The Art of War

핵심 요약

• The highest skill is making the battle unnecessary, not winning it
• 싸움에 나서기 전, 나와 상대를 냉정하게 알라
• 상대가 방심한 곳을 치고, 내 형태는 종잡을 수 없게 하라
• 전쟁이 길어지면 모두가 지치니, 완벽함보다 신속함이 우선이다
• 리더는 온정과 엄격함을 겸비하고 성격의 틈을 보이지 말아야 한다

이 비트의 내용

1. 핵심 아이디어

   Sun Tzu was a general in ancient China, and the 13 short chapters credited to him have been read by soldiers, chief executives, cricket captains and startup founders for roughly 2,500 years. Lionel Giles's 1910 translation is the one most English readers know.

2. 최고의 승리는 싸우지 않는 것

   Sun Tzu ranks ways of winning. Lowest is besieging a walled city, which drains months and men.

3. 지피지기: 나를 알고 상대를 알기

   Sun Tzu's most quoted principle is that if you know your enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the outcome of many battles; if you know only yourself, you will win some and lose some; and if you know neither, you are in danger every time. The book opens with a checklist for this kind of calculation: which side has the moral cause and unity, which understands the weather and terrain, which has the abler commander, which has better discipline and supply.

4. 물처럼 형태 없이 유연하게

   Sun Tzu treats deception and flexibility as the heart of strategy. Show weakness where you are strong and strength where you are weak.

5. 속도와 비용, 그리고 장수의 됨됨이

   Sun Tzu says he has never seen a long war that benefited any country. Prolonged campaigns exhaust the treasury, blunt the weapons and dampen morale, and they invite other enemies to move.

6. 직접 적용해 보기

   This week, before your next confrontation at work or home, ask whether you can make the fight unnecessary by changing the conditions instead of winning it. Write an honest two column assessment of one competitive situation: your real strengths and weaknesses, and theirs, based on evidence rather than hope.