Management principles: Sun Tzu's The Art of War

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!