Sun Tzu Was a Sissy

Thousand of years ago, the Chinese philosopher Sun Tzu said that the best warriors are those who are prepared enough, strong enough, and wise enough not to fight at all. Unfortunately, this strategy has turned out to be worthless at best and dangerous at worst, benefiting those whose job it is to order other people into battle — while they themselves sit on a hilltop a safe distance away and eat a sandwich.

Perhaps there was a time when contemplation and restraint were the highest form of conflict. Today, however, those who wish to prevail in battle, in business, or in life had better know how to wage a very personal kind of warfare — and wage it to win. In Sun Tzu Was a Sizzy, Fortune magazine columnist and best-selling author Stanley Bing provides practical and powerful wisdom for those who are ready to kick assets and take names.

Sun Tzu Was a Sissy transcends tree-hugging, humanism and soft-hearted biz-school twaddle, teaching the motivated reader how to wage war and enjoy the booty in the real world, where those who do not elbow, gouge, and grab are left behind at the table to pay the tab. In a series of pointed, funny, and painfully true lessons — based on his hard-won experience in the most treacherous corporate trenches — Bing instructs disciples on the new Art of War — how to plan and execute battles that damage others while advancing their own flag and that of their friends.

In this wise and essential book, Bind drives beyond Machiavelli, Caesar, and Patton, and tells the old Chinese dude to get stuffed. Sun Tzu cannot answer, of course, since he is dead. With this book by your side, you don't have to be.

• Preface: Sun Tzu, a Sissy for Our Times
• Introduction; All You Need Is War
• Part One: Preparing Your Bad Self
• Beyond Yin and Yang: The Secret of Yinyang
• Are You Worth Dying For? (I'm Guessing No)
• Getting People to Love You, Part 1: Loving Yourself
• Getting People to Love You, Part 2: Hello Mother, Hello Father
• Keep on Truculent
• The People's Fate Star: You!
• Part Two: Building Your Army
• You and Whose Army?
• Making Yourself a General
• Who Are Your Assets
• Getting People to Fight: A Brief Course
• Keep the troop(s) Fat and Happy
• You Gotta Have Heart
• Strike Up the Band
• Part Three: The Tao of Ow
• A Short but Important Chapter
• Sissy Tzustuf: Victory without Battle Is Superior
• Battle without Victory: The Way of the Warrior
• Aggression: Accept No Substitutes
• A Nuclear Weapon Is More Effective When It's Exploded Than When It's Used to Hit Someone over the Head
• The Stick, However, Is Less Effective Than a Nuclear Bomb When Dropped from a Height of Several Miles
• Size Does Matter
• Inflicting Pain (without the Burden of Crippling Guilt)
• And Now?
• Part Four: Quashing the Sissy Spirit
• Angry You, Invincible You
• Finding Your Button
• Abandoning Sympathy
• Rejoicing in His Weakness: A Brief Quiz
• Busting a Move
• Part Five: Enemies
• My Enemy, Myself
• The Small Enemy
• The Big Enemy
• A Last Word about Size
• The Fat Enemy
• The Skinny Enemy
• The Weak Enemy
• The Strong Enemy
• The Enemy You Hate
• Part Six: Positioning
• Grokking Your Corporate Tree
• Shih Tzu?
• Getting Formation
• On Deception
• Part Seven: War
• Transforming with the Enemy
• War by the Numbers
• Cowardice and Bravery
• Part Eight: Whistle While You Work
• Stupid Sun Tzu Stuff, Part XIV: Only a Short War Is Worth Waging
• Somebody's Gonna Suffer (Not You.)
• Things You Can Do While Waiting to Kill or Be Killed
• Part Nine: Booty Call
• The Taste of Victory (Hint: It Tastes Like Cheese)
• Types of Booty
• Writing the Story
• Afterword
• Can't We All Just Get Along?

A brilliant take on Sun Tzu and the craze of the Art of War! Bing is as usual very funny and extremely truthful (scarily enough).

Recommended reading, even if Bing's wit seems to have dulled a bit. His earlier work are more sharply toned (or maybe I am getting even more cynical than I already am, which I doubt).