How do you turn a bad organization around?
It’s a really old question and one that the philosopher Chuang Tzu answered over 2,000 years ago in a dialogue between Confucius and his student, Yan Hui.
Seeing how corrupt the kingdom of Wei has become, Yan Hui wants to go and reform it. But how can he convince the land’s ruler to be good?
Confucius shoots down each of his ideas. If Yan Hui agrees with his ruler, he will only make things worse, “adding fire to fire, and water to water.” But if he disagrees and sides with the people, he may be killed.
If he tries to lead by example, becoming himself a paragon of virtue, his ruler may spare him but would never be convinced to change his own ways: Most people don’t let goody-goodies know what they really think, so even if the ruler agreed to Yan Hui’s face, he’ll do the opposite in private.
Finally, the student suggests his best plan: to be a co-worker with heaven internally, a co-worker with other men externally, and a co-worker with the ancients when employing criticism. In other words, he will maintain a righteous and principled core, as good as heaven wants us to be, but appear to be just like everyone else on the outside, blending in. Then, when he needs to offer criticism, he will persuade by appealing to the authority of ancient principles. In today’s words, to back up his opinions with studies and think pieces. But Chuang Tzu, (speaking through Confucius) finds fault with this plan as well. Yan Hui, with his ability to take on different roles and appeal to wisdom, thinks like a teacher. However, he has not first made himself a student and tried to understand the type of person the ruler is and what he needs.
Instead, suggests the wise sage, go on a mental fast:
'Maintain a perfect unity in every movement of your will, You will not wait for the hearing of your ears about it, but for the hearing of your mind. You will not wait even for the hearing of your mind, but for the hearing of the spirit. Let the hearing (of the ears) rest with the ears. Let the mind rest in the verification (of the rightness of what is in the will). But the spirit is free from all pre-occupation and so waits for (the appearance of) things. Where the (proper) course is, there is freedom from all pre-occupation; such freedom is the fasting of the mind.'
In other words, stop trying to rationalize a plan. Instead, use your intuition. Meditate on what it’s telling you and why. Let the answer arise from within. It’s a characteristically Taoist answer. Given how quickly court politics can change, and how different every situation will be, there is no definitive system for dealing with disagreeable people. Especially when they hold your survival in their hands.
This is sound advice not just for dealing with rulers of foreign lands, but for how to rule ourselves. Living in the chaotic times that we do, it’s tempting to look outward for guidance. Seek a set of rules or adhere to a rigid worldview that will tell us when to leave our homes or who to fight. Principles are important, sure. Knowing the rules of right and wrong is crucial, but only intuition can tell you where the exceptions lie. The more confused and uncertain our world becomes, the more certain you can be of one thing: rigidity will be snapped while flexibility can adapt.
In the end, turning a bad organization around is no different than dealing with a bad situation. Paying attention to one’s senses and acting based on the unique context of the present is the only chance we have.
And the only one who truly knows what to do in this specific instance is you.