Probably doesn't matter but some quotes that may be relevant to many concerns I hear similar to yours.

“All warfare is based on deception.”

“Engage people with what they expect; it is what they are able to discern and confirms their projections. It settles them into predictable patterns of response, occupying their minds while you wait for the extraordinary moment — that which they cannot anticipate.”

“Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him.”

“All men can see the tactics whereby I conquer, but what none can see is the strategy out of which victory is evolved.”

“Foreknowledge cannot be gotten from ghosts and spirits, cannot be had by analogy, cannot be found out by calculation. It must be obtained from people, people who know the conditions of the enemy.”

“Opportunistic relationships can hardly be kept constant. The acquaintance of honorable people, even at a distance, does not add flowers in times of warmth and does not change its leaves in times of cold: it continues unfading through the four seasons, becomes increasingly stable as it passes through ease and danger.”

“Therefore, just as water retains no constant shape, so in warfare there are no constant conditions.” Sun Tzu