The Art of War for Business

Sun Tzu said:

"It is essential for a general to be tranquil and obscure, upright and self-disciplined, and able to stupefy the eyes and ears of the officers and troops, keeping them ignorant. He alters his management of affairs and changes his strategies to keep other people from recognizing them. He shifts his position and traverses indirect routes to keep other people from being able to anticipate them."

In my humble opinion, Sun Tzu is talking about how a leader must project himself / herself towards others that are lead and just as importantly to potential rivals and especially opponents. He is not saying that a leader should not communicate clearly with team members, but a leader does not have to reveal the underlying reasons or intentions of the plan that is underway. It is important that every team member believe that the manager is important to the operation or they lose faith in their organization and eventually they question the value of the leader - we all do it, it is inherent. Proving that you can do it better, in fact, that you have many ways to do it better, can quell that doubt in subordinates.

The second recommendation of this paragraph goes to the way a leader plans and executes the work. It is important not to adopt a predictable style or method, and to have several techniques available to meet the same end. Potential rivals in other departments have a chance to play politics if you are predictable. Opponents, business competitors, can also find the weakness in your tactics if you use the same way all the time. It is important to be flexible and to choose from an array of methods to achieve the end. This philosophy will improve your odds by making it harder to derail your plans.

If you don't have a ready tool chest of techniques to guide your business, then you need to find them somehow.