meritocracy.jpg

Meritocracy

Some managers think they're the smart one and everyone else is stupid. They think they're the expert and everyone else is incompetent. With a boss like that, idiots ask questions and the guru explains.

But when the boss explains, people ask more questions, and questions become even more questions, and eventually, people ask about everything. Even if the boss really is a genius, it's impossible to know everything, and since they don't know everything, but people ask about everything, their only way forward is to fail.

If you're a boss like that and blame followers for failing, how does that make you a good leader? When you've failed and don't know you've failed, every mistake turns back on itself and creates more. They call you the meddling boss of a dead-end team.

That's why masters of the road ahead encourage us but don't do it for us, inspire us but don't explain. They reject belief, reject theory, prepare by staying still and empty. They don't criticize and they don't demean. 使 They set terms, establish facts, and let apprentices take it from there. They follow the road in ignorance, let facts speak for themselves.

Yao showed us how to transfer power over everything lit by the sun and moon. Shun showed us how to take responsibility for everything within the four frontiers. Yu showed us how to organize the north-east and fix everything from Jiuyang to Qiguai.

Notes

I started looking at this passage because it contains a term () that also appears in At the Mercy of Ants - Part 1 in Wenzi and chapter 5 of the Daodejing, and it turned out to complement the Wenzi passage remarkably well, almost a footnote that explains the exact process that takes the activist prince from power to irrelevance. In this passage, I've interpreted as failure, and I think it works quite well.

The passage is more accurately rendered as advice to the master as ruler or lord () who gives orders () to subordinates, staff and envoys (, and 使) who must get permission () from their superior ().

In my interpretation, it's about the fate of the manager, boss or master () who explains () to followers and apprentices ( and 使) who ask questions () of their leader ().

Since the second paragraph contains two double negatives () and two triple negatives () that don't work very well in English, to make them more readable, becomes "everything" instead of "there's nothing not".

The passage wraps up with lessons from culture heroes Yao, Shun and Yu. There aren't many helpful references to and in ctext, and it's possible that these three lines, and the Yu line in particular, reflect some esoteric teaching that's lost in time (or at least to me), but I'd rather think they say exactly what they seem to say about the author's idea of good leadership. Verbs and nouns get more specific line by line, so Yao rules over everything and transfers power to an unrelated successor, Shun is responsible for settled areas, and Yu controls and transforms the north-east. From this, I like to think that and are the names of geographic features of the nascent Xia dynasty, and not references to anything magical, though, of course, I could be wrong.

