | Open, commoditised market; no switching costs; easy entry for both | First-mover advantage is critical; occupy the premium position before the opponent |
| Entangling (掛) | Easy to enter, hard to exit | Mutual dependency (integration, standards, partnerships); both sides locked in | Negotiate the terms of mutual dependency before entering; unfavourable exit terms make this dangerous |
| Temporising (支) | Neither side benefits from fighting | Market where neither you nor the opponent can win a decisive position | Do not enter; wait for conditions to change |
| Narrow (隘) | One side can block the other's passage | Bottleneck market: key distribution channel, regulatory approval, technical standard | Whoever holds the pass wins; race to occupy; if opponent holds it, do not attempt to force through |
| Precipitous (險) | One side has the high ground | Asymmetric terrain: you hold a defensible position (brand, technology, IP, regulation) | Occupy and defend; do not concede the high ground; if opponent holds it, lure them down |
| Open (曠) | Wide-open, flat terrain | Commodity market; scale determines outcome | Win only with cost leadership; avoid without scale advantage |
For each terrain type, determine: does your opponent already hold the advantaged position, or is it unoccupied?
Occupied terrain: If the opponent holds a narrow pass (distribution channel monopoly), a precipitous position (strong IP or regulatory barrier), or has established network effects on accessible terrain, engaging directly is a losing proposition. Find different terrain or a different approach to the same terrain (bypass, new standard, new channel).
Unoccupied terrain: If the high-value position is unoccupied — no dominant player in the premium segment, no established standard in the technical space, no first-mover in the new geography — the race is to occupy before the opponent.
"Whoever is first in the field and awaits the coming of the enemy, will be fresh for the fight; whoever is second in the field and has to hasten to battle will arrive exhausted." (Ch.6, Giles trans.)
In business: the first company to establish a strong position in a favourable segment occupies terrain that the opponent must either fight to take (expensive) or accept as lost. This is the strategic logic behind:
This requires the discipline to decline engagements that feel attractive but are structurally unfavourable.
Do not fight on the incumbent's terrain:
Create your own terrain:
"The good fighters of old first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat, and then waited for an opportunity of defeating the enemy." (Ch.4, Giles trans.)
Before expanding to new terrain, fortify your current position:
Expand only after your current position is genuinely defensible. Expanding from weakness stretches your position and creates multiple 虛 (empty) points for the opponent to exploit.
The highest form of terrain strategy is not selecting existing terrain but creating new terrain that structurally advantages your position.
Terrain creation mechanisms:
Apple App Store (narrow terrain — controlling the pass): The App Store is a narrow terrain play: Apple controls the only legitimate distribution channel for iOS applications, extracting 30% of revenue from every transaction on the platform. Developers must come through the pass Apple controls. The terrain — narrow, with Apple at the gate — makes every competitor's application dependent on Apple's approval and economics.
Salesforce AppExchange (platform terrain creation): Salesforce created a two-sided marketplace where CRM applications and customers both need to be present. Once the ecosystem reached critical mass, the platform terrain became self-reinforcing — new customers come for the ecosystem, new ISVs come for the customers. Competitors must build an entire ecosystem, not just a better product, to displace Salesforce in its segment.
Geoffrey Moore's bowling alley (accessible terrain — occupy one pin at a time): Moore's bowling alley strategy for technology startups: do not enter the accessible terrain of the broad market; occupy a narrow, defensible segment (the first bowling pin) completely. The first segment provides the reference customer, the use case depth, and the operational capability to take the adjacent segment. Each occupied segment narrows the terrain for the next.
Death ground in negotiation: A supplier with no alternative customers negotiating with a dominant buyer is on death ground. The strategic response to death ground: commit fully and make the commitment visible. "We have invested everything in this relationship — if it does not proceed, we will be forced to exit the market entirely." This inverts the leverage: the buyer now faces the risk of losing the supplier entirely, which changes the negotiation terrain.
Choosing terrain by market size, not by strategic fit: The largest market is rarely the most favourable terrain for a smaller entrant. The incumbent is strongest in the largest market. Choose terrain where the structural dynamics favour you, even if that segment is smaller.
Entering narrow terrain controlled by the opponent without a bypass: A distribution channel monopoly, a regulatory approval gate, or a technical standard controlled by the incumbent cannot be forced. Find the bypass — a new channel, an adjacent regulatory category, an open alternative standard.
Expanding before the core position is defensible: The temptation to expand while the core is still insecure produces a stretched position with multiple weak points. Secure the core, then expand from a position of strength.
Failing to recognise temporising terrain: Some markets are genuinely structured so that neither entrant can achieve a decisive position. Entering temporising terrain produces resource consumption without strategic gain. Wait for conditions to change before entering.
Not creating terrain: Occupying existing terrain is defensive strategy. Creating terrain (standards, platforms, ecosystems) is offensive strategy that compounds over time. Invest in terrain creation early — it is expensive but produces structural advantages that resist competitive response.
npx claudepluginhub jeffreytse/grimoire --plugin grimoireMaps competitive landscapes to identify advantageous, contested, and costly positions based on strategic terrain principles.
Concentrates all resources on the opponent's weakest point while avoiding their strength. For competitive strategy, resource allocation, and market decisions where local superiority defeats global parity.
Analyzes competition with Porter's Five Forces, Blue Ocean Strategy, and positioning maps to identify differentiation opportunities and market positioning for startups and pitches.