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#174 | THREE ANCIENT CHINESE STRATEGIES FOR FREELANCE PRODUCTIVITY

  • Writer: Carter Ferguson
    Carter Ferguson
  • Aug 17
  • 8 min read

This episode is sponsored by

Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead. Benjamin Franklin

In last week’s show I covered 10 ways to gamify your career for better productivity, and I will continue my numbered episode titles in today’s episode.


As Freelancers and creatives, we face battles just as fierce as those on ancient battlefields—deadlines, distractions, and competition. But what if I told you that a book featuring 36 ancient Chinese war strategies could teach us how to work smarter, stay ahead, and thrive in our creative businesses? Today, I’m sharing 3 of the most powerful strategies—updated for modern freelancing, from a collection of proverbs known as "The Thirty-Six Strategies." These ancient Chinese proverbs describe cunning and subtle war tactics, used not only in military contexts but also in politics and civil interactions. Although often misattributed to Sun Tzu, the strategies are generally considered to have been compiled after his lifetime. They cover a range of strategies such as deception, misdirection, and opportunism.


In today’s show I’ll look into how we can draw inspiration from these ancient insights to combat some more modern business challenges and develop a focused approach to our work.


The first of these is "Deceive the Heavens to Cross the Sea." Stratagem #1. And I’m aware that sounds like a bit of a headache, but bear with me, it’s simpler than you might think.


Literal Meaning:

  • 瞞 (mán): Deceive, conceal

  • 天 (tiān): Heaven, sky, authority

  • 過 (guò): Cross, pass through, overcome

  • 海 (hǎi): Sea, ocean

 

This simply refers to the strategy of creating illusions, distractions, or false impressions to hide one's real intentions or actions. By deceiving the enemy (or authority, or even general observers), you can carry out your plan without interference, suspicion, or obstruction.


A historical example was used by the allies in World War II with Operation Fortitude, an elaborate deception plan that made the Germans believe the D-Day invasion would occur at Pas-de-Calais instead of Normandy. They created fake radio traffic, inflatable tanks, and a phantom army under General Patton to openly mislead German intelligence. This misdirection allowed the real Normandy invasion on June 6, 1944, to take place with tactical surprise and minimal interference.


Today, this idiom is used in various contexts, including business, politics, personal relationships, and everyday life, to describe situations where someone cleverly disguises their true objective behind a harmless or seemingly unrelated action.


A modern example of this in film was Marvel Studios' careful concealment of Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield's appearances in Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021). Despite an awful lot of speculation and leaks, the studio refused to confirm their involvement, excluding both actors from trailers and official promotional materials. By keeping this secret closely guarded until the movie premiered, Marvel created genuine surprise and excitement among audiences, significantly enhancing the film's impact and success.


Ultimately, Deceive the Heavens to Cross the Sea teaches us to keep our plans private until we're ready to act. This helps us stay focused on getting things done instead of worrying about what others think.


You can use this idea by quietly working on big projects or ideas and not sharing them too early. Social media is a dangerous thing, as I see people tipping their hand way too early on stuff that really should not be talking about publicly at all, so be aware of this and stop doing it. In fact, I directed a project that was meant to stay secret until a Crowdfunder was launched a few months later, and where the images from it would have been released to promote the campaign. On my return to social media a few months later I was horrified to discover that all of the images had been released already, for no other reason than to say – Hey, look what I’ve been up to - When they later launched the crowd funder, there were no new images to release with it and it seriously impacted the outcome.


A play on all this is the idiom to "Play your cards close to your chest." Which of course originates from card games like poker, where players physically hold their cards near their chest to prevent others from seeing their hand. Metaphorically, it means being cautious, secretive, or guarded about our intentions, plans, or information, so as not to give away our advantage or reveal your strategy prematurely.


To put this into practice, let's set aside time each week to work on your most important project without asking for approval or sharing it until it's ready to go live. Don’t go hunting for clout and ruin your own plans.

Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt. Sun Tzu, The Art of War

The second of today’s lessons is to "Borrow a Corpse to Revive the Soul" Stratagem #14 – Again a bit of a mind bender by today’s standards so what does it mean?


Literal Meaning:

  • 借 (Jiè) - Borrow, lend, or make use of

  • 尸 (Shī) - Corpse or dead body

  • 还 (Huán) - Return, restore, or bring back

  • 魂 (Hún) - Soul or spirit


This stratagem involves reviving something obsolete, defeated, or weakened by cleverly leveraging another entity's resources, reputation, or status. By repurposing an existing structure or situation (the "corpse"), you breathe new life into your own plans, ambitions, or ideas (the "soul").


It teaches us that instead of starting from scratch, we should breathe new life into existing resources, ideas, or systems to achieve your goals. For freelancers, this means leveraging what's already out there—tools, templates, frameworks, or proven strategies—to save time, energy, and creative bandwidth.


A more recent example of this might be Disney acquiring Lucasfilm in 2012, effectively "borrowing" the dormant Star Wars franchise (the "corpse") which they then revived and expanded it by producing fresh films, series, and merchandise, injecting new energy and popularity into the once-stagnant franchise (the new "soul")

Work smarter, not harder. Allan F. Mogensen

In more simple freelancing terms, it would lead us to use existing resources, ideas, or systems to save time and energy. The freelancing application is simply don’t reinvent the wheel.


