子曰：「夷狄之有君，不如諸夏之亡也。」
Confucius said: “Even the Yi and Di tribes that have chieftains can’t match the various states in our land that don’t have rulers.” (1)
The culture of an organization requires constant renewal in order to stay strong and vibrant. That means it needs to be open to new ideas and ways of thinking from people with diverse backgrounds and perspectives. Continue reading Leadership lessons from Confucius: constant renewal
The character 文 (wén) originally meant “patterns”, though it is more often translated as “culture” or “civilization” as it refers to arts such as literature, calligraphy, music, ritual, mathematics, and even archery and charioteering. Continue reading Analects Book 1: Confucius on culture
子張問：「十世可知也？」子曰：「殷因於夏禮，所損益可知也；周因於殷禮，所損益可知也。其或繼周者，雖百世，可知也。」
Zizhang asked: “Can we predict the future ten generations from now?” Confucius said: “The Yin Dynasty adopted the rites of the Xia Dynasty; we know what was dropped and what was added. The Zhou Dynasty borrowed from the rites of the Yin Dynasty: we know what was dropped and what was added. If the Zhou Dynasty has successors, we know what they will be like, even a hundred generations from now.”
How to manage continuity and change? This is a key challenge for any leader. What elements do you need to add to your organization so that it’s ready to meet the challenges of the future? What elements do you need to drop that are holding it back? Perhaps most important, what are the core values you need to retain to ensure its long-term resilience? Without such an anchor, your organization will undoubtedly veer off course and crash into the rocks. Continue reading Leadership Lessons from Confucius: continuity and change