In the late autumn of 338 BC, 43-year-old Qin Xiaogong died of organ failure caused by liver or kidney diseases. Sima Qian didn't describe his death too much in Historical Records, but he died suddenly in his forties. Qin Xiaogong still left a lot of imagination for later historians. However, several hypotheses about his death are still inconclusive. On the second day after filial piety, a middle-aged man left Xianyang for the east in a hurry, and the car raised the yellow dust in Guanzhong.
He is Shang Yang, and later generations also call him Wei Yang and Gong Sunyang. He and old Guo Jun, who died yesterday, have been golden partners in the political life of this country for 20 years. It was with the joint efforts of these partners that Qin changed from a small country in the west to a great empire that swept through space and swallowed up the eight wastes. It only took 20 years. These two men became an isolated case in the history of China where the monarch and his ministers cooperated to promote reform and made brilliant achievements. The great achievements they made in partnership, whether it was the combination of Wang Anshi and Zhang Wanli or the combination of Kangliang and Guangxu, could not be compared with each other.
Political reform is a process of adjusting the pattern of interests, which will certainly offend people. If you offend a heavyweight opponent like Gongzi Qian, Shang Yang's fate has long been doomed, and more than one person has been offended. When Xiao Gong was alive, nobody dared to touch him. Now that Xiao Gong is gone, Shang Yang begins to flee.
In the state of Qin, hotels are state-owned. Shang Yang established a strict and accurate system of identity identification and registration report. Even asked several hotels, because he didn't want to register, he didn't dare to let him stay. This is the legal effect that he has spared no effort to promote for 20 years. The implementation was so thorough, even more thorough than his most optimistic expectation, and the effect of self-attack was so thorough that it left a sigh of self-restraint for future generations.
A few months later, an official notice was posted on the wall of the hotel. The notice said that GongSunYang betrayed Wei and failed. Later, he rose up and rebelled, but he was defeated and died. The car broke down and abandoned the market.
This is a controversial historical figure. He has been studying the way to make the country rich and strong all his life. He found the theory, practiced the method and established the system. Objectively speaking, the governance principles that the rulers of past dynasties really believed in did not go beyond his theoretical framework. He sacrificed his life and became the ghost of centralization in China in 2300. He left an obscure quotation, the Book of Shang Jun, but later disciples were ashamed to mention his mentor. Even former Prime Minister Zhu Rongji only privately admitted that he was a fan of Shang Yang.
Historians' evaluation of Shang Yang is also mixed. Taishi Gong Sima Qian said that he was unkind and unscrupulous. Later, Confucianism cursed Shang Yang, saying that he "knew the benefits but didn't know the harm, and then he didn't know the retreat, so he died and lost ... He was called the emperor of the Qin Dynasty, but he didn't know it was Qin Zhi's death. Salt and iron. Non-martingale VII
However, even the most severe person can't deny Shang Yang's achievements in effect. Sima Qian thought that Shang Yang's strategy was in the state of Qin for ten years, and Qin people were delighted, and there were no thieves in the mountains. People brave public war, fear private struggle, and govern villages and towns. -Biography of Historical Records and Shang Jun
Such a controversial figure is hidden in the fog of history and his face is unclear. All that remains is a thin booklet, The Book of Shang Jun, which systematically records his political, economic and cultural views.
Shang Yang, Shen Dao and Shen Buhai are legalists in Theory of Three Represents. Shang Yang emphasized the law, Shen Daochong potential, and Shen Buhai pushed the technique. Later generations think that Shang Yang's legal theory is strict and harsh, and the implementation effect is guaranteed by the severe deterrence of the law. This is a misunderstanding of Shang Yang. In fact, Shang Yang has always attached great importance to the ideological education of the people in the process of promoting the legal system. He believes that receiving education can enlighten people's wisdom on the one hand, and turn the land into a prison on the other. The function of education can not only emancipate the mind, but also imprison the mind. By imprisoning the mind, the behavior of imprisonment can be achieved (ordinary people are content with old habits, while scholars are addicted to what they hear). The difference between the two lies only in the motivation and goal of educators.
Shang Yang believes that as a tool to achieve organizational goals, unifying thoughts is the lowest cost way to unify behavior. In the final analysis, severe punishment comes from external pressure and requires a lot of supervision costs to ensure the implementation effect. The construction of ideological education culture can make people have self-restraint and consciousness. It can not only save the cost of supervision, but also play an exemplary role. It is helpful to cultivate a unified mental model and behavior model. Once an organization with the convergence of mental model and behavior model is established, it will have a huge synergistic effect. Such an organization is an efficient war and production machine. The unification of Qin verified Shang Yang's theory. Practice is the only criterion for testing truth. Since then, hundred schools of thought has withered and a hundred schools of thought have contended.
Shang Yang's enlightenment to the organization is that cultural construction must obey the needs of management! Governing the country is like this, and so is managing enterprises.
