At its heart, The Art of War is a guide book for Sun Tzu’s fellow general…and maybe to prove he’s the best…but we can easily break it down into a book simply to guide leaders. Almost all of his lessons can be converted to this purpose.
While there are many important lessons, his work boils down to leadership takeaways from
- Purposeful, deliberate & fast strategized (in)action
- Psychology
Every action, or lack thereof, should have purpose in your overall strategy to conquer a foe, or in the general business world, to reach a goal. Sun Tzu says,
“be extremely subtle, even to the point of formlessness. Be extremely mysterious, even to the point of soundlessness. Thereby you can be the director of the opponent’s fate…” and “Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt.”
Your strategic moves should be in the form of Teddy Roosevelt, “speak softly and carry a big stick.” Think carefully, strategize for future eventualities and possibilities, keep adversaries wondering what you’re thinking, and when the time comes, strike boldly, quickly and without mercy. Make sure your every action and inaction carries with it purpose.
Connecting directly to this is his method of psychological warfare and awareness of your own and comrades’ mental states. Deception is at the heart of strategy for Sun Tzu. If you properly deceive your enemy, your battle will be won without a need for you to fight. Psychology and appearances are just as important as your competence…keeping an enemy in the dark will serve to confuse and stress them.
Just as important is awareness of your own and your personnel’s mental state.
“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles…If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle”
If you know your weaknesses, you can develop them or compensate with your strengths, just as if you know your enemy’s you can prepare to attack at the weak point.
Similarly, when your team’s mentality suffers, “even the finest sword plunged into salt water will eventually rust.” If you don’t create a culture that reinforces and lifts your team’s mental state, they will degrade and become useless to you. The most effective team is one which has no rust, ie mental degradation.
