A comparison between the precepts of a 2500 years old military treatise and the Agile Principles. The tools and techniques described by a military strategist and their utility in the everyday life of a BA in an agile environment.

1. The Art of SCRUM
Agile Principles in ‘Sun Tzu’s Art of War’
A BA perspective on a 2500 years old military treatise
1

2. ‘The Art of War’ – Sun Tzu
2
Sun Tzu – One of the most influential general and military strategist
Sun Tzu (also known as Sun Zi) is a Chinese general at the court of King of Wu province, who lived between 545 – 470
BC and remained in the history as the author of The Art of War – the first military treatise which is the base for many
military tactics and strategies.
The book is a set of 13 chapters which present various aspects of the warfare – both strategy and tactics.
In the modern world, various fields of activity use the precepts and strategies described in ‘The Art of War’ such as
Military Strategy, Management, Marketing, Business Development, and so on.
In this presentation, I will try to give examples from Sun Tzu’s precepts for each of the Agile Principles and also
translate the Factors and Elements (described by Sun Tzu as essential for the military commander) into modern world
terms.

3. Agile Principles versus ‘The Art of War’ precepts
3
Agile principle 1. Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of valuable
software.
Sun Tzu Quote ‘Those skilled in doing battle do not raise troops twice, or transport provisions three times.’
‘Therefore, I have heard of military campaigns that were clumsy but swift, but I have never seen
military campaigns that were skilled but protracted.’
‘Therefore, the important thing in doing battle is victory, not protracted warfare.‘ Chapter 2-Doing
Battle
Agile principle 2. Welcome changing requirements, even late in development. Agile processes harness change for the
customer's competitive advantage.
Sun Tzu Quote ‘So then an army's formation adapts to the enemy to achieve victory.
Therefore, an army does not have constant force, or have constant formation.
Those who are able to adapt and change in accord with the enemy and achieve victory are called
divine.’ Chapter 6-Weakness and strength

4. Agile Principles versus ‘The Art of War’ precepts
Agile principle 3. Deliver working software frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, with a preference
4
to the shorter timescale.
Sun Tzu Quote ‘When doing battle, seek a quick victory.’ Chapter 2-Doing Battle
Agile principle 4. Business people and developers must work together daily throughout the project.
Sun Tzu Quote ‘The Way is what causes the people to have the same thinking as their superiors; Chapter 1-Calculation
Agile principle 5. Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support they need, and
trust them to get the job done.
Sun Tzu Quote ‘Therefore, there are five factors of knowing who will win: … one who knows how to unite upper and
lower ranks in purpose will be victorious;…one whose general is able and is not interfered by the ruler
will be victorious. These five factors are the way to know who will win’ Chapter 3-Planning Attacks

5. Agile Principles versus ‘The Art of War’ precepts
Agile principle 6. The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a development team is
5
face-to-face conversation.
Sun Tzu Quote ‘Doing battle with a large army is like doing battle with a small army. It is a matter of communications
through flags and pennants.’ Chapter 5-Force
Agile principle 7. Working software is the primary measure of progress.
Sun Tzu Quote ‘… the important thing in doing battle is victory ...‘ Chapter 2-Doing Battle
Agile principle 8. Agile processes promote sustainable development. The sponsors, developers, and users should be able
to maintain a constant pace indefinitely.
Sun Tzu Quote ‘Generally in warfare, keeping a nation intact is best, destroying a nation second best;’ Chapter 3-
Planning Attacks

