The Art of War for Corporate Governance

Sun Tzu gets the chance to meet King Helu thanks to his book, The Art of War.

King Helu says to him, "I have read your work, could you conduct a small drill for me?" When Sun Tzu accepts, the king asks him to conduct the drill not with men, but with women; Sun Tzu accepts this as well.

180 women are brought from the palace. Sun Tzu divides the women into two teams and makes the king's two favorite concubines the team commanders. Sun Tzu addresses the women and asks, "Do you know your right and left, your front and back?" The women reply that they do. Sun Tzu says, "To step forward, you will look ahead and take a step; to turn left, you will look at your left arm; to turn right, you will look at your right arm; to step back, you will look behind and take a step." The women say alright.

Sun Tzu gives his command and the drums beat for a right turn, but the women burst into laughter. Sun Tzu's voice is heard: "If instructions are not clear and orders are not understood, it is the fault of the commander." This time the drums beat a second time for a left turn, and the women laughingly giggle again. Sun Tzu calls out once more: "If instructions are not clear and orders are not understood, it is the fault of the commander; but if orders are clear yet the rules are not obeyed, it is the fault of the team commanders. Therefore, I want the heads of the right and left team commanders!"

Watching everything from above, the king is astonished upon hearing the execution order for his two favorite concubines, but realizing Sun Tzu's skill, he secretly gives the order: "Let the concubines not be executed!" This time Sun Tzu turns to the king and says, "Your servant has been appointed as commander by you. While in war, a commander does not apply certain orders coming from the sovereign," and has the two concubine team commanders executed.

When the drums begin to beat again, the women obey all the instructions given to the right, left, front, and back; they are lined up like a string, and not a sound is heard from anyone. Sun Tzu addresses the king once more: "The soldiers are under discipline, the sovereign can come down and inspect them, they are ready for the sovereign's commands, if you wish, they would even walk over water and fire."

Following this incident, Sun Tzu was appointed as the commander of King Helu's army and achieved numerous victories during China's Warring States Period.

Written by Sun Tzu in the 5th century BC, The Art of War is history's oldest and most debated strategy book. To summarize it in a single sentence, the work focuses on the considerations a successful commander must heed during military preparation and execution. Having served for centuries as a fundamental resource for military command ranks—including today—The Art of War caught the West's attention when it was revealed that the Vietnamese commanders who defeated the USA followed Sun Tzu's teachings. It was ordered that the book be kept in all US military libraries, and military intelligence personnel were required to read it. However, the application area of The Art of War is not strictly military. It was later learned that Luiz Felipe Scolari, the head coach of the Brazilian National Team that won the 2002 World Cup, also strictly followed the strategies mentioned in the work, from which countless corporate business executives draw inspiration.

No matter which perspective you examine The Art of War through—arguably the world's most important work in the field of management and competitive strategies—it is a book capable of shedding light on your path. I also wanted to examine the work from the perspective of corporate governance and share my views.

The first of the 13 chapters of The Art of War is titled 'Estimates' (or 'Laying Plans'). Sun Tzu says that war (let's call it competition) is a state's (let's change it to an institution's) vital question of life and death, a road to safety or ruin; it cannot be neglected without accounting.

The first of the five points Sun Tzu advises a commander to account for is the 'Way'. The Way causes the people to be in complete accord with their ruler, so that they will follow him regardless of their lives, undismayed by any danger. Only in this way can belief and dedication emerge. A manager who does not know his way cannot win.

Here, you can adapt the words war, commander, officers, and soldiers according to your own scenario, but ultimately you will see that the process is built upon a single foundation: 'Are the officers and soldiers on the same path as the commander, sharing the same mindset?' If your answer is no, you cannot win your war; if you are not sure of the answer, your chance of winning is fifty-fifty.

