At the Mercy of Ants - Part 1

Laozi said, A beached whale is at the mercy of ants, and the prince who forgets his place and does a servant's work is at the mercy of bureaucrats.

A prince keeps his throne by doing nothing. He knows his place and builds trust by paying attention. Ministers and subordinates respect his judgement and don't question it. Instead, they hold superiors to account by serving them.

When a prince doesn't trust the experts and wants to do it himself, his judgement gets worse every day and he has only himself to blame. He can't be objective when he's competing with subordinates, and he can't stay in charge when he steps down from the throne. And when his judgement no longer inspires obedience and his position no longer commands respect, there's no way for him to influence subordinates.

When he takes every whim and slight to heart, when he plays favourites in public, those who once knew their place stop doing the right thing and start pandering to superiors. When public servants break the law and serve themselves, when they're not rewarded for merit, not held accountable for corruption, that's when ruler and ruled take grudges to heart.

When the prince and his servants resent each other, when his team is in chaos and no one trusts his judgement, when problems arise and no one follows his orders, when mistakes are made and he blames others instead, that's when the master is weak and servants are lazy.

That's when those who wield the great craftsman's blade rarely don't cut their own hands.