Sun Tzu's Art of War, which was born and originated in China, highly condenses and embodies the great wisdom of our people and universities. It has transcended the military field and penetrated into all aspects of social life such as politics and economy. Today, in the process of accelerating the modernization of enterprise management in China, it is of great significance for China entrepreneurs and managers to learn and study the thoughts on modern enterprise leadership methods in Sun Tzu's Art of War. This paper aims to study and discuss several core ideas.
First, "choose and employ people, follow the trend"
Sun Tzu said in "The Times": "Therefore, those who are good at fighting seek the times and don't complain about others, so they can choose people and use them." The meaning of this sentence is that a general who is good at commanding wars should focus on relying on, utilizing, grasping and creating a situation conducive to his own victory, rather than demanding his generals. Only in this way can he choose talents who are suitable for taking on heavy responsibilities from the development and changes of the overall situation and make himself take the initiative to decide the overall victory. This is Sun Tzu's highly incisive summary and exposition of the art of leadership. A deep understanding of Sun Tzu's thought of "choosing people and using them according to the situation" contains rich and profound connotations and lessons for today's business leaders and entrepreneurs.
Sun Tzu's "potential" refers to a military "war potential" in which one side launches a military challenge or attack on the other side, resulting in confrontation between two or more parties. It is applied to enterprise management, major business strategy, action decision-making or a certain competitive situation (such as scientific and technological progress, new product development, marketing planning, etc.). What is displayed in the market competition will form various "commercial potentials" faced by operators. However, whether it is a "war situation" or a "commercial bureau", there is a problem as "seeking from the potential". According to Sun Tzu's thought, the fundamental starting point of seeking the potential is to "take the potential", that is, to make full use of and grasp the development and changes of the potential, so as to achieve the strategic goal of defeating the enemy, which can be seen from other expositions in Potential. To "follow the trend", we must first "know the situation". The so-called "insider" has two connotations. On the one hand, we should have foresight and the ability to make decisions on the development and trend of the situation; On the other hand, we should have a clear understanding of whether we have the conditions and strength to obtain power (mainly whether we have core talents who can be appointed and take on heavy responsibilities). If you can't "guide the situation", it will be difficult to "guide the situation". Therefore, "knowing the situation" is the premise of "seeking the situation". Because of this, the world calls those who know the times heroes. However, a commander-in-chief, although he has a strategic vision of "understanding the current affairs" and has talents around him who can shoulder heavy responsibilities, can't make full use of them, and will eventually fall into a fiasco of "losing power"
. This is also a key issue in today's market competition. Zhuge Liang, the leader of the Han Dynasty, is superior to Sima Yi in the strategic position of street kiosks and the grasp of the right time and place. It was only at the most critical time that Ma Su was mistaken as a general that the whole army was wiped out. Fortunately, Zhuge Liang took some protective measures in advance to avoid the disaster of total annihilation. It can be seen that in the use and grasp of the situation, "guiding according to the situation" (selecting and employing people) is the key factor to determine the success or failure of the cause. Because selecting and employing people not only embodies invictus' thought that people can create the current situation, but also embodies the principle of employing people who can exert their greatest creative energy only when their values are fully respected and they are in the most suitable positions to play their roles. Excellent commanders are good at making use of the situation, teaching students in accordance with their aptitude, boldly appointing them and letting them use them freely, so they can make use of the situation, ensure the implementation of strategic intentions, win the situation by surprise and firmly grasp the chance of winning the battle. There are many such examples.
After Sun and Liu Lianhe defeated Cao Cao, Zhuge Liang knew that Cao Cao would be defeated by Huarong Road. It is very important who is assigned to undertake this important task. Because Zhuge Liang considered the overall situation, if Cao Cao was killed at this time, the situation would be even more chaotic and difficult to clean up, which was not conducive to the realization of the strategic policy of "dividing the world into three parts", so he set the strategic intention of "catching and releasing", but he could not say clearly. Guan Yu is the first of "loyalty". Zhuge Liang sent him to guard the pass and received the effect of "killing two birds with one stone". If Zhang Fei is replaced, it will ruin the event. It can be seen that only by being good at selecting and employing people can we create a momentum-creating a current situation that determines the overall strategy in the future. In 2 15, Sun Quan attacked Cao Cao, and Cao Cao sent Zhang Liao, Li Dian to defend the alliance. Cao Shoujun has only more than 7,000 people, while Wu Jun has 65,438+10,000 people. However, according to Cao Cao's instructions, "If Sun Quan comes, General Zhang and General Li will go to war, and General Le will protect the soldiers without fighting", Zhang Liao won the anti-siege. The secret of this is that Cao Cao is good at employing people. According to the Records of the Three Kingdoms, Zhang Liao was "superior in force" and Li Dian was "brave and good at fighting", good at cooperating with others and "not fighting with generals"; Although Le Jin is "short in appearance", he is brave. He and Zhang Liao, Li Dian "control divisions, to appease the masses, don't make mistakes. If the enemy decides, there will be no loss. " Cao Cao assigned tasks according to their respective strengths, and rationally arranged who should go out and who should guard the city. Therefore, in the case of such a disparity in strength, the commander-in-chief of Cao Jun's garrison not only consolidated the alliance, but also won the victory against the siege. The core idea embodied in the two examples is to know people well, make good use of talents and appoint them in time.
