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Rating: 
Summary: Another Poor adaptation of Sun Tzu's classic material
Review: This is an interpretive book and accompanying CD, written and presented by Gary Gagliardi, loosely based on Sun Tzu's classic material. Within the preface of the book, Mr. Gagliardi informs the reader that he "... discovered a previously unknown geometric side of Sun Tzu's concepts" (p. x) while he was preparing slides for his lecture material. In essence, Mr. Gagliardi began flow charting diagrams based on what he was reading, and drew a logic parallel to similar ancient Chinese concepts, such as five element theory, and yin/yang theory (all used in Chinese medicine and astrology). Mr. Gagliardi believes that it is possible (and "increasingly likely" (p. x)) similar type diagrams may have been used by Sun Tzu to explain the abstract concepts of competition. In Mr. Gagliardi's opinion, these so-called hidden diagrams are the "amazing secrets" he believes he has discovered and revealed for the first time in his book. Once again, Mr. Gagliardi proves how little he actually knows about this subject. The Art of War was written by Sun Tzu, who was Taoist. A proper reading of the Art of War reveals numerous references to the Tao, as well as other ancient Chinese concepts such as Yin/Yang. The structure of Taoist core material is central to seeing the structure and philosophical tones of Sun Tzu's work. Authors with valid backgrounds in studying and interpreting Chinese source documents (such as Griffith, Ames, Cleary and Sawyer) have pointed this out as early as the 1960's. The influence of Taoism on the writing and presentation of Sun Tzu's material has been known and appreciated by the Western Scholarly community since 1910, and the work of Lionel Giles. Mr. Gagliardi attempts to apply the lessons of Sun Tzu's The Art of War to business practice and corporate thought, based on his understanding of the work, as well as his background in sales, marketing and management theory. The problem with Mr. Gagliardi's writing style is he continually asserts that he is the foremost authority on Sun Tzu's material outside of China - particularly in the area of applying the lessons to competition. These messages permeate all of his books, as well as his website. One of the marketing angles used in this book is a "two for one" aspect. In addition to the "hidden secrets" of Sun Tzu, the book contains what the author asserts is the most accurate translation of Sun Tzu's work ever attempted. It also provides instructions and a special password, which can be used to access additional "resource support material" on Mr. Gagliardi's website. On this site, the author and his publisher are quick to dismiss other translations as being "a waste of money" and "written by scholarly wonks who have little, if any, understanding of Sun Tzu's teachings." The author states that he crafted his own translation "...out of a desire to create an English version that was completely faithful to the original text." The author achieved his so-called "translation" using an internet encarta program, in which you can do a simplified character search in Chinese, and see some of the interpretive meanings of each pictogram. A close review of this internet text that served as the basis for the authors translation shows that it contains some character errors (which the author appears to be ignorant of). Based on his word choices, the author appears to have selectively chosen what he believes to be the correct English terms. Since he has no proper academic background in what he is attempting to do (i.e., interpreting Chinese), the results are often predictable - and often wrong. While the original text of The Art of War is profound on countless levels, and the basic tenants of Sun Tzu have been successfully applied to areas such as business for years... quite simply, Mr. Gagliardi's version of these theories are less than insightful, not very original, and are often flat out wrong - even when he attempts to present them as business lessons. Mr. Gagliardi's interpretive books on Sun Tzu are nothing more than dull mirrors, in which Mr. Gagliardi likes to try and cast his own shadow. In my opinion, the only way Mr. Gagliardi's Sun Tzu-esque books will achieve a measure of "timelessness" themselves is if a few hapless copies manage to get buried in the airless strata of a municipal landfill.
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