Don't Flatter Yourself

I can't believe some of the stuff I read about the "Art of War". One reviewer had the gall to suggest that the Art of War was the secret to the Japanese leap from feudal society to world economic power. I guess he skipped the class on World War II.

It really bugs me when I come across "The Art of War" billed as a business book. The idea is that Sun Tzu has some kind of "Ancient Chinese Secret (tm)" that can take a mediocre middle management type and skyrocket him to the the head of the boardroom table. But the truth of the matter is, as Sun Tzu and his commentators point out, no amount of teaching can make up for lack of ability.

Sun Tzu is no fount of magical wisdom. He's just a smart guy who compiled what all good generals knew about warfare in his time. While good stories, they aren't always applicable to modern business. For one thing, ancient styles of warfare were pretty much fixed. That's why Sun Tzu was able to master them. They didn't change in his lifetime. Modern business practices change every time technology changes, and that's every day.

Let's talk about REAL wisdom for a second. Real wisdom means more than just having a knack for meetings. It means being able to apply a wide basis of knowledge and experience to every situation you come across. People who thing that Sun Tzu will teach them to be ruthless, and thus somehow more powerful, are actually just narrowing their own minds. Yeah, they might get the key to the corporate bathroom, but they won't keep it long. The next generation of ruthless mediocre middle management will see to that.

Cheers.