A person often has outstanding talents in one aspect and is most suitable for a specific job. He can develop his advantages and use his abilities to become an adult. Limit a person's strengths and make use of his weaknesses, and you will become a mediocre person. If a commander-in-chief buries a person's most precious strength, it is to urge the disabled to destroy talents, and it is also the cause of destroying the country, which is the greatest ruthlessness and immorality. It can be seen that a person who is good at knowing and using talents is himself a virtuous and talented person; On the contrary, he is a man who lacks virtue and talent. In the actual employment of leaders, those who don't need energy and choose people for power, in addition to moral quality factors, are often blind spots for effective thinking of talents. Because the greater a person's talent is, the more prominent his strengths are, and his shortcomings are more and more obvious, so leaders often see and hear conspicuous shortcomings, and even add and subtract the number of shortcomings and advantages to excel with their own shortcomings, resulting in negative talent value. As we all know, a person's greatest strength may only be one in quantity, but its value and benefits are immeasurable. During the Three Kingdoms period, Liu Bei took 700,000 troops to fight against Wu in retaliation for the deaths of Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, and the situation in Wu was in jeopardy. Because Sun Quan pushed aside the crowd, he boldly used Lu Xun, a broad-minded "scholar", and set the Shu army on fire for 700 miles, which made Wu turn the corner. During the American Civil War, Lincoln once selected three or four generals, and the standard was no gross negligence. The result was defeated by the southern generals. After accepting this lesson, he decided to use Grant, who is addicted to alcohol but can plan well, as commander in chief. At that time, some people tried to dissuade them. Lincoln said, "If I know what kind of wine he likes, I should give him a few barrels for everyone to enjoy." Later, it was proved that it was Grant's appointment that brought about a fundamental turning point in the civil war. Drucker, a management scientist, famously said, "A person's strengths are a real opportunity." All wise leaders are fully aware of their own meaning: if they take the advantage of people as an opportunity-be good at identifying people's strengths and selecting people according to the circumstances, they will lose no time in winning their careers. This is exactly what business leaders need to learn today.
Second, "use words to control it, and use it with strength."
"Sun Tzu's Art of War in March" said: "Therefore, it should be written and used together. If you teach your people, the people will obey you; If you don't do what you want to teach your people, the people won't accept it. Let vegetarians get along with others. " The meaning of this sentence is that we should use the means of "culture", that is, educate our soldiers with political morality, use the method of "martial virtue" and use the unified pace of military discipline. Such an army will certainly win the battle. Usually, if you can seriously carry out orders and educate foot soldiers, foot soldiers will form the habit of obedience; Usually, if you don't seriously carry out orders and educate foot soldiers, they will form the habit of disobedience. The reason why the orders can be carried out seriously is that the generals and foot soldiers have gained mutual trust. "Use words to control it, use force to control it" embodies Sun Tzu's thought and principle of running the army with both civil and military skills and equal emphasis on morality and prestige. This idea and principle also apply to the management of enterprises. Sun Tzu's way of "literature" and "martial arts" is also the "rigid" and "flexible" management of enterprises today. Enterprise management is a process, a process in which managers exert influence and control on the managed. Management is an art, and the essential object and core of this process and art is people. The management and coordination of people can be carried out by means of system restraint, discipline supervision, punishment and coercion, as well as by means of encouragement, inspiration, induction and encouragement, rewards and punishments. The key to scientific management lies in its accuracy and standardization, that is, changing laissez-faire management into standardized management, and relying on rules and regulations, laws and regulations and organizational authority to carry out stylized and orderly management. It emphasizes the strategy, system and structure of organizational management, which is hard management. Soft management is humanized and personalized management based on employees' thoughts, organizational values and cultural spirit.
