Sassy Assassin’s Book Review: The Art of War for Women Part 1
Posted on March 14, 2010 in the Inspiration category
Yes, I’m back and just recovered from celebrating International Women’s Day!
I thought it appropriate to start reading my book “The Art of War for Women” by Ching-Ning Chu in honour of the launch of Social Media Women in Sydney (of which I’m a proud supporter of more women using social media) on 9 March.
I hope to learn some new tactics in my book which was graciously sent to me by Treeet. As you may know, I love love love to read so getting a new book is a special “treat” – ahah! The Sassy Assassin (that’s me) needs all the help she can get. Watch out, here I come!
Instead of waiting until the end to do my book report, I thought I’d share my insights along the journey – that way we can all learn to be better strategic women – haha!
This book is adapted for women based on Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War”. This is brilliant because I believe men and women are different and we process and use information differently.
I’m being general here but men and women can have different strengths and different communication styles, different ways of dealing with problems and responding to situations. Neither is better – just different and both are equally important.
Now that I’ve been married to my wonderful husband for a few years, I can vouch this to be true for us. But enough about me (can you believe I really don’t like to talk about myself?!)…on to the good stuff!
From the first sentence in the preface, I was hooked. The first part is called “It’s about the art, not the war.” This is why this book is so perfect for me. I don’t like to fight. I like to strategise, research, recommend, implement, measure,report, optimise and repeat. Probably why SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is a perfect job for TheSassySEO (that’s me, too).
I am not against conflict – I think it’s great – if both parties are open to learn, understand and resolve. I don’t believe anyone really wins by fighting.
So the fact this book started with “it’s about the art, not the war” is gold! I live to make progress with little conflict – HORRAY! I don’t like anyone to feel bad about themselves or feel defeated. I have felt that way many times and it’s no good.
I’m heartened that the key to this book is about “understanding myself”. I have to help myself before I can help others and seek to better myself so I can be more valuable.
The other greatest notion to come out of the preface is that integrating my ethics into my practices is necessary. I’m hot for this.
Lastly, to succeed, having the big picture in mind (long-term strategy & tactics) is critical, too. I think this book was written just for me.
So…Xie Xie, Chin-Ning – I just started the book and something has already changed inside me…for good (Thank you Wicked!)
See you soon – we may get to chapter one by 2011…
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Hi Kristin, this is very interesting. I like the idea of the Art, not the War.
Is it a good read? Easy to read? I would like to read it but am not really up for a heavy intense tome right now.
Thanks
Hi Jodie – thanks for your comment. It’s a bit intense – at least there is a ton of info and that is why I’m reading it so slowly. I can usually zoom through books but I think this is going to be an important book for me. There are a lot of good stories to explain the points – so not too heavy.
I can’t think of anything light-ish that I’ve read lately except The Secret and Mysterious Order of Word of Mouth (http://www.servantofchaos.com/2009/12/the-word-on-word-of-mouth.html – review here from Gavin). It’s awesome and quite interesting.
I’ll keep my eyes out for some books – take care and have a great night!