“At the root of ‘The Art of War’ was Lao Tzu’s ‘Tao Te Ching’!”
11 Battlefield Disruption Strategies from Lao Tzu, the Hidden Strategist

Lao Tzu as Strategy (Lighting House) has been published, reinterpreting Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching from a modern management perspective and explaining how to strategically apply it to business and life.
The Tao Te Ching, also known as the Lao Tzu, is the essence of Eastern philosophy that inherited the worldview of the Book of Changes, which contains 3,000 years of Chinese wisdom, and had a profound influence on all Eastern thought that emerged thereafter.
In 『Lao-tzu as Strategy』, the author reinterprets Lao-tzu's text by connecting it to the theory of formations in 『The Art of War』, and finds the roots of modern strategic thinking in 『Tao Te Ching』.


『Lao-tzu as Strategy』 focuses on 『Lao-tzu』 as a dynastic art of governance and a book on military strategy, and vividly explains, with various examples, how Lao-tzu's "strategy of paradox" can be utilized in the rapidly changing business battlefield, and how those strategies still work (albeit hidden) in the modern era.


For this book, the author cross-checked all interpretations of the major commentaries on the Tao Te Ching, extracted only the core of the carefully selected original text, and included it in an easy-to-read modern translation.
We also reinterpreted the classics through interdisciplinary research encompassing economics, management, and psychology, and made every effort to incorporate abundant examples from the business world.
Through the author's new interpretation of Lao-tzu, readers will gain profound insights from the timeless wisdom of 3,000 years of Eastern philosophy throughout the book.

Even if you choose one of the two extremes, it is important to note that in Lao Tzu's case, he did not abandon the other options.
For example, choosing weakness is not about abandoning strength, but about exercising it.
As we see in Chapter 7, Lao Tzu rather argues that maintaining gentleness is strength (Tao Te Ching, Chapter 52).
Or there is a phrase in the 10th commandment that says, 'Know your masculinity while maintaining your femininity.'
Choosing femininity while knowing masculinity in the extremes of masculinity and femininity means choosing femininity while also maintaining the ability to exercise the strengths of masculinity.
In other words, the purpose of choosing one side is to leverage the strengths of the other side, not to discard the latter.
It is deliberately choosing one side to save both sides.
One of the characteristics of Chinese thought, not just Laozi, is this dualistic thinking.

--- From "Going in the Opposite Direction of the 4th Plane's Goal"

The core of Chinese thought is not to try to resolve conflicts by force, but to accept them as they are and embrace them.
An outstanding leader practices this attitude and values ​​the principle of “harmony but not assimilation” as stated in the Analects.
However, many organizations often do the opposite, opting for a "compromise but not harmony" approach, where they only superficially compromise to smooth things over, while in reality they ignore or cover up the conflict.
Rather, what is needed is an attitude that acknowledges and embraces the conflict as it is, and continues to interact.

--- From "Going in the Opposite Direction of the 4th Plane's Goal"

The implications of the cases of IKEA and Slack are clear.
The more service-minded you are, the more likely it is that customers will leave.
What's really important is not 'multiplication', but that you must thoroughly relax to succeed.
The term 'reducing force' used here means restraining oneself from 'subtracting' something the user does not want, and stopping one step before what is considered optimal.

The 'compensatory effect' that comes from this strategic power withdrawal is the key to business model innovation.
The path of the sage that Lao Tzu spoke of also refers to this ‘strategic power reduction.’
The compensation effect refers to the principle that when there is a shortage, a reaction occurs to fill it, and conversely, when there is an excess, a counteraction occurs to reduce it.
Here, the former is called the 'effect of under-effect' and the latter the 'effect of over-effect'.

--- From "5th Commandment: Let Go of the Force and Go with the Flow"

American psychologist Sheena Iyengar conducted the following experiment in a supermarket.
When shelves with 24 types of jam and shelves with 6 types of jam were installed, more people tried the shelf with 24 types.
However, the actual purchase rate was 10 times higher for the one with only 6 types of jam.
This experiment demonstrates the phenomenon of 'choice paralysis', where too many choices can lead to postponing or giving up on making a decision.
This is sometimes called the 'Law of Jam' or the 'Law of Decision Avoidance'.

