The Principles Of War

• Purpose: To articulate      the linkage between strategic thinking and leadership: Leaders need to think strategically to      achieve a goal. We want to find an      example of this topic in our reading and be able to explain the linkage.
• The following pages are relevant for the written assignment and      the leadership section of the class.
  • Art of War – read the following       pages – these are for the written assignment
    • 40 – 43  #1: “Laying plans”
    • 48 – 51  #3: “Attack by stratagem”
    • 64 – 68:  #7: “Maneuvering an army”
  • The pages 45-69 from The Principles of War: just think about what is being said, not       the details – you can almost skim these pages
• Format:
  • One inch margins
  • 12 point font, any professional font style is fine
  • Double spaced
  • Length maximum three pages →but you can get a good paper in       just under two pages.
  • Can use some, but       not entirely, outline format to list some points, but the points need to       be in complete sentences.
  • Single space your name and date in the upper left corner
  • If you want to list any references you can do that but not       needed
• Incorporation of the The Art of War and/or The Principles      of War – might help to have one or two quotes from the book.
• Incorporation of the      textual material: might help to      have one or two quotes or references from The Goal and/or the IBM      book and/or Onward. Think      about what happened to Alex or Lou or Howard and what they did.
• Alternatively, you      can reflect on the recent events in other situations with relation to the      books and topics from class. See      sample papers on Canvas.
• Comments:

o Find one point of interest to you and write about it. Just start writing and it will develop.

o Write to yourself, not to the instructor

• For example, answer      one of these questions or any point that is of interest to you:

1. On page 47[1] Sun Tzu states that the leader of the army is the arbiter of the people’s fate. How does this relate to our books and a topic from class?

2. On page 64 Sun Tzu states that there is nothing more difficult than tactical maneuvering. What do you think he means by this in relation to our books?

3. On page 45 of The Principles of War, Clausewitz gives three objectives of war. Apply the third objective to our books and a topic from class.

4. On page 61 of The Principles of War, Clausewitz talks about “a great difficulty.”  How does this apply to Lou and Alex and Howard?

5. On page 61 and the following page of The Principles of War, Clausewitz addresses points that discuss his topic of “friction.”  Comment on one of these points in relation to Lou and Alex and Howard.

6. You can also apply questions to another situation if you want: campus club, work experience, sports team, and the like.

 

[1] All pages references are from the books from the bookstore. Other editions may have different page numbers.