Just heard from Bruce Webster, author of “The Art of Ware,” a take-off on Sun Tzu’s The Art of War. Bruce says my recent reference to Sun Tzu in relation to my polite talk with Bill on Wednesday night (“To win without fighting is best”) was right on the money. Bruce has recently updated his “Art of Ware” (see here) and says Apple clearly has taken Sun Tzu’s lessons to heart.

Money quote from Bruce’s new book: “Many established companies already apply Sun Tzu’s principles in their course of business. For example, when I first wrote this book [1995], I gained a healthy respect for Bill Gates and Microsoft; much of what I had found to be inexplicable in Microsoft’s success, or had attributed to luck, I could see was a result of diligent application of many of the principles describe by Sun Tzu. Interestingly, in the past decade Microsoft appears to have forgotten or abandoned many of those principles, while Apple has adopted them wholesale — and the results are clearly reflected in both technical leadership and stock price history.”

Namaste, Bruce. I honor the place where you and I are one.