This hexagram has a Wind trigram on top and a Heaven trigram on the bottom. The wind is soft, go with the flow, whereas Heaven is forceful. It is about using softness and small things (the details) to handle large and powerful forces. To survive in a market dominated by large players, one starts by playing in the niche area and builds from there.
Description:
- 亨: accumulating from the little is smoothing going. No blockage.
- 密云不雨，自我西郊: there are dense clouds but no rain yet; the clouds coming from the west of the plains.
The textual commentary says that “小畜 XiaoChu Small Accumulation” is gentleness taking the right position (the hexagram only has one broken line (yin), sitting on the 4th (also yin) position). It is supported by the upper and lower Yang lines. It is strong inside and gentle and soft in external expression. It has a strong conviction within to achieve its mission. Hence it is smooth-flowing. Dense clouds and yet no rain is due to movement to a higher plane, from the west. It has started but not yet shown forth. It is like a seed germinating underground and is not visible yet on the surface.
The pictorial commentary is the wind blowing at the top of the sky; wise men improve their knowledge/capability and character/conduct.
Moral Teaching: Strength is built from Accumulating & Caring for the little
What do all these mean? It is a man with strong conviction inside and all plans ready to do good work. Its actions on the outside seem weak and gentle but only because it is just starting. You don’t set the trend and call the shots when you are small. You need to read the moves of the leaders and ride on them; covering the niche areas when they are not doing or complementing their offerings. It takes one to quietly accumulate resources and build up strength. Attracting too much attention when one is small is not a good strategy.
The key message is accumulating little by little over time will make you very strong. The thing to accumulate is knowledge and good conduct. One must have a strong conviction within but be flexible and humble in external execution. Another word for this could be ‘making incremental improvement‘.
The Bible has wise advice for leaders -Luke 16:10 “One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much”.
Stage 1 Begin Nine: Return back to the original right way; there is no fault. It is good.
Returning to the right way tells us that making a mistake is not fatal. As long as we repent and change to the right way, it is still good. Accumulating little good becomes a “big good”. But accumulating little defects over time will become a big show-stopper defect! One has to take care of small details at the start and make sure all is well. Don’t let a small defect accumulates into a large one. Detect the fault and correct it as early as possible.
Stage 2 Second Nine: Brought back to the original right way by another is also good.
Pictorial commentary added there is no loss of self too.
If we fail to realize our mistake, it is also good if someone can point it out to us and we can accept correction. There is no use if someone points it out to us and we are defensive and refuse correction. Thank the person who dares to bear the risk of enduring our attack to point out our defects so that we can be aware of and correct them before they bring greater harm to us in the future.
Stage 3 Third Nine: The carriage wheels and axles got detached. Husband and wife quarrel.
The pictorial commentary further added that the husband and wife quarreling is because the positions of husband and wife are wrong (wife is on top of husband). But I think a better translation is the family could not be properly run due to the quarrel.
This is a strange saying by itself. But if we trace back to stage 1, we can find the meaning. This is the result of our refusal to correct a mistake. We are self-correcting in stage 1, we accepted correction from friends in stage 2 and here we are too stubborn to change even by someone very close, our spouse, resulting in a quarrel. That is bad. The mistake that is uncorrected results in the carriage dropping its axles and could not move.
Stage 4 Fourth Six: Having integrity and trust enables one to move out of anxiety and danger. No disaster.
Pictorial commentary added having integrity gets rid of anxiety because of having the same mindset and direction as the top.
Have we been fighting a losing battle because we fail to understand the direction and wishes of our bosses internally or our key customers externally? We must understand the needs of others and then faithfully satisfy those needs. The fundamental principle of business is the passion we must have for serving and providing value to our customers. This applies to life as well. We don’t exist in a vacuum. Our identity is defined by relationships with others, including God. It is in giving and serving that we discover ourselves. It all begins with one small step at a time accumulating over time.
Stage 5 Fifth Nine: Having integrity and developing trusting relationships with others. Bringing benefits and prosperity to our neighbors.
The pictorial commentary further adds, “not for just oneself to get rich”.
Long-term trusting relationships are built upon two factors. Firstly is our integrity and secondly benefiting or sharing with others. We must take care of the interests of the other party. It is important to share our blessings with others. This is treating others like ourselves resulting in oneness. That is the desired state.
Stage 6 Top Nine: The rain has fallen in the right place. Place importance on building up righteous good work. Ladies in danger must follow the right way of integrity. The moon is full. Wise men over accomplishment bring danger.
The pictorial commentary explains that the danger comes from suspicions of others such as bosses or fellow colleagues.
At the highest level, all the past accumulation of efforts and building resulted in a big harvest already. Having reached the top, the moon is full, any further movement will only be downward. It may be time to quit and do something else. Stage five tells us to share our benefits and stage 6 tells us not to over-accomplish, especially not to outdo our bosses. Go to start another project or business.
Summary:
- We don’t just pay attention to the ‘big’ things and ignore the small details.
- Strength is built through the continual accumulation of little.
- We should not despise something because of its small size. A critical issue may be in the details.
- A small improvement is good.
Additional wisdom from the stage lines are:
- Detect and fix defects as early as possible.
- Accept the corrections by others.
- Fighting derails the company.
- Develop integrity and trust.
- Trust comes from Benefiting Others
- Don’t overshadow your superiors
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