What is it?

A workshop designed around insights from the book The Art of War by Sun Tzu to help strengthen your team’s strategic thinking, adaptability, and collaboration.

Why is it useful?

This workshop uses simple, interactive activities to bring Sun Tzu’s insights into practical focus, encouraging teams to think creatively and work cohesively.

Objective

• Harness insights from Sun Tzu’s The Art of War to improve strategic thinking, adaptability, and collaboration, fostering a more unified and effective approach to challenges.

Resources Required

• Time: 4 hours.
• Number of People: 6-20.
• Flip charts or whiteboard
• Markers
• Sticky notes
• Handouts with Sun Tzu quotes and their modern interpretations
• Timer for activities

Process

Step 1: Introduction and Context (20 minutes)

1. Presentation: Introduce the workshop and explain how Sun Tzu's principles can be applied to teamwork and modern challenges. Highlight themes like strategy, adaptability, and collaboration.
2. Icebreaker Activity:
   • Prompt: "What is your team's biggest 'battle' right now?”
   • Teams write their challenges on sticky notes and briefly share them.

Step 2: Know Yourself and Your Team (30 minutes)

1. Activity: SWOT Analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats)
   • Each team member identifies the team’s strengths and weaknesses and shares them.
   • Discuss how the team can leverage strengths and mitigate weaknesses.
2. Debrief: Link this to Sun Tzu's principle: "Know yourself, and you will win all battles."

Step 3: Adaptability in Action (40 minutes)

1. Scenario-Based Challenge:
   • Split the group into small teams.
   • Present a fictional yet relatable team crisis (e.g., a sudden project scope change).
   • Each team develops a flexible plan to address the challenge.
2. Debrief:
   • Teams share their solutions.
   • Discuss how adaptability helped them navigate the crisis, referencing Sun Tzu’s principle: "In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity."

Step 4: The Role of Leadership (40 minutes)

1. Activity: The Leadership Challenge
   • Divide participants into small teams (3–5 members each).
   • Provide a fictional team scenario that requires leadership to resolve (examples below).
   • Assign one participant in each team to be the "leader" for this activity. Rotate leadership roles across rounds if time permits.
2. Debrief:
   • After role-playing, discuss as a team: What leadership behaviours worked well? What challenges did the leader face? How did the leader’s style affect the team’s response?
   • Discuss the importance of leadership in inspiring trust, fostering clarity, and maintaining morale.
   • Highlight how effective leaders balance authority with empathy and adaptability.

Step 5: The Importance of Morale and Unity (30 minutes)

1. Activity: Team Morale Assessment
   • Have team members anonymously rate the team's morale and unity on a scale of 1–10.
   • Discuss areas where the team feels unified or fragmented.
2. Reflection:
   • Brainstorm actions to boost morale and cohesion.
   • Highlight Sun Tzu’s principle: "Regard your soldiers as your children, and they will follow you into the deepest valleys."

Step 6: Action Plan and Closing (60 minutes)

1. Reflection Activity:
   • Each participant identifies one principle from The Art of War to apply in their role.
   • Share ideas with the group.
2. Team Action Plan:
   • As a group, create a plan to tackle the challenges identified in the introduction using the principles discussed.
3. Closing Remarks:
   • Reinforce the importance of strategic thinking, adaptability, and unity in achieving team success.