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INTRODUCTION

Win-Win: The War Unfought

The gender gap is shrinking around the globe, yet the breach remains wide enough to frustrate and stifle far too many women seeking an equal opportunity to improve their lives and realize their ambitions.

Countless empowerment groups offer women opportunities to share their experiences with others who offer support and guidance. Lisa Borders (past president of the Women’s National Basketball Association) became the first president and CEO of Time’s Up, a group founded to fight workplace sexual harassment, assault and abuse. And who hasn’t heard of the international movement spawned by #MeToo, the formidable and growing anti-sexual-assault and women’s empowerment movement? No longer do women need to fight back alone.

What do women want? Many seek an even playing field in and outside the workplace. Many men may share this imperative, but reality suggests that a majority do not. The reason, we believe, is that men and women view themselves, their environments and the world differently.

It is no secret that male dominance has been the norm since times long past, though history is a crippled justification for clinging to inequities rooted in caveman images and mean-minded discrimination. Change is slow. Sure, women occupy the higher ranks in politics and business, but their numbers represent a pitiable minority.

American women today may be challenged and compromised to a slightly lesser degree than when their moms grew up, but why should men continue to enjoy a reduced rate to paradise for similar or shoddier performances? Anybody ever heard of a good ol’ girls network? Sun Tzu’s Art of War for Women doesn’t advocate creating one, but suggests how your personal goals and desired changes might be achieved in an unbalanced environment where males dominate disproportionately.

The good news: There is no need to set the world on fire, only to light a flame beneath the stubborn posteriors that may be cluttering your path. The better news is that the principles of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War can transliterate into tactics for success. Your success. Like one of our grandmas used to say, “Vy not?”

The Art of War for Women

“All warfare is based on deception.” –Sun Tzu

Sun Tzu’s work The Art of War dates to the 6th century BCE. It is widely considered to be the earliest treatise written on the basic principles of warfare. Its central theme is conducting and winning war with minimum confrontation, risk and loss. Along with other military classics, it has been widely studied and embraced as a primer for devising military and business strategies. Given the times Sun Tzu lived in, his motives in writing The Art of War were not focused on the problems confronting women. Nor does our book, Sun Tzu’s Art of War for Women, address the full range of women’s issues, but primarily the environments in which they work.

Despite this emphasis, the tactics you will find in Sun Tzu’s Art of War for Women are readily transferrable to family and social issues wherever men and women come together. Its principle is to win, when possible, before a war breaks out: subtly, peacefully and with limited rancor. The essence of win-win.

Sun Tzu’s contention that “All warfare is based upon deception” (as in allowing your enemy to perceive you as weaker or stronger than you really are) might imply that seeking peace instead of war can be founded on honesty and openness (e.g., the absence of artifice). Interestingly, the word Westerners traditionally translate as “art” in Chinese more precisely translates into English as “as water goes.” The idea of a natural path (as opposed to “art”) relates to the precepts and methodologies found in the Tao Te Ching¹, and its influence is referenced here and there in the pages of our book.

Fear not if the concept of deception perturbs your principles, we’re not talking about becoming a liar, cheat or master of deception. Among honest equals none of this would normally be needed. But playing in rough or unscrupulous company renders Boy and Girl Scouts vulnerable and at an unfair disadvantage. Circumstances define necessity; successfully competing requires the right tools, attitude and preparation.

Given the origins and purpose of his work, Sun Tzu’s arrangement of chapters and topics does not necessarily offer a one-to-one correlation with more peaceful pursuits. Nevertheless, his strategies and tactics for accomplishing one’s goals with maximum efficiency and minimum cost remain applicable to any number of modern activities that involve competing and coming out on top. Especially competing in a predominately male-dominated environment, i.e., the workplace. Many of his suggestions are intended to be used in concert with others rather than as individual actions. A small change or addition can alter an entire strategy. Thus the reason for Sun Tzu’s Art of War for Women.

Consistent with the teachings of the Tao, which clearly influenced Sun Tzu, there are no hard-set rules to memorize. In this school of thought, extremes like good and evil are closely related, as each exists only in contrast to the other. Similarly, the way a plan worked for you yesterday can fall short tomorrow. This is why we focus on an understanding of Sun Tzu’s principles rather than a list of dos and don’ts to memorize. References to the “enemy” may correspond to your competition for a promotion at work. In situations where men enjoy a gender-based advantage, these often represent challenges a woman needs to overcome in order to stand on a favorable playing field. Look at them as challenges a resourceful woman can employ without making many enemies.

A characteristic contrast between the United States and Sun Tzu’s (mainland) China may be found in their traditional manner of addressing problems: whereas the American way might be to confront the problem head-on, the Chinese method is more likely to circumvent it. Otherwise stated, seek a path around the impediment rather than banging your head against it:

“The tallest tree falls to the wind; a blade of grass bends without breaking.”