Sun Tzu says that a skilled commander is one who can foresee victory beforehand. Well, how can one predict beforehand who will win a struggle? According to Sun Tzu, by examining these five points:

1. He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight.

2. He will win who knows how to handle both superior and inferior forces.

3. He will win whose army is animated by the same spirit throughout all its ranks.

4. He will win who, prepared himself, waits to take the enemy unprepared.

5. He will win who has military capacity and is not interfered with by the sovereign.

Even though the word choices may differ, how familiar is this foresight, isn't it? I have no doubt that you have experienced at least one of these five points in your work environment.

Well, how should the team you will walk the same path with be selected? Sun Tzu's opinion on this subject is that good fighters look at the situation, do not haphazardly assign responsibilities to individuals, and select capable people suited to the situation.

By replacing military terms with words appropriate to your own conditions, you can read the following passage:

if the soldier is brave and strong, but the officers are cowardly and weak, insubordination will arise;

if the officers are brave and strong, but the soldiers are cowardly and weak, the army will bog down (tasks will not be completed on time);

if the officers harbor anger toward the commander and fail to obey orders, and the commander does not know the capacities of the officers, the result will be collapse;

if the commander is weak and indifferent, orders are not clear, and he cannot keep the officers and soldiers under discipline, the result will be turmoil;

if the commander cannot gauge the situation of the enemy and launches an attack with weak soldiers against a strong enemy (let's say against a difficult target), the result will be defeat.

These six conditions are the roads to defeat, and the responsibility lies with the commander.

After uniting superiors and subordinates around the same goal within the institution, the time comes to take action. Sun Tzu says: the one who skillfully commands can manage an entire army like a single soldier obeying orders. Managing a large number of soldiers is like managing a small number; it is enough to divide them by numbers. Fighting with many is like fighting with few; flags and drums (communication and connection) suffice. To be successful, you must have policies and strategies aimed at communicating with your subordinates. Ineffective communication increases the possibility of misunderstandings, can damage relationship and trust, and may heighten anger and hostility.

Is everything going well in your struggle? Has the manager made the right decisions? Is the managed still on the same path as the manager? Sun Tzu has insights so that managers can review the situation they are in from time to time. He says that if officers are quick-tempered and irritable, it is a sign of exhaustion. If soldiers gather together and start grumbling, control has been lost; if the commander is heavily rewarding the soldiers, it is because he has no other choice; if he frequently punishes those under his command, it is because he is in a tight spot; if he acts ruthlessly first and then fears a revolt by his subordinates, it is because he does not know how to command and administer the army.

In all well-functioning organizational structures, along with boosting motivation, there must be comprehensively designed rewards and punishments to maintain order, and a manager must use them wisely. Sun Tzu says that if a commander treats his soldiers like his children, they will stand by him in the hardest places; however, if he is indulgent but cannot punish them when they violate the rules, then the soldiers are like spoiled children and are of no use in war.

Taking responsibility with courage and willingness is the quality most necessary for a manager, and this is quite rare. Many people can take risks without thinking when they know the responsibility belongs to others; the moment responsibility is laid upon them, they become indecisive and timid. Because taking responsibility means being to blame in disastrous times. However, a manager can achieve great success only if they show the courage to take responsibility, and they must not hesitate to take ownership of potential mistakes. According to The Art of War, the desertion of soldiers (think of it as frequent resignations in your team), being undisciplined, bogging down (failure to complete tasks on time), the collapse of the army, the emergence of turmoil, being defeated (failure); these six conditions are not natural disasters, but the fault of the commander.

Let us finish The Art of War for corporate governance with one final example: If a commander is greedy for rank, does not know the enemy's situation (the conditions creating competition), and lacks humaneness, this person cannot be a commander, cannot be the sovereign's assistant, and cannot attain victory.

Managing humanely yet with discipline guarantees absolute success!

 Bilbiograpgy

[1] The Art of War, Sun Tzu

[2] https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/tools-and-samples/toolkits/pages/managingorganizationalcommunication.aspx 

[3] https://www.atam.gov.tr/duyurular/milli-savunma-ve-askerlik-sanati