Business and Money Tips

How Yijing Helps in Corporate Governance Corporate governance is fundamentally about one question: How do we help an organisation succeed without allowing success to destroy it? That is very close to the wisdom of Yijing. 1. 阴阳 Yin–Yang: Balance Power Good governance requires balance. Management needs authority to run the company, but the board must provide oversight. Directors should support management, but also challenge it. Companies need growth, but also controls. Too much control kills entrepreneurship.  Too little control creates excessive risk. Yijing lesson:  Good governance is not maximum control. It is the right balance between freedom and control. Corporate governance is the brakes that allow businesses to go faster. 2. 变易 Change: Governance Must Anticipate Change Yijing begins with change. A risk that was small yesterday can become existential tomorrow. AI, cyber threats, regulation, geopolitics, reputation and changing customer behaviour mean boards cannot govern ...

Follow the Right Time, Follow the Right Order The Yijing Wisdom of 顺时有序 Many failures happen not because we did the wrong thing, but because we did the right thing at the wrong time, or in the wrong order . This is the wisdom behind 顺时有序 : 顺时 — Follow the right timing. 有序 — Follow the right sequence. A seed may be excellent, but planting it in the wrong season produces nothing. The same applies to life and leadership. A good investment bought at the wrong time can lose money. A good idea launched before the market is ready can fail. Correcting an employee while emotions are high may create resistance rather than improvement. Yijing teaches us to understand 时 — timing . But timing alone is insufficient. Things must also happen in the right sequence. You cannot demand trust before building relationships. You should not expand a business before establishing cash flow. You cannot expect execution before creating understanding and commitment. This is also reflected in Yuan, Heng, Li, Zhen (...

The One Thing in Life You Cannot Stop: Change What Yijing Can Teach Us About Living and Leading in an Uncertain World There is one thing in life that almost everyone wants—but nobody can have. We want good things to remain unchanged. When business is good, we want it to stay good.  When our career is successful, we want success to continue.  When we are healthy, we want our health to remain. When we love someone, we hope that love will never change.  We even wish that we could remain young forever. But Yijing teaches us one uncomfortable truth: Nothing remains unchanged. The Chinese scholar Nan Huaijin, in discussing the Yijing, highlighted three fundamental ideas: change (变易), simplicity (简易), and constancy within change (不易). And the first is change . Everything in the universe is changing. People change. Relationships change. Businesses change. Technology changes. Markets change. Our bodies change. Our thoughts change. Even things that appear lifele...

为什么金生水？ 在《易经》五行——或者我更喜欢称为 五种流动的元素 ——当中，很多人最难理解的就是： 为什么金生水？ 水生木，我们懂——植物需要水才能生长。 木生火，我们懂——木可以燃烧成火。 火生土，我们也懂——燃烧之后化为灰土。 土生金，也不难理解——金属矿物藏在大地之中。 但是， 金怎么会生水？ 把一块金属放在桌上，等一天，也不会流出水来！ 关键就在于，我们不能把五行的**“生”**理解得太字面。 “生”不一定是“A变成B”，也可以理解为： 创造条件，让下一种力量产生、发挥和流动。 最简单的例子，就是从冰箱拿出一罐冰冷的饮料。 过了一会儿，罐子的表面出现了什么？ 水珠。 当然，水不是金属“制造”出来的，而是冰冷的表面让空气中的水分凝结出来。 所以，初学者可以这样记： 金不是变成水，而是创造条件，让水出现。 还有一个更容易记住的例子： 水管。 水为什么可以从水库流到我们的家，甚至流到几十层楼高的住宅？ 因为有管道。 金代表结构，水代表流动。 有了结构，水才能更有效地流动。 所以： 金生水 = 结构产生流动。 生活中其实到处都是“金生水”。 交通有规则，道路才顺畅。 公司有制度，工作才顺畅。 个人有预算，现金流才健康。 时间有规划，一天才不会白白流失。 看起来，规则限制了自由；实际上， 好的规则反而创造更大的自由。 这就是五行的智慧。 五行不是五种死板的物质，而是五种不断变化、相互影响的力量。“生”也不只是“制造”，而是 支持、创造条件、让下一股力量得以发生。 所以，要记住“金生水”，其实只需要记住一句话： 有规矩，才有流动。 金，是结构；水，是流动。 好的结构，不是阻止你前进，而是让你走得更顺、更快、更远。 这，就是金生水。

In Yijing Wuxing (五行), or the Five Moving Elements, most people have little problem understanding the first few relationships. Water grows Wood. 水生木 ( Plants need water to grow). Wood generates Fire. 木生火. ( Wood can be burned to create fire.) Fire generates Earth. 火生土. ( After something burns, it becomes ash and returns to the earth). Then we come to: Earth generates Metal. 土生金 ( Metal and minerals are found within the earth). So far, so good. But then comes the one that makes many beginners stop: Metal generates Water? 金生水? How can that be? Put a piece of metal on the table and wait. Water doesn't come out of it. The confusion comes because we interpret 生 (sheng) too literally. In Wuxing, 生 does not necessarily mean that one substance physically changes into another. It can also mean to give rise to, support, enable, or create the conditions for something to happen . Once we understand this, 金生水 becomes much easier to appreciate. Think of a Cold Metal Can Take a cold metal can ou...