There are several points in Sun Tzu's thought of "ruling by culture" for reference: First, being kind, respectful and caring to people. This is the origin of his thought of "Wen Zhi". He said in "Topography": "If you see a pawn like a baby, you can take it to Shenxi; Regard a pawn as a beloved son and die with him. " This idea of caring for soldiers is a reason why ancient and modern famous soldiers have succeeded in running the army. During the Spring and Autumn Period, Wu Qi, a famous soldier of Wei State, "shared food and clothing with the lowest foot soldiers, lying without seats and riding without drooping, wrapped in food and working with the foot soldiers." When he died of gangrene, Wu Qi sucked it. "Today, the idea of caring for soldiers in enterprise management has a new era connotation. For example, in order to strengthen the unique cohesion and competitiveness of enterprises, Japanese business circles attach great importance to shaping the corporate culture of "harmony between people" and "attaching importance to people". One of the characteristics of Japanese enterprise management is familism. Being hired by a company is like joining a family. Business leaders are like parents, management supervisors are brothers, and all employees are important members of the corporate family. In enterprise activities, just like family members, the younger generation should listen to the guidance of the elders, and the elders should care for and care for the younger generation. Family members should love and help each other. Every family member should cherish this family and take an active part in family activities. In Japanese enterprises, managers can often name the employees of the whole factory and are very familiar with the situation of each employee. The factory also often organizes sports meetings, get-togethers, cool parties, friendly parties, picnics, and reunion parties attended by all employees or their families, so as to integrate the feelings and interests of employees with the fate of the enterprise and regard the enterprise as their home. The second is to be good at motivating subordinates' achievements and realizing self-worth. Motivation is the most important function of management. Organizations that don't reward employees' performance, make contributions and punish employees must be ignorant, unclear about right and wrong, and difficult to distinguish between good and bad. In such an organization, employees' sense of honor and spiritual motivation will be lost. Therefore, timely and scientific recognition of the advanced and encouragement of the outstanding are related to the creation of an organization's dynamic environment. Sun Tzu pointed out in Battle: "Those who take advantage of the enemy will get the goods. So if the car fights and wins more than ten times, the first place will be rewarded. "That is to say, those who have the courage to seize the enemy's materials and equipment should be given material rewards. Those who win more than ten enemy cars in the chariot war will be rewarded for the first person to win the chariot. In enterprise management, it is important to give material rewards to those who have made meritorious deeds, but it is more important to pay attention to spiritual encouragement. W Manchester pointed out: "A person will not sell his life to you, but will give you his life in exchange for a colorful ribbon. "It can be seen that spiritual motivation can achieve great results in stimulating people's enthusiasm for work. Because of this, managers of Japanese enterprises pay special attention to spiritual encouragement. Workers in a steel pipe factory in Japan invented a new welding method, which shortened the welding time from 5 minutes to 3 minutes. This innovation alone can save 654.38 billion yen for enterprises every year. The laborer didn't get a big bonus, but the highest honor medal, but this honor made the laborer feel more proud and satisfied than getting a bonus! This is because his self-worth has been fully respected and realized.
This reveals a profound truth: soft management has a strong incentive function in today's enterprise management, and the way of soft management is mainly to meet the high-level needs of employees, especially the needs of self-realization and sense of accomplishment. With the development and progress of social economy, science and technology, management and modern civilization, people who are the main objects of management have changed from "economic man" in classical theory to "social man" in modern behavioral science theory and interpersonal relationship theory, paying more attention to social psychological factors, being respected, realizing self-worth and group morale have become the senior needs and pursuits of employees, and also become the key factors affecting individual work enthusiasm and organizational efficiency. From this perspective, only leaders who are good at innovation and implement high-level incentives can be called outstanding today. While strengthening the establishment of the target system, China Haier Group Co., Ltd. has paid attention to Nissin-Nissin-Nissin-Nissin-Nissin-Nissin-Nissin-Nissin-Nissin-Nissin-Nissin-Nissin-Nissin-Nissin-Nissin-Nissin-Nissin.
