The Art of War
Overview
This one’s been on my reading list for a while, so I’m glad to have gotten around to it. This book (and Clausewitz’s On War) are perhaps the two most frequently cited war/strategy books.
My reading of this book was pretty surface level. I skimmed a lot and skipped lots of stuff that I didn’t find applicable, so I’m sure I didn’t get as much as I could have out of it. I definitely didn’t take time to engage with a lot of the ideas.
Despite that, Sun Tzu’s basic ideas are pretty straightforward and sensible. I think the challenge will be to remember them, and to tie execution into those ideas.
Concepts
Philosophy
Sun Tzu’s core ethos is to (a) understand the situation you’re in and (b) act when you’re guaranteed success.
Correspondingly, he focuses mostly on (a) how to identify and understand various factors and (b) given a current situation, the best course of action.
As part of this, Sun Tzu also doesn’t try to fight reality. He seeks to act accordingly to whatever reality he finds himself in. Running water takes the path of least resistance—Sun Tzu does likewise.
Autonomy & Unity
While he doesn’t quite cast it in these terms, Sun Tzu pushes ideas that emphasize autonomy and unity. This is essentially a means of coordination: people must be free to take what they believe to be the best course of action while still accomplishing the objectives that have been established.
The side that has superiors and subordinates united in purpose will take the victory.
This coordination involves both how people act and how they think.
With respect to actions, he pushes top-down objectives but not top-down commands. He implicitly recognizes that it is hard to coordinate large groups and organizations. So, a lot of his thinking is focused on ensuring that sub-units can take what they think is the best course of action in order to achieve a commander’s goal.
An example of this is how to supply an army. He recognizes that it’s hard to supply armies from a distance. It’s also expensive for armies to supply themselves, as cost of goods increase near an army. Sun Tzu’s solution:
Therefore, the wise commander does his best to feed his army from enemy soil.
He also recognizes the logistical component. It’s important that the command and communication structure allows intent to be easily and well-communicated.
In general, it is organization that makes managing many soldiers the same as managing a few. It is communication with flags and pennants that makes fighting with many soldiers the same as fighting with a few.
Just as important is how people think and feel. Sun Tzu understands that he needs the support of the people he commands.
The way (tao) is what brings the thinking of the people in line with their superiors. Hence, you can send them to their deaths or let them live, and they will have no misgivings one way or the other.
He implies that this is obtained by demonstrating that your decisions are made by considering your people.
Victory
Today, we often think of victory (or success) as a binary end—it matters only whether or not we achieved it. Sun Tzu differes from this—to him, it’s important how you obtain victory.
This isn’t an ethics argument. He doesn’t claim that you need to win honorably.
Rather, it’s about what victory costs you. Sun Tzu wants to everything intact—army, morale, etc.
Another way of looking at this: there’s no focus on bravado. The ideal victory is where the enemy just gives up—because they recognize their position is futile.
It is best to keep one’s own state intact; to crush the enemy’s state is only a second best. It is best to keep one’s own army, battalion, company, or five-man squad intact; to crush the enemy’s army, battalion, company, or five-man squad is only a second best. So to win a hundred victories in a hundred battles is not the highest excellence; the highest excellence is to subdue the enemy’s army without fighting at all.