(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 Sun Tzu meant when he said that a
confused army provides victory for the enemy! In o
