The Way of Strategy – Review of The Book of Five Rings, Miyamoto Musahi

I reviewed the Book of Five Rings for my newsletter Ambeck Edge in November 2005. I re-read the review in 2009 and still found it very useful. In November 2016, I read The Book of Five Rings again. While reading the book, I realized that I did not enjoy it as much as the first around and couldn't figure out why. I no longer have the book that I read in 2005, so I bought another edition. The new version is more modern and didn't quite work for me.

I'm glad that I read The Book of Five Rings again because we often forget things we know because they are not in the forefront of our consciousness, so we need reminders. I smile as I write this blog post because Johann Wolfgang von Goethe‘s quote “Everything has been thought of before, but the problem is to think of it again,” comes to mind. Although I do not like the version of the book that I just got, there are still some profound lessons that we can use in business.

The Book of Five RingsThe Book of Five Rings: A Graphic Novel

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Introduction to The Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musahi

The Book of Five Rings written in 1645 is about the “Way of Strategy,” which is using certain techniques to take down the enemy. Because of when the book was written, you have to be aware of the imagery and language used – enemy, weapon, combat, sword, cutting and so on. Once you get beyond that, and use those words as metaphors, a lot can be gleaned from the book.

To adapt the book to our time, an enemy could be a metaphor for competitor. The Book Of Five Rings emphasizes the importance of practicing and mastering your art – becoming adept at what you do. Your strategy should either be decisive or fluid. You have a fluid strategy when you have obstacles in your way. Musahi outlines Principles of the Way of Strategy. Though the principles are over three and a half centuries old, they are still applicable.

Related: 7 Interesting Quotations from The Way of the Samurai by Inazo Nitobe

The Book of Five Rings: Principles of the Way of Strategy

• Do not think dishonestly.
• The Way is in training.
• Become acquainted with every art.
• Know the Ways of all professions.
• Distinguish between gain and loss in worldly matters.
• Develop intuitive judgment and understanding for everything.
• Perceive those things which cannot be seen.
• Pay attention even to trifles.
• Do nothing which is of no use.

Think about the principles of strategy listed above. They are still relevant over three centuries later. Operate with integrity and honesty, know a little about everything, see things deeply, pay attention to details, and don't waste your time with things that do not matter.

Insightful Nuggets from the Book of Five Ring by Miyamoto Musahi

• Lay your plans with true measure and then perform the work according to plan, thus you pass through life. Create your plan, then work your plan.
• The strategist makes small things into big things. The principle of strategy is having one thing, to know ten thousand things. It's like learning the concepts of one discipline and applying it to many.
• Everything is difficult at first. Practice makes perfect.
• If you do not look at things on a large scale it will be difficult for you to master strategy. Understand the big picture.
• Do what you have to do, even if it means doing it alone.
• Discern your competitor's capability and know your strong points.
• Do not show your hand. Do not let everybody know what you're doing.
• If your strategy doesn't work change it. When you're in a deadlock change your technique. Abandon efforts that do not work, think of your situation in a fresh spirit.
• Whenever we have become preoccupied with small details, we must suddenly change into a large spirit, interchanging large with small.

Five Great Ideas from The Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musahi

The Book of Five Rings

1. You must train day and night to make quick decisions. In strategy it is necessary to treat training as a part of normal life with your spirit unchanging
2. There is timing in everything. Timing in Strategy cannot be mastered without a great deal of practice
3. In strategy, it is important to see distant things as if they were close and to take a distanced view of close things
4. The Way to Understanding is through experience
5. People in this world look at things mistakenly, and think that what they do not understand must be the void. This not true void. It is bewilderment.When your spirit is not in the least clouded, when the clouds of bewilderment clear way, there is the true void (By knowing things that exist, you can know that which does not exist; that is the void)

If you can get past some of the disturbing imagery you could gain a lot from The Book Of Five Rings. This is a book where you can take its concepts and apply them to your work and life. I recommend The Book of Five Rings.

 The Book of Five Rings The Art Of War The Analects of Confucius The Analects (Penguin Classics)