Sun Tzu on Business Success

In military strategy, Sun Tzu warns in The Art of War, “to besiege [the enemy’s] citadel is the worst expedient.”

Attacking great strongholds will bring great loss of life and material to one’s army. Yet with its reserves of soldiers and materials, and high-walled impenetrability, such an attack may barely dent the enemy.

The warning could not be more relevant today. In business terms, we should think twice before launching ourselves at a market dominated by a huge, deep-pocketed single company or cabal.

In career terms, it is foolhardy to believe we will succeed in a field where success would be costly and a long time in coming, if at all.

The Sun Tzu way, in battle and in life, is to find opportunities where - taking account of your resources - you will have the most impact. Only sometimes will this involve going at the enemy head on.

More often it requires thorough calculations that will ensure you identify the ground on which you will be strongest.

Sun Tzu puts it simply: If we attack those positions which the enemy has not defended, we invariably take them.

Going ‘where the enemy is not’ and taking its territory is the total opposite of the ‘attacking walled cities and citadels’ approach, and dramatically increases the likelihood of victory.

If you do actually have to engage the enemy, Sun Tzu says, do so at points where it is not well defended, or attack flanks of its army that never expected to be hit.

The business bestseller Blue Ocean Strategy says the same thing: success comes not from competing head-on with the major players in the big markets, but pioneering new, highly profitable niches.