The Way of Go: 8 Ancient Strategy Secrets for Success in Business and Life [Hardcover]

Troy Anderson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 3, 2004

A knowledge management expert and former Fortune 500 management consultant brings this 4,000-year-old Chinese game, known in the west by its Japanese name - Go - to life for western readers who want to improve their strategic decision-making skills. In this unique book, Troy Anderson shares the essential elements of strategy and competition that define the game of Go. Putting these universal rules into play, THE WAY OF GO teaches the timeless tactics that can be applied to daily life. Featuring an enriching account of how the universally derived Go has impacted on his own life, Anderson presents a valuable systemisation of the lessons from Go that add up to a powerful prescription for success - no matter if the reader is seeking professional achievement, stronger personal relationships, or simply a more rewarding life.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Anderson, a consultant and managing director of Knowledge Initiatives at the Fannie Mae Foundation, is an accomplished player of Go—an ancient and popular Japanese game gaining fans around the world. Requiring strategic moves like chess, the game is more complex and can teach players how to handle situations in business and life, Anderson argues; "Most strategies resource allocation decisions are—at their roots—classic Go strategy problems," he writes. Experienced players will have less difficulty than novices handling key problems such as when to expand into a competitor's territory, how to allocate scarce resources and how to create strategies in a time of rapid change because of their knowledge of Go. Anderson is an adept writer and conveys his enthusiasm for the game, particularly when he recalls devoting an inordinate amount of time to it during his college days. He arrives in Tokyo without even a hotel room but simply the names of a few players and an eagerness to learn from the masters of Go. Anderson does offer some real business scenarios to support his thesis. However, readers unfamiliar with Go may find the book tedious; without an understanding of the game's strategies, they're unlikely to be persuaded that the game's lessons are critical to business success.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Anderson, consultant and teacher of Go, explains this 4,000-year-old Chinese game that moved to Japan, where it is extremely popular. Its timeless tactics apply to business and life and are instructive in strategy, decision making, and dealing with reality. Principles include maximizing limited time and resources; knowing when to seize the initiative, when to focus, and when to expand options; and adapting to change. Strong players of Go and in the game of life make plays that accomplish more than one objective, which is critical when they don't know what the future holds or what the competition will do. The author recommends that we focus on our goals, learn the rules, and follow them--but not slavishly. He recommends that we develop the spirit to break with tradition and chart our own course, which he acknowledges is hard to do. While the game of Go is complex, its lessons for business and life will be applicable to many library patrons. Mary Whaley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Free Press; First Edition edition (August 3, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743258142
• ISBN-13: 978-0743258142
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,476,628 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good book!, August 6, 2004

By 

Keiji Hattori "Keiji" (Tokyo, Japan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Way of Go: 8 Ancient Strategy Secrets for Success in Business and Life (Hardcover)

Very good book by Mr. Anderson. I am 6-dan Go player and businessman in Japan. His Go and business are the real thing. But the English is very difficult. I spend days translating with a dictionary. Please make a Japanese version.

What I like best is the story of my business. He never knows my business, but his story captures my business exactly. He is like a ghost visiting. He knows the inside challenge and issue without ever being there. Surprising!

Other review is not true. Mr. Anderson does not say Go comes from Japan. He says it comes from China.

6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beyond the 'bag of tricks' ..., August 2, 2004

By 

E. Kimball "Lisa" (Washington, DC USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Way of Go: 8 Ancient Strategy Secrets for Success in Business and Life (Hardcover)

As Anderson says in a section of the book called, "So What," the game of Go and the application of the 'way' in business is about seeking and improving more than it's about applying some new set of discoveries or rules to get a certain result.

What I like about this book is that the connections Anderson makes between strategic themes in GO and strategic themes in business are thought provoking - not forumulas for the lastest biz shtick (workshops to follow).

I found the discussion of shifts in strategy at different phases - beginning, middle game and end game - particularly stimulating.

This is a great book to give to a colleague or client to start some converstations worth having.

* lisa kimball, Executive Producer, Group Jazz http://www.groupjazz.com

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great addition for any serious GO player, June 13, 2008

By 

M. Perry (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Way of Go: 8 Ancient Strategy Secrets for Success in Business and Life (Hardcover)

I love this book. I checked it out from the library, then bought it. The book doesn't teach you much about the game of GO itself, but shows you examples of how to apply the fundamentals in Business and personal development. The selling point for me was when the author started talking about Aikido and Frank Doran. I am a member of Aikido NW in Portland, OR. Frank Doran is my teacher's teacher. He still teaches today near San Francisco, CA. If you ever want to see some great aikido, look for one of his seminars [all over America and the Globe]. If you enjoy the game of GO, I would definitely recommend this book to broaden your perspectives.