Lessons from Sun Tzu

The book Art of War was written by a Chinese General Sun Tzu, we learn a lot from the book as it is and has been used by famous military strategists and leaders alike on how to govern, rule and strategize, the likes of China's Mao Tse Tung, General Douglas Mc Arthur, one of U.S most renowned generals of World War 2 era. Businesses also derive inspirations form military tactics pertaining to leadership and market penetration. One of the quotes from the book that defines strategic management is 'Know thy self and the enemy and will be victorious'. This means that if you understand yourself, your strengths, weaknesses same as the enemy's and use what you have at your disposal plus take advantage of your adversary's weakness, you will always win in the end. Kenya is taking a bold step towards nuclear electricity generation as part of its Vision 2030 pillars. Despite the fears mixed with a lot of skepticism and negative criticism, the Kenyan Government is still pressing on with the project as the benefits outweigh the costs. The first strategy is that the country realized that the economy cannot grow without a reliable and consistent source of energy, this is a weakness to achieving economic stability, it does realize that there is a fast growing and capable human resource and need little training to little or no cost at all. The nuclear project is being embraced all in several countries in Africa and this is Kenya's threat as this will diminish the economic competitiveness and investors might shy away due unreliable and expensive energy costs. The other threat unfortunately is from within. As much as Kenya has a large human resource capability, but few know about Nuclear Science and nuclear engineering plus over the years, the negativity that has clouded the minds of the citizens on nuclear technology. To counter this, the country has embarked on some strategies, the first was to establish a state corporation that will handle matters concerning the development of nuclear technology and has set date lines where the first nuclear power plant to be commissioned by 2022 and to add three more plants by 2030. Secondly, the country has embarked on a capacity building program where 15 university graduates in engineering and physical science fields are selected on an annual basis, to do a post graduate degree in Nuclear Science, free of charge. Third, is to dispel the fears and the negativity surrounding nuclear science, where the state corporation, Kenya Nuclear Electricity Board has been tasked to publicize and advocate the benefits of nuclear technology to the citizens and what they stand to gain. The Publicity and Advocacy department of the state corp has the capability of handling queries, give updates on the latest advancements and in depth information regarding the negative aspect of nuclear technology, as a way to fight off skepticism and erroneous information bestowed on people. All this is based on the first chapter from the book Art of War and its working as there is some significant progress in educating the public at events such as the International Trade Fair of Nairobi and agricultural shows of Mombasa and Kisumu. Giving of careers talk encouraging the students of High school, and University in taking an interest on science classes as there is need for nuclear engineers, artisans, lawyers, journalists and researchers, particularly researchers as they will open the gateway to new discoveries for the future.