In Chapter Nine of Sun Zi Art of War, Sun Zi mentioned the principles of deploying troops in four terrains. They are mountainous region, water bodies, salty swamps and marshes, level terrain. Now comes the second part of the series, water bodies. Read on to find out.

Why do we use experts? To predict the future. Consider a patient who is asking a physician about the future effects of a certain drug, or the investor who is asking a stock analyst about the future prices of a certain stock, or the manager who is asking a human resource manager about the future performance of a certain candidate, or the brand manager who is asking a market researcher about the future sales of a certain new product. Should we believe these experts? History tells us that accurate predictions of the future are rare. Many examples exist where the brightest and most qualified individuals failed to see the future. This series of articles presents examples from the arts (see part I), business (see part II), and science (see part III).

Many people believe it will never happen, that a Bird Flu Pandemic killing millions of people racing through the country cannot occur. Yet in recent history; the last 400 years there have countless incidents where pandemics have wiped out millions of people and very rapidly too.

An unpleasant aspect of modern life is the fact that thieves can steal files from computers. Personal emails, business plans, private documents, trade secrets, and online histories can all be devastating if they fall into the wrong hands.