Hide a Dagger behind a Smile

The 36 Stratagems is an ancient Chinese literature which has been devised over the course of 3000 years. They have been widely used in the past by medieval generals and rulers to overcome their respective enemies in what was a largely feudal nation.

Author Kaihan Krippendorf has chosen to interpret these stratagems in the context of the modern business world and illustrate them against real life examples. Each strategy is accompanied by a chosen event in modern business history and narrated in the angle in which the proverb seems to fit. With dubious sounding strategies such as “Hide a dagger behind a smile”, the author seems to condone the practice of employing trickery, hypocrisy and debauchery in doing business.

While it makes for an interesting read, it remains unclear if the morally-questionable strategies deployed by these companies mentioned were deliberately intended to work in the way which the author has interpreted them to be. Nonetheless, crucial business landmarks like the battle of Pepsi and Coca –Cola have been entertainingly documented.