#13 同人 Companionship – Same Hearts for Teamwork

13 同人 Companionship – Same Hearts for Teamwork

It has a Heaven trigram on top of a Fire trigram. Both are flowing upwards in the same direction, and both are bright and full of light, symbolizing the sharing of a common objective. One can also say Fire flows upward to meet the Sky/Heaven.

Description:

1. 同人于野，亨。 Having companionship in the wilderness, smooth flow.
2. 利涉大川，利君子贞。Good for crossing great rivers. Good for wise men practicing integrity.

Textual Commentary：

同人，柔得位得中，而应乎乾，曰同人。同人曰，同人于野，亨。利涉大川，乾 行也。文明以健，中正而应，君子正也。唯君子为能通天下之志。

The hexagram has the gentleness(yin) taking the right middle position and responding to the forceful Heaven(yang) therefore it is named companionship. Having companionship in the wilderness, the open space is good and successful.  It is good to cross great rivers because it has the Heaven force in motion. Civilization has rules. Righteousness and fairness prevail. Good for wise men together to lead and impact the world for good.

Pictorial Commentary：象曰：天与火，同人；君子以类族辨物。

Heaven and Fire of the same attributes of light and brightness flow together in Companionship. Wise men are grouped according to shared objectives and values even though they are of different strengths.

Moral Teachings – Same Hearts, Not Uniformity, is true Companionship

The previous hexagram is “12否 Stagnation”. Stagnation and decline are caused by infighting. The recovery to growth is presented in this “13 同人 Companionship” hexagram – unity in hearts.

Another important point is that “unity does not mean sameness”. The complement of “13 同人 Companionship” is 7師 Army, in which we discussed the difference between the wise and little(inferior) men.  In point 2, “君子和而不同，小人同而不和。Wise men work harmoniously together even though they are different; Little men will follow one another but not harmonious.” Sameness is not the criteria for companionship. It is the sameness of the heart, the shared objective, and the values, that are more important.  For routine work on a large scale, uniformity is easier for command and control. For creative work and undefined problems, synergizing from differences in strengths is more effective.

Implicit in this is that it is good to complement one’s weaknesses with the strengths of others, provided there is a shared goal for mutual benefits. In business terms, develop core strengths and outsource weaknesses (i.e. engaging the strengths of others at a cost that is much lower if we are to do it ourselves).

同人于郊 Having companions in the wilderness, outside of our city walls, shows that one trusted network is very large, in today’s terms. global network and hence powerful and is able to accomplish large projects.

Stage 1 Begin Nine: Companionship at the door. No blame.  初九：同人于门，无咎。
Pictorial Commentary: Leaving the house and meeting people who share the same convictions, there is no blame. 象曰：出门同人，又 谁咎也。

There is great strength in teamwork. Able to find people that share the same objectives and convictions and getting them to work together is great.  The potential for success and impact will be tremendous.

We see many successful companies started that way. e.g. HP is Hewlett and Packard, Microsoft is Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Google is Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Apple Computer is Steve Jobs, Stephen Wozniak, Ronald Wayne, and many many more such successful businesses.

Stage 2 Second Six:  Companionship founded just on ancestry lineage(clan). Narrow-minded and regretful. 六二：同人于宗，吝。

Pictorial commentary added that companionship founded on ancestry lineage(clan) is the way of narrow-mindedness and regrets. 象曰：同人于宗，吝道也。

A companionship based just on sharing the same bloodline, a relative-type relationship, without other considerations like vision, values, and capabilities, is one heading for trouble. We tend to think it is better to trust our relatives than to trust outsiders. But working together for productive work takes more than just ‘can trust’. It requires a true commitment to shared goals and competence.

The saying that “wealth cannot survive three generations” as proven by a study, is a testimony to the truth of this hexagram.

Stage 3 Third Nine: Hide the troops in the bushes, go up the high ground(to observe), did not initiate for 3 years. 九三：伏戎于莽，升其高陵，三岁不兴。

Pictorial Commentary says “Hiding the troops in bushes is because the enemy is strong. Three years without action is to calm them. 象曰：伏戎于莽，敌刚也。三岁不兴，安行 也。

We hide our strengths and intentions. We observe the situation. We are willing to wait, even for as long as 3 years,  if our strength is insufficient.  We do not want the enemy to know and be prepared for our strike. We rather they ignore us and lose their guard.

What has this to do with companionship? It shows that we are playing a game of hiding and seeking. We are hiding our true intentions and observing others. There is a lack of trust in this relationship. This shows that trust takes a long time to build.

Stage 4 Fourth Nine: Scale the walls, do not attack. It is good fortune. 九四：乘其墉，弗克攻，吉。

Pictorial Commentary: Even though we scaled the wall, we did not attack because is not right. The difficulty has caused us to rethink and do the right thing instead.  象曰：乘其墉，义弗克也，其吉，则困而反则也。

Even though we now occupy a more advantageous position, we did not want to take advantage or betray the trust. It is not right. Trusting someone makes us vulnerable to others. Since we did not betray the trust that others extend to us, we gain their trust.

Stage 5 Fifth Nine: Companionship, first cry and later laugh. The troops conquer and meet up. 九五：同人，先号啕而后笑。大师克相遇。

The pictorial commentary says companionship first comes with integrity.  The troops meet because they overcome. 象曰：同人之先，以中直也。大师相遇，言相克也。

This reminds me of Bruce Tuckman’s 5 stage model of team development. The five stages are Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing, and Adjourning. The forming stage is often assigned by the management. A task force is formed to do a project. The ‘crying’ corresponds to the “storming” stage where we argue and rough out each other to gain a better understanding of each other. The “laughing” corresponds to the “norming” and “performing” where we now know how to work together productively and joyfully. When the project is completed and the group is disbanded, we feel very sad that we have to break out.  That leads us to the next stage.

Stage 6 Top Nine: Companionship in the Wilderness. No regrets. 上九：同人于郊，无悔。

The pictorial description says companionship in the wilderness is due to the mission is not achieved. 象曰：同人于郊，志未得也。

Following the fifth stage, after the project has been completed, the team is disbanded but we keep the relationship we have had. But there is no new task or new mission to accomplish. There are no regrets because we have a relationship even though far away now.

Summary:

Companionship is built with hearts. It is the sharing of a common conviction of mission, vision, and values. It is giving one best, working, and trusting others of different strengths to accomplish the same goals. In business terms, outsource weaknesses to complement core strengths.

Companionship is formed through time and struggles with the following wisdom:

1. Find companionship.
2. Don’t base on clan or bloodline relationships. Must be based on shared beliefs and commitment of the heart.
3. Don’t have a hidden agenda. Be transparent.
4. Don’t betray or exploit the trust given. Trust is broken easily.
5. First cry – fight it out and then Laugh – work it out.
6. Keep the friendship even though not on the same mission.

Related Hexagrams:

A good companion is not just someone who shares the same mission and values as us but is also able to mutually complement each other in their areas of strengths and weaknesses. Such teaching of the synergy of differences is given in 38睽 Deviation– Synergy of Differences.

To build a large and successful organization, then we need to have a congregation of differentiated talents working together and that is the teaching of 45 萃 Congregation – Culture & Leadership.

Lim Liat (C) 2010-2012