The Art Of War For Executives

by Donald G. Krause

A comprehensive interpretation of Sun Tzu's The Art of War combines the original classic's advice on leadership, strategy, organization, competition, and cooperation with the ideas of contemporary business philosophers.

Genres: Business, Nonfiction, Management, Leadership, Philosophy, Self Help, Collections

116 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1995

Reviews

[Amr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Insightful

[Adina · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found the 2004 receipt from WH Smith Heathrow in the book. It looks like it spent some time in my library unread. Luckily, I did not lose much all these years. I could not find a lot of useful information, mostly advice that was common sense.

[karam · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too dry, too brief. Not what I expected when I initially got it.

[Rafael Monchez · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent read for those looking to sharpen their blade on strategies and tactics for the business world. Sun Tzu's "The Art of War" may be a short book but it is jam packed with timeless principles that are still relevant even today. It helps to read other renditions of this ancient literature and understand how it is applied within other sphere's of life. Donald Krause keeps to the text and spirit interpreting Sun Tzu's principles for business. The one down-fall I found in the book is the lack of illustrations, historical examples or any sort of exposition to the principles. This may have very well been the author's intention though; to keep the book straight to the point and effective for reference reading. There is a lot that I took away from the book but if I were to choose one thought out of the many (not to say it is the most important) it would be this: Intelligence is the essence and foundation of all competitive success. No activity is more closely tied to our success than effectively gathering and disseminating intelligence. Critical information is not gathered through assumptions or speculations (also known as "folk wisdom" in the book), it is not provided by people who study events or interpret data from afar. Useful intelligence comes from people on the ground, those who have firsthand contact and experience with the competition and marketplace.

In conclusion, this book is a must-have on the bookshelves of all executives, CEO's and entrepreneurs.

[Bernhard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary of mostly common sense concepts on competition in the broader, general sense. You won't find that many "new" concepts, but it essentially hammers home the importance of planning and preparation, competitive intelligence, robust leadership, focus and commitment. Some aspects are anachronistic, especially in the original text, e.g. "use fire to burn the enemy's personnel". That brings Vietnam/Napalm to mind and reminds us that the end doesn't always justify the means.
This also brings us to the biggest omission: WHY wage war - the entire book essentially is only about grabbing a bigger piece of pie in a zero sum game. X wins, Y loses - that's not what drives human prosperity.

[TK Keanini · Rating 2 out of 5]

You would be better off reading the original translation. This is for those people who need to see an example or application of the notions expressed in The Art of War. Nothing wrong with that, I just don't think business is war. Business should be about nonzero sum games, not zero sum games.

[V H D · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent advice for leadership... Few examples:
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Discipline your report too early, and you lose them.
Discipline your report too late, and you spoil them.
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Do not attack a retreating enemy.

[Patrice Blanchard · Rating 1 out of 5]

Probably one of the worst idea ever. Art of war for executive is written without any structure and no common sense whatsoever. You replace enemy by competition and general by executive and that's it! At this level, you can write "art of war for poker players" and "art of war for fisherman". It just takes a search and replace in the word processing. Zero application, zero real life example, zero structure.
Absolute waste of time!

[Sunshine Biskaps · Rating 3 out of 5]

"The Art of War for Executives" by Donald G. Krause
Reviewed 8 June 2021

This book was recommended to me by a friend and I enjoyed listening to it, while walking my dog. It's short, brief and to the point. It does a good job mentioning the beliefs in Sun Tzu's original book. It was just a bit repetitive and dry in my opinion. Still an interesting read, but I do like Sun Tzu's book better.

[Dustin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can’t remember why I decided I wanted to read this. It started well with some thoughts that were fairly interesting in terms of how to think about customer discovery and market research, but then after thumbing through dozens of pages without finding a passage that felt worthy of a note or highlight, I put it down.

Off to the little free library with ye!

[Alexis Rey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Es una buena opción para leer El Arte de la Guerra, a la vez que se lo trae a un contexto relativamente moderno del funcionamiento de las corporaciones.
El texto original se mantiene y las observaciones del autor sobre los ejecutivos modernos son bastante interesantes, a su vez, fácilmente identificables si has trabajado en una empresa grande/multinacional

[Emi R. Carlisle · Rating 4 out of 5]

the executive adaptation takes away from the intended point of The Art Of War but it helps settling yourself easier in the sayings of Sun Tzu and you flow easier through its meaning and it then becomes a breeze to read.

[JL · Rating 1 out of 5]

Translates the art of war into English. Too brief to help me understand anything deeper than what I already know.

[Tonya Mitchell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m glad this wisdom exists in a form I can understand in some respects. Will need revisiting!

[S.P. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sun Tzu is fairly incomprehensible, and Krause here tries to interpret it in terms of competitive edge.

While entertaining enough to read in short bursts in the morning with one's first cup of tea, it is not particularly insightful or useful in day to day life. Still kept me occupied for a few days.

[Mohamed Marwan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good read. Very relevant to the business world, although in different sections ignoring the difference between competing for the customer and going to war. Very concise. Could have been shorter. The book was originally written in 1995 - you need to put this into consideration. I loved the sections about "Competitive Situations" and "6 Tactical Principals"

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have tried reading this and listening to it on CD. Each time I think it seems to be basically good book but its too dry to take in. Sort of a dot point book for those who choose to put ethics aside in favour of results

[GP · Rating 2 out of 5]

Took an already riddly book (the art of war) and reduced it to bitesized paragraphs aimed at business execs. Not much for me to apply in the context its written for. Would rather read something that distils the advice into simple lamens terms. Info still needs to be deciphered further.

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adapted from Sun Tzu's real guide to win a war. Great tips to become the ideal business man!

[Cafes and Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book! Enough said.

[Tracy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read for the purpose of discussion w/ my husband. Although it at times felt cutthroat and manipulative, there were a few take-always...

[Nikos Platis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting comparison of war situations vs Executives' business. Some repetitions, but messages are very clear .

[Mpezilwe Simukoko · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good application of the Art of War principles in business. Definitely worth the read

[Glenn Liguori]

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