Tao Te Ching and Wuwei Management

Chapter 5 4 "Doing nothing", management must follow the "no encirclement" system

Inaction management does not reject the system, but rejects the "enclosed" system.

If you do nothing, everything will be cured. —— "Tao Te Ching" Chapter 3
Laozi believes that if government affairs are handled in a non-action way, then there will be no chaos in the world.Inaction management does not mean that there is no system.Just like the story of "Xiao Gui Cao Sui" mentioned above, Cao Shen also "do nothing" after Xiao He made the rules.Inaction management also needs to be supported by the system, but the system is regarded as a signpost, not a wall.Managers are "guiding" rather than "commanding" their subordinates.

Most modern enterprises have established a strict organizational structure and management system. From the financial department, marketing department to public relations department and business department, this series of organizational structures is intended to become a powerful assistant for managers.However, in actual operation, many leaders fall into the quagmire of daily affairs management and cannot extricate themselves, and the management performance cannot reach the ideal expected goal.Why do you work hard and work hard to "do" but have no results?
In fact, every leader pursues excellent management. Facing the transformation of network informatization and globalization today, the most brilliant strategy is not to follow the superficial changes and take actions in a hurry, but to grasp the general principles of management and realize " Govern by doing nothing", which is what Lao Tzu puts forward, "do nothing without doing nothing".

In modern corporate governance, the leaders of Chi Mei Industrial Co., Ltd., in line with Lao Tzu's idea of ​​"government by doing nothing", adopted the "no management" strategy, subverted the original management theory and organizational design, and created excellent business performance.Within the Chi Mei Group, orders are communicated orally, and there is no dedicated organization and management department; the top decision-maker only comes to the company twice a week to achieve effective communication in free conversations.

These obviously do not conform to the description of the organizational structure of classical management, but it is very effective in improving the profitability of the organization.To sum it up in the words of Chi Mei’s leaders: “Non-management is a modified and humane management concept. It respects every team member, and through self-management of employees, they can give full play to their potential, thereby improving work efficiency and reducing organizational operating costs."

Drucker, a master of Western management, said that the way of management is not less command, but guidance.Sony's boss, Akio Morita, is a person who knows the "art of directing". Similarly, Jing Shenda, who was promoted by him, is also such a person.The two of them created Sony's brilliance.

When Jing Shenda first joined Sony Corporation, Sony was still a small business with a total of more than 20 employees.The boss Akio Morita said to him with full confidence: "You are a rare expert in electronic technology, and you are our leader. Good steel is used wisely, and I will put you in the most important position - you will take full power Responsible for the research and development of new products, I will not interfere with any of your work. I only hope that you can play a leading role and fully mobilize the enthusiasm of all staff. If you succeed, the company will succeed!"

This made Jing Shen feel great pressure.Although Shen Jingda is full of confidence in his ability, he still hesitated and said: "I am still very immature. Although I am willing to take on this important task, I am really afraid that I will be entrusted with it!" Akio Morita is very confident and firm in him. Said: "The new field is unfamiliar to everyone. The key is that you have to join hands with everyone. This is where your strength lies! With the wisdom of everyone, what difficulties can you not overcome?"

Akio Morita's words awakened Jing Shenda.Jing Shenda said excitedly: "Yes, why do I only think about myself? Don't I still have more than 20 experienced employees! Why don't you humbly ask them for advice and work hard together with them?" So Jing Shenda immediately became full of confidence put into work.Just like Akio Morita delegated power to him, he delegated the handling of various affairs to various departments. For example, he let the marketing department be fully responsible for product research.Colleagues from the marketing department told Jing Shenda: “The reason why tape recorders are not easy to sell is that they are too bulky, each about 45 kilograms; The suggestion to Jing Shenda is: the company should develop a tape recorder that is lighter in weight and lower in price.

At the same time, Jing Shenda made the information department fully responsible for the product information research of competitors.People from the Ministry of Information told him: "At present, the United States has adopted transistor production technology, which not only greatly reduces the cost, but also is very light. We suggest that you work hard on this aspect." Through solidarity and cooperation, they finally overcame many difficulties in partnership. In 1954, they successfully trial-produced the earliest transistor radio in Japan and successfully introduced it to the market.With this product, Sony Corporation stands out from the crowd and has entered a new era that detonates the speed of enterprise development.

In this case, we should pay attention to the two most important links: Akio Morita delegated power to Jing Shenda, and Jing Shenda delegated power to other departments.Under full authorization, Sony has played the role of the team as a whole, mobilized the enthusiasm of every employee, and brought the team's strength to the extreme, thus achieving great success.This is the power of "guidance".

It can be seen from this that if the leader properly gives freedom to subordinates in a tolerant spirit, they will be motivated; subordinates will take the initiative to complete tasks without feeling led and driven.As a Japanese business master said: Competent managers should "only do what they should do, not what their subordinates should do."

In the army, the word "command" is often used, because the actions of the army only need to obey the orders of the superiors, and do not advocate self-creation.When Drucker proposed that "management is guidance rather than command", he set up an extremely important premise: in a knowledge-based organization.The biggest feature of knowledge-based organizations is innovation and creation, which relies heavily on the subjective initiative of employees.In modern society, any enterprise is a knowledge-based enterprise, and any manager should learn how to guide rather than how to command.

(End of this chapter)