Taoist management wisdom
Taoism believes that "Tao" is the origin and noumenon of all things, and everything must follow "Tao", and management activities are no exception.
The management principle of "governing by doing nothing"
"Governing by doing nothing" is the basic principle of Taoist management wisdom. Taoism advocates that managers should conform to the laws of management activities and cannot run amok. This kind of "inaction" can ensure the normal management activities, so it can achieve "inaction" in effect. This principle is manifested in management activities, that is, managers do nothing in specific affairs, so that the managed can take the initiative to achieve the goals of the organization.
Management principle of natural inaction
Laozi put forward: managers do nothing, and people naturally educate themselves; Managers are quiet, and people behave naturally; Managers are not without troubles, and people are naturally rich and healthy; Managers are selfless and greedy, and the people are naturally pure and simple ("I do nothing, and the people are self-sufficient; I am so quiet that the people are self-righteous; I have nothing to do and the people are rich; I am just without desire, and the people are simple ").
In Laozi's view, a clever manager will stick to the principle of "inaction". Only by doing nothing and encouraging people's enthusiasm and creativity can we manage the world well and not fail. Only by not sticking to one's own opinions and accepting the opinions of all parties with an open mind can we rule the world without suffering.
Managers are like drivers, subordinates like horses, and organizations like carriages. The carriage is a horse, not a driver, whose role is only to guide and command. The speed of the carriage depends on the horse, and the benefit of the organization depends on the efforts of the members.
The management process of inaction.
Taoism says inaction, it says inaction. Here, "inaction" is the cause and "inaction" is the result. The so-called "inaction" means not to impose your own selfish desires and ideas on foreign objects, and not to create them artificially and deliberately. In this sense, "inaction" is not doing nothing, but doing things according to the inherent laws of things, doing something and not doing something.
Bell Laboratories is a research institution, which invented the world's first telephone, the first teleprinter, the first solar cell, the first communication satellite and the first recording. To ask why the laboratory has made such great achievements, Dr. Chen Yuyao, the head of the laboratory, pointed to a banner hanging on the wall of his office and said, "With this." There are four words written on this banner: "Governing by doing nothing". Under these four words, there is an English note written by Dr. Chen, which says, "The best leader can help others and make people feel that they don't need him." He also said: "The leader's responsibility is to ensure that you are leading, and others don't realize that you are leading."
A management model of doing nothing but doing something.
In order to ensure the normal management activities, Taoism also designed a model of "doing nothing above, doing something below". The so-called "Shang" here refers to the top leader of an organization; The so-called "Xia" refers to all members of the organization except the highest leader. The model of "doing nothing above, doing something below" embodies the important principle of organizational division of labor. An organization, big or small, must have a very clear division of labor and responsibilities.
Lao Tzu is very opposed to the top leaders of an organization interfering in the work of subordinates. Like an amateur leader, he is going to chop wood instead of a carpenter. Few people don't chop off their hands and feet. An organization must have a clear division of labor, and the leader and the led must perform their respective duties to ensure the integrity and stability of the organization.
Kōnosuke Matsushita, the founder of Matsushita Electric, Japan's largest electrical appliance company, believes that personal energy is limited. Only by letting everyone perform their duties and give full play to their talents can the company operate well. Therefore, from the beginning, Panasonic divided the company's business into relatively independent business divisions according to the appropriate scale. Each division has great autonomy in operation and management, and has the right to conduct independent operation and comprehensive management of product development, personnel, finance, materials, supply, production and sales under the condition of clearly defining the scope of capital use and the amount of profits obtained. The head office does not interfere with the normal work of the heads of each division, which greatly stimulates the enthusiasm of each division.
For example, when Panasonic began to manufacture rice cookers, Toshiba's rice cookers had occupied the market. According to common sense, if you want to keep the rice cooker products, you must use the profits of other products to compensate. However, Panasonic separated it from the original electric heater business unit and set up a separate business unit, which forced the rice cooker business unit to rack its brains and take pains. As a result, Panasonic's rice cookers occupy 50% of the market.
