In the Line of Fire: How to Handle Tough Questions—When It Counts, Second Edition

Chapter 10. The Art of War

(Martial Art: Self-Control)

Those who win every battle are not really skillful... those who render others’ armies helpless without fighting are the best of all.

General Sun Tzu The Art of War [10.1]

The martial arts are called “arts” and not “sciences” because success or failure depends more on artful application than on any formula or equation. The central application of these arts is to the battle itself. It is with good reason that General Sun Tzu’s 2,500 year-old book is found on the shelves of many modern businesses today. Here in the twenty-first century, its ideas have become a treatise for combat in business, if not a primer for any conflict in life. But the good General did not originate the idea of winning ...