Lessons from a Philosopher/ General

The Art of War was written five hundred years before the time of Christ. In this work, Chinese philosopher turned general Sun Tzu , lays out his grand strategy of waging war. Warfare truly is a form of art if practiced according to the precepts of Sun Tzu .

Sun Tzu's is still venerated to the present day. Now, his work is studied more for it's strategic wisdom than for it's battlefield tactics. The work can aptly serve as a metaphor for the business arena or the political battlefield. Many of today's everyday problems can be solved using the approaches outlined in this ancient volume.

In The Art of War , Tzu lays out a thorough and methodical approach to warfare. First, he advises us concerning the laying of plans. He stresses the importance of the decisions that are made before the battle.

"The general who wins a battle makes many calculations before the battle is fought. The general who loses a battle makes but few calculations beforehand. ...it is by attention to this point that I can forsee who is likely to win or lose."

Next, the author discusses such topics as, tactics, energy, and maneuvering. Sun Tzu recognizes that in any conflict an army will have various strong points as well as various weak points.

By discovering the enemy's dispositions and remaining invisible ourselves, we can keep our forces concentrated, while the enemy's must be divided. ...We can form a single united body, while the enemy must split up into factions. Hence there will be a whole pitted against the separate parts of a whole, which means we shall be many to the enemy's few."

Perhaps the most powerful part of Sun Tzu's writing address the use of spies. The philosopher/ general realizes that these spies are of supreme importance. The spy, he argues can best be put to use in gathering information that can be used in order to avoid the conflict altogether. Sun Tzu argues forcefully that the greatest achievement a leader can achieve is the victory that is won without resorting to conflict.

To fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consist in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting."

Such victory's on the world stage are rare. In our time we have all to often failed to achieve this supreme excellence. In geopolitics this failing has led to the loss of millions of lives. In the business world, conflicts have many times led to retard the advancement of mankind. While The Art of War may at first glance seem dated and full of truisms, there are many subtle gems of wisdom contained within the small books pages. It is a book that yields it's wisdom slowly thru the study of many readings. I recommend this book to anyone that wishes to achieve excellence.