How to Think Critically Using Sun Tzu’S Art of War Stratagems

By Daniel Theyagu and Sandra Daniel

This short and informative book is targeted at middle and higher level leaders as well as tertiary level students. In recent years critical thinking has become an essential tool for leaders dealing with a highly volatile and ever changing market forces. To become an excellent critical thinker requires the application of the right strategies that will allow you to address any given situation effectively and develop the ability to assess the best case scenario. Once youve managed to do this the process of critical thinking will then allow you to analyse options and alternatives in case the best case scenario does not work in your favour.

Sun Tzus Art of War stratagems provide an excellent metaphor and parable to direct your thinking into a critical mode. By appreciating the underlying and hidden meaning of the stratagems it becomes possible to hone your critical thinking skill and become a better problem solver, solution finder and more importantly an effective decision maker. Ultimately, it is not how much body of knowledge you have that counts. It is whether you are able to use that body of knowledge to a positive effect. Knowledge without application is useless. This book cuts through the jargons that are associated with critical thinking and gives you in a crisp and concise language what you need to do to become a critical thinker.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris AU
• Release date: Feb 2, 2016
• ISBN: 9781514442968

Daniel Theyagu

Sandra Daniel is an international corporate trainer, university lecturer and writer. She has written several self-help books and is actively involved in training, curriculum and courseware development. Her training programs are highly popular and attended by many participants from many well-established SMEs and MNCs. Daniel Theyagu is a corporate trainer, performance evaluator, motivational speaker and writer. He has trained more than 200000 people from all walks of life from more than 100 countries. Daniel is well known for his humorous and light hearted approach to training whereby he uses parables and metaphors to impart complicated aspects of his training to his participants with ease.

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Copyright © 2016 by Daniel Theyagu & Sandra Daniel.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

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Rev. date: 02/01/2016

Xlibris

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www.Xlibris.com.au

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CONTENTS

Preface

Prologue

Introduction

Chapter 1: What has an ancient Chinese General anything to do with thinking critically?

Chapter 2: Barriers that stifle your thinking and how you can overcome these?

Chapter 3: Using Critical thinking for Situational Analysis so that you know what you are getting into?

Chapter 4: Using Critical thinking to solve problems and find the right solution

Chapter 5: Using Critical thinking to make a better decision

Chapter 6: Endgames – what now?

The art of war is of vital importance to the state. 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

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This book is dedicated to all our students and participants: past, present and future.

PREFACE

Can you imagine what I would do if I could do all I can

Sun Tzu

Since 1991, we have assumed the duo role of being corporate trainers to organizations and lecturers to several tertiary institutions. Our forte is imparting practical and applicable knowledge in thinking strategies and with the years of experience it may seem safe to assume that we are good at our job. However the real truth is that the more opportunities we had to train organizations and students in tertiary institutions in thinking strategies with specific focus on critical thinking we have become learners ourselves, in seeking to add continuously on to our body of knowledge and experiences. The information presented in this book on how you can think critically may simply be the tip of the iceberg as compared to the vast array of knowledge available on this subject. Do note though that the focus is not so much on gathering additional literature on this subject rather it is whether at some point you are able to apply this body of knowledge to some practical fruition. To this effect, we always have drawn inspiration from a quote made by the famous French General Napoleon Bonaparte (1769 – 1821) who said: Take time to deliberate, but when the time for action has arrived, stop thinking and go in.¹

This is where, we would like to thank you for taking your precious time to read this and if you have come this far we assume it is because you feel that this book in some way will assist you to hone the latent skill that resides inside you to make you an excellent critical thinker. We believe that you can achieve this objective, and we hope to be instrumental in assisting you to achieve this desire.

This book will take you through the fundamental concepts of Critical Thinking and how you can apply this in your personal and professional life. As mentioned earlier, any knowledge that is learned has to serve us in some meaningful ways as otherwise it would be pointless. However, it is important to be mindful of the fact, that there may have been occasions where you might have felt that you are learning something which may or may not be inherently useful or of any practical value to what you are doing.

If you have felt like this before, hold on to your thoughts on this and take a different perspective at what you are learning. An adage you might have often heard: the carpenter could not see the wood for the trees. Sometimes we are like the carpenter in that the knowledge that we gain might elude us in terms of its use. You may feel the information is unnecessary or useless. This is when you have to question yourself as to whether there are avenues in your life where you might have been able to use the information that you have learned.

It may come as a surprise to you that, when you start thinking in this manner you may change opportunities that you never asked for and found ways and means to apply the theories that you have learnt to practice.

So with that in mind we hope that you will have a wonderful time with us to learn something new or to renew your knowledge on something you are familiar with. Read this book with a passion and by keeping at the back of your mind your intellectual ability, experiences, and idiosyncrasies but without passing any judgment on what is presented until you have completed reading this book. We are all in this together.

PROLOGUE

You have to believe in yourself

"Thus we may know that there are five essentials for victory:

1. He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight.

2. He will win who knows how to handle both superior and inferior forces.

3. He will win whose army is animated by the same spirit throughout all its ranks.

4. He will win who, prepared himself, waits to take the enemy unprepared.

5. He will win who has military capacity and is not interfered with by the sovereign."

Sun Tzu

This book will teach you on how you can become an excellent critical thinker using the Sun Tzu Art of War Stratagems as a metaphor to structure your thoughts.

To benefit most from this book you need to read this book with a mental plan on what you intend to achieve by the time you complete reading this book. Critical Thinking is about clearing your thought processes and involve many details such as gathering of data, facts, opinions and guesses. Based on the available information you then have to decide on how you can use them objectively to nurture your thinking to achieve your objective.

Therefore before you continue reading this book ask yourself the following questions:

✓ What does Critical Thinking means to you?

✓ What are some of the benefits that you may reap by becoming an excellent Critical Thinker?

✓ In what areas of your life would you want to use Critical Thinking?

✓ How much do you trust and believe in yourself to become a good Critical Thinker?

✓ What are some of the barriers you face that stifles your ability to think critically?

✓ How different is Critical Thinking from other forms of Thinking?

✓ What kind of problems do you face in your life that requires you to think critically?

✓ When you have a choice between two situations to make a decision how do you go about making that decision?

✓ Have you ever been subjected to a situation when you made a decision only to regret it later?

✓ Have you ever made a decision that you subsequently realized was wrong since you were influenced by some form of deceptive reasoning?

✓ Has your thinking been affected owing to some form of emotional manipulation?

✓ Have you ever worked with a group of people who were so biased in their way of thinking that you find it difficult to agree with them?

✓ Have you tried to convince a group of people to accept your point of view but were unsuccessful in doing so as they simply could not see your point of view?

✓ How much does your ego affect your thinking process?

✓ Do you have any form of prejudices or biases that disrupts your natural flow of thinking?

✓ Do you agree that if the majority of people believe something to be the truth that it should be the truth?

✓ Do you believe that it is possible to change your behavior and feeling when you can change your thinking?

All these questions will give you the motive and purpose to continue to read this book. Sun Tzu said: Even the finest sword plunged into salt water will eventually rust. This is an excellent metaphor which suggest that even if your ability to think is good, you have to continuously maintain it and become much better at it. You have to know your situation and circumstance to adapt your thinking patterns accordingly. This is what critical thinking entails. In another words to critique the way you think.

Maimonides (1138 –