Chapter 6 · Desperate Stratagems
反間計
Fǎn jiàn jì
Turn the Enemy's Spy
反間計
reverse · spy · scheme
Take the channel the other side uses to learn about you, and feed it back exactly what you want them to believe.
今 Today
You know a chatty ex-colleague relays gossip to a competitor. So you make sure they "overhear" that you're pivoting away from the market you're actually about to attack. The competitor relaxes on exactly the wrong front.
反 When it backfires
Doubled channels can double back. If the other side realises you're listening, they start feeding lies through the same channel — and you'll believe every one, because that source has always been good before.