Sun Tzu: The Art of Strategy

With the publication of Strategy in Digital Transformation, we will be regularly sharing the contents of the book here. Today, we follow a small but important lesson from Sun Tzu, who is considered to be the founder of strategic thinking.

One of the earliest and most influential works on strategy is “The Art of War” by Sun Tzu, a Chinese military general, strategist, and philosopher who lived during the Eastern Zhou period (around the 5th century BC).

Sun Tzu emphasises the importance of adaptability, deception, and psychological warfare. He once said, “All warfare is based on deception,” emphasising the need for cunning and flexibility in strategic planning.

The essence of strategy

Erik: Master Sun, what is the highest truth of strategy? *

Sun Tzu: Knowing yourself and knowing your enemy—that is the essence. When the mirror of wisdom reflects both your own heart and the shadow of your enemy, a hundred battles can be won without drawing a single sword.

Sun Tzu was way ahead of his time with this version of ‘data-driven working’. Understanding your own organisation and that of your competitors is essential for an organisation to survive in this modern age. Those who can use data to determine not only what has happened, but also what could happen, are miles ahead of the rest of the market.

Strategy versus tactics

Erik: How does the wise man distinguish between strategy and tactics?

Sun Tzu: Strategy is the river that paves the way to destiny; tactics are the stones that guide the flow. One without the other is like a ship without a rudder, or a rudder without a ship. A general who knows only the way but not the step stumbles toward victory. A general who knows only the step but not the way is already lost before the battle begins. Be aware: strategy without tactics is the slowest path to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.

Organisations spend too much time on tactics and too little on strategy. This is certainly a problem when each department or business unit of the organisation determines its own priorities and actions, independently of the common strategy.

The importance of preparation

Erik: How important is preparation in martial arts?

Sun Tzu: The battle is won in the quiet chambers of the mind, long before the drums of war sound. Those who sharpen their swords in times of peace need not fear the chaos of conflict. Victory belongs to those who see the storm coming before the clouds gather. As I once so aptly said, “Every battle is already won or lost before it is fought.”

This is an important insight. As an organisation, it is important to anticipate disruption or other major digitally driven changes and prepare for them. For example, an organisation can already work on achieving greater digital maturity and develop a number of possible scenarios to see how the organisation can respond to major changes.

You can read the full interview with Sun Tzu and the other interviews in Strategy in Digital Transformation.

Create a successful digital strategy

The book Strategy in Digital Transformation is a practical guide and reference work that you can use to get started right away.

The book is available in ePUB and PDF formats. The paperback version will be released at the end of October.

The English version will be released first, followed shortly by the Dutch version at the end of this year.

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* Experiment with AI

I used Mistral.ai to construct this interview with Sun Tzu. I instructed the AI to respond from Sun Tzu's perspective. The first result wasn't quite what I had in mind, but the second version was fine as far as I was concerned.

The same applies to the title image. I asked Google Gemini to create an image of Sun Tzu teaching a group of people. After providing feedback several times, the result was still not good enough. In Mistral.ai, it was right tThe same applies to the title image. I asked Google Gemini to create an image of Sun Tzu teaching a group of people. After providing feedback several times, the result was still not good enough. In Mistral.ai, it was right the first time.