(This article is part of a series explaining Practical Strategy in detail by examining Sun Tzu’s The Art of War one line at a time. See this article for the beginning of this series.)
Section 4 of Chapter 4 is one of my favorite parts of The Art of War. The chapter is on Positioning, but this section gets down to comparing positions. It summarizes each earlier section of the chapter. It then offers a five-step method that divides the job of decision-making between our analytic left-brains and our holistic right brains. The first steps measure, count, and calculate, then the analysis moves on to weigh our options against each other. We must compare our options in a way that motivates us to act. The goal of strategic comparison is decisive action, not more analysis More and more analysis is the goal of “strategic” consulting firms and corporate managers too timid to make decisions.
This stanza finishes with the quote that I think is one of the most important in Sun Tzu. It was the basis of my award-winning book The Golden Key to Strategy.
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