The need for unity
(Over the past 12 years, the writer has been lecturing and consulting on the subject of Sun Tzu's Art of War and its application and relevance to business practices and planning. As of to date, he has provided executive training , talks and seminars to over 120 large organisations (including 500 companies) and 20 countries. He is thus very honoured to be able to share with readers, through the columns of Lianhe Zaobao, some of his thinkings on this subject.)
The need for unity is a well-accepted norm in the conduct of war. Thus, it is very interesting to note what Sun Tzu had to say about unity If the army is confused and suspicious, the neighbouring states will surely create trouble.
This is like the saying A confused army provides victory for the enemy.
From the quotation, one can easily learn four simple lessons.
Firstly, if members of a group are confused, or worse, if they suspect each other, the seed for disunity has just been sown. This is true in the case of the army and the organisation.
For example, when there are no clear lines of communication and distinctive demarcation of duties and responsibilities within a company, the employees will become very confused. To make matters worse, if personnel among the various departments are suspicious of each other, the company can never move in one direction!
In the same way, if the people and various decision-making groups of a country begin to suspect each other instead of working in cohesion, disunity will set in. If the degree of suspicion and confusion persist for a long time, it is likely to lead to other undesirable consequences.
In the extreme cases, it can lead to the disintegration of countries and organisations, as in the case of the former Soviet Union and some family-owned businesses that are even publicly listed.
Secondly, confusion and suspicion will make the organisation vulnerable to external exploitation. In war, the enemy is always on the lookout for any weaknesses that can be exploited. Thus, if the army is in disarray, it provides the enemy a golden opportunity to exploit the situation.
This is very true of any organisation. For example, when employees in a company are busy fighting each other, competitors can add fuel to the fire. Moreover, when the employees are disunited, unhappiness is bound to set in. This allows competitors to sow more seeds of discord, and to poach the more capable ones to join them.
Interestingly, at the national level, the need to be united so as to avoid external exploitation is very real. For example, in the ongoing economic and financial crises facing many Asian countries, there is a need for citizens to remain united.
During such times, there would inevitably be opportunists as well as other external parties who may have different agendas and motives. It is not far fetched to imagine that these external forces can even bring down governments and their economies!
Thirdly, confusion and suspicion which create disunity, will erode the competitiveness of the organisation. When a lot of time, effort and resources are spent on internal fire-fighting, it is only inevitable that the organisation will suffer. This is because there will be little energy left to fight any external threat.
It is just like the political situation in India. Many of its political parties are too preoccupied fighting each other. As a result, economic policies and development -- no matter how urgent and important they can be -- tend to be slowed down.
Thus, despite decades of democracy, India has yet to achieve the kind of economic progress that it is capable of. Without doubt, it is a nation with great and many talents. One only needs to acknowledge the vast number of Indian scientists, technologists and academics in the United States to realise the potential of human talents that exist in India.
Fourthly, and this is something that we tend to forget and overlook -- in competition, winning and losing can be by default! This is what Su
