The Paradox of Sun Tzu's Art of War

THE  PARADOX OF SUN TZU’S ART OF WAR

Written By: Shafii Ndanusa  Abuja, Nigeria.

The over 2000-year-old ancient chinese text; The Art of War is indeed a phenomenal classic. Personally for me as an individual and a student of strategy, it is certainly one of the most influential materials on the theory and practice of strategy that I have ever come across. To date, still after over ten years of coming into contact with a copy of the text, new paradigms of thoughts and interpretations emerge each time I ponder over some of its teachings. The depth and relevance of its teachings are so thorough, timeless and awe-inspiring that sometimes I wonder who really was Sun Tzu? For now, that is still a question unanswered.

Often times, I am tempted to ask myself what really is the essence of Sun Tzu’s Art of War? A first time reader of Sun Tzu’s Art of War will expect the text to promote solid foundations of Machiavelian principles. However, people are always surprised to discover that Sun Tzu in fact preaches the opposite of using violent means to achieve goals. The Art of War achieved this through a brilliant x-ray of the nature of conflict and how conflict eventually lead to tension between different parties and if left unchecked degenerates into war. Sun Tzu preaches the doctrine of ‘winning without fighting” as a cardinal principle of managing every conflict scenario. This for me is one of the most profound teachings contained in the text. In every conflict situation, I am of the view that a great deal of attention be paid to tact and diplomacy so that the fundamental ethics of human decency and civility can be consistently maintained.

The Art of War is such an expose on conflict that it presents the psychology, physiology and physics of conflict in a manner that leaves no one in doubt that it is essentially a manual on conflict prevention and management. Sun Tzu also preaches that violent physical action used to subdue an opponent is the least effective form of conflict management. It also sows the seeds for further conflicts in the future. As such taking an opponent “whole” is prescribed as the opponents troops and institutions can be put to good use thereafter. Perhaps in contemporary times, the book itself could be renamed The Art of Conflict Resolution and Management. Sometimes I ask if war could be an art. In everyday usage, war certainly means violent physical conflict but from the philosophical point of view, war could extend to cover any form of conflict, even the mere existence of conflict itself.

Sun Tzu teaches that an appreciation of conflict will not just lead to its successful resolution but its avoidance altogether. But human nature being what it is, one often wonders whether it is possible to completely and permanently avoid conflict in our latent world. The prominence of Taoism in Sun Tzu’s teachings is clear. Taoism is basically the ancient Chinese tradition of knowledge that was instrumental in the developments of Chinese medicine and martial arts. Sun Tzu also preaches that knowledge and intelligence is Key. And that strategy and planning is instrumental to success either at the personal, corporate or societal level.

The very paradox of Sun Tzu’s Art of War is that it preaches that people should focus more on how to achieve peace rather than engaging in war. This is one lesson that is relevant to the contemporary world of today, particularly for the present and future leaders at every level of society. As far back as over 2000-years-ago, during the period of the “warring states” in China, Sun Tzu advocated the use of cerebral might over the physical might. To date, the victory of mind over matter has continued to elude many. Perhaps a concerted global campaign is necessary to drive home the message that humanity will be better served through mutual respect, understanding, consideration and accommodations of differences.

Mr. Shafii Ndanusa is a Certified Chartered Accountant (ACCA) and Fellow of the American Academy of Financial Management (FAAFM). He wrote from Abuja. Nigeria.