Books:
#1 Ralph Sawyer's series on Chinese Military Strategies
Essence of War (EoW), 100 Unorthodox Strategems
and Seven Military Classics of Ancient China;
/// The Essence of War is an abridged combination of Sawyer's translation of the Seven Classics and Sun Bin's Military Methods. This Cardinal carries the EoW book in his attache case. It's a great reference f. strategic and tactical concepts.
#2 Gerald Weinburg's books on Consulting.
/// A "real world" pov on how to deal w/ clients as a consultant.
2a. The Secrets of Consulting: A Guide to Giving and Getting Advice Successfully
2b. More Secrets of Consulting: The Consultant's Tool Kit
"Few people request influence when their world is behaving rationally. As a result, consultants tend to see more than their fair share of irrationality." - - - Gerald M. Weinberg
The frivolous -- a consultant is someone you hire to tell you the time with your own watch. (attributed to Jerry Weinberg, noted (and highly valued) computer consultant)
the serious -- most major companies do not listen to their own staff but revere the external consultant who provides the same message. That, in my insufficiently humble opinion, is the root cause of the problems reported by other responders.
/// ---
Other quotes from G.M. Weinberg:
If you can't tolerate being a public fool, you're not going to succeed in a role where all your actions are studied in detail... --Becoming a Technical Leader,
You'll never accomplish anything if you care who gets the credit. --The Secrets of Consulting
Being able to see what's missing in ourselves is the only possible way to keep us from looking more ridiculous than we really are. --The Secrets of Consulting
When you're not terribly smart, it helps to be a good listener. --The Secrets of Consulting
I go to great lengths to keep my life hassle-free. --The Secrets of Consulting
The chances of solving a problem decline the closer you get to finding out who was the cause of the problem. --The Secrets of Consulting
People who can solve problems do lead better lives. But people who can ignore problems, when they choose to, live the best lives. If you can't do both, stay out of consulting. --The Secrets of Consulting
Each of us, after all, is the direct descendant of innumerable unbroken lines of survivors. --The Secrets of Consulting
--- ///
3. Thinking Visually.
/// Thinking visually is the key to getting the overview and expediting any process. Great book.
4. 36 Stratagems Applied to Go
(Ma Xiaochun 9-dan applying The Thirty-six Stratagems to the game of GO)
/// It helps to know the core essence of the 36 Strategems and basics for the game of GO before reading this book.
As a note, the primary difference between the 100 Strategems and 36 Strategems is the focus.
100 Strategems focuses on general and specific scenarios. (Similar to Sunzi AoW) While 36 Strategems focuses on reading and recognizing the six basic scenarios of advantages and disadvantages and its six possible solutions to each of the six scenarios.
Whereas other Chinese military texts such as Sun Zi's Art of War focus on military organization, leadership, and battlefield tactics, the Thirty-Six Strategies, this unique collection of ancient Chinese proverbs, are more suitably applied in the fields of politics, diplomacy, and espionage."
Note on why Stratagems not Strategies
Stratagem is a clever, sometimes unconventional solution to a problem, hence can also be tactics) states that Western population misses the general awareness of cunnings (? = Deutsch: List) because it has not categorized them (as rigorous as the Chinese). Some ppl find think that are rhetorics in its content. Not everyone'll approve the generalizations, but it's good reading.
Applying the 36 Stratagems to the game of GO is about implementing deception. This approach to the game is 'darker' than the accepted Japanese interpretation of Go as artistic in nature.
To some readers, the Ma Xiaochun book makes a reasonable case that these ideas are inherent in high-level play, though some of the stratagems may be applied in a less artificial way than others.
# 5. Roger Ames interpretation of Dao De Jing
Tools:
#1. Mindjet's Mind Manager
To thrive in the global economy, the secret is knowing how to manage information and making decisions properly and promptly. ... As a techie/project strategist, this Cardinal's a big fan of Mindjet's Mind Manager. He believes that its a great tool to any strategist who needs a pragmatic way to manage the informational flow.
Have developed a ton of brainstorm schemas and operational templates w/ Mind Manager in the following areas: product development, marketing gameplans and internal martial art training.
Pls check out the mindjet blogs located on the right side of my blog.
Also go to this link to download the "Mind map" Viewer and some of the sample mind maps from different categories.
Check out some of the great features the Mind Manager provides.
If you have any specific questions on Mindjet's Mind manager, pls go to the mindjet blog listed on the right side.
Thinking and strategizing visually is the key implement of world class innovators. That's how the ["Real World"] is.
When in doubt, map it!
Other tools that I use alot are: Suse Linux (for obvious reason) and gPg (for encryption reasons)
More information on the tools @ a later entry
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