Today, our understanding of the essential meaning of motivation is not just a general leadership method and art, but a fundamental institutional change that affects the rise and fall of an organization and determines its future and destiny. Throughout the ages, it is very important for the generals who command operations and the leaders of modern enterprises. According to Records of the Historian, Xiang Yu used more than 400,000 soldiers in the Chu-Han dispute in the early Han Dynasty, four times that of Liu Bang. He used to dominate the world and give orders to the world, which was a great shock for a while. However, due to his ignorance, the rewards and punishments are unknown. "I have no memory of people's merits and demerits, and I have no memory of people's sins, but I can't win the prize, nor can I paint a city to seal the Hou." "Although there are strange people, I can't use it." As a result, Cheng Ping, Han Xin and other subordinates all chose a good wood to live in, chose a virtuous man to do things, and left him in succession. Because Xiang Yu is not familiar with the way of encouragement, the rewards and punishments are unknown, and he can't use people, which makes the overlord of "pulling mountains and breathing the world" inevitably perform a "concubine" tragedy. The lesson he left us is profound. Motivation, in today's leadership art, shines with the splendor of the times and contains profound scientific thoughts. Only enterprise leaders and entrepreneurs who are good at learning from and pioneering and innovating can inject immortal vitality into enterprises and create their own road to success.
Third, strengthen education and unify thinking. Soft management emphasizes the cultivation and shaping of organizational values. Advanced ideas and positive attitudes can be created by building a suitable and good organizational atmosphere, which requires strengthening ideological education. Sun Tzu said, "Who is stronger or weaker?" "Teaching precepts first", "If a scholar doesn't teach first, he doesn't have to." Sun Tzu's thought of "teaching precepts first" also has important strategic significance in today's enterprise management. All business leaders with strategic vision at home and abroad put employee education, especially political and ideological education, in the first place of enterprise development, with the aim of cultivating a high-quality and competitive workforce. In this respect, the educational concept of Japanese entrepreneurs is advanced.
Ichiro Ishii Makoto, Minister of Mechanical Engineering of the Japanese Institute of Electrical Engineering, said: "It is not enough to sow without cultivating. If you want it to thrive, you must give spiritual food. " Ichiro Honda, the founder of Honda Technology Research Company, Japan's largest motorcycle factory, put it particularly profoundly: "Ideas dominate the world more than money, and good ideas can generate money. The motto of contemporary people should be: ideas are more powerful than money. " 1991010/0 newspaper abstract published an article by comrade yuan, president of China enterprise management association, entitled "Kōnosuke Matsushita proposed a joint venture with me a year ago-Japanese" technical know-how "plus * * leadership know-how", saying
What are the conditions? What are your conditions in China? This is an important question. I bring my know-how to this factory as an investment, which is also an important investment. * * * The know-how led by the producer, like my know-how, is an investment in China. "The secret of Kōnosuke Matsushita's * * * Party leadership refers to the party's political and ideological work. As the president of a capitalist enterprise, it is really commendable that he can attach so much importance to the political and ideological education of our party and have such profound and unique opinions. Today, Japanese companies can dominate the world, which has a lot to do with their emphasis on employee education. This has formed a unique cultural concept of vocational education for Japanese enterprises: Japanese enterprises should carry out "social education" for new employees, mainly focusing on the company's entrepreneurial history and the spirit and creed that employees must have. After the new employees who teach to sing "social songs" and recite "social motto" and "creed" join the club, the company will continue to instill "group consciousness" and "sense of belonging" into the workers through various daily activities, and form a team spirit among all employees. For example, Kōnosuke Matsushita has carefully cultivated seven kinds of "Panasonic Spirit" for Matsushita Electric Company (the spirit of serving the country by industry; Open and aboveboard spirit; And the spirit of harmony; The spirit of striving for progress; The spirit of courtesy; Adapt to the spirit of assimilation; Thanks to the spirit of gratitude, she has become a professional code for Panasonic employees and an ideological guide to guide the company's development.
Nowadays, employee education has become an important strategy for the development and competition of domestic and foreign enterprises. If a modern entrepreneur should be a talented person who knows how to treat people well, then he should first become an educator who is good at teaching people and knows how to cultivate talents. This is not only the call of the times, but also the urgent need of today's market competition, and it is a more advanced science and art.
