#50鼎 Cauldron – Success from Talents Management
火风鼎 离上巽下
This hexagram has a Fire trigram on top of a Wind trigram. Wind trigram also represents woods. Fire in the woods represents cooking. The Hexagram is called 鼎 Cauldron – the cooking pod with stands. We can see the pot structure from the lines as well. The bottom broken line represents the feet(the tripod). The middle 3 full lines represent the body. The fifth broken line represents the two ears and the top full line represents the cover. 鼎Caldron also represents high authority and stands for greatness as well.
Description:
- 元吉: Great Fortune or Blessings
- 亨: Smooth flow represents progress.
Textual Commentary:
彖曰：鼎，象也。 以木巽火，亨饪也。 圣人亨以享上帝，而大亨以养圣贤。 巽而耳目聪明，柔进而上行，得中而应乎刚，是以元亨。
鼎 Cauldron is the image of the hexagram. The burning of wood and air(wind) is about cooking. The Sages cooked the offerings as sacrifices to worship God. They have great feasts to take good care of wise and talented people. The Wind represents sensitive ears and observant eyes knowing what is going on. Progress towards the top with flexibility and adaptability. Obtaining the central position and holding on strongly(principles-centered) results in great smooth progress.
Pictorial Commentary: 象曰：木上有火，鼎；君子以正位凝命
There is a fire on top of the woods, it is cooking in a Cauldron. Wise men, correct positions to tightly adhere to the laws (of Heaven).
Moral Teachings:
Great power and influence come from doing the following:
- Following the righteous ways of Heaven.
- Taking good care of capable and talented people and empowering them. Putting them in the right positions to accomplish the mission most effectively.
- Sharing of the rewards and blessings with the people.
- Be flexible and adaptable in execution and yet hold on to the right values. It is about principles-centered execution.
- Be watchful and observant of what is happening and have listening ears for suggestions and complaints. Make the necessary changes for continued progress and success.
Stage 1 Begin Six: The Cauldron overturned with its feet facing up. Nevertheless, it is beneficial to get rid of stagnant foods. Getting a concubine for the purpose of having a son. There is no fault. 初六：鼎颠趾，利出否，得妾以其子，无咎。
The pictorial commentary explains that the overturning of the cauldron does not mean rebellion (against what is right). There are benefits to getting rid of stagnant bad things. It is to seek after the noble things. 象曰：鼎颠趾，未悖也。 利出否，以从贵也。
There are a few lessons to learn here. Firstly, we should not be too quick to jump to conclusions about the goodness or badness of any event. The cooking pot is overturned. The foods run out. Things look bad. But wait…
Secondly, even if an event at first looks bad, we can find goodness in it. This is about seeing the opportunity in a crisis or a threat. Now that the big pot is overturned, we can do a real cleaning up. The owner (Edison?) on seeing his laboratory or factory being burnt down, commented that he can start on a clean sheet.
Thirdly, when we cannot get something directly, we can go through an intermediary. In the old days when we had no calculators, we used log tables to do multiplication and division by adding and subtracting or easier still, by the slide rule. See Triz 24th Principle – Use Intermediary. Applying this to talent management, we realize that everyone has his strengths and weaknesses. One’s strength could be one’s greatest weakness. Hence, at times, it is better to outsource or get the right consultant to come in to help.
Stage 2 Second Nine: There is food in the Cauldron. My wife is sick. But the sickness did not touch me. Fortune. 九二：鼎有实，我仇有疾，不我能即，吉。
The pictorial commentary explains that the Cauldron is full and hence needs caution. Even though my wife is sick, eventually there is bitterness. 象曰：鼎有实，慎所之也。 我仇有疾，终无尤也。
There is an alternative translation “My enemy envy and dislike me but they cannot touch me. Good fortune.” This is due to the Chinese word “仇” having 2 meanings. If pronounced as ‘chou’, it stands for the enemy. If pronounced as “Qiu”, it is an ancient word that stands for a wife. There was no multimedia book then. But from the context of the hexagram lines, and the wording used in line 1 where concubine is used, I think the correct one is ‘wife’.
Here is the opposite meaning of line 1. This time what appears to be good turned out to be not so good. The Cauldron is filled with food but sadly my wife could not enjoy it because she is sick. But then again, there is still joy because I am not infected with the sickness. I can enjoy the food and my wife eventually gets well! Nothing is fixed or fated in life. It is up to us to choose the right response. Always make a positive response to make a bad thing good and enjoy the good in a bad situation.
A wife is one man’s right-hand person. The food in the cauldron could be the contribution, perhaps a large part, of this right-hand man and could be the cause of his falling sick. We must learn not to overwork our people. The natural tendency is that the able people are overworked and leave the less unable free. This could be the result of not training up the less able so that they can be trusted with more work freeing the overworked. There needs to be a proper distribution of workload and capability development. Train and assign your staff correctly to prevent overloading a few and gain overall productivity – much food in the cauldron!
