Sun Tzu and the Art of War

The Art of War
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The Art of War
Sun Tzu was a legendary military strategist in ancient China and he authored, The Art of War around 500BC (films). The book was written in thirteen chapters of Chinese characters on bamboo strips. He was known to be important because he used a holistic philosophy as Mark McNeilly explains in understanding Sun Tzu’s book the art of war. He suggested that if you follow the strategist, you will win, but lose if you chose not to. The author preferred winning the easier battles, the key principle of his teachings was that war was a matter of life and death. Sun Tzu argued that once the principle was understood, everyone from the leader to the soldier would be motivated to win. The author based the book on three main principles that stood out and unified his philosophy. Firstly, he wrote that one should know their enemy and know themselves, and in a hundred fights, they would never be at risk. Secondly, understanding your opponent is crucial to victory, and the height of skill was in subduing the enemy without fighting because fighting cost life and money, which was important. Thirdly, the author wrote that one should avoid what is strong and attack the weak; he claimed that war was about winning rather than showing strength and courage. Using the three principles holistically is found unbreakable. The book’s insights have been applied to sports, politics, and businesses, and those who heed to it become successful (films). Sun Tzu was focused on how to achieve the goal using minimal destruction and resources.
The book’s insights can be applied to a business's success. The author used a goal-oriented plan to win like in chess where you frustrate your opponent to surrender. In business, the goal is to prosper and survive as you capture your market. The book encourages to outwit the competition with the least or no fight (films). During the process of capturing the market, the business should do so without destroying their market. Businesses can attack parts of the market that are under-served indirectly and quiet approaches that do not draw attention from the competitor. The process should not bring about the war prices because such wars leave the markets damaged for any business to survive and prosper. As Sun Tzu worked, strategic approaches that are well-planned and goal oriented yielded success to its users.
Sun Tzu advised that to kill the enemy, one should avoid the strengths and attack the weaknesses. Unlike the western warfare approach, understanding the Sun Tzu’s book the art of war documentary explains that to win using the least resources is the better option. Businesses should focus on their competitor’s weaknesses, which minimizes the use of resources and maximizes their gains. The art of attacking the weak points enables the business to increase their profits. The principle was against the Western strategies that led to many companies launching direct attacks on their opponents’ strongest point. Attacking the competitor’s strengths led to fights that maximized the use of resources and consequentially led to the battles of attrition that ended up being very expensive for all the parties involved. Working on your b...