Sun Tzu’s The Art of War (written between 505-496
B.C.- probably) is the oldest known military treatise in the world. He was the
Army General of King Ho Lu of the Kingdom of Wu in China. The western world was
introduced to The Art of War in 1782 by
Jesuit Priest Joseph Amiot, who translated it into French but the first English
translation was done only in 1905 by Captain E.F. Calthrop. The work has seen
scores of commentators since then. The best translation is by Lionel Giles
(1910 edition) and he incorporates a number of commentaries in his work. So
what’s so special about this treatise and why should the layman be interested?
The
Art of War is, firstly, a fascinating read into the military
techniques of its day. China, like most countries at the time, was not a
unified nation but a conglomeration of clans and tribes, constantly warring
with one another. Sun Tzu’s work gives us an insight into the war games of that
era and also reveals an astute military mind at work. His principles are
astoundingly effective and relevant even today. I’ve derived ten rules from the
work, which left an impact on me personally.
1) The army that has greater constancy is
one where ‘there is absolute certainty
that merit will be properly rewarded and misdeeds summarily punished’.
Isn’t this one of the cardinal principles of management? To encourage
efficiency by rewarding good workers and punishing the slack ones? As head of a
Central Government office, I rue the fact that I don’t have powers to give my
staff adequate incentives when they perform well. I have punitive powers
aplenty but how to reward exceptional workers besides a good grade in the
annual performance reports?
2) ‘In the practical art of war, the best
thing is to take the enemy’s country
whole and intact; to shatter and destroy it is not so good.’ Why? Because
it alienates the conqueror from the local populace and leaves his army bereft
of supplies. A lovely, sentimental story comes to mind about the refusal of a
Nazi officer to destroy Paris during the German occupation in WWII. The officer
Dietrich von Choltitz was military Governor of Paris when Hitler gave him
orders in August 1944 to destroy religious and historical monuments in the
French capital. He demanded famously: “Brennt
Paris?” (Is Paris burning?). But Choltitz refused to obey because he’d
developed love for the city and because (as he’d reveal later) he realized that
Hitler had gone insane by then!
3) ‘Though we have heard of stupid haste in
war, cleverness has never been associated
with long delays.’ Delaying anything
is bad, particularly settlement of retirees’ pension benefits, or provident
fund cases, or any delay in dealing with legal cases.
4) ‘The worst
policy of all is to besiege walled cities’. We’ve several examples in
history to prove this. Sun Tzu explains further that the preparation of
‘mantlets’ (shields and other protective gear), movable shelters and various
implements of war will take up to three months. By that time, he says, the
soldiers will grow restless and lazy and their nerves will be on edge from
having to keep constant vigil against their enemy. Sound reasoning, I think. There
have been examples of successful sieges of forts and cities in history but
these have always come at a terrible human cost on both sides.
5)The control of a large force is the same
principle as the control of a few men: it is merely a question of dividing up the numbers.’ Love this one: works
well in big offices with large staff strengths. Delegation to the supervisory
level is critical in such cases.
6)‘In battle, there are not more than two methods of attack- the direct and
indirect; yet these two in combination give rise to an endless series of
manoeuvres’.
7) ‘The highest form of generalship is to balk the enemy’s plans’. This is
explained by a commentator Ho Shih (quotes by Lionel Giles): ‘When the enemy
has made a plan of attack against us, we must anticipate him by delivering our
own attack first’. It all depends on an efficient intelligence network. I can’t
emphasize enough the importance of keeping one’s ears open to listen to the
staff and be aware of what’s going on in one’s office.
8) An army on the march must ‘camp in high places, facing the sun.
After crossing a river, you should get far away from it (to tempt the enemy to
cross after you)’. Location, location, location. Need I say more about
appropriate office space?
9) ‘Bring war materials from home but forage on the enemy. Thus the army will
have enough food for its needs’. No need to carry unnecessary supplies and
equipment: use local facilities.
10) ‘All
warfare is based on deception’. Sun Tzu’s eloquent about this: ‘If your
opponent is of choleric temper, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that
he may grow arrogant. If he’s taking his ease, give him no rest.’ ‘Attack him
where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected.’ Here are clips from two famous movies that deal with war: Troy, starring Brad Pitt as Achilles, Orlando Bloom as Paris and Eric Bana as Hector. One of my all time favourite movies. It's the scene of the Trojan Horse, exhibiting Sun Tzu's principle of 'All warfare is based on deception'. Unfortunately Achilles and Hector aren't in this scene. The next contains excerpts from Gladiator with Russell Crowe at his soulful, dishy best!
