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    The Art of War for Executives: Ancient Knowledge for Today's Business Professional
    The Art of War for Executives: Ancient Knowledge for Today's Business Professional
    The Art of War for Executives: Ancient Knowledge for Today's Business Professional
    Ebook145 pages1 hour

    The Art of War for Executives: Ancient Knowledge for Today's Business Professional

    By Donald G. Krause

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    About this ebook

    Success is an art form that few can master. Here, Sun Tzu's ancient principles of war, reinterpreted for the modern businessperson, offer the skills to gain an advantage and achieve success on the corporate battlefield...and the strategies to win at work when conflicts arise.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Publishing Group
    Release dateOct 2, 2007
    ISBN9781440621383
    The Art of War for Executives: Ancient Knowledge for Today's Business Professional
    Author

    Donald G. Krause

    Donald G. Krause provides consulting services and writes books on competitive strategy implementation and leadership development. He has 30 years of experience with Fortune 500 companies, smaller businesses, health care organizations, the US General Accounting Office, and his own firm. Mr. Krause is a seasoned lecturer and educator. He was voted educator of the year for 1999 at Robert Morris College in Chicago, IL. He is also the author of The Way of the Leader and Musashi's Book of Five Rings for Executives.

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      Book preview

      The Art of War for Executives - Donald G. Krause

      INTRODUCTION

      Sun Tzu is a semi-mythical figure, more than likely a combination of several people, perhaps a father and son or grandson (Sun Pin), who lived in China about 2,500 years ago, around the time of Confucius. Drawing on experience gained while leading successful military campaigns, Sun Tzu developed and handed down a collection of concise and immensely useful concepts governing the art of warfare. These concepts evolved into a written document during what is called the Period of Warring States (403-221 BCE). The great Chinese warlord Cao Cao cited Sun Tzu’s concepts as the source of his success in consolidating China into one country. Cao Cao transcribed Sun Tzu’s ideas into a short book, The Art of War, which has been the blueprint for waging war and doing business in China and the Far East ever since.

      In the latter half of the twentieth century, The Art of War became a worldwide management phenomenon. Understanding and using Sun Tzu’s principles is now a requirement for everyone who wants to succeed in business anywhere in the world. But getting to the essence of the material can be difficult. While The Art of War is a short book, only thirteen chapters, the original material reads more like notes written down during a series of lectures or informal discussions over an extended period of time. Chapter titles do not always convey the ideas covered in a given section. Furthermore, unrelated ideas are thrown together and related ideas are discussed in separate sections. For those willing to work through The Art of War, however, Sun Tzu presents a coherent set of effective principles that, once mastered, can be used to create a powerful competitive advantage in almost every phase of business and life.

      Mastering The Art of War with Sun Tzu’s Principles

      For the business executive, mastering The Art of War involves integrating Sun Tzu’s principles into all personal and professional affairs on a day-by-day, moment-by-moment basis. Mastering The Art of War involves considering every business situation, indeed every situation, in light of its potential for conflict and its opportunities for profit. This does not mean becoming belligerent, argumentative, or mercenary (unless it is useful to do so). In fact, just the opposite; a calm, objective, reserved approach will serve much better. But mastery does mean automatically assessing the strengths and weaknesses of people encountered, friend and foe alike. It does mean paying constant attention to developing character and sharpening leadership skills. It does mean carefully considering other people’s words and actions to uncover their true meaning and significance, not just taking them at face value. At the bottom line, however, mastery of these principles is worth the effort. Mastering Sun Tzu’s principles means that when an opportunity does appear, the raw material of competitive advantage will be readily available.

      Sun Tzu presents two levels of principles in The Art of War. The two levels can be termed strategic principles and tactical principles. Strategic principles are those applied on a constant, consistent basis, regardless of the situation. They are designed to provide the foundation and framework for successful competitive operations. There are three strategic principles: Commitment, Observation, and Preparation. Without appropriate application and integration of the three strategic principles, overall competitive success will never happen.

      Tactical principles are those applied in direct response to a specific opportunity or threat. There are six tactical principles: Assessment, Adaptation, Leverage, Deception, Timing, and Pace. Each tactical principle is like a strand of fiber making up a strong rope. By itself, a given strand may break under heavy strain or intense pressure; but by weaving the strands together, one is able to create a rope that will handle any load.

      In addition to the two types of principles, Sun Tzu employs three aspects, or points of view, in discussing the application of his principles. These aspects are: the individual, the individual’s working group, and the competition. When applying Sun Tzu’s principles, it is necessary to evaluate the situation from all three aspects to understand the scope and effect of a given approach or method. The three aspects are, of course, not mutually exclusive. They are three subjective versions of the same objective reality; the same situation observed from three separate but intimately related perspectives. The ability to conceptualize a situation from each of the three points of view is a fundamental skill.

      Strategic Principles

      Commitment is the first strategic principle. On an individual and working-group level, commitment and character set the stage for eventual victory. Without commitment, nothing happens. Sun Tzu says, In general, serious competitive engagements will succeed only if people are wholly committed to plans and goals. When people are committed, they act with unified purpose. When they have unified purpose, no defender can stop them, no attacker overcome them. The nature of people is to ardently strive to reach any goal to which they are committed. Put your organization into a situation where they have no choice but to commit to your goals and they will succeed beyond their imagined limits.

      The drive and desire to succeed in difficult situations derives from the depth of character. The nature of a person’s character is a combination of personality, ideals, and commitment. Character is shaped over a long period of time. Furthermore, character has no moral dimension; it is an objective reality. The morality of a person’s character is determined by his actions. Think carefully about the force of character. It will determine the emphasis and direction of a person’s actions. Sun Tzu teaches, Know your enemy and know yourself. If a person’s character is known, his motivation will also be known. This provides a significant competitive advantage.

      Executives exhibit personal character through leadership style. Leadership style and personal character are two sides of the same coin; leadership style is the external manifestation of internal principles. Particular combinations of character traits fit certain situations better than others. When a person with a suitable combination of character traits is able to fulfill the leadership needs of a specific group or constituency, he will find himself in a position of leadership, providing he has taken the time to develop basic leadership skills. This is how terribly flawed people become powerful leaders. They shape their character to fit the needs of a specific constituency. Recent political and business events, indeed events throughout history, have shown the necessity for evaluating the character of leaders before thrusting them into positions of power over people’s lives and fortunes.

      On a group level, Sun Tzu emphasizes character as a critical element of preparation. Putting effective people into positions of authority is absolutely necessary to create an organization that can successfully execute adaptive strategies during competitive engagements. Select subordinates carefully, then test them thoroughly. Give them the time and opportunity to fail in situations where the consequences are not dire.

      Character flaws create opportunities for competitive advantage. Sun Tzu teaches this about using the character flaws of others against them: "Utilize the character flaws of your opponents in order to defeat them. Look for these five traits: If an opponent is reckless, we can cause him to waste his resources. If an opponent is timid, we can seize his resources. If an opponent is short-tempered, we can cause him to be rash. If an opponent is self-important, we can deceive him with flattery. If an opponent is overly concerned about loss of position or reputation, he will hesitate before making a difficult decision at

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