Samurai in the Boadroom

[Mulboyne]

GlobeCareers: Lead with an edge, the samurai way

Airline executive Bill Diffenderffer considers himself a samurai warrior, even though his uniform is a business suit and the gleaming swords in his office are just for show. "The code of samurai may be hundreds of years old, but there has never been a better time for a leader to know how to use it," says Mr. Diffenderffer author of "The Samurai Leader: Winning Business Battles with the Wisdom, Honor and Courage of the Samurai Code"..."Samurais were, underneath, Zen philosophers who developed a code of conduct that allowed them to get to a level of fearlessness and mindfulness," he explains...more...

[Pencilslave]

GlobeCareers: Lead with an edge, the samurai way

Airline executive Bill Diffenderffer considers himself a samurai warrior, even though his uniform is a business suit and the gleaming swords in his office are just for show. "The code of samurai may be hundreds of years old, but there has never been a better time for a leader to know how to use it," says Mr. Diffenderffer author of "The Samurai Leader: Winning Business Battles with the Wisdom, Honor and Courage of the Samurai Code"..."Samurais were, underneath, Zen philosophers who developed a code of conduct that allowed them to get to a level of fearlessness and mindfulness," he explains...more...

Oh for the love of.... I guess the author is conveniently forgetting the fact that the samurai HATED the merchant class, and furthermore, weren't all so noble as most would believe.( European knights weren't paragons of morality either.)

I just don't get how all of these business executives think books on military strategy like The Book of Five Rings and Sun Tzu's Art of War are effective manuals for competing with your business rivals.

Business strategy:decieve your enemy and take their goods. Military strategy:KILL your enemy and take their goods.

[Mulboyne]

My favourite quotation from the article;

"Where samurai are at work, scandals like the ones at Enron and WorldCom don't happen," Mr. Diffenderffer suggests.

[maninjapan]

Does this mean he would die for his boss too?

[Blah Pete]

I always have to laugh at guys like this. I guess they skipped the chapters about guys like Kobayakawa and the others who would change sides for yen.

[Socratesabroad]

[Socratesabroad]

I just don't get how all of these business executives think books on military strategy like The Book of Five Rings and Sun Tzu's Art of War are effective manuals for competing with your business rivals.

Mark McNeilly, author of Sun Tzu and the Art of Business: Six Strategic Principles for Managers

McNeilly: I view myself first and foremost as a strategist, in everything I do. Whether it's something as complex as discussing business or military strategy or as simple as winning a volleyball game or finding a parking space, I look at these issues from a strategic standpoint. So I find Sun Tzu's principles are pertinent in all strategic and competitive situations and work to apply them. For example, "avoid strength, attack weakness" applies to volleyball when you pick out the weakest player on the opposing team and continually hit the ball to them.

To this guy, a simple game of shirts 'n skins at the Y or chatting up a girl in the queue at the local market are "strategic and competitive situations."

Farking wanker.

[aljones15]

Samurai kept Osakains from modernizing 200 years ago by oppressing their attempts at modernization (guns, etc.) and today Sony puts root-kits in their cds just to fuck up your computer. Yeah things have changed. Hail the Samurai way =)

[aljones15]

"Bill lists some elements of the samurai code that help with business. The following are ones that I think relate to traders:

* Act with courage

* Appreciate the arts

* Be honest

* Maintain self-control"

What's great about this is that it's yet another American
modelling themselves off a fantasy of Japan. It's funny, but taken that
Japan-o-philia is worldwide these days why is it Americans
that always seem to write these things?
and his airline is modeled after ryan air except in the u.s.

[Charles]

There are probably a lot worse things in this world than some dopey businessman trying to inculcate a code of honor in the business world by building it around a samurai fantasy. Hell, if it will help any, I'll put on a kimono and use a katana to behead all the corrupt businessmen I can find.

[dimwit]

I wonder why samurai would make such a good business ideal, when most of them were such dreadful businessmen. Wouldn't it be better to model your business of someone admired and respected both here and abroad?