6. Agile Principles versus ‘The Art of War’ precepts
Agile principle 9. Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design enhances agility.
Sun Tzu Quote ‘In ancient times, those skilled in warfare make themselves invincible and then wait for the enemy to
become vulnerable.
Being invincible depends on oneself, but the enemy becoming vulnerable depends on himself.
Therefore, those skilled in warfare can make themselves invincible, but cannot necessarily cause the
enemy to be vulnerable’ Chapter 4-Formation
Agile principle 10. Simplicity--the art of maximizing the amount of work not done--is essential.
Sun Tzu Quote ‘Generally, commanding of many is like commanding of a few. It is a matter of dividing them into groups.’
6
Chapter 5-Force
Agile principle 11. The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams.
Sun Tzu Quote ‘There are three ways the ruler can bring difficulty to the army:
To order an advance when not realizing the army is in no position to advance, or to order a
withdrawal when not realizing the army is in no position to withdraw. This is called entangling the
army.’ Chapter 3-Planning Attacks

7. Agile Principles versus ‘The Art of War’ precepts
Agile principle 12. At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts its
7
behavior accordingly.
Sun Tzu Quote ‘Everyone knows the formation by which you achieved victory, yet no one knows the formations by which
you were able to create victory.
Therefore, your strategy for victories in battle is not repetitious, and your formations in response to
the enemy are endless.’ Chapter 5-Weakness and strength

8. Elements and calculations
8
Although the parallel might be intriguing, there are some more interesting facts that make the military treatise a
useful tool (especially for a PO) in Agile environments – Elements and Means of Calculation.
The Elements (Factors) and Means of Calculation are the essence of success of a military ruler.
Elements and Means of Calculation Sun Tzu Quote
‘Therefore, go through it (war n.a.) by means of five factors;
compare them by means of calculation, and determine their statuses:
One, Way, two, Heaven, three, Ground, four, General, five, Law.
The Way is what causes the people to have the same thinking as their superiors;
they may be given death, or they may be given life, but there is no fear of danger and betrayal.
Heaven is dark and light, cold and hot, and the seasonal constraints.
Ground is high and low, far and near, obstructed and easy, wide and narrow, and dangerous and safe.
General is wisdom, credibility, benevolence, courage, and discipline.
Law is organization, the chain of command, logistics, and the control of expenses.
All these five no general has not heard; one who knows them is victorious, one who does not know them is
not victorious.’

9. Elements and calculations
9
‘Therefore, compare them (Elements, n.a.) by means of calculation, and determine their statuses. Ask:
Which ruler has the Way,
which general has the ability,
which has gained Heaven and Ground,
which carried out Law and commands,
which army is strong,
which officers and soldiers are trained,
which reward and punish clearly,
by means of these, I know victory and defeat!’ Chapter 1-Calculation
The five Elements can be translated as follows:
The Way (Tao) – the morality of the commander, the ability to lead others, and the ability to drive them towards the goal;
Heaven (Weather Conditions) – the trends on the market for the product and the available technologies;
Ground (Terrain) – available resources, market conditions, market position for the product;
General (Command) – leadership (the ability to apply a fair treatment to the team members, morality, and humanity);
Law (Doctrine) – organizational skills, ability to apply a methodology in the project.

10. Elements and calculations
The five Elements can be translated as follows:
The Way (Tao) – the morality of the commander, the ability to lead others, and the ability to drive them towards the
goal;
Heaven (Weather Conditions) – the trends on the market for the product and the available technologies;
Ground (Terrain) – available resources, market conditions, market position for the product;
General (Command) – leadership (the ability to apply a fair treatment to the team members, morality, and humanity);
Law (Doctrine) – organizational skills, ability to apply a methodology in the project.
The tools and techniques are different nowadays, but the scope of each and every one of them is to allow us to
deliver VALUE to our customers in a consistent and sustainable manner
The open question of this presentation is:
Do we recognize these Elements, and Calculations and can we apply them in our everyday activity?
10

11. List of sources and Author Information
11
The Book www.sonshi.com
http://web.stanford.edu/class/polisci211z/1.1/Sun%20Tzu.pdf
The Agile Principles http://agilemanifesto.org/principles.html
The images www.sonshi.com
http://chinese-armour.freewebspace.com/
http://chineseswords.freewebspace.com/
www.unitedcn.com
http://www.flatbow.com/
www.wikipedia.org
Author: Liviu-Stefanita Baiu - CSPO