‘The Art of War’: The greatest strategy book ever written | Roger Martin
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- čas přidán 21. 05. 2024
- Strategy advisor Roger Martin explains how 2,000 year old military thinking is useful in modern business strategy.
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Business leaders can gain valuable insights from history’s great military strategists. Roger Martin, an author and the former dean of the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, suggests examining "The Art of War" by Sun Tzu.
Although the text is more than 2,000 years old, Roger argues that it contains timeless philosophy that applies not only to the battlefield, but also to modern business strategy. To Roger, people often think war and business is all about numbers and hard data. But in reality, it’s often just as important to think about more qualitative aspects about your company and its competition. And that’s where philosophy and customer-focused design come into play.
0:00 Is ‘The Art of War’ as good as an MBA?
2:19 “The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting”
3:25 “There is no instance of a nation benefiting from prolonged warfare”
4:22 “When you surround an army, leave an outlet free. Do not press a desperate foe too hard”
5:05 “Treat your men as you would your own beloved sons. And they will follow you into the deepest valley.”
6:28 The tripartite view of the future
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About Roger Martin:
In 2017, Roger Martin was named the world’s #1 management thinker by Thinkers50, a biannual ranking of the most influential global business thinkers.
Martin is a trusted strategy advisor to the CEOs of companies worldwide including Procter & Gamble, Lego, and Ford.
Martin is a Professor Emeritus at the Rotman School of Management at University of Toronto, where he served as dean from 1998-2013. In 2013, he was named global Dean of the Year by the leading business school website, Poets & Quants.
His newest book is A New Way to Think: Your Guide to Superior Managerial Effectiveness. His previous twelve books include When More is Not Better, Creating Great Choices written with Jennifer Riel, Getting Beyond Better written with Sally Osberg, and Playing to Win written with A.G. Lafley, which won the award for Best Book of 2012-13 by the Thinkers50. He has written 32 Harvard Business Review articles.
Martin received his BA from Harvard College, with a concentration in economics, in 1979 and his MBA from the Harvard Business School in 1981. He lives in South Florida with his wife, Marie-Louise Skafte.
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"I'm only here to read the comment section quotes"
Sun Tzu, art of war
I simply love how this comment get pinned for a reason.
This is exactly why Big Think made this video
"bomb them back to the stone age"
Us Military Strategy, to ensure that they will be hated forever and continuously fuel funds to the military industrial complex.
"If Emma has two moms, victory is guaranteed."
Marcelo you are correct. It is the new knowledge created in the mediating realm of the comments: That is, what the creator brings and what the consumer of that idea brings. There are some 'you tube' creators who miss the true creation and knowledge which is laying within the comments. You can learn a lot also from the irony, the joke and the rediculas that commentators make.
"Your enemy can't know your next move if you don't have one"
Moon Tzu, The Art of Peace
If you don't know too
Your enemy is expecting you to do something, therefore do nothing.
“I didn’t say that” - moon tzu, the art of quote
Improvise, adapt, overcome
-piss
not move is move.
"If you are losing, just start winning" Sun Tzu, art of war
If you're homeless, just get a house.
@@Gabriel-l if you don't have money just make more money
@@saptarsi7868 andrew tate?
That's a nonsense quote and stupid
Well time to gamble 🎰
“There are only two kinds of experts: those who quote Sun Tzu and those who do not.”
- Sun Tzu, Art of War
"Ayo fr NGL"
-Dank Tzu, Art of Buzz words
I love this quote, but now I don’t want to use it.😩
😂😂😂
The good thing about this book is that apart from military strategy, it also applies in business, life and judgements.
Did you even watch the video
I read the book. It's just a common sense book requiring you to have high EQ.
Thanks for getting me out of the confusion.
It's a book about human nature.
