Sun Tzu's Art of War and webmaster work
 

I read the "Art of War" recently and noticed that much of his advice can apply to webmaster work. Indeed, historically his work has been applied to any activity that involves both competition, possible conflict, and opportunity ranging from business to personal relationships. Since competition, conflict, and opportunity abound in webmaster work, I found reading the "Art of War" with an eye toward the webmaster biz to be quite eye opening.

If you've read the book, share your thoughts here. :thumbsup

First which version. There does seem to be about 3,000 different books by different authors all with interpretations.

Well.. there really only is one version - Sun Tzu's Art of War - but of course that isn't in English so it had to be translated, so who knows if anything got screwed up in the translation or which translation is best! :winkwink:

I have it as an mp3 and have listened to it a few times.

There are some excellent words of wisdom and advice in there and anyone should read it to discover a little more about mankind, psychology and how best to succeed. :2 cents:

"When your enemy is strong, copy his galleries"

"When your enemy is weak, buy out his paid spots"

"When your enemy is equal to you, bullshit the GFY board about your earnings"

and...

"When your enemy is p1mpdogg, retreat to Brad's board while the dogg gets himself banned for multi-threaded attacks."

That about sums it up. :)

Fucker! you know damn well what I meant. :winkwink:

Dude, you're wrong... it was CONFUCIUS that mentioned galleries and p1mpdogg, get your reading list right :winkwink: :winkwink: :1orglaugh

Damnit!!! :winkwink:

:Graucho :1orglaugh

One lesson that's key I've seen (many people see this too, I'm sure. I just wanted to share) is:

Always base your strategy on your competition's move.

Lesson 1: learn from their mistakes
Lesson 2: break down their strategy into easy to understand components
Lesson 3: for every component there is one complement that is either similar, strengthens or weakens that component
Lesson 4: the efficacy of any strategy is not absolute--it is wholly dependent on the variable situation it is aimed to address.

Whether you do TGP, blog, software traffic, mail, live traffic, p2p, or whatever you do, Im sure the lessons above would apply.

Aftershock: The version I read was based on the Lionel Giles translation of 1910

Here's a flash book for the Art of War I did years ago cuz I dug the book so much when I read it as a teen:

http://confesstojesus.com/tmp/artofwar/artOfWar.html

Lame yes. But the full text should be there (if I grabbed the right full text file via the web at that time). Directory list it to get the text file if you want.

this is a good advice. very universal.

If good old Sun fires up your brain I can recommend reading a few translations and (serious) interpretations of Clausewitz. He is slightly closer to the modern world as well. :)

Haven't read the book but I believe Mark Joyner made that connection in his book Mind Control Marketing

I'm finished reading the actual text and am now reading the essays - It's a great book for everyday life on how to deal with any conflict situation as well as great leadership advice.

I might hit you up on that. This stuff is very intriguing. Although I read it trying to apply it to my business, one of the things that jumps out of the page is that Sun Tzu's advice applies spot on to guerilla warfare.

agreed, on war is flat out some of the best strategy reading ever

I have it on my ipod .... i listen to it while i drive to work from time to time ... i also have The Art of Happiness .... that's great on a long ride also .. :thumbsup

:food-smil

I?d say Sun Tzu's Art of War is a must read for anybody in business or at least those who are serious about it.

:winkwink: Reading is one thing but learning how to apply it to life is another

Good stuff :)

The Art of War is the more over-used/analyzed book in history (okay, next to the Bible...). Business people read it saying a lot relates to corporate management and leadership, sales people say it relates to their need to push products, athletes say it helps them mentally prepare for games ... and now webmasters say it relates to this business.

Take a deep breath.

The book was written a long, long, LONG time ago and based on strategies at fighting armies in the field. There were no corporations, CEOs, strategic business plans, VCs, or geeks working on Linux boxes.

It's a book about wartime strategy. Period.
If you're a general or soldier, it probably will be beneficial for you. For everyone else, it's not for you.

Mr. Tzu would probably be laughing in his grave if he heard you all waxing philosophical on his words.

(Then again, he'd probably be kicking himself for not hiring a publicist and getting a spot on Larry King Live, millions in endorsements and the lecture circuit ...)

:2 cents:

haven't read that book yet, and it think it is a bout time i check it out.

you guys should share these mp3s with us

Interesting analysis. However, it's application to a broad spectrum of human activities that involve conflict resolution and resource management is quite apparent. Sure, the chapter regarding river fighting and gongs/signals (field communications) could use a facelift, but reading this book sure was eye opening. I haven't gotten intrigued over a book like this since I read Machiavelli's The Prince and Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich.

If you only knew :)

Bump for interesting reading.

I was going to say the same! :thumbsup

Looks awesome, man. :thumbsup

Even before General Tzu's book became popular, it was a very basic, common mistake to see competition in business as being similar to military conflict. In most circumstances, you are better off all but ignoring your competition on a day-to-day basis.

Even with no competition at all, you will not be successful unless you sell something which people want to buy. The corollary is that the more people who want what you are selling, the more successful you will be. Thus it must make sense that your customers should always be your primary focus.

Of course it is important to be aware of the activities of others in your field, otherwise you may attempt to supply a demand that is already fully satisfied. And you may not be blessed with original ideas, so you will not have much choice except to jump on other peoples' bandwagons. But unless you are exceptionally good at getting on and off at the right time, at best a business which goes this route will be an also-ran and for anyone with serious ambition, that should always be the last option.

The best business book I ever read was "In Search of Excellence" by Tom Peters. The basic concept is simple enough, namely that excellent companies are totally customer oriented and know how to get the most from their staff. The real point of the book is to highlight the difference between companies claiming those virtues and the companies which actually put them into practice. Very few businesses fall into the latter category.