Chinese Wisdom for Leaders
Huibert de Man en Helen de Haan
M&O congres, 24 juni 2011
Vragen – voor M&O conferentie
• Wie heeft wel eens Chinese filosofie gelezen
(origineel of vertaald)?
• Wie heeft gelezen over toepassingen van Chinese
filosofie in leiderschap/management/strategie?
• Wie is in China geweest?
• Wie heeft ervaring met zakendoen met Chinese
bedrijven?
• Wie verwacht dat je in de praktijk iets kunt
hebben aan Chinese filosofie?
Chinese Wisdom for Leaders
Kong Zi 551 – 479 bC
(Confucius)
Analects
Different time
Different language
Different assumptions
Different culture
Lao Zi about 500 bC
Dao De Jing
Leaders connect old and New
• 子曰:溫故而知新，
可以為師矣
Zi yue: wen gu er zhi xin, keyi wei shi yi.
• Confucius said: reviewing the
old as a means of realizing the
new - such a person can be
considered a teacher
學
Organizing: Before Words
• Dao De Jing: chapter 1
道，可道也，非恆道也。
名，可名，非恆名也。無
名，萬物之始也有名，萬
物之母也。
Dao, ke dao ye, fei heng dao ye. Ming,
ke ming, fei heng ming ye. Wuming,
wanwu zhi shi ye you ming. Wanwu
zhi mu ye.
Way-making (dao) that can
be put into words is not really
way-making
And naming (ming) that can
assign fixed reference to
things is not really naming
The nameless (wuming) is the
fetal beginnings of everything
that is happening (wanwu)
While that which is named is
their mother.
Leaders know their limits
• 知之為知之，不知為不知，是
知也。
Zhi zhi wei zhi zhi, bu zhi wei bu zhi,
shi zhi ye.
知
• To know what you know and
know what you do not knowthen this is wisdom.
Leaders are not selfish
• 君子喻於義，小人喻於利
• Exemplary persons
understand what is
appropriate, petty persons
understand what is of personal
advantage.
Leaders do not Impose their Logic
• 道汎呵，其可左右也。
成功遂事而弗名有也。
• (…)
• 是以聖人之能成大也，
以其不為大也，故能
成大。
• Way-making (dao) is an easyflowing stream.
Which can run in any direction.
With all things accomplished
and the work complete,
It does not assume any
proprietary claim.
• It is thus that the capacity of the
sages to become great
Is simply because they do not
try to do great things.
This is why they are indeed able
to be great.
Leaders Care and Develop
• 子曰:不患人之不己知，患
不知人也。
• 子曰：君子成人之美，不
成人之惡。小人反是。
• Confucius: Don’t worry about
not being acknowledged by
others, worry about failing to
acknowledge them.
• The master said: the
exemplary person (junzi)
helps to bring out the best in
others, but does not help to
bring out the worst. The petty
person does just the opposite.
The Chinese Mirror: What it
tells us about ourselves…
What is special about
the Western view of
Leadership?
What are the Chinese
alternatives?
•Idealism: Our ideas (words?) shape the
world
•Agency/Intervention: Individual
intentions (not the situation) determine
actions and outcomes
•Individualism: leaders and followers
are seen as isolated individuals
•Visibility and Transparency:
Leadership and Management
are/should be clear and explicit
(SMART etc.)
•Optimization: leaders and managers try
to realize optimal situations
•Scientific Understanding: we want to
find the truth about leading and
organizing by scientific method.
Pragmatism (versus Idealism)
• Pragmatists find deeds more important than words:
▫ 子曰：君子恥其言而過其行。
The master said: Exemplary persons would feel shame
if their words were better than their deeds.
• Pragmatists accept pluralist worldviews
(‘polytheism’)
▫ Use ideas where they work, don’t quarrel over ‘truth’
▫ Classical Chinese does not know ‘reality’ or ‘truth’
• Pragmatists emphasize bodily experience
▫ Classical Chinese do not distinguish mind from body,
feelings from thought: 心 xin = heart, feeling, thought.
• Western Examples: James, Weick etc.
Agency and Context in Art
China: where is the human?
Europe: nature as backdrop
Non-Intervention and spontaneous
processes
• Paradox: The more we intervene, the less we
control! Examples: management control (Planning
and Control).
• Daoism:
▫
▫
▫
▫
無為 wuwei = non-intervention
自然 ziran = according to nature (using 氣 qi)
無形 wuxing = formless, invisible (war tactics!)
But always in conjunction with opposites!
• Modern Theories
▫ Self organization, chaos
▫ Emergent strategies.
Community, persons and Relationships
Source: Ames & Rosemont 1998
• Mintzberg: we need
‘communityship’ rather than
‘leadership’
• Organizations do not consist of
individuals, but of
relationships.
• Persons are create
relationships/situations and
relationships/situations create
persons!
• Leadership is a relation, not an
action of an individual +
reactions of other individuals,
West: extrinsic relationship
between individuals
Confucius: intrinsic and
constitutive relationship:
persons create each other!
Acknowledging the Unspeakable
• Zhang Ruimin, CEO of Haier uses Daoist truths
in his management, like
▫ 天下萬物生於有, 有生於無.
Everything in the world comes from what is
available, and what is originates in what is not
available
• Karl Weick (1979):
▫ We make sense of organizations by imposing
meaning (‘selection’) on a stream of experience
(‘enactment’), which comes before words.
Dialectical Thinking
• Or bi-polarity (exclusive) ?
Inclusive: opposites presuppose,
include and produce one another!
Poetic Understanding
Dao De Jing, translation Ames & Hall, 2003
What enables the rivers and seas to be king of the valleys
Is that they are good at standing lower than them.
It is this that enables them to be king of the valleys.
This is the reason that the sages in wanting to stand above the common people
Must put themselves below them in what they have to say.
• Scientific language cannot capture the complexities and
ambiguity of leadership..
• Ambiguity is often avoided in the Western tradition. In
China the ambiguity of classical Chinese is seen as rich
and profound!
• Metaphors and images are increasingly valued however
in management and leadership…
Chinese advice to leaders…
• Understand yourself as a product of
relationships.
• Act in harmony with evolving situations, don’t
try to be heroic.
• Accept that leading is dynamic balancing rather
than optimizing.
• Accept that your knowledge is limited.
• Control yourself rather than controlling others.
• Keep in touch with invisible processes.
• Be slow to speak and quick to act.
Dialogue/Discussion/Feedback
問答
Wen
Da
Thank you
Dank u
謝謝