Don’t reinvent the wheel. Instead, focus on streamlining your workflow by using resources that have already been built, tested, and refined. For example:


  • Project Management Tools: Tools like Trello or Notion can help organize your projects effortlessly so you can spend less time managing tasks and more time doing the creative work that truly matters.

  • Templates for Efficiency: Pre-designed templates for invoices, contracts, emails, and proposals save time and ensure professionalism, allowing you to focus on delivering value to your clients.

  • Proven Strategies: Adopt best practices and proven methods in your field to avoid trial-and-error pitfalls. For instance, if you’re a writer, using content frameworks can help structure your ideas faster.


By using what already exists and breathing new life into it, you can free up your mind for innovation and creativity, while still delivering high-quality results. I do it with risk assessments. If I am writing a new one, I’ll grab the template I used perhaps for a similar piece of action ever a few years before, then rework that to work for the new one. Or with this podcast I use the same intro and outro, changing titles and quotes. I don’t sit and re-write the same thing again and again.


So, stop wasting time reinventing the wheel. Borrow what works, and focus on what truly matters.


If you can’t think of anything, try it with old social media content.


  • Update and Repost: Take a high-performing post, update the information, and share it again with a fresh perspective or design.

  • Repurpose into New Formats: Turn an old blog post into an infographic, carousel, video, or reel.

  • Create a Series: Break down long-form posts into bite-sized social media snippets.

 

Don’t let your old content gather dust—repurpose it, reimagine it, and give it new life to keep your audience engaged!


As I mentioned before there are 36 of these strategies but the final one I want to spotlight today is "Loot a Burning House" (Stratagem 5)


Literal Meaning

  • 趁 (chèn): To take advantage of, to seize an opportunity.

  • 火 (huǒ): Fire.

  • 打 (dǎ): To strike, to attack, or to do something forcefully.

  • 劫 (jié): To rob, to plunder.

 

In short, this one encourages you to turn chaos into opportunity by acting decisively. Sun Szu said something similar, which is perhaps more edible for today’s headspace – he said "In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity." 

The metaphorical "burning house" represents a state of turmoil, crisis, or vulnerability. In practical terms, it means taking advantage of opportunities that arise often from another's misfortune, from general instability, or another’s lack of preparedness. It means identifying opportunities in disruption or chaos and using them to your advantage ethically.


I am very much aware that this has a negative connotation, implying opportunism or lack of moral integrity, and I’m not suggesting that you go out looking for people in need to take advantage of them but we can still take advantage of chaos and turn it into something positive.


Robert Rodriguez turned the chaos of a non-existent budget into an opportunity when with just $7,000, he shot El Mariachi using cheap equipment, non-professional actors, and creative shortcuts. The film's raw, resourceful charm caught Hollywood’s attention, launching his career and proving that limitations can fuel innovation.


Of course, chaos can feel overwhelming—like an industry changing, the economy slowing down, or a messy client project. But chaos often brings chances to grow, try new ideas, and work with new people. If you stay calm, flexible, and think strategically, you can turn these moments into opportunities.

The wise adapt themselves to circumstances, as water moulds itself to the pitcher. Chinese Proverb

Perhaps the most famous example would be Orson Welles and War of the Worlds (1938)

Orson Welles capitalized on the chaos caused by his infamous radio drama War of the Worlds. The broadcast, presented as a series of realistic news bulletins about an alien invasion, caused widespread panic among listeners who believed it was real. While the chaos sparked public outrage, the stunt catapulted Welles into the national spotlight, earning him fame and opportunities in Hollywood. He later directed Citizen Kane, often considered one of the greatest movies of all time.


In a simpler, freelancing terms you can use slow periods, client delays, or industry changes as opportunities to level up your skills, create passive income streams, or develop new services. That’s certainly what I did during the pandemic, so there’s a simple takeaway from this - the next time you face downtime or disruption, ask yourself: What skill or project can I work on during this period?


Remember, chaos often creates space for growth—use it wisely, and you might come out stronger, more skilled, and better prepared for the opportunities that follow.

Use what you have, do what you can, start where you are. Arthur Ashe

So, let’s recap on today’s lessons:


  • The first as Deceive the Heavens to Cross the Sea or if you prefer Play your cards close to your chest.

  • The next was Borrow a Corpse to Revive the Soul or more simply Work smarter, not harder.

  • And the final one was Loot a burning house or In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity.


I’m never sure if I’m giving too much with these sorts of episodes but I hope you have found something useful in here. I really appreciate you giving me your time today though and I hope you will join me again next week for a new episode called Why Firing Bad Clients is Good for Business.

 

In the meantime, let me end today with some words from Confucius who say, Success depends upon previous preparation, and without such preparation, there is sure to be failure.

Now take control of your own destiny, keep on shooting and join me next time on Film Pro Productivity and Success

Chinese battle strategies for today's world

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© 2018 Carter Ferguson - Film Pro Productivity

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