Stage 3 Third Nine: The ears of the Cauldron are broken. The movement is blocked. The fats of the pheasants could be eaten. Once the rains come, the ground for regrets disappears. It ends in good fortune. 九三：鼎耳革，其行塞，雉膏不食，方雨亏悔，终吉。
The pictorial commentary explains the broken ears of the cauldron are the loss of righteousness (ie. losing its intended function). 象曰：鼎耳革，失其义也。
The ears of the cauldron are for poles or hooks to thread through for the ease of carrying it in moving from place to place. Now that they are broken, the cauldron could not be transported. The tasty pheasant meat cannot be transported to the ones who want to eat them. The rains came to save us from an explanation for our late delivery. The rains delay everyone, including the guests for the party. Hence we regret it no more. We found the time to get the ears fixed and eventually deliver the food just when the guests arrived after the rain! Accident without causing any damage! A series of unforeseen and uncontrollable events happen in such a way that results in no harm. Don’t panic or get angry when encountering traffic jams. Others also arrive late for the meeting. It may cause you the miss the flight that ended in the World-Trade tower or other death flights!
Stage 4 Fourth Nine: The feet of the cauldron break. The foods meant for the ministers are thrown out. The person will be shamed, an ugly scene. This is a disaster. 九四：鼎折足，覆公餗，其形渥，凶。
The pictorial commentary explains that the spilling of the foods meant for ministers shows that there is a lack of trustworthiness. 象曰：覆公餗，信如何也。
The feet of the cauldron are weak and hence not able to accomplish the reputable mission for the ministers. The embarrassment for him will be great. This is teaching us not to take up tasks beyond our capabilities. We need to build trustworthiness first. Trust is built at least on two grounds – honesty and capability. Honesty shows people that we are hiding nothing and do not twist or spin our words or promises. Capability in delivery shows people that we deliver what we clearly promised.
Stage 5 Fifth Six: The cauldron has bronze ears and golden hooks (for carrying the cauldron) It is beneficial to persevere in righteousness and purity. 六五：鼎黄耳金铉，利贞。
The pictorial commentary explains that the bronze ear signifies character strength in the center of the body. 象曰：鼎黄耳，中以为实也。
Earlier stages show weaknesses in the cauldron. This stage shows what a strong cauldron is made up of. The strength must be built from the inside. It must be strong at the center and propagate outwards towards the ears and feet and even the hooks that are used to carry the cauldron. Building on righteous moral virtues is key to good fortune. Don’t be misled by someone’s talents. Make sure he has the right character. Talents with bad character can create greater damage. Character is preferred over talent.
For a business, it is always the question of taking a CEO from the outside or from within. For a successfully run company, it is better to promote from within. This is the teaching here. If you need to take someone from the outside, you must make sure the culture match. For a company in trouble, it is better to take from the outside. There is in fact a study done by Rice University. “When a company wants to appoint a new CEO for strategic changes, they would be better off in the long term by promoting someone from inside the company rather than hiring someone from the outside…”
Stage 6 Top Nine: The cauldron has hooks made of jade. Great fortune. All progress will bring benefits. 上九：鼎玉铉，大吉，无不利。
The pictorial commentary explains that the jade hooks on top represent the correct mix of strong and soft virtues. 象曰：玉铉在上，刚柔节也。
Jade is hard but with a soft luster surface. It represents the right mix of hard and soft. I-Ching teaching is about the wise use of hard and soft and should not be too hard or too soft. Using such a balanced hard-soft principle will result in success in whatever one does. We can apply this to a group of people. Have a mixture of different talents.
Summary:
Success and influence come from principle-centered endeavors. Employing talents and sharing rewards with them. Be watchful for changes and listen to the feedback. Be flexible and adaptable in execution and yet not compromise on moral values.
Wisdom from the Stage Lines:
- Fallen Cauldron – Find the opportunity in crisis. Use an intermediary. One’s strength could be his greatest weakness. Use a consultant if needed.
- Filled Cauldron – There could be bad in good. Use the good to save the bad. Trained all staff well and distribute work rightly preventing overloading some for overall productivity increase.
- Ear-less Cauldron – Unforeseen events happen in ways that cause no harm. Don’t panic or get angry when expected things happen. Respond to disappointment positively and win.
- Feet-less Cauldron – Don’t over-promise and under-deliver. It is shameful. Delivery above promise creates delights. Watch out for the boastful.
- Golden Cauldron & Accessories – Fortunes come from having a strong central core of the righteous character. Character is preferred over talent. Promoting from within is better than from without for long-term success.
- Jade hooked Cauldron – Get the right mix of hard and soft in dealing with all things and people will ensure success. Have a mixture of different talents.
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