According to this law, paying too much attention to external information can actually hinder decision-making.
Closing the door can be seen as pointing to such harm.
Rather than gathering excessive information, it is more important to focus on specific leading indicators and practice Lao Tzu's principle of "knowing the world without leaving the door."

--- From "The Sixth Rule: Seeing the Essence Without Learning"

Lao Tzu also presents the same ranking of various governance methods, namely, management methods today, in the passage cited in the first section.
To summarize, it is as follows.

1st: The Politics of Inaction (Lao Tzu)? Self-Management
2nd Place: Politics of Benevolence (Confucianism)? Leadership-Type Management
3rd Place: Rule of Law (Legalism)? Rule-Based Management
4th: Politics of Scheming (Spring and Autumn Period and Warring States Period)? Faction-centered Management
A modern interpretation of the politics of inaction could be translated into 'self-management management' like holacracy.
There, upper management delegates full authority without interfering with the field.
Even though the field may not know who the upper management is, the organization functions smoothly through the field's autonomy and performance of its roles.
The second place is 'leadership-type management', which is management that demonstrates charismatic leadership and in which subordinates have strong loyalty to the leader.
The third is 'rule-based management', which is representative of a bureaucratic organization, and the lowest is 'factional management', which causes internal politics.

--- From "9th Commandment: Letting Go of the Desire to Control"

The 'form' that enables self-management management can be summarized as follows.

? Platform: A structure that creates the effect of white space
? Routine: A structure that creates the effect of weakness
As pointed out in the first chapter, the purpose of the platform is to create a margin effect.
By not interfering, space is created, and that space creates new 'momentum'.
Meanwhile, routines are needed on that platform as a form of improvisational response, that is, to exert the effect of weakness.
There are natural routines that enhance momentum, and there are artificial routines that hinder momentum.

For example, the cases of Zappos and Semco may seem to be rejecting the existing hierarchy.
In fact, positions have been eliminated and decentralized as much as possible, which can be seen as a horizontal flattening of the existing hierarchy.
This amounts to a denial of authority, or in other words, of the 'flow of instructions'.

However, at the same time, it should be noted that a new hierarchy is emerging from the negation of the 'directive flow'.
That hierarchy is the ‘hierarchy of work flow.’
In other words, Holacracy and Semco's organizational structure signify a 'shift from command flow to work flow.'

--- From "Strategy 10: An Excellent Leader Stays Gentle"

Even in large organizations, decentralized autonomous organizations are not necessarily impossible.
Rather, it is necessary.
Formal organizations can maintain their existing pyramidal structure, but at the same time, they can increase the vitality of the entire organization by promoting voluntary and flexible informal networks.

For example, you can run a voluntary project team or study group in parallel with your existing work.
Organizational theorist Professor John Kotter calls this a 'dual operating system'.
It is a method that runs in parallel with an autonomous network-based operating system, separate from the existing hierarchical system.
The latter can be said to be a modern version of the 'country with a small territory and small population' mentioned in the Tao Te Ching.
Ultimately, how well these autonomous, distributed organizations are built and operated becomes a key factor in determining the organization's vitality, or "momentum."

--- From "Moving People Downstream in the 11th Strategic Plan"

Paradox, one of the core expressions of Lao-tzu's thought, contains the meaning that during the process of natural momentum unfolding, that is, the period of quiet movement, we should utilize that momentum and be careful not to deviate from the orbit.
Basically, you just have to go with the flow.
This state can be expressed as 'adapting to the times'.

However, when the moment comes when the momentum reverses like a pendulum, rather than forcibly going against it, you should quietly step back and wait until the flow turns back to the direction.
This is the attitude of ‘acclimatization by time.’

When the momentum completely stops, you need to find a new movement.
The method is not to push up a huge rock, but to detect very subtle signs and gradually grow them.
This requires a flexible and open mind, without any attachment to a specific direction.
This attitude of responding flexibly to situations can be expressed as 'playing with the times (時游)'.

What self-managing leaders need is not heroic actions like pushing a huge boulder to the top of a mountain.
Rather, it is about accepting what is happening nearby and responding to it quietly.
The construction of the form (structure) is done.
However, once the form is complete, the wisdom of not adding anything else, that is, 'doing nothing', is important.

--- Among the words that came out