The internationally recognized definition of corporate culture is defined by Edgar H. Schein in "Organization Culture and Leadership": a set of basic assumptions learned by a group when solving its external adaptability and internal integration problems are regarded as effective because they work well, so they are taught to new members as the correct way for them to perceive, think and feel when they encounter these problems.
If the Spring and Autumn Period and the Seven Kingdoms are compared to seven companies, each company has its own corporate culture and governance philosophy. There is no distinction between good and bad corporate culture, some emphasize benevolence, some emphasize harmony, and some emphasize people-oriented. At that time, the wealth of Qi reflected the shrewdness of commercial culture, and the nobles of Chu reflected the inheritance of aristocratic culture. These seven companies were all oligopolies at that time, and the competition was not too fierce. Everyone has different ideas and practices, and various management consultants are scrambling to sell various corporate governance programs to big customers. Everyone has an audience and can get applause.
In the Warring States period, the situation changed, and a small western country with little culture suddenly began to spoil the situation. Their corporate culture is simple, rude and effective. Plough! The internal system design and governance structure of the company are all around this theme. There are many constraints, and the incentive object is very direct. If you plant well, you will be rewarded if you cut more. When seven companies are forced to face the situation of life-and-death competition, whether they can win or not becomes the only criterion to judge their corporate culture. When winning is the only and ultimate goal of all athletes, a good corporate culture can help enterprises achieve this goal.
The result of the competition was that Mr. Kong Qiu hated it, Mr. Mo Zhai stepped down, Mr. Zhuang Zhou didn't play at all, and Mr. Shang Yang had the last laugh.
The concept of enterprise culture construction of enterprise teachers can be summarized into many aspects, such as
1. Strong organizational principles
2. The imbalance between incentives and constraints,
3. Members' low intelligence tendency
4. The dual personality of managers,
5. The essence of organizing and governing the wicked,
6. Informal organization control methods
7. The law of strength growth and decline at all levels within the organization.
Let's focus on the first three.
Regarding the principle of strong organization, Shang Yang's point of view is that organizations with weak members must perish before powerful countries can continue to expand. In today's translation, the survival of an enterprise with uncertain members is a problem, let alone its development. "You must settle down first when you are busy outside" sounds familiar?
We often use "good management" to describe the high efficiency of the organization, but as we all know, only powerful enterprises can make employees well trained. A powerful enterprise may not necessarily become a successful enterprise, but successful enterprises are all culturally powerful enterprises without exception. Bad living environment and harsh competitive environment are the external factors that breed strong corporate culture, but a leader with strong personality, as the core of leadership, undoubtedly plays a decisive role. Jobs is to Apple, Liu Chuanzhi is to Lenovo and Huawei. These * * * are strictly dedicated, even paranoid, and emphasize implementation and effect on organizational behavior. Almost heartless, but strangely, such employee identity is above average, and the organizational performance is obvious to all. It can be seen that employees will only have trust and dependence on powerful enterprises. Power is far more powerful than love.
Second, how to balance the relationship between constraints and incentives?
Shang Yang believes that incentives must be based on constraints in order to really play a role. In an enterprise, constraints are eternal and universal, while incentives are occasionally scarce.
I heard more than one entrepreneur friend complain to me that we treat our employees so well, with the highest salary and bonus and the best welfare. Why is the performance of our employees still unsatisfactory? Whenever I hear such complaints, I always tell them that in personal interpersonal and social relations, the principle of reciprocity is followed, that is, if you are good to me, I will be good to you. You respect me, I give you an inch, I give you a drop of water. However, in the abstract organizational relationship between the leader and the led, the principle of reciprocity is often no longer applicable. It is difficult for leaders to achieve your desired organizational goals with more rewards and rewards. Because as a managed group, individual experience cannot reflect the characteristics of group behavior, and the rules of group characteristics are often hidden outside the common sense of ordinary people.
Shang Yang's views on this are: severe punishment and less reward, love the people above, and people die above; Reward and punishment are lighter, people don't love the world, and people don't die. In countries with strict constraints and less incentives, ordinary people will work hard for the country, while in countries with rich rewards and less constraints, ordinary people will not work hard for the country. What a strange conclusion! Why is this? Shang Yang believes that only by taking strict constraints as the daily management behavior of an organization can the incentive effect be maximized. In an organization, there are many ordinary people (afraid of people) and few excellent people (brave people). Only by continuously and strictly restraining ordinary people (afraid people) can we ensure that ordinary people (afraid people) meet the qualified standards (must be brave), and only by rewarding excellent people (brave people) can we make them. Ordinary people exert themselves and use the excellent organization of life, which is bound to be invincible in the world. Fear the people and be brave, but die bravely. If the country is invincible, it is king.
As for the proportional relationship between constraints and incentives, Shang Yang thinks that the best proportion of constraints and incentives is nine punishments and one reward, followed by seven punishments and three rewards, and the worst is half rewards and half constraints. How to calculate the proportion of "nine rewards are king, seven rewards are power, and five rewards are conquering the country", but Shang Yang emphasizes that constraints are normal in organizations, incentives are abnormal, and those behaviors and individuals with outstanding performance should be rewarded.
