Sun Tzu provides great teachings for battleground struggles, so why do we need more authors and insights? Because Sun Tzu deals with confrontation, and that's not enough. There are currently more factors influencing any entity's strategic positioning than just fighting for consumers, customers, and clients-unexpected factors beyond eyesight at battleground level, like regulations and political moves unleashed by stakeholders.
Enter Clausewitz, delivering a broad inclusion of the factors currently influencing business. He invites the strategist to contemplate political level actions besides war, something not so extensively covered by Sun Tzu. And the wisdom in Clausewitz's Trinity concept is a bedrock for a solid, encompassing, and enlightened strategic appraisal well beyond traditional methodologies.
The book also covers Sun Tzu's dynamic approach to struggle, on a substratum of situational awareness, which other others tend to miss when analyzing The Art of War. Situational awareness is critical in business strategy. And Sun Tzu's strategic vision is bottom-up-refreshing because traditional strategic planning has been primarily top-down.
Then came Ferdinand Foch¾a mandatory add-on for developing Sun Tzu's framework. It acknowledges the need to measure tactical effectiveness, otherwise, how do you choose among different tactical choices?
Machiavelli pops up next. Whereas Sun Tzu deals with battle, Machiavelli specializes in what to do with victory. For businesses, that means profit. And how do you make a profit? By winning everybody's hearts, and that is Machiavelli's specialty.
If you live in a predictable and stable competitive environment, this book is not for you. If not, and you need strategic thinking, the practical frameworks put forward will foster your insights.
Paulo Cardoso do Amaral has an extensive background in engineering, information systems, and business management. In addition to his corporate roles, Paulo is an MBA Professor at CatólicaLisbon, and since 2014, he has been teaching at Bejing's Tsinghua University and Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées in Paris. Paulo has a deep connection with military education, having been a professor at the Portuguese Air Force Academy, the Portuguese Army Military Academy, and the Command and General Staff Officers' Course for the three branches of the Portuguese Army.
