Chapter 4 — Taichi Fortunate
Updated: Nov 14, 2023
Written by: William Lee, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
“1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6…”
My future was dependent on that exam outcome. And yet, I allowed myself to rely on that supernatural power. I was counting the number of handshakes before a hastily made rubber dice was rolled.
That’s not how I would like to live for the rest of my life because, quite frankly, it’s nerve breaking. Luck would eventually run out.
God only helps the self-help 天助自助者.
I would like to take the driver's seat and work towards that ultimate goal of general happiness and freedom. But how?
The Wheel of Fortune
Every one of us has a distinctive way to live, just like every corporation has its unique business model to exist.
That is one wheel of fortune for each (legal) person to exploit. And, there are three parts to it.
The first is Capabilities. These are the things and business fundamentals required to build, grow and sustain (human) assets to attain enduring organic growth. These are the capacities to gather, generate and maintain functional senses of vision 眼, hearing 耳, smelling 鼻, tasting 舌, touching 身 and memorization 意識, followed by the abilities to emotionalize, internalize and process the information collected to reach and realize an aligned decision and action outcome.
The second is Emotions of Seven 七情 which shapes a (collective) person’s decision-making process. These are happiness 喜, anger 怒, sadness 哀, fear 懼, affinity 愛, repulsion 惡, and the Desires of Six 六欲, which includes lasting growth好生, death avoidance 離死, far-reaching vision 正視, good information 長聽, right feeling 善感 and lingering taste 回味. All of these are influenced by how our minds worked when we made contact with the internal and the external worlds through our six senses (see Chapter 1 – Born With It All & Chapter 2 – Spontaneous Reactions).
And, the third is the Commercials of pricing, terms, securities, and compliance that effectuates capital accumulation and supports the said capabilities building and emotionalized, internalized, and processed decision and action outcomes.
The simpler is the business organics – or the environment one situates in – the more dominant is one part of the wheel of fortune over the others.
When the business is complex, it takes complicated integration of capabilities, emotions, and commercials to succeed. There are no more clear boundaries between the three parts. It becomes one.
Nevertheless, the way to navigate through all the challenges life thrown at us is to turn the wheel of fortune clock-wise, or anti-clock-wise, or a mixture of both zig-zagging. And remember, sometimes the fastest way is not the straightest. It depends on the business organics we are in (see also Chapter 3 – Business Organics).
Steer that Boat
So how we ‘visualize’ this world affects how we drive the vehicle of this body (corporate) to reach our goal(s). The closer we get to the truth, the better.
Let’s take an example. Driving a houseboat.
Although it involves the same concept of controlling the direction with a steering wheel like that of a car, the details and the skills involved vary tremendously. First, it takes a lot longer to realize how much a boat is turned. There is very little traction, and the larger the boat, the longer it takes to see the effect of turning. Secondly, the undercurrent has a huge impact – something that requires substantial experience to read and anticipate. And thirdly, it is easier to make a big turn or stay the course, with lots of small maneuvers instead of a big stroke. The larger the boat, the more so.
When applying this observation to running an organization, it is easy to visualize the need to establish the goal, imagine the route(s) to get there, ascertain and anticipate the circumstances/conditions involved, choose what vehicle(s) to use, build the relevant capabilities, engage those involved, continuously improve and commercialize it the right way.
If it has to be a big boat, be wary about the combined effects of undercurrent, traction, and momentum. Acquire team(s) of talents from a young age for core activities so that they develop coordinated-experienced instincts. Drive with lots of small moves and experiments, with new blood and/or consultants. If it involves a small one, be agile, or it can be overwhelmed.
Taichi That
Since the wheel of fortune is both tangible and intangible, we need both physical and non-physical, direct and indirect, means of measurements to help us become fully aware of the relevant business organics, past, now, and future.
One very effective methodology is the concept of Taichi 太極.
The Yin 陰 is the intangible part or anything that cannot be ascertained physically or directly. That is, the Cause 因. The way to observe this Yin is by utilizing the (sub)consciousness part of our mind 意識, where memory and instinct are stored (see Chapter 1 – Born With It All, and extrapolate.
The Yang 陽 is the tangible part, capable of being observed physically and/or directly – the Effect 果. We get this by utilizing our five senses, assisted by ever more sophisticated tools as we develop.
While it may be easier to observe the Yang in the current and past tense, Yin is how we predict the future Yang.
A scientist or an economist would conduct many experiments to gather enough data points – the Yang – to postulate the Yin, and come up with a theory or mathematical model to predict the future outcome of Yang.
Don’t forget to block out the Five Bad Habits五毒of greed 貪, careless talks 嗔, ill understanding 痴, inaction 慢, and suspicion 疑, while you gather data. These either obscure, twist, or hinder the way to the truth.
Happy Taichi-ing Your Wheel of Fortune!
William Lee, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
William Lee, a business coach and expert in connecting people’s wheels of fortune together, excels at producing positive results in complex multi-stakeholder engagement, end-to-end customer experience satisfaction, and remote team management. Frustrated by years of conflicts and external negativities, William dug deep to understand how our minds work, how we interact with one another, and how good faith can improve our connected world together. Through a process called CentriFusion, William’s methodology and system provide an easy first step to vastly improve team empathetic capability. With increased presence and engagement, as a result, fertile mental grounds are sown to enable organic and spontaneous growth, aligned to a shared common purpose. William provides the way to attain TRUE and SUSTAINABLE COMFORT in your businesses. Enjoy life without complacency!
