Tao Te Ching and Wuwei Management

Chapter 37 3 "Dare to Dare": Knowing what can't be done is more important than knowing what can be done
Concession is another kind of aggressiveness, and fear is another kind of bravery.

If you dare, you will kill; if you dare not, you will live. —— "Tao Te Ching" Chapter 73
Adventurous advance and retreat are both acts of bravery, but the results of both are harmful and beneficial.That is to say, people should pursue victories without fighting, and not rely on brave and adventurous advances to obtain fluke victories.Those who plan big things must overcome emotional effects and stick to the word "pros and cons".If it is beneficial, it will go, if it is not beneficial, it will stop.

How do brave people choose when there is really no hope of winning?Some people choose to fight tenaciously, while others choose to retreat cautiously.Back then, when the Jinggangshan Revolutionary Base was surrounded by millions of enemy troops, the military tactics of Li De, the international adviser, and Mao Zedong, the leader of the Red Army, were exactly the opposite examples of "courage and daring" and "courage and daring".Li De advocated "defending the enemy outside the country's gates", bravely advancing, using the flesh and blood of the Red Army to resist the enemy's aircraft and cannons; Mao Zedong advocated a great strategic shift, retreat bravely, and develop himself where the enemy is weak.History has proved that it was the strategy of "dare to dare" that saved the Red Army and preserved the fire for the victory of the revolution.

Why is retreat an act of bravery?Because it is the same as advancing aggressively, it is possible to suffer heavy losses, and it is an adventure; not only that, but retreating will also bear spiritual bruises and criticism from the outside world, which is a greater adventure. Only the brave can take such a big risk and choose to retreat.This strategy can be used not only in the military, but also in the political field, business field and all aspects of social life.

When Italian entrepreneur Carlo de Benedetti led Olivetti, microcomputers were just becoming popular.In order to catch up with this new trend, he set up a research laboratory, invested a lot of human and financial resources, and stepped up the development of home and office microcomputers.When the development was about to be successful, the compatible microcomputer of IBM Corporation of the United States was the first to go on the market, and it quickly sold well all over the world.

Debenedetti was in a dilemma, but finally made up his mind: abandon the research that is about to be completed, and at the same time reorganize the force, based on the IBM computer, develop a compatible machine with similar performance but much cheaper price.

De Benedetti's decision made the company suffer heavy losses, and was severely criticized by shareholders and criticized by the news media.However, when the compatible machine was successfully developed and put into the market, it was very popular with consumers and brought a lot of money to the company.At this time, all criticisms of Debenedetti turned into praises, and he has been named as the cover figure by American "Time" magazine and other publications many times.

If Debenedetti refuses to back down for personal honor and competes with IBM on microcomputers, the chances of winning are slim, but it will drag the company into great danger and cause irreparable failure.In this case, it is undoubtedly a wise decision to choose "dare to dare".

On the contrary, Wang An, a Chinese-American, is a typical example of failure because of "dare to dare". In 1988, Wang An's company ranked 500th among the world's 414 largest industrial companies selected by the US "Fortune" magazine. His personal wealth exceeded US$20 billion, and he was the fifth richest man in the United States at that time.He is also the first Asian-American scientist to be inducted into the "Hall of Fame" in the United States.

No one thought that in just a few years, Wang An Company would fall apart, changing from a model of success to a model of failure.Why is this?One of the main reasons is the excessive competition between Wang An Company and the famous International Business Machines Corporation (IBM).At that time, although Wang An's company was well-known and powerful, it still could not be compared with the "blue giant" IBM.But Wang An is not afraid of this "giant" and is determined to compete with it. His courage is commendable, but he may not be wise. After all, IBM is the dominant player in the industry. Although its opponents are jealous of its achievements, they have to respect its exclusive status.

But Wang An did not intend to respect IBM. When all computer manufacturers developed medium-sized computers according to the industry standards set by IBM, Wang An insisted on producing computer equipment of the company's standard, and was determined not to be compatible with IBM's products.Many customers use IBM's products in large quantities while choosing Wang An's products, and the incompatibility brings great inconvenience to them.When the customer made a compatibility request to Wang An Company, it was flatly rejected.This stubborn attitude has caused many old customers to lose.

Nevertheless, in the competition with IBM, Wang An Company seems to have gradually gained the upper hand, and its market share of medium-sized computers once surpassed that of IBM.In reality, it's just a false victory.Because IBM and other manufacturers saw that mid-sized computers were about to be eliminated from the market, they turned to develop microcomputers.In this way, Wang An Company has no opponents on the "battlefield".

However, by 1990, medium-sized computers were basically eliminated by the market, Wang An's sales dropped sharply, and the company's stock plummeted from a peak of $42 per share to $5.The market value fell from $3 billion to less than $75 million.At this precarious time, Wang An died of esophageal cancer, and the popularity of the company was greatly reduced.Soon after, a large number of Wang An subsidiaries distributed in various places were auctioned off, merged or went bankrupt, and Wang An Company actually existed in name only.

Bravery is commendable, but "daring" is dangerous.A huge army may be wiped out because of "dare"; a huge company may fall apart because of "dare".Therefore, when we are doing business, we must calmly analyze the situation and weigh the pros and cons.If you really have no hope of winning, you must resolutely choose "dare to dare".Only brand-new managers with steady operation and solid management who are gradually mature will understand that "knowing what can't be done is more important than knowing what can be done", so that the enterprise can go more stably.

(End of this chapter)