Here’s this week’s update for Sun-Tzu Sunday. Sun-Tzu was a military strategist of ancient China. Each week, I present an excerpt from his treatise The Art of War. This week’s entry comes from the first chapter, entitled Making Plans:
Master Sun Said:
War is
A grave affair of state;
It is a place
Of life and death,
A road
To survival and extinction,
A matter
To be pondered carefully.
There are Five Fundamentals
For this deliberation,
For the making of comparisons
And the assessing of conditions:
The Way,
Heaven,
Earth,
Command,
Discipline.
The Way
Causes men
To be of one mind
With their rulers,
To live or die with them,
And to never waver.
(This would coincide with a corporation’s mission statement, a shared set of beliefs to which everyone in the company should ascribe.)
Heaven is
Yin and Yang,
Cold and hot,
The cycle of seasons.
(This would seem to imply that it’s external, so this could be the economy in general.)
Earth is
Height and depth,
Distance and proximity,
Ease and danger,
Open and confined ground,
Life and death.
(This seems to be the specific market in which the company does business.)
Command is
Wisdom,
Integrity,
Compassion,
Courage,
Severity.
(This refers to the various traits of good management. I was a little surprised to see compassion listed by a military man. Sun-Tzu was clearly ahead of his time.)
Discipline is
Organization,
Chain of command,
Control of expenditure.
(To me, discipline = following procedures and staying under budget. Hmm, a frugal leader.)
Every commander is aware
Of these
Five Fundamentals.
He who grasps them
Wins;
He who fails to grasp them
Loses.
I guess we should get a grasp on these fundamentals, lest we lose.
Check in next Sunday for another installment of Sun-Tzu Sunday.
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