# An Enterprise Is Its People — If People Thrive, Work Thrives
**Original Click here to follow → 2025-11-02 11:40 Shanghai**
***First published in August 2022***
Today we revisit a popular past article:
**[An Enterprise Is Its People:](https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s?__biz=MjM5NjM5MjQ4MQ==&mid=2651680789&idx=1&sn=cb90760ef0c69031d31f340bb3be5268&chksm=bd102b5b8a67a24d71cbfbd0410a10bc5cb1b6d70092d84e620b458ff469df37d4d23b5291ce&scene=21#wechat_redirect) [If The People Are Thriving,](https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s?__biz=MjM5NjM5MjQ4MQ==&mid=2651680789&idx=1&sn=cb90760ef0c69031d31f340bb3be5268&chksm=bd102b5b8a67a24d71cbfbd0410a10bc5cb1b6d70092d84e620b458ff469df37d4d23b5291ce&scene=21#wechat_redirect) [The Work Will Be Right](https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s?__biz=MjM5NjM5MjQ4MQ==&mid=2651680789&idx=1&sn=cb90760ef0c69031d31f340bb3be5268&chksm=bd102b5b8a67a24d71cbfbd0410a10bc5cb1b6d70092d84e620b458ff469df37d4d23b5291ce&scene=21#wechat_redirect)** — hoping it sparks thought and action.
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## Core Idea
> **An enterprise is made up of people. If people are wrong, everything will go wrong. If people are energized, work will be right.**
Lately, I've felt this more strongly than ever.
Internal **entropy** — a drift toward disorder — is freezing many organizations.
**Key truth:**
- No organization stays in order automatically.
- Less management → more disorder → higher risks.
**Countermeasure:** Well-managed, thriving people.
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## The 7-Part People-First Framework
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### 1. Recruitment — Upgrade Your Hiring
If you want growth, **continuously inject fresh, high-caliber talent**.
**Hire people above your current average capability**, not just anyone.
Mediocre hiring → mediocre development.
**David Ogilvy's nesting doll metaphor:**
Only by hiring people as capable — or more capable — than yourself can the enterprise grow into a giant.
**Practical steps:**
1. **Involve senior oversight** — direct manager’s superior (or CEO in small firms) should join interviews.
2. **Set the bar high** — hire above current team average to raise overall capability.
3. **Enforce accountability** — penalize managers for repeated poor hires.
*Recruitment is every manager’s responsibility.*
 
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### 2. Training — Put Strivers First
Onboarding is just the start — **train on skills and culture**.
Adopt a **culture for strivers** — those who are hardworking and success-driven.
**Striver traits:**
- Hardworking: embraces challenge; resilient
- Success-driven: hungry to achieve through value creation, not shortcuts
Kazuo Inamori:
- **Self-igniting**: proactive learners
- **Ignited**: need some push
- **Flame-resistant**: unmotivated
Build teams mainly of self-igniters and ignited people.
Eliminate chronic "lie-flat" employees — especially those with means but no drive.
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### 3. Performance Evaluation — Clear Rewards & Penalties
 
Performance must have meaning — **no “everyone is excellent” inflation**.
**Use the 2-7-1 principle:**
- **10%** — poor performers (2.5 rating), no bonuses
- **70%** — satisfactory/good (3.0–3.5), standard bonuses
- **20%** — excellent (4.0), extra rewards
**Goals:**
- Reward results over relationships
- Use low scores to guide improvement — not to wield power
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### 4. Staffing Decisions — Right People, Right Positions
Post-evaluation, conduct a **talent review**.
**Know three core groups:**
1. Direct reports — fully understand each
2. Their direct reports — focus on top 20% and bottom 10%
3. Professional stars — top functional talents
**Key principle:** You can only use people well if you truly know them.
 
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### 5. Values — Upholding the System
Values are the brake in fast growth — keeping the “water from becoming poisoned.”
**Never** excuse value breaches for performance gains — that's how corruption seeds.
If rotten roots spread, the whole organization decays.
 
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### 6. Innovation — Operate at the Edges
With strong people, structure, and values, shift focus to **innovation**.
**Tip:**
- **Innovate at the margins** — away from political centers
- Pilot new ideas in low-risk zones (e.g., subsidiaries, new project teams)
**3 guiding words:**
1. **Forget** — past successes & rules that limit thinking
2. **Borrow** — resources from core to support the new
3. **Learn** — iterate and grow from every cycle
 
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### 7. Continuous Learning — Feed Minds & Systems
**Continuous learning** fuels personal and organizational vitality.
How:
- Read more
- Connect widely
- Reflect deeply
- Document and share knowledge as reusable assets
Example: *Dedao's “I'm Just Asking”* — open Q&A culture for problem-solving.
  
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## Final Words
An enterprise = its people.
Thriving people → thriving work.
**Seven essentials**: recruitment, training, evaluation, staffing, values, innovation, learning.
Steve Jobs: one great employee = 50 average.
Bill Gates: remove top 20, Microsoft shrinks drastically.
**Everything is accomplished through people.** Keep them energized.
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**[Recommended Reading:](https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s?__biz=MjM5NjM5MjQ4MQ==&mid=2651777891&idx=2&sn=d268f4e0dfcce59bd654dad7ab417c26&scene=21#wechat_redirect)**
- ["How to Use Mathematical Thinking to Understand the Business World"](https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s?__biz=MjM5NjM5MjQ4MQ==&mid=2651777891&idx=2&sn=d268f4e0dfcce59bd654dad7ab417c26&scene=21#wechat_redirect)
- ["You Must Understand Human Nature to Communicate Effectively"](https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s?__biz=MjM5NjM5MjQ4MQ==&mid=2651777927&idx=2&sn=ba7aafdf23a0342ac2bc88408d3beb34&scene=21#wechat_redirect)
- ["2025: It’s Time to Demand Growth from Yourself"](https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s?__biz=MjM5NjM5MjQ4MQ==&mid=2651777874&idx=2&sn=2faea2d319ea5e93b26bae8abae9fb23&scene=21#wechat_redirect)
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