@@sleepyearth common sense that people rarely have, or have but never realize how to utilize
Talking about treating customers like family, I remember my father's story. My father's shop was burned to the ground, he was practically ruined at the time. His insurance only covered for his rent of new shop, but he had no goods to sell, and he still owed his supplier for the burned goods. So my father flew to see his supplier, and told him frankly that he had no money to pay for his debts, but if the supplier still can trust my father, my father asked him for new goods to sell so that my father can pay his debts. To my father surprise, the supplier actually told my father not to worry about his debt and he gave my father, new goods to sell. My father's business recovered in a year and he paid all his debts. I wonder if in this kind of generosity can happen today.
This one not found in Sun Tzu.
It can it happened recently with my mom clothing business, her suppliers were very supportive
Today your father would burn the store himself to get the insurance money
Ok this is not so modern, but Li Ka Shing, Hong Kong's most famous billionaire, had a custom of taking only 8% instead of the customary 9% (or it could be 8 parts of 10 instead of 9 parts out of 10, something like that. I'm not too clear on the exact details.) for business deals. He said that by taking less and giving the other party more, people would want to do business with him. And so he ended up with lots of Ka-Ching.
If a supplier is too generous with his clients, he might end up losing everything
*“If fighting is sure to result in victory, then you must fight."* Sun Tzu said that!
It's sounds simple, but you have no idea how often generals hem and haw at taking any action even when their intelligence shows very low risk and high reward. I think the American Civil war stalled because of this.
"The Supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting"
The art of war.
"When you pee, you don't poop. When you poop, sometimes you pee."
- Sun Tzu
"When you poop, don't say you're peeing, this is not deception, it's stupidity." Sun Tzi
😂 Im actually pooping and then I really peed as I am reading ur comment 😂😂😂😂😂😂Lol 😂Lol
@@florencechan1184wtf lol😂
"None of my quotes/citators are actually authentic" - sun Tzu, art of war
You are so funny
Shut up nerd - Einstein
“Not everything you read on the internet is always true.”
-Abraham Lincoln
A classic.
@@LordBrittish 🤣😂
That may be true but it's also completely not the point. If that's all you saw and watching that video perhaps you should consider alternative lessons
Some people avoid this book because it contains the word war. When in reality it can be applied to our everyday conflicts. That is the beauty of its wisdom.
Also there are other books similar to ‘the Art of war’ but that are considered their western equivalent.
What books would these be?
What books would these be?
What books would these be?
What books would these be?
@Fitz FPV "The Prince" by Niccolo Machiavelli is a "Western" book which I would categorize as being in the same vein.
"We're in a different world. This world we live in, this is not a tough man's world; this is a thinking man's world. Tough men get hurt in this kind of world."
-Mike Tyson
Beautifully ariculated!
love this one
The point of Sun Tzu's art of war is to avoid costly mistakes, similar with defense and survival mechanism in nature...
Not exactly. Sun Tzu is not interested in honor or glory. Sun Tzu is only interested in winning. Sun Tzu’s ideas are how to organize a successful campaign and win.
no war is biggest win. you should know this
@@tonyding8465 tell that to the American Confederates, the German Kaizer, H!+ler and N@zi Germany, and the USSR. You’re naive if you think war is not about winning. Sun Tzu knew better.
The point of mr. Sun is to praise wisdom and to avoid doing same mistakes twice.
@@smhollanshead it is not about the winning, Sun Tzu's strategy is all about survival, during his terms, it was 7 Warring States period when kings of mainland East Asia was pillaging each other. "To survive competition" is the main reason why today's business coach, politician and military strategist often quote Sun Tzu's book.
They pay very little attention to what you say.
They pay attention like a hawk to what you do.
So good described
It's definitely valuable to take on these tactics, and similar strategies to see how we can apply them within our own lives. Often we stray away from 'heavier' words such as 'war', 'fighting' & 'battles' yet if we look subjectively, without emotion and just appreciate the art of the principle it will truly benefit us 🗝
Sun Tzu must be proud ,his writing of The Art of War has been translated in many languages and spreading All over The world .
