Home » Opinion » Book review
Recognizing the right time for 'do-nothing' strategy
By Anton Graham |
November 21, 2009, Saturday
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Print Edition
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WHEN you think about doing business, the first things that come to mind probably aren't non-action, non-competitiveness and harmony.
Working without an agenda and just "going with the flow" don't sound like great recipes for success either.
But these concepts are central to a new book called "The Tao of Business" written by Ansgar Gerstner.
Gerstner is a Shanghai-based German martial arts trainer and executive coach who believes that the ancient Chinese philosophy of Taoism can help people become more effective and successful as business people and managers.
How does it work? Take the concept of "non-action" for example. Gerstner says the Chinese phrase wuwei doesn't mean "do nothing," but rather means intervention as little as possible and only when vital.
As the author puts it, life, business and wuwei are all about "hitting the right spot at the right time." This is not an easy thing to do, especially for a hyper-active business person in today's ultra-fast business environment.
Gerstner's advice is to listen to the Taoist guideline, as expressed in the Daodejing. "Practicing the Tao, you reduce day by day," the book says. "You reduce and reduce again, to eventually arrive at non-action."
The modern-day equivalent would be for a business coach to tell an over-stressed client to cut out non-essentials, focus on the key issues, and take a step-by-step approach to slow things down. That is Gerstner's key message. He believes the Daodejing, which was written to provide advice to rulers and warlords 2,300 years ago, deserves close attention by the business leaders of today.
Gerstner does a great job of interpreting the sometimes cryptic advice offered in the Daodejing into accessible modern language. But does it work? Will someone who follows Taoist teaching work more efficiently and achieve greater success?
Gerstner says that Warren Buffett does. He introduces the American billionaire as "a perfect example of a successful businessman who understands the power of refraining from action." And Gerstner shows in convincing detail that Buffett seems to have built at least some aspects of wuwei into his investment approach.
Buffett's example is worth considering, but nobody can tell whether a Taoist way of doing business is truly more effective than the other approaches. But with business getting tougher all the time, it may be worth giving it a try.
Gerstner includes a chapter on the crisis in Tao of Business and suggests a way forward: Be "cautious as if crossing a river during winter," be "brave in not taking risks," be aware that "really big matters in the world all have to arise out of minute detail," that only "something that is established well cannot be uprooted," and finally that "there is no bigger disaster than not knowing when it is enough."
Good advice, indeed.
Working without an agenda and just "going with the flow" don't sound like great recipes for success either.
But these concepts are central to a new book called "The Tao of Business" written by Ansgar Gerstner.
Gerstner is a Shanghai-based German martial arts trainer and executive coach who believes that the ancient Chinese philosophy of Taoism can help people become more effective and successful as business people and managers.
How does it work? Take the concept of "non-action" for example. Gerstner says the Chinese phrase wuwei doesn't mean "do nothing," but rather means intervention as little as possible and only when vital.
As the author puts it, life, business and wuwei are all about "hitting the right spot at the right time." This is not an easy thing to do, especially for a hyper-active business person in today's ultra-fast business environment.
Gerstner's advice is to listen to the Taoist guideline, as expressed in the Daodejing. "Practicing the Tao, you reduce day by day," the book says. "You reduce and reduce again, to eventually arrive at non-action."
The modern-day equivalent would be for a business coach to tell an over-stressed client to cut out non-essentials, focus on the key issues, and take a step-by-step approach to slow things down. That is Gerstner's key message. He believes the Daodejing, which was written to provide advice to rulers and warlords 2,300 years ago, deserves close attention by the business leaders of today.
Gerstner does a great job of interpreting the sometimes cryptic advice offered in the Daodejing into accessible modern language. But does it work? Will someone who follows Taoist teaching work more efficiently and achieve greater success?
Gerstner says that Warren Buffett does. He introduces the American billionaire as "a perfect example of a successful businessman who understands the power of refraining from action." And Gerstner shows in convincing detail that Buffett seems to have built at least some aspects of wuwei into his investment approach.
Buffett's example is worth considering, but nobody can tell whether a Taoist way of doing business is truly more effective than the other approaches. But with business getting tougher all the time, it may be worth giving it a try.
Gerstner includes a chapter on the crisis in Tao of Business and suggests a way forward: Be "cautious as if crossing a river during winter," be "brave in not taking risks," be aware that "really big matters in the world all have to arise out of minute detail," that only "something that is established well cannot be uprooted," and finally that "there is no bigger disaster than not knowing when it is enough."
Good advice, indeed.
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