Sun Tzu — A Take Five Primer
History’s Most Famous and Widely-Read Competitive Strategist
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Sun Tzu was a Chinese military strategist and philosopher. He is known for The Art of War, the most widely-read military and business title in history.
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The remainder of this article will give you additional perspective on Sun Tzu and what “The Art of War” has to offer.
Attribution
I have written before about the pitfalls of attribution in the annals of history. Sun Tzu is no different. Historians debate whether his work was the first military treatise, whether his son was the true author, and the order of his work among the other six books among the Seven Military Classics from China. Like Edison, Guttenberg, and Fulton, it probably suffices to say that Sun Tzu won the credit lottery.
Military Strategy and more…
The Art of War is renowned as a military classic. As I am neither a general nor a warlord, I will leave that to the experts.
Written around 500 BC, the book is arranged into 13 chapters that touch on everything from tactical strategy to the use of fire and spies. Each chapter is composed of roughly two dozen principal and proverbs written to guide the thinking of military leaders and strategists.
The appeal of Sun Tzu’s writing goes well beyond the military application. His principles and advice touch on many aspects of competition and leadership. And while 2000 years of successful application surely adds to the appeal, it is the theory and logic of his writing that make it timeless.
Game Theory
With all deference to John von Neumann, who is credited with the first mathematical proof associated with Game Theory, Sun Tzu was likely the first to record the original tenets. The Art of War is full of wise advice on how to fool your opponent, to understand what they are thinking, and even how to model the behaviors and attitudes of your soldiers.
Segmentation & Analysis
Another fascinating component of The Art of War is the inclusion of both segmentation and analysis. This is all the more impressive as Sun Tzu wrote his treatise nearly a century before Socrates invented analysis.
In numerous chapters, Sun Tzu applies analytic concepts to develop his theories and techniques. He advises wise leaders to collect information and provides organizational constructs and frameworks in which to analyze them.
If you know the enemy and know yourself you need not fear the results of a hundred battles.
The Art of War has inspired many related offerings in a variety of formats. While I am sure they are all enjoyable, only a small subset accurately reflect the original text and concepts.
If you wish to research this topic further, investigate some of the links below.
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Read The Art of War Visualized by Jessica Hagy- a quick and approachable take on the original.
Take Five Primers are an article format created by Corsair’s Institute to increase the reader’s comprehension of key concepts by providing learning opportunities that are tailored to the amount of time the reader wishes to engage with a particular subject.