The organization with the strongest execution is the army. Taking the People's Liberation Army as an example, the reward for soldiers is in the form of commendation and reward. The China People's Liberation Army Discipline Regulations stipulates that those who have made outstanding contributions in wartime or peacetime can be commended and rewarded. Commendation and reward correspond to the promotion of their posts, and there is not much material content. However, as far as most of us are concerned, it is even more difficult to get recognition and rewards without any material benefits in the army, and sometimes even pay the price of life. It is this scarcity and great sense of honor that inspires generations of PLA officers and men to risk their lives and play an irreplaceable and decisive role in safeguarding peace and disaster relief. Contrary to the scarcity of incentives, discipline is everywhere in the army. Discipline regulations stipulate all aspects of a soldier's daily training and life, and have detailed and strict regulations on action, posture and discipline. Really achieved nine penalties and one reward.
Another principle of motivation is that motivation must correspond to the goal. If the goals are too scattered, the effect of motivation will be weakened. Shang Jun's original book "The benefit is invincible; Those who benefit from two empty spaces will benefit from half of the country; He who gains ten empty profits does not defend his country. "There are too many directions of motivation, which means there is no motivation. The essence of KPI as a key performance indicator lies in the word "key". If there are too many indicators, it will not play a guiding role in behavior. Some entrepreneurs don't understand this truth and want to encourage employees to compete and cooperate, so competition and cooperation can't be done well. The orientation function of corporate culture is disordered, which hurts organizational efficiency.
Finally, talk about the low intelligence of institutions. Kenichi Ohmae said in his "Low IQ Society" that China is a low IQ society, and no matter how it develops, it will not pose a threat to the world's inherent business order. He only saw the superficial phenomenon. Qin was also a society with low IQ 2300 years ago, which did not prevent it from expanding its territory, sweeping six countries and becoming a super empire. In the history of China, the advanced civilization of the Central Plains was defeated by nomadic minorities in the north for many times, Mongolian troops swept across Europe, Cossack cavalry wiped out the Golden Horde, and barbaric Goths destroyed the civilized Roman Empire. History has proved many times that high IQ may not defeat the social form of low IQ. Civilization does not necessarily triumph over barbarism. Under certain conditions, low IQ may even become an advantage. Since the reform and opening up, a large number of local enterprises have gained a firm foothold in the market through barbaric growth and won the trust of consumers. There is no advanced management theory and complex management system in their organization. It is the responsibility of employees to do their own jobs and complete organizational tasks. A consultant went to an enterprise in Shandong to do corporate culture consultation and told employees about the realization of self-worth and self-driving theory, but he didn't. After the training, employees all want to start a business or talk to the enterprise about the conditions for self-realization. This kind of consultation has completed the high-intelligence enlightenment for individual employees, but it has shaken the morale of the enterprise and confused the thinking of the team. It is also difficult to collect after people are separated. The low IQ of members does not hinder the high efficiency of the organization. If it sounds so harsh, it has been proved over and over again by history and reality. You know, I don't give examples.
It was these shrewd consulting plans that enabled Qin to achieve reunification and establish a powerful centralized empire within 30 years. But these plans were too sharp and lacked packaging, which led to Qin Ershi's death. Later generations lamented that Shang Yang "knew that he was the emperor of Qin, but he didn't know that he died for it. Although there was a problem in the implementation of the plan and a big customer died, the basic guiding principles of the business teacher's plan were correct. Han inherited the Qin system and changed the project proposal to continue to be used. This customer is very smart. Although he is implementing the same system construction project, he adds a set of warm cultural identity rhetoric. As the saying goes, it is the same to oust a hundred schools of thought and respect Confucianism alone. Since then, the whole plan has been perfected. Formed the basic governance framework of Confucianism. Once used, it is 2000. Only later generations commented that "China has been in power for two thousand years, and so has Qin Zheng. "
After the financial crisis in 2008, western society has been puzzled why China can be immune. Maintain sustained and rapid growth. Whether the China model exists temporarily, but Chinese management does play a role. Entrepreneurs who know the culture of China and China have mastered the secrets of organization and management from the treasure house of Legalists.
Since Qin dynasty, the emperor has attacked Qin politics and served Xun Xue. As for Confucianism of Confucius and Mencius, Taoism of Laozi and Zhuangzi, and Buddhism introduced to China later, they are all auxiliary means to strengthen the rule of Legalism, and they are the outermost decoration of the whole management building. The cornerstone and main frame of this building have never changed for two thousand years. Today, there is no precedent for China's economic development. After initial exploration and hesitation, most successful enterprises have found a way to organically combine western management science with China's traditional management thought to develop their own corporate culture. And this traditional thought of governing the country is the legalist thought represented by Shang Yang.