@All Out Of Bubble Gum is your friend correct?
@@kimelin arrogant friend that failed the art of war lesson one. Overconfidence cockiness and arrogance 😂😂😂
@All Out Of Bubble Gum yes, and that is a very well established fact that chaulang 62 never even mentioned in what he wrote
@All Out Of Bubble Gum its a book about how to fight wars written over 2000 years ago, how tf is it supposed to work in modern war?
@All Out Of Bubble Gum Before WW2,Japanese also decided to abandon Sun Tzu.After WW2,they truly understood the core thought of Sun Tz--no war.
We disguise modern warfare under the guise of a different name, but business is still war. Good to know that our entire societal structure works because of controlled suffering, and not because of progress or success.
Another good one from Sun Tzu is about intelligence and deception. e.g. "Know yourself and your opponents and you will win every battle..."
“people may said you are stupid but you are”- Abraham Lincoln
@@kadrikada4834 I personally like the art of war because if we follow his guidance and jjust forage and travel light we can win every battles. Except for sieges. And piilaging campaigns. Scorched earth attacks. Battles of attrition...
Hm.
He actually said you will be prepared (know what to do in every situation) for every battle, which I find extremely true.
Know your enemy and know yourself and in 100 battles you will not be in danger.
When near, make the enemy think youre far, and Vice versa
A modern textbook on business management would cover those topics. Just that Sun Tzu puts it more poetically. I personally love strategic warfare stories so I'm a sucker for this. But yes, we sometimes easily loose sight of the words of wisdom when u are bogged down by daily stress.
The people who actually understand these concepts and how to utilize them are not writing them down in a book. They are using them to win and maintaining their advantage through silence.
@@davidnelson7719 Are you saying Sun Tzu didn't actually understand the concept he wrote?
@@farhanaditya2647 Not as it pertains to modern society, but completely beside the point. Don't be daft.
I love Roger L Martin. Yes on treating staff like family! Yes on putting the customer first! Yes on design thinking!
Strategy+Design is one part that needs to be connected, but there are more
"Know yourself and know your enemies, even of you face a hundred battles you'll never put yourself in peril". Sun tzu the art of war
The Art of War tactics are *immediately* applicable to debugging software. As a long-time software engineer, I use these techniques all the time!! Your job is to kill bugs. Seriously, if you are a software engineer, read Sun Tzu.
(The best way is to write code that works the first time. It's possible. You can do it. You just have to think really hard before you go to war / compile.)
you mean leave a way out for the bug so someone else can fix it down the track 😂
I'm a dev and I've read art of war. Can't say it helped me in programming but the mindset of how to deal with people is relevant.
Can you please elaborate on how the Art of War helps you debugging software?
"Know yourself and know your opponent, even if you face a hundred battles you'll never put yourself in peril"
Thank you. This showed up exactly when I needed it 😊
'Beware of the comment section bot' - Sun Tzu
Julius Caesar was known to engender the loyalty of his men because of what he was willing to do to save them.
Anyway, That Art of War is a very short book. You can literally read it in like a couple hours. It's worth everyone's time.
Treat your employees like pawns. Treat your shareholders like family.
--Every successful business school of the 21st century.
7:16 - 7:30 - 7:45 wouldn’t only say that’s true for specifically design, but for primarily the broader STEM groups such as but not limited to: design/engineering/etc
7:16 - 8:02 huh that actually makes additive sense 🤓perhaps an even increasingly more synergistic concept of thinking thn either methodologies on their own and or paired with other methodologies that would fall outside of an i.e. business approach 🤔
Thanks for spending doing the time to create and share your perspective on the topic🤓🤙🏾 the fusion of mindsets at the end was a little gem 💎
I've read many translations of the Art of War and the Denma Translation is by far the best, I highly recommend anybody wanting to read it to check out this version.
I was worried with the short length they might miss the main lesson on Tue art of war. But he did an amazing job of simplicity
Truly profound and inspiring. Efficient for alone defense against many minds.
