Sun Tzu's Warrior's Rules -- for Winning Productively

Focus on the Individual Warrior

Sun Tzu's strategy focuses on individual decision-making. It teaches that success in competition is not, as previously thought, simply a matter of the size of the group. Prior to Sun Tzu, people saw the individual as relatively unimportant. Sun Tzu said they had it backwards. He taught that the size of the group was relatively unimportant, indeed that group size was often a handicap because it inherently created problems in individual decision-making. Sun Tzu taught that making good decisions depends on recognizing and dealing with a large number of competitive conditions of which group size is only one factor.

The success of the individual depends on his or her training. It isn't enough to know the rules for making good decisions. These rules must be practiced until they become second nature because most decisions are made automatically under the pressure of the moment. In the crucible of everyday challenges, what separates winner from the losers is their ability to make constructive decisions instead of destructive ones.

A Practical System of Competitive Decision-Making

While Sun Tzu wrote in the context of war, his warrior's rules apply to any competitive arena. SOSI explains them in generic terms in our Warrior's Rule Book. The Rule Book is organized according the the Progress Cyle that Sun Tzu uses to describe the systematic way in which we advance our position rather thn fight with others (1.8 Progress Cycle). Each of its nine sections covers a different area of competitive skills. Our Warrior's Rules were developed according to the the following principles.

1. Anyone Can Use the Warrior's Rules.

Rules are not about the big decisions of big bosses. The rules are for everyone who has a goal. Everyone who has personal goals. Sun Tzu's strategy is simply a great method for achieving our goals.

2. We Can Use Warrior Rules Every Day.

Rules are not about future action. To quote Peter Drucker, '...plans that talk about action tomorrow - they are dreams, if not pretexts for nonthinking, nonplanning, nondoing." We use these rules to continuously respond to events and changing conditions. The decision-making taught by Sun Tzu's rules are real-time adaptations to external threats and opportunities that cannot be foreseen. 

3. We Use Warrior's Rules on the Front-Lines.

Rules are not about planning meetings. We make strategic decisions moment-to-moment, on the front-lines of dealing with a complex world. Warrior's Rules are a big-picture perspective about our competitive position and a set of tools for making better decisions about our external situation.

4. Warrior's Rules Train Gut Instincts.

Rules are not cerebral intellectual analysis. Competitive situations are so complex and dynamic that the best strategic responses often comes from our gut reactions. Conscious thought, not matter how complex, is linear and limited. We consciously train to learn rules, but mastery of those rules makes better decision-making automatic.

5. We Use Warrior's Rules to Address Constant Change.

Rules are not for writing strategic white papers. Sun Tzu's strategy is an on-going process for daily use. Warrior's Rules give us tools for advancing our position every day. The positioning that emerges from this process constantly evolves as situations, conditions, and positions change.

6. Mastering Warrior's Rules Is Easy and Inexpensive.

Rules are not made complicated to sell expensive consulting. You can start mastering our rules for free. Start with our free copy of The Art of War. Then visit our site daily and read our Rules Article of the Day. When you want to get more serious about mastering the rules, we offer memberships, books, CDs/DVDs, on-line and on-site classes.