Tao Te Ching and Wuwei Management

Chapter 12 5 "Pictures Are Difficult Than Easy": Simplifying Complexity and Improving Efficiency

Things may be simple, but people make it complicated.

The picture is harder than it is easy. ——"Tao Te Ching" Chapter 63
To deal with problems, start from the easy place.The solutions to many problems are actually very simple, but we are always thankless and always try to complicate simple problems.Lao Tzu said that "the great is the simplest", the most profound truth is the simplest, which profoundly expresses the essence of management.In Lao Tzu's view, the highest state of management is "nature with few words", "governance by doing nothing", "governing a big country is like cooking a small fish", the same is true for governance, thinking, and management.

One day, during an experiment, Edison pointed to a pear-shaped glass bubble and said to his assistant Upton: "You calculate its volume, I need this data."

Upton agreed.He measured the glass bubble with a ruler, and then began to count.A few hours passed, and Upton was sweating profusely, but he couldn't figure it out.

At this time, Edison came in. He looked at Upton who had a stack of manuscript papers in front of him, and understood what was going on.

He picked up the glass bubble, filled it with water, handed it to Upton and said: "You go and pour the water in the glass bubble into the measuring cup, and you will get the answer we need." Upton suddenly realized, deeply Admire Edison.

People often understand simple thinking as a naive, crude, and brainless way of thinking.In fact, simple thinking is not a low-level way of thinking. It can help people to simplify and simplify when observing and solving problems.This way of thinking has special thinking effects and can help people improve their thinking efficiency.

This is true of many problems at work, which seem to be very complicated, but in fact they can be solved in a very simple way. The key depends on whether you can jump out of the complex thinking trap.If you can't get rid of the shackles of all kinds of thinking, it is difficult to find a simple method.As an entrepreneur, you should learn to think simply.The management guru Drucker said: "The purpose of management is to manage less." The most important ability of an effective manager is to simplify the management process, remove the chaff from the miscellaneous, and find the best way to solve things. plan.

Excellent companies know how to abandon complicated and cumbersome things and rely on the simplest and ordinary things to solve problems.IBM, for example, relies on simple and clear principles and beliefs to bring employees together.These principles and beliefs constitute IBM's unique corporate culture.

IBM's code of conduct includes: (1) must respect individuals; (2) must give customers the best possible service; (3) must pursue excellent work performance.These three simple principles formulated by the old Watson have always been the direction of IBM's actions.

As a "big Mac" company with 40 employees, an annual turnover of more than 500 billion US dollars, and branches in various countries around the world, there are only three "codes of conduct", which is indeed difficult for people to understand.

old thomasWhen Watson founded IBM in 1914, he wrote these three principles based on the basic and simple ideas of making the company profitable and proving his own value, and took them as the cornerstone of the company.His purpose is very simple and clear - just let those who work for him understand what the company wants.

These simple principles are the basic principles that any IBM employee must adhere to.At IBM, decisions and actions reflect these principles. IBM's corporate culture is a culture guided by simple thinking. This culture shows that simple principles contribute more than technological innovation and marketing.

IBM's principle is simple, and its implementation is even simpler. IBM has only two words for this - do it.

IBM's principles of simplicity are reflected in the matters stipulated in meetings, internal publications, memorandums, assemblies, or in private conversations. All executives of IBM must practice these principles and avoid letting these beliefs and principles become empty words. In this way, they are reminding all employees: Only by acting in accordance with simple principles can they meet IBM's requirements and achieve common development.

A simple question cannot be artificially complicated; a complicated question must be simplified even more.Simplified information is transmitted faster, a simplified organization operates more flexibly, and a simplified design is easier to be accepted by the market.Simple means that there are infinite possibilities, and classics are often simple.For any large enterprise, no matter how advanced its concepts and management methods are, they will gradually weaken from top to bottom. Therefore, the more complex principles and concepts are, the more difficult it is to implement them at the grassroots level. Simple and popular principles can be implemented to the utmost. At the grassroots level, the process and execution problems are well resolved.In many domestic companies, the rules and regulations are often dozens or hundreds of pages long. In fact, how many people are willing to understand such a complicated and perfect system?How could it be implemented?Therefore, management comes from simplicity, which is a great inspiration for managers from the management experience of such a "giant" enterprise as IBM.

As an entrepreneur, only by constantly using simple thinking and cultivating the wisdom of simple thinking can the art of leadership reach the state of "the magic of using it all in one mind".From the avenue to the simplicity, the most complex problems can be solved with the simplest method. The key lies in whether we have such a quality of thinking.Entrepreneurs only need to constantly comprehend simple thinking methods and learn to simplify complex problems. Then, no matter how large a company is, it can be managed with ease and ease; no matter how difficult a problem is, it can be solved without any trace.In order to find a simple way.

(End of this chapter)