Super fascinating to relate the art of war to strategic decision making.
AoW teaches the most important idea for strategies for any aspect of life, which is to *have* strategies when going about your business, be it war, studies, or business. Actively understand what you want as a result, know what you need to do to achieve them, and have plans for sustaining those results. It's easier said than done; many, many people live without this tenet and waste much of their effort and time.
Fantastic piece! Short & sweet.
Thank you so much for this information, am watching from Kenya
If anyone is wondering, "Sun" is pronounced "soon". He got the "Tzu" right.
More like 'sUHn suh'. I've heard Chinese narrators say it, in some video years ago, maybe on History Channel.
Best insights in the beginning of 2023 so far! Thank you
ᴛʜᴀɴᴋs ғᴏʀ ᴡᴀᴛᴄʜɪɴɢ, ɪ ɢᴏᴛ sᴏᴍᴇᴛʜɪɴɢ ʙɪɢɢᴇʀ ᴛᴏ ɪɴᴛʀᴏᴅᴜᴄᴇ. sᴇɴᴅ ᴀ ᴅɪʀᴇᴄᴛ ᴍᴇssᴀɢᴇ ᴍᴇ ғᴏʀ ᴘʀᴏғɪᴛᴀʙʟᴇ ᴛɪᴘs
Interesting, I added this to my reading list after seeing it on Lex Fridman's book schedule. I definitely see deep analogies between business leadership and military rule. Go to any corporate chain, whether it be fast food, grocery store, gas station, or something else and you will find a strikingly militarized work environment. There is obligatory wearing of uniforms, an unquestionable hierarchy of command, deeply regimented structure of behavior. I imagine that in white collar work focusing on design there is metaphorical insight to be gained in a wholesome aristocratic sense. When I read this text however I will be much more interested in understanding how a business tycoon with authoritarian tendencies might receive this text.
Jocko Willink made a podcast about that book but idk if you wanna listen to any spoilers
I think you're deeply missing the point about some of the things you mention. Let's take uniforms, as an example. If someone goes into a chain restaurant or other type of business, then they generally want a standardized experience. It creates an expectation of the consumer experience. We live with a myriad of irrelevant choices and people often want something familiar. That requires standardization of the work, it requires the structure you seem to bemoan. And heirarchies are often necessary to make decisions and get things done; most people want the benefits but not the risks or responsibilities.
It takes a certain peace of mind and experience to truly be able to think like the enemy and thus be one step further.
I read this book. Sometimes it is good not to show all of power that we have. Or sometimes pretend to be weak so that we can capture the enemy. You guys should watch My Journey to You. Medieval drama costume China that show how to use the art of war.
Yes, conceptualization is the most important. Location! Location! Location!
So cool! Very insightful
A big difference is many if not most wars are fought to increase: resources, territories, influence etc. Where as many business objectives are purely to extract wealth. In war, rulers have to live with the results. In business, money-men don't care about the outcome, so long as they got more money. War is the brutal side of societies; modern business is more more akin to pirates and Vikings who had no interested in the outcomes, they just want to plunder for themselves for immediate gain.
Spoken like a true Communist
Damn this is pretty ignorant
Everybody gangsta until someone starts to quote Sun Tzu.
-Sun Tzu, Out of Nowhere
Sun Tzu, art of war have to give it a read love the explaination
The best win is a win without need to fight.
"If victory is the goal, then win " Sun Tzu, The Art of War
I did both and I can tell you honestly reading one book is nowhere near as difficult or enlightening as an MBA
How much more enlightening is it? 😛
@@mbaltrusitis at least double haha
And most MBAs are too proud, foolish or just arrogant to simply buy an index fund, year after year as Warren Buffett suggests. Buffett also makes the very valid point that business schools reward complexity but the markets reward simplicity. It's difficult to be simple, in everything.
