Chapter Sixteen
The Role Model
We will go around, over, through, on top, underneath, and any other way to get through!1
General Norman Schwarzkopf
U.S. Army, Commander Desert Storm
Just as a parent cannot have a favorite child, it is difficult for an author to choose a favorite work or for a coach to have a favorite technique, but of all the techniques you’ve learned in this book, the one that exerts the most control is the Buffer. In Chapter Eight, I analogized the Buffer with martial arts because both serve to deflect aggression rather than attempt to counter force with force. Or, to reiterate General Sun Tzu from the epigraph of that chapter:
To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill.2
Nearly two and half millennia after Sun ...
Get In the Line of Fire, 3rd Edition now with the O’Reilly learning platform.
O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.