Sun Tzu's way of "literature" and "martial arts", that is, soft management and hard management of enterprise management, are different from each other, penetrate each other, influence each other and complement each other. Hard management is the support and foundation of soft management, which often has a decisive influence on the implementation of soft management. Without the support of hard management, soft management can hardly achieve the expected results. Soft management is the director, lubricant and catalyst of hard management, which can play an irreplaceable role. Only by combining the two-military and civilian, soft and hard, can we win and achieve the best results. "The Art of War" points out that "thick can't be used, love can't be used, chaos can't be cured, and arrogance can't be used." In other words, if soldiers are too spoiled to use, too indulgent to command, and too disciplined to deal with them seriously, such an army, like a "proud son", cannot be used for combat. At this time, generals and commanders must understand the law and order, and use discipline to manage the troops in a unified way, so that the soldiers can "order", "make", "govern" and "be available".
Enterprise is a place for modern production and management, which contains extremely complex management systems, including planning system, production system, technology system, quality control system, marketing system, accounting system and so on. There are many employees in the enterprise, belonging to various systems and having different responsibilities. To make the whole system run efficiently, quickly, orderly and harmoniously along the unified goal like a machine, it is necessary to establish and improve a scientific and strict organization and management organization, unified discipline, complete rules and regulations and strict management rules. At the same time, there must be a common values, psychological and cultural atmosphere and spiritual atmosphere based on employees' psychology and understanding, so that employees' creative potential can be fully exerted and their thoughts can March towards the same goal. Modern enterprise management has entered such an era of organic combination of hard management and soft management. Effectively realizing the combination of the two is the source of efficient management, the source of enterprise vitality, and a subject of great practical significance, which needs our enterprise leaders and entrepreneurs to study, explore and study seriously.
Third, "people with common aspirations will win."
Sun Tzu's The Art of War Raiders says that there are five ways to win, one of which is that "those who share the same desire will win." In other words, officers and men can win the war by working together in Qi Xin. This is the most fundamental condition for Sun Tzu to analyze and decide the outcome of the war. So, how can we make the upper and lower desires consistent? Sun Tzu pointed out in Ji Pian: "Tao makes the people consistent with the people, so they can die with it, live with it, and are not afraid of difficulties." In other words, a wise king can make the people obey his wishes, so that the people can risk their lives for the king in the war and take risks. Here, the "Tao" put forward by Sun Tzu is the most fundamental and important factor that makes people up and down want the same thing. In the same article, Sun Tzu said: "Analyze the possibility of winning or losing a war from five aspects: Tao, Heaven (natural and social opportunities), Earth (geographical situation and traffic interests), General (selection) and Law (the establishment and establishment of the army and the legal system of the country), that is, put Tao in the first place. Thus, the importance of "Tao" in governing the country, the people, the army and the industry also shows the significance that commanders and leaders who have made achievements attach importance to "Tao".
What does Sun Tzu mean by "Tao"? It refers to politics. He particularly emphasized "the consent of the people and their superiors", that is, politics-policies, decrees, legal systems, etc. It is implemented by the state to win the hearts of the people and conform to public opinion. "Tao" has a wide range of connotations in modern enterprise management, but fundamentally speaking, it refers to the business philosophy, business thinking and business strategy of enterprise development. Among these fundamental factors, business philosophy is the fundamental guiding ideology and basic program that runs through all business activities of enterprises, and it is composed of a series of new business concepts that guide the development of enterprises. Business strategy is a specific practice and strategic business decision that makes full use of various possibilities of enterprise development according to the actual situation of the enterprise. Business strategy focuses on planning the long-term direction of enterprise development. Therefore, an enterprise's business ideas, business philosophy and business strategy have an overall, directional and decisive role in the development of the enterprise, which is related to the future and destiny of the organization. If an enterprise makes mistakes in management thought and theory, even with scientific management methods and strong technical strength, it will be difficult to work, which will inevitably lead to the failure of the enterprise. In this way, enterprise leaders can be good at formulating correct business ideas, business policies, business concepts and business strategies for enterprises, that is, caring for and embodying the fundamental interests of employees to the greatest extent, thus fundamentally mobilizing the enthusiasm of the managed, winning the support and trust of employees, and achieving "making the people like each other" and "sharing the same desire". It is precisely because of this that foreign senior managers put their main energy and wisdom on planning and formulating business ideas, business concepts and business strategies of enterprises, and always put strategic decision-making at the top of business operations to ensure the continuous prosperity and development of enterprises, thus glowing the dedication and entrepreneurial enthusiasm of all employees who are loyal to their duties, treat each other with sincerity, share weal and woe. This is exactly what our business leaders today learn from Sun Tzu's basic idea, that is, let people reach an agreement with people, and those who think the same thing from top to bottom will win.