Entrepreneurs learn to control "knowledge" with "heart" and "things" with "Tao", so as to get rid of the secular and take charge of the overall situation.
Corresponding to "inaction above" is "doing something below", that is, the general manager's task is to operate specific affairs and implement the goals, concepts and principles formulated by the organization and its senior leaders.
Selfless and gentle leadership qualities
"Doing nothing" in management activities puts forward high requirements for the quality of leaders, including the moral realm of selflessness and no desire, the principle of self-abasement and gentle cultivation, and the behavior of not competing with others for profit.
The moral realm of selflessness and no desire
Taoism's "no self" means that there is no selfish desire and selfish distractions, that is, impartiality and equal treatment. The so-called "selfishness" of managers is not a selfish little selfishness, but a "great selfishness", that is, the so-called personal ideal and ambition of governing the country and ensuring the people and achieving the cause. To realize this grand ideal, we must abandon the "personal interests" such as the interests and desires of ordinary people.
A wise leader does not accumulate money and goods, but accumulates morality, benevolence and righteousness. Therefore, Lao Tzu warned leaders not to be greedy, but to be content, that is, to ask managers to stop when pursuing their own personal interests. Taoism also calls this kind of contented but not greedy way of governing the country "the way of holding profits."
Cultivation principles of inferiority and softness.
In Taoist thought, inferiority, weakness and softness are all characteristics of Tao, and managers should follow them as principles and methods of self-cultivation and treating people. Laozi believes that managers, especially senior leaders, should have a mentality of "inferiority" and "humility", which is based on inferiority and weakness.
Modesty, weakness and softness are not only a method of physical and mental cultivation, but also a kind of leadership wisdom and a magic weapon for managers to protect themselves. Wen Zi Yanfu pointed out that as a manager, there are three evils: a high title will lead to envy of others; If the official is too big, he will be hated by others; If you pay too much, you will be disgusted by others. What do we do? Wen Zi warned: The higher the title, the more humble we must be; The bigger the official, the more cautious; The richer the reward, the richer it is. Only in this way can we avoid disaster.
For leaders, being humble is also a means to win the hearts and minds of the people. In history, the story of "The Duke of Zhou vomited three times and fed three times" has always been regarded as a model of modesty.
Non-competitive behavior
Related to the principle of "beggar-thy-neighbor", Laozi put forward the behavioral requirement of "not competing with others for profit". In his view, the external behavior of leaders should be: no self-expression, no self-righteousness, no boasting, no self-restraint.
Self-expression, self-righteousness, self-boasting, and self-discipline are all intentional behaviors, that is, promising, a "competitive" mentality. In Laozi's view, things are always complementary to each other. The more a person desperately pursues something, the less he can get it. Therefore, we might as well consider things from the opposite side, don't argue with others, and compromise. Compromise can lead to perfection, bending can lead to extension, low-lying can lead to filling, we can learn from the old, we can take more from less.
In the face of disorderly competition in the domestic market, Haier adopts the strategy of "winning without arguing, responding without speaking". Under this strategy, the way to improve the competitiveness of enterprises is to meet the needs of users and obtain valuable orders.
"Struggle" needs opponents; And "indisputable" means thinking about problems that others have never thought about and doing things that others have never done. This means innovation. For example, Haier miniaturized the big washing machine into a "child prodigy" washing machine. Although there is no technical breakthrough, it has created a new market in the off-season market of washing machines. "Happy Prince 007" refrigerator solves the problem of instant cutting of meat when it is stored in the refrigerator, and the innovation of products and services such as dust-free installation of air conditioners and opening and closing doors of freezers has brought unique markets to enterprises.
Indisputable is by no means a passive philosophy, an idle and backward thinking, but a higher level of "struggle". Haier's cleverness lies in "not arguing" to get rid of those disputes between form and name and gain a potential big situation, "so the world can't compete with it."