Joseph's "Just My Thoughts"

One of the purposes of commerce is to build strength. Gaining wealth gives us power, which is the ability to influence others. There are three main types of power: first, power gained through coercion or threats; second, power obtained through payment or inducement; and third, power gained through attraction. The power obtained through coercion, threats, payment, or inducement—that is, force or tactics—is called ‘hard power,’ while the power gained through ‘attraction’ without using force is called ‘soft power.’ Additionally, the ability to effectively achieve your goals using coercion, payment, and attraction is known as ‘smart power.’ Depending on the situation, we may need all three types; however, soft power is something that everyone admires. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”

One of the most common misconceptions is that people mistake cause and effect as interchangeable. A cause is often seen as an effect, or an effect is mistaken for a cause. The most well-known phenomenon demonstrating this is the halo effect — a situation where specific characteristics of an object influence how we judge other traits. For example, you might like that person’s character because you like one of their qualities, not because you like the person as a whole. This misunderstanding is a common causal error. If you like someone, you tend to think everything about them is good; if you don’t like someone, you might overlook or dislike everything about them. It’s not that you dislike the person for one reason and like them for another—it’s simply how the human heart works. Gaining someone’s favor, therefore, can be an arduous and painful process. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”

In the West, human thinking has primarily developed through formal logic. In formal logic, truth and falsehood cannot coexist. However, in Eastern thinking, it is seen as possible. Some Western dialectical ideas were already recognized in the East. Three main dialectical concepts are: first, reality is constantly changing, so what is true now can become false later (the principle of fluctuation). Second, due to this ongoing change, contradictions always emerge, and these contradictions drive further change (the principle of contradiction). Third, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, and each part relates to the whole (the principle of relationality or holism). This is reflected in yin and yang in Eastern philosophy and Taoism. Eastern thinking regards contradictions, confrontations, and change as natural phenomena. This mindset difference also influences management and investment. If the economy improves, Westerners tend to believe it will keep improving, while Asians often ...

The cultural differences between the East and the West sometimes stem from the natural environment, but they are generally believed to arise from differences in thinking. In other words, Asians tend to understand relationships and similarities by grasping the context of certain events and situations, while Westerners often focus on rules and categories by concentrating on objects. Therefore, Asians believe that even beings far apart influence each other, and Westerners believe that a certain phenomenon occurs only when they are in direct contact. However, the irony is that the West, not the East, has communicated over long distances using invisible magnetic fields or radio waves. The consistency of phenomena does not always produce the same results as expected. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”

A five-year study found that employee emotions significantly impact a company’s success. Interestingly, when an employee makes a mistake and isn’t punished, they tend to perform better. A company wants its employees to try, experiment, and succeed, but it is hard for the company to grow if employees are blamed when they make mistakes or fail. Over time, the company can unintentionally become a bureaucracy, which discourages employees from working effectively. Conversely, when employees and the company work together toward the same goal, great success follows. We mistakenly believe that giving employees monetary bonuses will motivate them. However, more factors can encourage people than just money. Not only is money a limited motivator, but it is also costly compared to its effectiveness. When a company becomes an unpleasant place to work, managers, employees, shareholders, and customers all become unhappy. But when it becomes a good place to work, everyone is happy. There’s no ambiguou...

A hotel in the United States operated a call center to serve customers. The top call center employee received an additional bonus equal to one-third of their monthly salary. However, the same person was always the best employee. Here’s a question: for a company’s performance to improve, should bonuses go to those who perform well or to those who do not? Giving bonuses to underperformers can boost overall performance. The top employees are already performing at their best; their performance doesn’t significantly change. Just as paying a singer more doesn’t necessarily mean they sing better, paying less doesn’t mean they sing worse. In call centers, the best employees should be promoted to higher ranks and receive higher base salaries, not just bonuses. Offering bonuses primarily to those who are directly affected by them is the right motivational strategy. The purpose of a bonus is to influence those who can still improve, not to reward those already excelling. Money is simply a fundame...