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, the 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 calm and neutral. They don't criticize and they don't demean. 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.