Strategist

A strategist is a person with responsibility for the formulation and implementation of a strategy. Strategy generally involves setting goals, determining actions to achieve the goals, and mobilizing resources to execute the actions. A strategy describes how the ends (goals) will be achieved by the means (resources). The senior leadership of an organization is generally tasked with determining strategy. Strategy can be intended or can emerge as a pattern of activity as the organization adapts to its environment or competes. It involves activities such as strategic planning and strategic thinking.

Types of strategists by field

The strategy role exists in a variety of organizations and fields of study.

In large corporations, strategic planners or corporate financial planning and analysis (FP&A) personnel are involved in the formulation and implementation of the organization's strategy. The strategy is typically set by business leaders such as the Chief Executive Officer and key business or functional leaders and is reviewed by the Board of Directors.

Sun Tzu

Sun Tzu (/ˈsuːnˈdzuː/; also rendered as Sun Zi) was a Chinese general, military strategist, and philosopher who lived in the Spring and Autumn period of ancient China. Sun Tzu is traditionally credited as the author of The Art of War, a widely influential work of military strategy that has affected both Western and Eastern philosophy. Aside from his legacy as the author of The Art of War, Sun Tzu is revered in Chinese and Asian culture as a legendary historical figure. His birth name was Sun Wu, and he was known outside of his family by his courtesy name Changqing. The name Sun Tzu by which he is best known in the West is an honorific which means "Master Sun".

Sun Tzu's historicity is uncertain. Sima Qian and other traditional historians placed him as a minister to King Helü of Wu and dated his lifetime to 544–496 BC. Modern scholars accepting his historicity nonetheless place the existing text of The Art of War in the later Warring States period based upon its style of composition and its descriptions of warfare. Traditional accounts state that the general's descendant Sun Bin also wrote a treatise on military tactics, also titled The Art of War. Since both Sun Wu and Sun Bin were referred to as Sun Tzu in classical Chinese texts, some historians believed them identical prior to the rediscovery of Sun Bin's treatise in 1972.

The Art of War

The Art of War (Chinese: 孫子兵法; pinyin: Sūnzǐ bīngfǎ; literally: "Master Sun's Rules of Warfare") is an ancient Chinese military treatise dating from the 5th century BC. Attributed to the ancient Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu – "Master Sun" (Sunzi or Sun-tzu 孫子), the text is composed of 13 chapters, each of which is devoted to one aspect of warfare. It is commonly thought of as a definitive work on military strategy and tactics. It was placed at the head of China's Seven Military Classics upon the collection's creation in 1080 by Emperor Shenzong of Song, and has long been the most influential strategy text in East Asia. It has had an influence on Eastern and Western military thinking, business tactics, legal strategy and beyond.

The book was first translated into the French language in 1772 by French Jesuit Jean Joseph Marie Amiot and a partial translation into English was attempted by British officer Everard Ferguson Calthrop in 1905. The first annotated English language translation was completed and published by Lionel Giles in 1910. Leaders as diverse as Mao Zedong, General Vo Nguyen Giap, General Douglas MacArthur and leaders of Imperial Japan have drawn inspiration from the work.

The Art

The Art (sometimes stylised as THEART) are an Australian Alternative Rock band based in Sydney. They began performing under the name The Follow in 2004. Tasmanian band leader Azaria Byrne was known as an unsuccessful contestant on the reality television series Popstars.

Early highlights for the band's career have been supporting successful bands such as the Pixies, Marilyn Manson, Nine Inch Nails, Sonic Youth and Thirty Seconds to Mars as late as 2010, however this was marred by the crowd booing and calls to "get off the stage".

As band leader Azaria Byrne enters middle age success has so far eluded him despite media attention resulting from his being cuckolded by the even older fading celebrity Bill Corgan.

The other band members have all been described as "dull" but this could also be a result of the attention seeking behavior of their singer.

Members

References

Special forces

Special forces and special operations forces are military units trained to perform unconventional missions. Special forces, as they would now be recognised, emerged in the early 20th century, with a significant growth in the field during the Second World War.

Depending on the country, special forces may perform some of the following functions: airborne operations, counter-insurgency, "counter-terrorism", covert ops, direct action, hostage rescue, high-value targets/manhunting, intelligence operations, mobility operations, and unconventional warfare. The term “special forces” in the US refers to the US Army's forces while the term “special operation forces” refers to all units. In Russian-speaking countries special forces are typically called spetsnaz, an acronym for "special purpose". Likewise Russian speakers refer to special forces of other nations as spetsnaz, for example US Special Forces would be referred to as Amerikanski spetsnaz in Russian.

Capabilities

Special forces capabilities include the following: