Google Staff on Leadership and Sun Zi's Art of War

Often, people want to know if Ancient Chinese Wisdom so strongy promoted by me. such as Sun Zi's Art of War is still applicable to our modern times. Let's compare what the most 'up-to-date' creative geniuses at Google think with that of Sun Zi. Here is the answer.

Recently, an article about how Google employees wanted about their managers was widely referred in Facebook and other social media. This post compared the list of leadership attributes with those from Sun Zi's Art of War. Yes, The Art of War is not just about strategies but also of leadership. You will find that Google staff's list is just a subset of Sun Zi. It shows the Art of War is very much up to date and useful even for today.

The article is Google Employees Weighed In on What Makes a Highly Effective Manager. Technical Expertise Came in Dead Last. I summarized it in the mind-map below:



The article has a list of 8 items. However, the author gave another list of 3 things that the employees wanted. This is strange. Why do you repeat the list again? The two list can be matched as shown in the mind-map above. It turns out the purple color token 1 of even-keeled bosses, which I rephrased as calmness was not in the earlier 8-item list.

Sun Zi's Art of War on Leadership:

The Art of War gave 5 factors and 7 measures for evaluating the potential success of a warfare against another. The premise is that one only start a war if one is certain of victory first. So plan, calculate and compare is to be done first. Sun Zi also gives a list of 5 attributes for a commander. The Art of War list can be matched with Google staff's list as shown in the mind-map below:



Takeaway Lessons:

The Sun Zi's list captures all of Google's two lists and more. More on Sun Zi's leadership can be found at Sun Zi Art of War-6: Leadership Skills and Creating HPO. 

The Art of War teaching is very applicable for our modern times. It shows the wisdom and power of the Ancient Chinese Philosophers and thinkers.  More of their teaching can be found at  Sun Zi and Other Strategists

Lim Liat (c) 30 June 2017