Chapter 8
The ‘red zones’
In the 1980s and 1990s Sun Tzu’s book The Art of War became a handbook for the entrepreneurial person in commerce. While elusive and sometimes requiring a degree of lateral thinking to understand what Tzu is saying, it contains many lessons for the contract negotiator.
Many people have used The Art of War solely as a guide to battle. In my view this is a mistake. What The Art of War teaches you is the prudence of when not to fight as much as technique and strategy when you are in the war.
The assessment of resources and strategy should lead to decisions not to engage in a battle as much as to leaping in. In my view, the greatest lesson in The Art of War is to assess and know your respective strengths and weaknesses. ...
