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I-Ching contains 64 hexagrams representing 64 situations. It is difficult for the beginner to figure out which one to apply. I have tried to address this difficulty with various approaches in the following posts:
Below is my re-classification into 2 main grouping and 12 subgroups. The first key group is about the foundation principles on Leadership, Management/Control and Relatioship-Building. The 2nd grouping is a life cycle of 9 phases of development from starting to transformation. Here is the mind-map:
Lim Liat (C) 4 Jan 2012
Year end is not just about celebration but also about getting ready for the next cycle of growth.
Here is the wisdom from iChing. It is teaching us not just about how to start and scale up to success but more importantly about how to transit to the next cycle of growth.
Enjoy.
Wishing all a Healthy and Growing New Year 2012.
The teaching of i-Ching is not just about how to start and scale-up to maturity, but also reminding us of the need to continued to transform.
Here is the teaching of the last 2 hexagrams summarized in the table below:
Life is full of danger and temptations to lure us into them. With better technology and a globally connected world. the scams can come from any where in the world. We may get a call on our hand-phone congratulating us that we have won big cash prizes in some far away country and we need to tele-transfer some small money to certain account to pay for the taxes, legal and other related fees so that the big cash can be transferred to our account. We read on newspapers that quite a number of people fell for such schemes and lost quite a lot of money. While technology may change, the principles for luring and trapping us have been the same. The wisdom of Ancient Chinese in the “Book of Change – i-Ching”, remains applicable to us in this modern or post-modern world.
Summary of #29 坎 The Pit – Danger:
Wisdom from the stage-lines teaches you how to act in time of danger:
1. Stay away from Dangers / Temptation else you will fall into them.
Don’t think you can be the hero – others will fall but not me. It is best steer clear from danger and temptations. Many are those that fell thinking that they won’t or don’t.
2. Probe and move cautiously if you fall into it.
Not taking heed to stage 1 warning and fall into the pit. It is time to wake up and carefully probe and study the situation. There are options but you need to spend effort to find them.
3. Dangers everywhere, just stay at rest. Wait for help.
Sometime over doing bring forth more troubles. To cover a lie, we tell a bigger lie! Don’t fall into this. It may be best to face up with the consequence, pay it and quit. Putting in a last big bet to recover all the loss is unlikely to happen as wished. The best policy may be just to stay still and wait for others to come to help.
4. True friendship is seen in times of troubles. They come to help.
In times of troubles, it is easy to see who are your true friends. In your good days, please remember to make good and true friends and by helping them when they are in troubles. They come to help you when you are in trouble.
5. Core integrity strength not fully developed yet got out of danger due to external help. Take heed to develop internal strength.
Remember that this time it was the external factors and your friends that help you out of troubles when you are still weak. Please take this opportunity to build up your inner strengths.
6. Stay righteous – the sure way to prevent and keep out of danger else back to stage 1 of imprisonment.
I-Ching author warn us again and again. Stay in the path of righteousness. That is the only way to stay out of danger. But sadly, men does not learn from history. This stage line 6, the highest stage, tells us the sad ending of committing a crime and be imprisoned for 3 years.
Please break out of the addiction or vicious circle of poverty or crimes or disappoints. Build up the inner character and strengths.
Lim Liat (c) 21 Dec 2011
Successful entrepreneurs and industrialist (an old term that is seldom used nowadays) thought leaders like to say some extreme things to trigger the thinking and to shock people into actions. Here is one example from Taiwan shared by a friend. The Chinese post is at http://www.businessweekly.com.tw/webarticle2.php?id=16349.
Main Point of Ox vs Horse of Barry Lam:
1. Software is important than Hardware.
2. Cloud computing changes and replaces current practices in design and other things. This is the big opportunities and innovative talents are required.