The annual plethora of self-improvement books (like this one) sold each year seems to suggest that millions of people are taking greater strides to increase their chances of changing themselves and their circumstances for the better. Improvement, of course, is a multi-step process: First, acquire knowledge and understanding from what you’ve read, watched or heard. Then apply it to real-life situations. Merely learning how to do something is not enough, you must also use it in a practical and meaningful way. The beauty of successfully competing on the job is naturally carried over into your home and social life.

Applying your new knowledge can help you build confidence, which tends to promote still more success and increased assurance. It’s no secret that winning tends to breed success in almost any environment. So long as you don’t let it go to your head.

Pursuing Goals

Being successful as a woman doesn’t necessarily mean beating men (or other successful women) at their game. Lots of women have discovered the advantages of competing on their own terms. We’ve all heard the clichés about women needing to work twice as hard and achieve three times as much as men in order to receive half the recognition. It’s time to put these pithy maxims aside and focus on what works best for you and, at the same time, feels right.

Applying The Art of War to women’s issues or any other pursuit is something of a metaphor. Fortunately, exploiting Sun Tzu’s strategies and tactics need not require littering the path with wounded egos. The time-honored wisdom of avoiding direct confrontation is very much in keeping with the teachings of Sun Tzu: Since the dawn of civilization, warriors and workers alike have recognized the folly of wasting energy and resources on unproductive posturing and conflict.

A larger point to consider is the picture of what winning really means. Clearly, keeping women (or anyone else) down and out of leadership and decision-making is a loss to everyone. The predominantly male practice of winning at someone else’s expense (win-lose) may provide a twinge of temporary gratification, but a win-win structure serves to both sides’ interests in the longer run. And since most women are aware of this, it remains a goal worth working toward, a skill worth honing.

There are times when confrontation cannot entirely be avoided in the pursuit of one’s legitimate interests. To this end, Sun Tzu shows us how to compete by emphasizing one’s own unique and collective strengths. Who are you, and who do you want to be? Make an investment in yourself.

Who Was Sun Tzu?

In the Chinese language, tzu traditionally means “master,” as when honoring a renowned teacher or philosopher. According to Chinese scholars, Sun Wu (a.k.a. Sun Tzu) was an adviser to the King of Wu (no relation) toward the end of China’s Spring and Autumn Period (770–476 BCE).

Born around 515 BCE, Sun Wu/Tzu was the son of a warrior and grandson of a general. His family background gave him privileged access to various books and documents on warfare. As a youth he came to the kingdom of Wu to escape turmoil in his native Qi. Over the years—some twenty or more—he became a keen observer of life and combat. His written observations became the treatise on waging war originally called Bing Fa (Soldier’s Skill), known to us today as The Art of War.

During this time, the King of Wu was looking for a commander in chief to head an attack on a neighboring state. Sun Tzu applied for the job, sharing his writings on organization and strategy with the king in an attempt to convince him that he was qualified. He agreed to submit to a test of his tactics by organizing more than 300 royal concubines and maids into a well-drilled unit. The women maintained that they understood Sun Wu’s directions, but laughed when he gave his commands. Obedience to a clearly given order being the responsibility of officers, Sun Tzu ordered the beheading of two of the troop leaders and appointed two others in their place. The new unit took his orders more seriously thereafter.

Sun Tzu’s military successes are legendary. In a famous battle against the kingdom of Zhou, he defeated an army of 200,000 soldiers with a force one-tenth the size. According to the second-century-BCE biographer Sima Qian, Sun Tzu enjoyed a successful military career and may have later updated The Art of War based on his personal experience.

Sun Tzu was about winning efficiently, with minimal cost and waste. If this brilliant tactician were alive today and living in the West, what advice might he offer women in their attempts to level the playing field for opportunities and recognition? Allow us to speculate that he’d have advised women—people—of all ages to familiarize themselves with The Art of War and to adapt it to their particular circumstances and needs.

This is what we humbly offer in Sun Tzu’s Art of War for Women.

Sun Tzu’s The Art of War

“Warfare is the greatest affair of state.”

The following version of The Art of War is based on the English-language translation by Lionel Giles (1875–1958), which we have respectfully and thoroughly edited. Our intent is not to create a more literal translation but rather one that may be more accessible to our Western audience: an audience primarily of women, to be sure, and perhaps the men who care enough about them to recognize the problems women may face in navigating the modern moment. We hope we’ve made Sun Tzu’s Art of War for Women interesting and informative, and we thank you for giving it a little of your time.

Footnote

¹ Also Dao De Jing, a 6th-century-BCE classic on Taoism attributed to Lao Tzu.