Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #671482 in Books
• Published on: 1999-07-22
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 168 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
The Book of Five Rings for Executives, by international management consultant Donald G. Krause, is his third volume on classic battle philosophies that can help today's businesspeople compete more effectively. Based on an epic five-part letter to students written in 1643 by legendary samurai swordsman Miyamoto Musashi, its long-revered instructions in the martial arts have been enthusiastically transplanted in recent years from the Eastern battlefield to the Western boardroom. Musashi's stirring but difficult original treatise on "achieving competitive dominance" is given a more digestible update here by Krause, who shrewdly reorients its fundamental "five rings" into a set of seven practical principles centred on the requisite modern traits of preparation, discipline, skill and fluidity. Along the way, he demonstrates how historical leaders such as George Washington and Lawrence of Arabia, in addition to contemporaries like Bill Gates and Howard Schultz, have embraced Musashi's ideas. The combination ultimately creates, as Krause explains: "A competitive sword which is capable of winning in all phases of business." --Howard Rothman, Amazon.com

Synopsis
"The Book of Five Rings", by Japanese samurai swordsman Miyamoto Musashi, is the famous classic of competitive tactics and fluid strategy. This book has been written for the modern manager who is looking for a competitive edge in fast-moving situations, particularly in innovation, marketing and negotiations.

Customer Reviews

Secrets of "Master Competitors"

I recently re-read this book and Ways of Warrior Kings, Codes of Kings and will now share my current reactions to Miyamoto Musashi's classic analysis of what Donald G. Krause characterizes as the "Seven Principles of Competitive Success." Ordered Flexibility and Execution are the first two. According to Musashi, "Water is both ordered and flexible at the same time. It maintains its own identify, but conforms as necessary to the circumstances around it." Effective and appropriate execution produces desired results. Those who do so are called "executives." Here are the other five principles:

Resources (i.e. assets and skills)
Environment (i.e. physical surroundings, terrain, and weather)
Attitude (i.e. alert as well as confident)
Concentration (i.e. applying strength against weakness, committing resources to opportunity)
Timing (i.e. effective execution at the appropriate moment)

The acronym REACT will help some to remember them. Obviously, executives in all organizations must make hundreds of decisions each day, some of which could well determine the success or failure of a given initiative. To Krause's great credit, he never forces correlations between the battlefield and the business world even as he correctly suggests that much of what a 17th century samurai swordsman, Miyamoto Musashi, found true of combat is also true of commerce.

Hence the importance of sustaining "ordered flexibility" while taking effective and appropriate execution to produce desire results. In this context, I am reminded of what Peter Drucker said in an article published in 1963 by the Harvard Business Review: "There is surely nothing quite so useless as doing with great efficiency what should not be done at all." Hence the importance, also, of the five REACT principles, without any one of which an initiative will almost certainly fail...or at least be much less successful than it would be otherwise.

Of special interest to me is what Krause has to say about a remarkably diverse group of exemplars of Musashi's philosophies: Howard Schultz, Robert E. Lee, Warren Buffett, George Washington, Andy Grove, Bill Gates, T.E. Lawrence ("Lawrence of Arabia"), Donald Trump, and a pair of British officers, Lt. John Chard and Lt. Gonville Bromhead. (Who are Chard and Bromhead? They led the defense of Rorke's Drift by about 150 British troops under ferocious attack by approximately 3,000 Zulu warriors. They held their position from the afternoon of January 22, 1879, until the next morning when the Zulu army withdrew.) According to Krause, what do all of these "master competitors" share in common? Prepare always, recognize, reality, and take action. Granted, no head-snapping revelations there nor does Krause claim to offer any. "God" may not be "in the details" but there is nonetheless a great deal of value to be learned from the details of battles such as those fought at Rorke's Drift as well as Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, and Trenton.

It seems appropriate to have Musashi provide the conclusion to this brief commentary. "The ability to focus is your greatest asset in a competitive situation. When you appreciate the power of focus, you will feel the rhythm of your opponent and maintain control of his actions. You will understand his approach and effortlessly defeat him by naturally concentrating your attack in an appropriate place at an appropriate time." That is as true of competition today as it was more than 300 years ago. Indeed, much of what Musashi advocates is also emphasized in Sun Tzu's Art of War, written approximately 2,500 years ago. I commend Krause on brilliantly presenting a number of timeless business principles, each within a real-world context. Well-done!

Interesting as a book about and by a samurai
I enjoyed this book, but more so from the perspective of someone interested in Musashi than as a business reader.

If you are looking to enhance your carrer with some killer corporate moves, this is not likely to please, but if you enjoy exploring the samurai mindset (more or less) first hand, then it is well worth a look.