It seems to me that in recent years, "Sun Tzu for Business" in one form or another has become quite popular. Books have been written about it, workshops and talks have been conducted and delivered in its name, and a whole range of activities have sprung up around it. Having been an Infantryman for several years and now in business myself, this topic holds a great deal of interest for me, especially when so many claim to be able to link "The Art of War" to the goings-on in the business world, and to accrue the benefits thereof.
I first read the Lionel Giles translation of "The Art of War" when I was thirteen or fourteen. It was the second of a series of books I was reading on the topic. At that time, I was already developing a keen interest in strategy, tactics and related topics. I gained very little from the Lionel Giles version, probably because the field was quite new to me. Also, being dismally weak in Chinese as a Second Language, I was not able to take advantage of the Chinese versions already available in the National Library at that point. It was only a few years later that I happened to discover the Samuel B Griffith version, which greatly enhanced my understanding of the topic  and to which I referred several times over the next few decades, and, indeed, still refer to now. The fact that Samuel Griffith was a Marine, coupled with his collaboration with many Chinese academics, especially in the annotations, probably helped in making his translation one of the best I have read so far. I have had several opportunities over the years to deepen my understanding of "The Art of War" by relating it to my own experiences as well as to other related works. In this newsletter, I will share three perspectives on "The Art of War" as applied to business.
Firstly, "The Art of War" is NOT a parallel reference for fighting commercial wars, and that includes commercial civil wars, as we have seen them unfolding. By way of illustration, note how Jetstar swooped in to gain from Tiger's troubles Down Under. This is trying to take advantage of another's misfortune, a sure symptom of red ocean thinking. By contrast. the whole thrust of the book is the AVOIDANCE of war. This is achieved firstly by the rulers of the state having the right moral influence and exercising benevolence at all times. Benevolence was (and is), of course, not to be confused with weak statecraft. Criminals were still executed, for example. The point was that, if a state was run well, punishments would prove to be rare occurrences, as there would be few calls for their employ. Once the state was strong internally, it then made endeavours to be strong externally. If both conditions could be achieved simultaneously, so much the better. This was of course done preferably by forming mutually beneficial alliances. Other states which displayed belligerent tendencies and with whom mutually beneficial alliances could not be formed were studied carefully. While every effort would be made to woo those states, survival might dictate the disruption of the other's alliances, encouragement of the ruler's vices to weaken the state and foment civil unrest, planting puppet rulers, the exacting of tribute, and finally, the destruction, removal or incapacitation of its war machine. Think about YOUR organization. Does it have a worthy raison d'etre? Are your corporate core values alive in your hearts and the hearts of your staff, and not only on the walls of your reception rooms or on your websites? Do you genuinely seek the benefit of ALL your stakeholders? Are your staff experiencing the "Joy of Work"? Do they seek to genuinely improve daily operations in ways that increase both your bottom and top lines?
Secondly, the thirteenth chapter of the "Thirteen Chapters", as "The Art of War" is sometimes referred to, is devoted to the employment and deployment of spies. How well are you using business intelligence? I am not referring to cloak-and-dagger stuff here, much of what is useful actually lies easily within our reach. The internet has ensured that. There is also a whole plethora of material that can be used to both clarify and enlarge your picture of the business landscape in your current and desired area of operations. However, one of the  best ways of gathering business intelligence is from your staff's interaction with clients and even with competitors, assuming that those are really your competitors, and there is very little likelihood of your forming mutually beneficial alliances with them. Do your competitors have the same suppliers? Do you have the same clients or customers? Do you have friends in different trades who deal with them in one way or another? These are all rich sources of information. Once you start gathering your information, you need to organize them into manageable, comprehensible bits so that trends can be identified and exploited. Information is not useful unless it becomes intelligence, and producing intelligence is rather hard work, but well worth the effort. And, yes, you must possess and continuously cultivate the will to act according to intelligence in a timely manner, not too late and certainly not too soon. You will find that you possess this will to act when you and your organization are optimally aligned with your core values and have a clear and present understanding of your raison d'etre.
Finally, the theme of posturing is woven through the book, although more specifically so in  Chapter Four. Optimal posturing is essential at all levels, strategic, operational and tactical. Essentially, it is to always deliberately choose to operate from a position of strength. Even the strongest and healthiest warrior can be toppled due to bad posturing on his part. It was Archimedes who said "Give me a place to stand and I will move the earth". Two other sayings are in my mind as I write this. The first goes something like "With respect to purpose, the good general is soft as wax before it is discerned, unyielding as flint when he sees it before him". The second is "Defend only what the enemy cannot attack. Attack only where he cannot defend". There is static posturing and dynamic posturing. Static posturing is akin to having a great raison d'etre, living out of the core values by all staff, and generally improving the business from day to day, even as one amasses intelligence on the business space (terrain) and adjusts one's posture accordingly. The intelligence gathered here has to do with that pertaining to clients and suppliers as well as competitors. Dynamic posturing is having definite, yet flexible, plans about how to acquire and maintain new business and how to disable competitor actions against your business. As Patton said "Don't tell people how to do things. Just tell them what you want and let them surprise you with their ingenuity". Dynamic posturing is only possible when you have good people on board.
So, do remember - be benevolent, acquire and use business intelligence, and make sure your posture is always giving you strength.
Have a great week ahead!