When it comes to entrepreneurial success, there’s almost nobody in Asia who’s on Jack Ma’s level. From his beginnings as an English teacher, he built an ecommerce empire that beat global giants like eBay and that’s now expanding into everything from movies to virtual reality.
So what’s the secret behind Jack Ma’s winning philosophy? Well, perhaps some of it comes from the book his assistant says rarely leaves his desk: a thin, unannotated version of the Daodejing.
The Daodejing (sometimes also spelled Tao Te Ching) is a work of early Daoist philosophy said to have been written by Laozi. It dates back to at least the late 4th century B.C.E., and it’s one of the most influential philosophical texts ever, having helped to shape not only Daoism but also other schools of thought including Confucianism, Legalism, and Chinese Buddhism. The text itself is a collection of short, poetic verses about life and the dao.
Chinese people often read the Daodejing with scholarly annotations, but not Jack Ma
Dao itself is a complex concept. It’s usually translated as “the way” (as in, “the way of the universe”), and it typically refers to the process or forces of life that exist throughout the world but that are difficult to put your finger on. You can think of the Dao as sort of like the Force from Star Wars (at least in the original films). The Dao flows through everyone and everything, but it’s also something that the adept can tap into. In Star Wars, people tap into the force to be really good at laser sword fights, but in early Daoism connecting oneself with the Dao is more about being able to live in harmony with (and govern) the world.
Obviously, this is heady stuff, and Chinese people often read the Daodejing with scholarly annotations that help elucidate its meaning. But Jack Ma apparently doesn’t go for that. He reads only the text itself, and while doing that he once reportedly exclaimed: “Aiya, this isn’t me reading Laozi, it’s Laozi reading me, and he’s read the deepest depths of my heart!”
So what could Jack Ma be getting from this book? Only he could say for sure, but here are some lessons from the text that entrepreneurs (including Jack Ma) might take to heart.
(Disclaimer: The Daodejing is not a book of business advice. We can pull business lessons from it, but to be clear, Laozi was not writing a startup guide and he certainly wouldn’t have considered becoming a wealthy businessman to be a reflection of successful understanding of the dao).
Laozi
On trusting your team
The best of all rulers is but a shadowy presence to his subjects.
Next comes the ruler they love and praise;
Next comes the one they fear;
Next comes one with whom they take liberties.
When there is not enough faith, there is a lack of good faith.
Hesitant, he does not utter words lightly.
When his task is accomplished and the work done
The people all say, “It happened to us naturally.”
–Daodejing, XVII, D.C. Lau translation
On handling failures
On knowing yourself
On vision
On hard work and recognizing opportunities
On knowledge
On greed
On putting yourself last
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