with ease.”

In around 500 BC – according to tradition – the Chinese military strategist and philosopher,

Sun Tzu wrote The Art of War – effectively a manual on warfare and military tactics.

In this ancient text, Sun Tzu’s most important argument concerns the relationship between

efficiency and victory. Sun Tzu asserted that conserving resources by using deception, spying

and trickery was essential to winning a war – military action was not the be all and

end all. In fact, if military combat could be avoided, it should be.

So how would Sun Tzu employ his tactics, had he been a soccer coach, competing in a soccer

tournament?

Sun Tzu believes that they must win the tournament at all costs – after all, that is the aim

of the tournament – to win the title. It’s all about the name on the trophy!

Most teams competing in the tournament concentrate on the games that lie ahead – they train

hard, practise their ball skills and revise their strategy on the field.

But Sun Tzu is playing a different game…he is playing The Art of War.

He sees training for the matches as just one factor that can influence winning the tournament

– but he takes a more holistic approach to gaining the upper hand.

So, what are his tactics?

He’s doesn’t just rely solely on the performance of his team on match days to win.

He spies… He sabotages practice playing fields…

He drugs rival team players… He uses misinformation to get teams disqualified…

But does his approach work? His tactics were so successful, the team win the trophy – over

other teams with superior playing skills.

That, Sun Tzu would argue, is how to win a war.

He asserts that the art of winning in the most efficient way possible is the most important

art of the state, and believed the powerful state would be the one that used deception

and innuendo to trick an enemy into defeat.

Right? Wrong?

Sun Tzu believed his approach was amoral. He wasn’t concerned with the idea of ‘martial

honour’ but with victory alone.

The Art of War was an extremely influential book that has impacted Eastern and Western

military thinking, business tactics and legal strategy.

A more detailed examination can be found in the MACAT analysis.