Deon DeSouza has taken the most powerful strategic business reference of all time and made it accessible to everyone!

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Sun Tzu’s The Art of War (Interpreted)
– Translated from the Chinese by Lionel Giles
– Interpreted for the contemporary business environment by Deon Lawrence
DeSouza
The Art of War has been mandatory reading for most entering the business world
for many years, but very few actually understood how an ancient Chinese military
treatise could be relevant to their needs and purpose. Unfortunately, what has
happened is that this masterpiece has been reduced to a few misguided,
misused and misunderstood quotations. Its meaning has essentially been
corrupted, thereby diminishing its value. My white paper presents an
interpretation of the translated text for the contemporary business environment. I
hope you enjoy the read! – Deon Lawrence DeSouza, MFA, BBA
“Success in warfare is gained by carefully accommodating ourselves to the
enemy’s purpose.” – Sun Tzu
_ _ _
1. Laying Plans [Strategic Planning]
– Understand, clearly, your competitor’s strengths and weaknesses
– Lay your plans based on this information
– Be prepared to modify your plan in response to changing conditions
– Do not reveal your own strengths, weaknesses, preparations, or intentions
– Success is directly related to your diligence with planning
“All warfare is based on deception.” – Sun Tzu
_ _ _

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2. Waging War [Engaging the Competition]
– Understand the costs of competing for market share
– Know that a protracted campaign will deplete your resources leaving you
vulnerable to a counter offensive and almost certain failure
– Take swift and decisive action
– Replenish your resources not from your own coffers, but from the profitable
returns from your campaign
“Let your great object be victory, not lengthy campaigns.” – Sun Tzu
_ _ _
3. Attacks by Stratagem [Strategic Offensives]
– Target specific market segments and capture them wholly and completely
– Superior preparation, in the best possible scenario, would deter the competition
from engaging you
– The greatest victories are won without a costly engagement
– The patient leader will avoid costly premature engagements
“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of
a hundred battles.” – Sun Tzu
_ _ _

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4. Tactical Dispositions [Utilizing Your Capabilities]
– Secure dominant market positions (offensive)
– Conversely, avoid vulnerable market positions (defensive)
– If you are the market leader seek to dominate the market
– If you are not the market leader make certain you can defend your position
“The good fighter is able to secure himself against defeat.” – Sun Tzu
_ _ _
5. Use of Energy [Combining Strategies]
– You may engage the competition either directly or indirectly
– Employ both strategies to ensure success
– A direct engagement may effectively bait the competition
– An indirect engagement will find them unprepared and, ultimately, defeated
“The clever combatant looks to the effect of combined energy.” – Sun Tzu
_ _ _

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6. Weak Points and Strong [S.W.O.T.]
– Whoever is first to market will gain an advantage (strength)
– Anyone late in entering a market will be vulnerable (weakness)
– New markets will not present any natural competition (opportunity)
– Do not enter an unfamiliar market occupied by an aggressive leader (threat)
“The general is skillful in attack whose opponent does not know what to
defend; and he is skillful in defense whose opponent does not know what
to attack.” – Sun Tzu
_ _ _
7. Maneuvering an Army [Leveraging Your Team]
– Do not reveal your true nature
– Make strenuous demands on your team only when there is an advantage to be
gained
– Allow circumstances to dictate how your team is utilized
– Consider your options very carefully before deploying your team
– Issue clear and concise instructions (brevity)
“The difficulty of tactical maneuvering consists in turning the devious into
the direct and misfortune into gain.” – Sun Tzu
_ _ _

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8. Variation of Tactics [Use Your Toolbox]
– Avoid hazards wherever possible
– Seek potential alliances with compatible partners
– Do not linger when in a vulnerable position
– Deploy strategic offensives if overwhelmed
– Engage the competition when there is no other alternative
– Avoid recklessness, cowardice, irritability, over-sensitivity, and over-solicitude
“Rely not on the likelihood of the enemy not coming, but on our own
readiness to receive him.” – Sun Tzu
_ _ _
9. The Army on the March [Venturing into New Markets]
– Understand the business environment of your chosen markets
– Avoid conflicts if occupying a disadvantageous position
– If the playing field is level assume a position of strength, which you can defend
– If the market is in turmoil, allow the conflict to be resolved before entering
– Quickly put disadvantages or failures behind you
– Do not allow yourself to be provoked into a conflict

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– Don’t fall victim to your competitor’s deceptions
– If threatened, concentrate your strengths, while keenly observing the
competition, and seek additional resources
“He who exercises no forethought, but makes light of his opponents risks
being captured by them.” – Sun Tzu
_ _ _
10. Classification of Terrain [The Business Environment]
– Competition – Who are they, and what are their capabilities?
– Economic – Are there any prohibitive inflationary, pricing or currency exchange
issues?
– Labor – Do we require skilled or unskilled labor, and are they available?
– Legal – What legal requirements, protections and prohibitions are in place?
– Physical and Technological – Is the necessary infrastructure (for delivery of
your products or services) in place?
– Political – What is the political climate, stable or unstable?
“A power of estimating the adversary, of controlling the forces of victory,
and of shrewdly calculating difficulties, dangers and distances, constitutes
the test of a great general.” – Sun Tzu
_ _ _

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11. The Nine Situations [9 Market Positions]
– Dispersive – Dominated by a clear market leader
– Facile – To have achieved very little market penetration
– Contentious – Critical market opportunities exist for either party
– Open – Having many available opportunities, and threats
– Intersecting – Strategically advantageous market position
– Serious – To have penetrated the market with depth
– Difficult – Challenging, but navigable market conditions
– Hemmed-in – Limited available opportunities (saturated)
– Desperate – No alternative but to engage the competition and fight for a
foothold
“Begin by seizing something which your opponent holds dear; then he will
be amenable to your will.” – Sun Tzu
_ _ _
12. Attacks by Fire [Marketing, Advertising & Public Relations]
– Be prepared to take advantage of your competitor’s shortfalls and missed
opportunities
– Know when to remain mute, especially when your competitor’s own PR team is
silent

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– At the peak of a campaign either stand pat or deploy a follow-up
– If you can successfully campaign ahead of the competition, do not wait for
them to reveal their strategy
– Make sure you are able to capitalize on the results from your campaign
– Do not create an opportunity for the competition to gain an advantage
“The enlightened ruler lays his plans well ahead; the good general
cultivates his resources.” – Sun Tzu
_ _ _
13. Use of Spies [Literally, Espionage!]
– Local spies – Working in close proximity to your competitor, but not employed
by them, with access to useful information that they willingly pass on to you
– Inward spies – Employees of your competitor who will leak reliable information
to you
– Converted spies (double agents) – Utilizing your competitor’s spies for you own
purposes
– Doomed spies – Disloyal spies you leak unreliable information to, which they
share with your competitor
– Surviving spies – Your own employees who have been able to successfully
obtain valuable information from your competitor (usually via deception)
“Foreknowledge cannot be elicited from spirits; it cannot be obtained
inductively from experience, nor by any deductive calculation.” – Sun Tzu
_ _ _

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http://www.throughthebox.net/the-art-of-war-interpreted/
Deon Lawrence DeSouza, MFA, BBA
Chief Inspiration Officer
Through the Box Performance Advisory ©
Alpharetta, Georgia, USA
WhatsApp! 1-770-265-6191
deondesouza@gmail.com
http://www.throughthebox.net
www.linkedin.com/pub/deon-lawrence-desouza/48/51/526/
"The best way out is always through." – Robert Frost