苦肉计
Stratagems of Retreat · 败战计Deliberately harm yourself to gain the enemy's trust. Self-inflicted suffering can be the most convincing disguise.
Huang Gai of Wu deliberately provoked Zhou Yu into publicly flogging him. Heavily wounded, Huang Gai defected to Cao Cao, who trusted him because "no one would endure such punishment as a trick." Huang Gai then used this trust to set fire to Cao Cao's fleet.
When Nadella became Microsoft CEO, he publicly acknowledged Microsoft's past mistakes and cultural problems — inflicting a "wound" on the company's reputation. This vulnerability built trust with employees and partners, enabling the transformation.
Costco's extremely generous return policy (accepting almost any return) is a self-inflicted wound that builds enormous customer trust. The short-term cost of returns creates long-term loyalty that generates far greater revenue.