“Measurement, Estimation, Calculation, Balancing of chances, Victory: such is the sequence.”
Victory is the output of a sequence — measure, estimate, calculate, weigh — not a single act of will.
Chapter 4’s grand finale is a flowchart: Measurement, Estimation, Calculation, Balancing of chances, Victory — such is the sequence. After all its poetry about hidden ground and flashing heights, the chapter ends in arithmetic, deliberately. Victory is not a climax but a terminal value, the last link of a chain each earlier link of which is unglamorous work.
A failed product launch, autopsied honestly: the "measurement" was anecdote (three friendly customers), the "estimation" was hope (the TAM slide), the "calculation" was skipped (no unit economics under pessimism), the "balancing" was binary (ship or die). Victory was the only link that got full effort — which is like strengthening the last link of a chain and calling it strategy.
The sequence is not a waterfall to be worshipped — Sun Tzu elsewhere orders plans modified as circumstances change. What cannot be skipped is the existence of each link, not a particular ritual per link. Teams that "measure" for six months and never balance chances have broken the sequence at the other end; the chain demands all five, in order, every time.