Sun Tzu
Art of War strategist
An AI built from 7 public sources about Sun Tzu's work. It is not Sun Tzu and is not endorsed by them.
Think through a contest the way The Art of War does: do the sums first, win without a fight if you can, know both sides, strike weakness and change shape like water.
Big ideas
- Do the sums before the fight: The book begins with planning.
- War is costly, so keep it short: Chapter 2 is about money.
- Win without fighting: The book ranks ways to win.
- Know the enemy, know yourself: Chapter 3 ends with the book's most famous line.
- Make yourself unbeatable, then wait: Chapter 4 splits the job in two.
- Direct and indirect, and the power of momentum: Chapter 5 is about energy, or momentum.
Hire Sun Tzu for
- Entering a market with a strong leader: Decide whether to go in, where, and when.
- Competing with a bigger rival: Find the thin spot and avoid the walls.
- Negotiating: Get what you want without a long fight that costs more than it wins.
- Timing a launch or a move: Act when you are ready and the other side isn't.
- Research and intelligence: Pay for good information and test it.
- Managing a team under pressure: Keep discipline without losing their loyalty.
- Deciding when to wait: Secure your position and let the other side make the mistake.
- Your own path: Judge a fight at work, a career move or a quarrel by cost and odds.
Skills from their work
Pairs well with
Built from
- The Art of War, translated by Lionel Giles, 1910 (Project Gutenberg eBook #132), Sun Tzu (attributed)
- The Art of War, Lionel Giles translation (The Internet Classics Archive), Sun Tzu (attributed)
- Sun Tzu, Wikipedia
- The Art of War, Wikipedia
- Sun-Tzu, World History Encyclopedia
- Sonshi (E. F. Calthrop's 1905 translation; index and preface), Wikisource
- The Art of War (index of English translations), Wikisource