Recently my peers and I were asked for recommendations we thought worthy of a company wide book club. I suggested Sun Tzu’s The Art of War as I have long harbored the idea that it has lessons to teach us in modern software development. Ultimately the book was not chosen, having been accused of being just a coffee table book.
In this work I hope to convince you that you should have a note-filled copy of this book on the back of your toilet, not a decorative copy next to the fake fruit. Sun Tzu’s writing is full of gems, and today’s thought leaders and the methodology of industry giants echo his words.
Overview
Sun Tzu’s work is divided into thirteen sections, each of which addresses a concern of war and gives instructions to the reader on how to handle themselves when facing given situations. For each section I will quote Sun Tzu and give my thoughts on how his words apply to modern SaaS businesses. I will quote from the full text published by MIT. I encourage you to to read it and reflect on how his lessons apply to your business.
- Laying Plans
- Waging War
- Attack by Strategem
- Tactical Dispositions
- Energy
- Weak Points and Strong
- Maneuvering
- Variations in Tactics
- The Army on the March
- Terrain
- The Nine Situations
- The Attack by Fire
- The Use of Spies
Laying Plans
On laying plans Sun Tzu says:
The art of war is of vital importance to the State.
It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin. Hence it is a subject of inquiry which can on no account be neglected.
The art of war, then, is governed by five constant factors, to be taken into account in one’s deliberations, when seeking to determine the conditions obtaining in the field. These are:
(1) The Moral Law (2) Heaven (3) Earth (4) The Commander (5) Method and discipline … These five heads should be familiar to every general: he who knows them will be victorious; he who knows them not will fail.
Having worked in SaaS for over a decade, it sounds like Sun Tzu is saying the same things I regularly read in highly recommended texts on building successful businesses. @editor:”could fluff this out some with a little research”
While a successful business may operate as if at peace, a nascent business’s life or death, success or failure, depends on the leader’s understanding and application of the art of war. Sun Tzu, revered as a legendary military figure, is describing how to plan for war and by making the decision to start a business, to go to war, we would be foolish to not consider Sun Tzu’s words.
Five constant factors of war
Sun Tzu was not a particularly wordy man but he did give us a brief description of each of the five constant factors of war and I think each maps onto a major concern of SaaS businesses.
Moral Law -> Should the business exist?
The Moral Law 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.
On this one Sun Tzu’s view is extreme outside of a military context. In the modern world of software development employees don’t risk death or dishonor for choosing to work elsewhere, but still the advantage of the moral law should not be ignored. Some businesses work against the will of the people or do net bad to world while others fight entrenched opposition to improve the world.
Money aside, would you rather work for adtech or healthcare? Where would you endure more hardship for the goal of the ruler? @editor:”here we could maybe find some stats that the masses actually behave this way either through longer avg tenure or some other metric.”
Recommended Reading: gap
Heaven -> Timing
Heaven signifies night and day, cold and heat, times and seasons.
Sun Tzu’s factor of heaven seem all be aspects of the world that are constantly in motion even if deceptively slow. It is predictable that a day will turn to night, but not all days are the same in length. Some days will be cold despite the season suggesting it should be otherwise and on others there will be heavy rain when it would ordinarily be dry.
In business, some ideas come at a time when the world is not in the right place to receive it. Early electric cars. WebTV. Sega Channel. What would be an impossible march through snow in perpetual darkness in winter could be a closer to a stroll through the park in spring. Today, each of those poorly timed businesses represents a thriving category in their respective markets.
Recommended Reading: gap
Earth -> Feasibility
Earth comprises distances, great and small; danger and security; open ground and narrow passes; the chances of life and death.
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Recommended Reading: gap
The Commander -> The Founding Team
The Commander stands for the virtues of wisdom, sincerely, benevolence, courage and strictness.
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Recommended Reading: gap
Method and Discipline -> Method and Discipline
By method and discipline are to be understood the marshaling of the army in its proper subdivisions, the graduations of rank among the officers, the maintenance of roads by which supplies may reach the army, and the control of military expenditure.
Method and discipline are the founding team’s ability to build a team, fundraise, take their offering to market and handle internal administration.
Recommended Reading: gap
Forecasting Victory or Defeat
Sun Tzu goes on to list the seven questions through which he can forecast victory or defeat.
He explains that one should modify one’s plans when circumstances are favorable but makes it clear that though plans may change the winning leader will have done the most thorough planning.
Therefore, in your deliberations, when seeking to determine the military conditions, let them be made the basis of a comparison, in this wise:–
(1) Which of the two sovereigns is imbued with the Moral law? (2) Which of the two generals has most ability? (3) With whom lie the advantages derived from Heaven and Earth? (4) On which side is discipline most rigorously enforced? (5) Which army is stronger? (6) On which side are officers and men more highly trained? (7) In which army is there the greater constancy both in reward and punishment?
Armed with a mapping of Sun Tzu’s meaning to a modern meaning of each constant of war you should be able to answer these questions considering yourself and existing competitors, or the status quo, as the opposing entity.
After honest self reflection you can begin to forecast your chances in the market.
Conclusion
Thankfully our busines, we don’t have to start every business we think through, but we must consider if t