THE WINNING STRATEGY, according to THE BOOK OF FIVE RINGS

As I have mentioned before, 'The Book of Five Rings' by Japan's legendary combat strategist of the 16th century, Miyamoto Musashi, happens to be one of the very first few books on Japanese business culture introduced to me.

I had read it, together with Richard Tanner Pascale's 'The Art of Japanese Management', during the early eighties when I joined the United Motor Works (UMW) Group, whose principal product agency portfolio came mainly from Japan, e.g. Toyota (forklifts), Komatsu (heavy & construction equipment), Mitsubishi (marine engines), Isuzu (dump trucks), to name a few.

Naturally, the copy I had was a English translation by a Japanese scholar, Thomas Cleary.

'The Book of Five Rings' or 'Go Rin No Sho' to the Japanese, is supposedly a leadership & strategy guide, just like the Chinese 'Art of War' by Sun Tzu.

In a nut shell, the book analyzes the process of struggle & mastery over conflict that underlies every level of human interaction.

What follows, based on notes from my scratchpad, is actually a quick snapshot of the broad principles of Musashi's strategy as embodied in his classic, often considerd by most Japanese businessmen as the winning strategy:

1) Do not harbour sinister designs i.e do not think dishonestly;

2) Diligently pursue the path of Two Swords as One i.e the way is in the training;

3) Cultivate a wide range of interests in the arts;

4) Be knowledgeable in a variety of occupations or professions;

5) Be discrete regarding one's commercial dealings;

6) Nurture the ability to see the truth in all matters i.e intuitive judegement & understanding for everything;

7) Perceive those things which cannot be seen with the eye;

8) Do not be negligent, even in trifling matters;

9) Do not engage in useless activities;