Chinese Wisdom for LeadersHuibert 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

Lao Zi about 500 bCDao De Jing

Kong Zi 551 – 479 bC(Confucius)Analects

Different timeDifferent languageDifferent assumptionsDifferent culture

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. Wanwuzhi mu ye.

Way-making (dao) that can be put into words is not really way-makingAnd naming (ming) that can assign fixed reference to things is not really namingThe 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.

• To know what you know and know what you do not know-then this is wisdom.

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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 easy-flowing 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 greatIs 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…

•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.

What is special aboutthe Western view of Leadership?

What are the Chinese alternatives?

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 shameif 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

• Mintzberg: we need‘communityship’ rather than‘leadership’

• Organizations do not consist of individuals, but of relationships.

• Persons are createrelationships/situations and relationships/situations createpersons!

• Leadership is a relation, not anaction of an individual + reactions of other individuals,

West: extrinsic relationshipbetween individuals

Confucius: intrinsic and constitutive relationship: persons create each other!

Source: Ames & Rosemont 1998

Acknowledging the Unspeakable

• Zhang Ruimin, CEO of Haier uses Daoist truthsin 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 notavailable

• Karl Weick (1979):

▫ We make sense of organizations by imposingmeaning (‘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

• 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…

Dao De Jing, translation Ames & Hall, 2003

What enables the rivers and seas to be king of the valleysIs 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 peopleMust put themselves below them in what they have to say.

Chinese advice to leaders…

• Understand yourself as a product of relationships.

• Act in harmony with evolving situations, don’ttry to be heroic.

• Accept that leading is dynamic balancing ratherthan 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 youDank u謝謝