@@markhirstwood4190 Fair enough. But there are multiple ways to play the life game. Everything depends upon one's values. For example, the life that's simpler still is one that preferences frugality. Reduced to an axiom, productivity is output/input; thus, the most valuable life ends up being the lazy one.
What I mean is that I'll only apply a bare-bones simplicity model to those situations that do not interest me. Some people _enjoy_ puzzles of abstraction, you know. To me, as a course of study, (macro)economics, and thus game theory, emerges as perhaps the most complex intelligence-dependent competition paradigm there is.
After one has sampled creative autonomy and then indulged in their share of margaritas, what does purely financial liberation still have to offer? Based on what behaviors we see in the rich, it certainly isn't ethical development. _Real_ intellectual insights & indulgences are the ultimate reward, and they don't come naturally, or simply.
Be careful what you think is being motivated by pride, foolishness, or arrogance. Curiosity can cause a similar smoke.
Great video thank you
Interesting perspective
_In the end, only three things matter: how much you loved, how gently you lived, and how gracefully you let go of things not meant for you._ ―Gautama Buddha
_There never was a good war or a bad peace._ ―Benjamin Franklin
*_Without love and sense of humor there is unhappiness and life is meaningless._* 💕☮🌎🌌
You are very insightful and thanks
You put Sun Tzu into a bottle, it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Sun Tzu can flow, or it can crash. Be Sun Tzu, my friend. - The Art Of War
Please do a video on Kautilya's Arthashastra. It's also a gem of military strategy, statecraft, espionage, political administration. And quite neglected tbh.
Great video...!!!
“So in war, the way is to avoid what is strong, and strike at what is weak.”
That didn't work out for Benito mussolini
thought I'd take away a few lessons from this video, but was way more than that 🤣
It's quite impressive containt
“At the end of the day, the day is over” - Sun Tzu, Art of War
What can I uniquely do for a particular set of customers?
Would-be competitors will choose to do something else because I do that thing better.
That is not a prolonged war, is a prolonged peace.
Amazing.
Thanks
I am best at war because I say NO TO WAR
-Sun Tzu, art OF WAR
Kenny Hotz showed me the ways of Sun Tzu.
"Whatever you do, don't reveal all your techniques in a CZcams video, you fool, you moron." - Sun Tzu, The Art of War 👑🐷
Yes it is more important of What you do than what you say😊
GREAT WATCH
"I am no longer one of you guys."
- Pluto Tzu
Hidden gem channel! 💎
“If I’m not back in five minutes, just wait longer.”
Moon Tzu war of art
"Ahh... my back... kids" -
Sun Tzu letter to Sun Ce and Sun Quan
There seem to be two very different kinds of design. They might sometimes be hard to distinguish. The one kind is the design that makes things more "pretty", costumers tend to pick that. The second kind, which seems to become more and more popular, is the design that makes things more "sustainable". This is what customers want. This is what you as an industry want, because you want more than one purpose. This is what you as an employees want, because it gives you one purpose more: building a great product. This is what a grandparent wants to give to a grand child: A world that is (designed) sustainable.
Therefore, this seems to be the path to follow. I would bet on "sustainable" design. And it might be that all big entities that bet against that will ultimately fail. But now here is an interesting question: what is "sustainable" exactly?
I would read dieter rams 10 principles of design, then add healthy. Basically encompasses everything. No need to pick one or the other
@@kleanish I agree, you don't need to pick one or the other. They are both factors on a scale. But I would say that it is important to not confuse these two qualities. Yes, it can bee pretty and sustainable. But more than that - to my taste something that is sustainable I consider "pretty". I could not even think of an exception off my head, now. Maybe this is a general trend? People more and more tend to find "pretty" what is considered to be "sustainable"? I can see many examples there... Thanks for the book tip!
This book was only reserved for kings, be blessed in this age to read it. Sun Tzu has a master and a master before it etc., thus it's millions of bloodshed and thousands of years of warfare to create this book not just one person as you believed.
Step 4 is the most important for success
Required reading in ALL my business classes
Nice!
