Sun Tzu’s Art of War has been a basic text for leaders of all sorts of competitive enterprises, not just among military leaders but also politicians, heads of state, coaches, marketing strategists and CEO’s. Written about 500 B.C. by a Chinese military genius, it offers timeless and practical advice on what may be the ultimate competitive enterprise, the conduct of war.
The Art of War was supposedly written by Sun Tzu for his emperor, Wu, in order to demonstrate Tzu’s sagacity. It could be thought of as a sort of early “white paper,” one of the first and most effective client relations campaigns.
There are numerous parallels between war and its more civilized form, litigation. Properly interpreted, the Art of War offers CEO’s insight into how they should select their GC’s and how GC’s should manage the companies’ litigation. For example, if ‘war’ is understood to mean ‘litigation’ in today’s 
corporate world, Sun Tzu’s advice in the first chapter can be interpreted as:
“The art of litigation is of vital importance to the Corporation. It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin. Hence it is a subject of inquiry which can on no account be neglected.”
Sun Tzu basically advises emperors (CEO’s) to value generals (general counsel) who can avoid or minimize war (litigation) more than one who glories in full-scale war (litigation) for its own sake. In other words, Sun Tzu suggests looking at costs as well as effectiveness in judging generals (attorneys).
In future blogs we will examine each of the chapters of the Art of War and see what lessons they hold for the modern corporation.
(c) 2009 Joe Howie