Vocabulary

rén
人 9 + 0
man; people; mankind; someone else
zhǔ
丶 3 + 4
master, chief owner; host; lord
自 132 + 0
self, private, personal; from
zhì
日 72 + 8
wisdom, knowledge, intelligence
ér
而 126 + 0
and; and then; and yet; but
心 61 + 9
stupid, doltish, foolish
qiǎo
工 48 + 2
skillful, ingenious, clever
zhuō
手 64 + 5
stupid, clumsy, crude; convention
ruò
艸 140 + 5
if, supposing, assuming; similar
止 77 + 2
this, these; in this case, then
刀 18 + 7
rule, law, regulation; grades
zhě
老 125 + 4
that which; he who; those who
qǐng
言 149 + 8
ask, request; invite; please
矢 111 + 2
particle of completed action
zhào
言 149 + 5
decree, proclaim; imperial decree
duō
夕 36 + 3
much, many; more than, over
心 61 + 9
more and more, even more
qiě
一 1 + 4
moreover, also (post-subject); about to, will soon (pre-verb)
火 86 + 8
negative, no, not; lack, have no
一 1 + 3
no, not; un-; negative prefix
乙 5 + 2
also; classical final particle of strong affirmation or identity
suī
隹 172 + 9
although, even if
wèi
木 75 + 1
not yet; 8th terrestrial branch
zhī
矢 111 + 3
know, perceive, comprehend
人 9 + 3
by means of; thereby, therefore; consider as; in order to
yīng
心 61 + 13
should, ought to, must
八 12 + 6
his, her, its, their; that
dào
辵 162 + 9
path, road, street; method, way
囗 31 + 5
to become solid, solidify; strength
qióng
穴 116 + 10
poor, destitute, impoverished
wèi
火 86 + 5
do, handle, govern, act; be
shù
攴 66 + 11
number; several; count; fate
方 70 + 4
in, at, on; interjection alas!
xià
一 1 + 2
under, underneath, below; down; inferior; bring down
jiāng
寸 41 + 8
will, going to, future; general
人 9 + 5
what, why, where, which, how
jūn
口 30 + 4
sovereign, monarch, ruler, chief, prince
丿 4 + 4
interrogative or exclamatory final particle
huàn
心 61 + 7
suffer, worry about; suffering
yòu
又 29 + 0
and, also, again, in addition
fǎn
又 29 + 2
reverse, opposite, contrary, anti
shì
日 72 + 5
indeed, yes, right; to be; demonstrative pronoun, this, that
zhī
丿 4 + 3
marks preceding phrase as modifier of following phrase; it, him her, them; go to
wèi
言 149 + 9
say, tell; call, name; be called
zhòng
里 166 + 2
heavy, weighty; double
sāi
土 32 + 10
stop up, block, seal, cork; pass, frontier; fortress
cún
子 39 + 3
exist, live, be; survive; remain
guó
囗 31 + 8
nation, country, nation-state
攴 66 + 5
ancient, old; reason, because
yǒu
月 74 + 2
have, own, possess; exist
yīn
囗 31 + 3
cause, reason; by; because (of)
貝 154 + 4
one's responsibility, duty
厶 28 + 3
go away, leave, depart
xiǎng
心 61 + 9
think, speculate, plan, consider
心 61 + 9
thought, idea, opinion; think
jìng
靑 174 + 8
quiet, still, motionless; gentle
虍 141 + 6
false, worthless; empty, hollow
dài
彳 60 + 6
treat, entertain, receive; wait
人 9 + 4
cut down, subjugate, attack
yán
言 149 + 0
words, speech; speak, say
duó
大 37 + 11
take by force, rob, snatch
shì
亅 6 + 7
affair, matter, business; to serve; accident, incident
目 109 + 8
supervise, oversee, direct
míng
口 30 + 3
name, rank, title, position
shěn
宀 40 + 12
examine, investigate; judge
shí
宀 40 + 11
real, true, solid, honest
guān
宀 40 + 5
official, public servant
使
shǐ
人 9 + 6
cause, send on a mission, order; envoy, messenger, ambassador
口 30 + 2
take charge of, control, manage; officer
nài
木 75 + 5
crab-apple tree; endure, bear
yáo
土 32 + 9
a legendary ancient emperor-sage
yuē
曰 73 + 0
say; KangXi radical 73
又 29 + 2
extend; reach; come up to; and
日 72 + 0
sun; day; daytime
yuè
月 74 + 0
moon; month; KangXi radical 74
suǒ
戶 63 + 4
place, location; numerary adjunct
zhú
火 86 + 13
candle, taper; to shine, illuminate
shùn
舛 136 + 6
legendary ruler
月 74 + 4
clothes; wear, dress
囗 31 + 2
four
huāng
艸 140 + 6
wasteland, desert; uncultivated
wài
夕 36 + 2
out, outside, external; foreign
禸 114 + 4
legendary hsia dynasty founder
zhì
水 85 + 5
govern, regulate, administer
qīng
靑 174 + 0
blue, green, black; young
běi
匕 21 + 3
north; northern; northward
huà
匕 21 + 2
change, convert, reform; -ize
jiǔ
乙 5 + 1
nine
yáng
阜 170 + 9
'male' principle; light; sun
大 37 + 5
strange, unusual, uncanny, occult
guài
心 61 + 5
strange, unusual, peculiar
阜 170 + 11
border, boundary, juncture