3. Subcontracting work talents staff is like the farming ox – all about the same and not creative.
4. University Degrees are not important. Your out-of-the-box thinking is more important.
5. The future is a race. Winner take all. Must be a race horse rather than ploughing ox.
6. Need to pay for such talents highly differentiated remunerations – 10x, 20x, 100x !
7. Adapt to the new world – don’t go back to ask people to watch the old top-tv shows. Ask them to watch the current top TV shows.
Do you agree with him?
Most people will.
But being a good consultant and a trainer, I have to disagree some what and give a more balanced view. Here are my comments and recommendations for the potential innovators and entrepreneurs:
The Balanced View:
Actually he is 50% right and 50% wrong. Here are the reasons:
1. Hardware and software are both equally important.
The key is the integration and best fit. Ask Steve Jobs and Google Brin and Page who recently bought Motorola Mobile for its hardware capability to augment its Androids and Chrome.
2. Cloud and Endpoint Devices are Opportunities.
The powerful resources and the brains of the clouds is at the center and need intelligent devices to link up so that its power can be used and enhances by the millions who connect to it. There are businesses for the center cloud and the end-point access devices. iPhones, iPad are the access devices. iTunes App and iCloud are the center. Imaging Dropbox without iphones/ipad/android!.
3. Subcontracting/OEM work requires talents and innovation as well.
They need innovation in their processes and other part of business models. Subcontractors unfortunately does not enjoy the branding of the consumer devices and offering, nevertheless, they need innovations for productivity, effectiveness and efficiency. Someone said that there is no such thing as hi tech or low-tech businesses only hi-tech or low-tech management.
4. University degress train our thinking and provide indepth knowledge that we need for innovations.
But may be can be like Steve Jobs, pick your subjects and master them well e.g. Calligraphy. Or an old entrepreneur friend who left Stanford to start his own successful business. Asked him why he did not complete his course. He said he already picked up the knowledge he needed to do his business. Ask Bill Gates and he too would give you the same answer.
5. Speed is only ONE factor of Success. There are More.
“The future is a race. Winner take all. Must be a race horse rather than ploughing ox” may be right some times but definitely not all the time.
First mover may have advantage but it all depends on the particular situation. (When the entry barrier is low, that the first mover actually may have advantage for a short time only. First mover may be in the bleeding edge and educating the market for the followers!). Microsoft is seldom first but is a good follower and replacer e.g. MS Office replaces Lotus-1-2-3, Wordperfect and IE replaces Netscape etc. There are people who think MS can yet do it one more time with Window 8 for the smart-phone business. Read also the new Hare and Turtle Story.
See also …http://mind-value.blogspot.com/2011/06/adding-biblical-wisdom-to-bill-steve.html - Success is a combination of multiple factors of speed,timing, strength, creativity, thinking skills, technical skills etc.
Google works with 70-20-10 rule : 70% of budget on core business, 20% related to core business, and 10% on blue-sky not related to current business.
So a typical company need may be 7 oxen, 2 horses, 1 dreamer. But that is percentage talking. In reality, everyone in a company should be encouraged to innovate in his own area, extended area and even wider.
6. Need to pay for such talents highly differentiated remunerations – 10x, 20x, 100x ? May not be. It is a team work too beside talents.
As the business get complex, the success is the result of great team work of great engaged talented people. Then, it is not about paying a few guys top salaries but about getting fair salaries and share in the extra-ordinary profits from the success of the business. It is about outcome based renumerations where there is no ceiling to your renumerations – it is decided by your customers who willingly pay you for your great offering.
7. Adapt to the new world – don’t go back to ask people to watch the old top-tv shows. Ask them to watch the current top TV shows.
Adapt to the new world is a must. Even better is to create the New World.
Nevertheless, never ignore the old successes. There are much lessons for us to use.
Consider the re-vitalised VM Bugs, Mini-Coopers etc. The old principles, the core strengths, just need a new context.
The Critical Thinking – Never be one sided in your thinking.
At least be bipolar yin-yang if not more. It always depends on the situations. Everything has value. You just need to find the situation and the people that may need it.
Lim Liat (C) 17 Dec 2011