We are living in a world of VUCA: Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous world.  If you are struggling to look for answers, a 7,000-year old oriental wisdom called Yijing can help.  The Yijing (I Ching or Book of Changes) helps manage VUCA by shifting your focus from trying to predict the future to adapting to the present. It teaches that change is the only constant, providing a mental framework to navigate chaos.   Here is how Yijing specifically tackles each element of VUCA: 1. Countering Volatility with Cyclic Change Change is Constant. Change is not random; it moves in predictable, cyclical patterns (like seasons or day and night). Management Application: When business hits a volatile peak or valley, Yijing reminds leaders that this state is temporary. It prevents panic during downturns and complacency during booms. 2. Countering Uncertainty with "Timeliness" ( Shi ) Shi Concept: Success depends on Shi (doing the right thing at the exact right moment). Manag...

Learn Yijing from Dear You Many people think the Yijing (I Ching) is mysterious or difficult to understand. But if you have watched Dear You , you have already seen many of its timeless principles in action. 1. Oneness (万物一体) Yijing teaches that everything is interconnected. In Dear You , Musheng, Nanzhi, Shurou and even Xie Laishun are not separate stories. Their lives become one through a single promise, a letter, and an act of love. When one person suffers, everyone is affected. When one person chooses love, everyone benefits. That is the wisdom of oneness. 2. Yin and Yang (阴阳) Life is never simply right or wrong. Truth and compassion. Gain and sacrifice. Joy and sorrow. Nanzhi's "lie" appears wrong on the surface, yet it brings hope to an entire family. What seems negative (Yin) gives birth to something positive (Yang). Yijing reminds us that Yin contains Yang, and Yang contains Yin. Nothing is absolute. 3. Change (变易) Everything changes. Musheng p...

How Yijing Leadership and Management Helps You 1. Pattern Recognition See what others miss. Most leaders react to isolated events. Yijing trains you to identify recurring patterns in people, teams, markets, customers and organizations before they become obvious. You will learn to: Spot hidden organizational dynamics Detect opportunities earlier Anticipate risks before they become crises Make better strategic decisions Business impact: Higher profits through better timing and fewer costly mistakes. 2. Probability Thinking Think in probabilities instead of certainties. Leadership is rarely about being 100% right. Yijing teaches you to evaluate likelihoods instead of making rigid predictions. You will learn to: Assess multiple possible outcomes Reduce decision bias Prepare contingency plans Increase confidence under uncertainty Business impact: Better decisions with lower risk. 3. Principle-Based Reasoning Lead by timeless principles, not emotions. Markets change. Technology changes. Huma...

Why Smart Leaders Fail in the AI Era And How Yijing Leadership & Management Can Help Artificial Intelligence is changing business faster than any technology in history. Yet something surprising is happening.  Some of the smartest leaders are struggling. Not because they lack intelligence.  But because intelligence alone is no longer enough. For decades, leadership was built on knowledge, analysis and experience. Today, AI can analyse faster.  AI remembers more.  AI writes better reports.  AI generates strategies in seconds. If leadership is only about information, AI will always win. So what makes a leader irreplaceable? The answer may have been written over 7,000 years ago. Yijing. The Book of Changes is not a book about predicting the future. It is a book about understanding change.  And change is exactly what every leader faces today. 1. Oneness – Lead with Purpose Many organisations have AI strategies.  Very few have human st...

The 4 Stages of Leadership According to Yijing 1. 元 Yuan – Start Right Leadership Question: Should we begin? Every success starts with a worthy beginning. Before launching a project, hiring someone, entering a partnership or introducing change, a leader must ask: Is this aligned with our purpose? Are the conditions right? Do we have the right people? Why are we doing this? Many projects fail not because of poor execution, but because they should never have started. Leadership lesson: Great leaders don't just start quickly—they start wisely. 2. 亨 Heng – Gain Momentum Leadership Question: How do we keep moving? Once the journey begins, leaders must build momentum. This is where communication, trust, teamwork and problem-solving become critical. People begin encountering resistance. Processes require adjustment. Leaders inspire people to continue despite uncertainty. Leadership lesson: Leadership is about creating momentum, not merely giving instructions...