"Tickle your enemies with a paintbrush of peanut butter, then watch in glee as the wolves and bears devour them."
-Sun Tzu, Art of War
The thing is, this is all based upon the assumption that the thoughts, feelings, sensations and perceptions we all experience are the actual "self" or "I"... not sure that is a correct assumption. Rather, your sense of "self" and "I" is the *awareness* of those thoughts, feelings, sensations and perceptions. That makes a big difference vis a vis Sun Tzu's approach to things. Regardless, great video on the topic!
huh?
@@drbeanut I think he did the thing where he just pressed the middle suggested word over and over again until it made something kind of coherent.
48 Laws of Power is also a great one and much easier for the layman to apply in their daily life
48 laws of power is an edgy piece of literature which is more than ten times as long as the Art of war. The main difference is that the 48 laws of power is advice for psychopaths meanwhile the art of war is book on strategy for ancient, and some argue - current, military commanders. I would advice against picking 48 laws of power.
This video, on otherhand is a very good sum up on art of war.
@@punkkap I understand your advising against The 48 Laws Of Power.
But it's not FOR psychopaths, it's MOST DANGEROUS of course in their hands. Totally agree. But if you look at Robert Greene, truly - the man OVERFLOWS with love for everyone. And PEOPLE LIKE HIM could benefit the MOST from that book. Psychopaths would better benefit from BEING HUMBLE TO THE POINT OF EMPATHY, for one- & The Laws Of Human Nature
@@punkkap physcopaths?
@@Alaminmohammed What's your question?
@@punkkap my observation too.
It's a book that encourages psychopathic pursuit of power
Sun Tzu said to work on your economy and infrastructure and avoiding war as the best way to win wars.
The US and China are taking opposite ends of this so we'll see how it works out.
correction: it's the greatest modern strategy book.
"Zǎo shang hǎo zhōng guó!
Xiàn zài wǒ yǒu Bing Chi ling"
- Sun Tzu, art of war
“Fuck it, we ball.” - Sun Tzu “Art of War”
"Actually, now that I think about it, winning a war is pretty straightforward."
Sun Tzu, Art of War page 2092
In that last segment, did you hear the spiel about the last 40 years getting more intimate with the customer so they can serve them better? That's business speak for harvesting data so they can exploit us and our habits more.
superb -- more stakeholders...
"I ain't said none of this shit"
Sun Tzu, art of war
The Prince by Machiavelli is the complementary book to The art of war..
But Robert Greene ties both Sun Tzu and Machiavelli together in a much better, more accessible, practical modern way, I can say after studying Greene's works a lot...
"There is no benefit in prolonged war...."
The US has been in a war sonce i was born, almost 30 yrs ago
"Ugh, Lao Tzi, I don't mean no disrespect, but you need to fill that bowl woth some shit that makes some sense!"
- Sun Tzu, Art of War
Yep 👍
I have read the art of war in Chinese when I was younger, but I have to say expanding it to business is kind of a stretch
lol naw ur jus small-minded is all
Then some math can help, like game theory.
People who do that are cringe asf.
"Business is so cut throat dude my job is literally like Vietnam bro"
lol no
And that is why your parents aren't proud of you.
"Build your enemy a golden bridge for them to retreat on" actual (good)quote from The Art of War, in case anyone's actually interested...
Yes, apples and oranges - so similar in its core that it is comparable and thus translatable. Being literal minded is how you end up as a finger, those who saw that it is the knowledge of kings are CEOs.
" Get of your phones"
-Sun Tzu
Thanks! Outstanding video! William J. Bahr, author "Strategic Advantage: How to Win in War, Business, and Life"
nice!
"Business is war"
- Some guy who wrote a book that I heard about.
"This qoute isn't mine"
SunTzu,ArtOfWar(02:63)
"In order to confuse your enemies, you must first confuse yourself."
- Sun Tzu, Art of War
All good and common sense that unfortunately we have to learn over and over.