Some Basic Insights into "The System" (Tizhi)

Take this simple multiple-choice question, and you will understand your prospects within the system.
Suppose you are the top leader (No. 1) of a certain department, and a position under you has opened up. Currently, there are several candidates:

• 1. A relative who has repeatedly expressed a desire to advance;
• 2. A secretary who has completely won your trust;
• 3. An office "workhorse" who silently does the heavy lifting;
• 4. An acquaintance who, once in office, can pull strings and bring helpful connections to you;
• 5. A subordinate who is absolutely loyal and aligned with you;
• 6. A former rival who isn't afraid of trouble and tends to stir up controversy;
• 7. A menacing nemesis who holds dirt on you;
• 8. A former leader of outstanding capability who is currently sidelined;
• 9. A classmate whom a powerful figure capable of shielding you wants to plant inside;

Your choices are actually similar to those of your superiors. If you can mentally simulate how they make choices—not seeing them as strangers, but as ordinary people just like yourself, who may harbor ideals alongside selfish desires, ambitions alongside greed—

Then you will no longer need to seek standard answers from others; instead, you will understand this system on your own.

Now, please try to understand several key characteristics of the system:

Why do so many people inside the system choose to "lie flat"? Why is it said that "the more you do, the more mistakes you make"? Why do so many emphasize learning how to say no? Why are state-owned enterprises (SOEs) inefficient?

Please take five minutes to reflect on this and list a few reasons.

Think based on your priority order for promotions: in your current position, what kind of people do you think you need to promote in order to secure your foothold? Who comes first, and who comes later?

Please take five minutes to think it over and sort out the relationships here.

Follow this chain of logic, truly start recognizing the world you live in, and based on your thoughts just now, ponder those big questions: such as domestic operating systems, photolithography machines, Shenzhou spacecraft, the nuclear industry, nuclear wastewater, high-speed rail, etc.

For instance, take five minutes: suppose you are the second-in-command of an SOE in a sub-provincial city. Now the state is beginning to emphasize domestic operating systems. You have a pool of funds, about 50 million yuan. This 50 million can be used to build local subways, industrial parks, or invested in industries like automobiles—or, of course, simply left untouched on the balance sheet.

Now think about who would want to control this money. How would your superiors, subordinates, colleagues, and political rivals respectively influence the decision?

How does spending this money affect your own promotion?

Take five minutes to think about it.

Now suppose the R&D timeline for a domestic operating system is about ten years. Currently, three teams want to secure this funding. These teams are:

1. An academician from the Institute of Computing Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, leading five PhD students;
2. An Alibaba P10 who writes Java every day, leading five HR personnel;
3. A Stanford MBA leading five University of Sydney graduates;
4. The son of a minister-level official, graduated from UC Berkeley, leading five sons of various "uncles";
5. A real estate boss, bringing 500 million in cash and an industrial park master plan;

Now decide which teams to invest in. Note that your next promotion window is probably in 3 to 5 years. However, after deep conversations with a certain secretary, you discover that developing a viable OS might take about 10 years, yet someone else tells you that one could actually be produced in three years.

At the same time, you need to consider what criteria your superiors will use to promote you, and how your political opponents might attack you.

Take five minutes to consider this.

Now switch your identity: you are the top leader (No. 1) of this sub-provincial city. You are currently concerned about several matters:

1. The pressure of local government debt is overwhelming; massive amounts of interest must be paid each month, and this landmine cannot detonate on your watch.
2. You need to produce tangible achievements so your former patrons have a legitimate reason to promote you.
3. Arriving in this place alone without an entourage, people above and below are bound to try to pull the wool over your eyes; the only person you trust is your secretary.
4. A certain SOE has a sum of money, and you hold personnel authority over it. How do you maximize the utility of these funds?
5. You know that five teams currently want to secure this money, and you know who is backing each of them—after all, there are no secrets inside the system.

Now consider: what determines whether you exercise your personnel recommendation power in this person's favor? What would you want him to do for you to recommend him?

Take five minutes to think about it.

Now switch identities again: suppose you are the third-in-command of this SOE. Ten years ago, when he was just a petty section chief, you squeezed him out. Now he has become the top boss. You maintain a polite facade, but if you don't bring him down, you won't be able to rise; that top position should have been yours, but unfortunately his backing was too formidable. Now you know the enterprise plans to invest a sum of money, and it seems the top boss intends to use it to divide the spoils. You want to either discreetly bring him down, or seize this opportunity to mend ties and grab a piece of the pie. Alternatively, perhaps you are an idealist who truly wants to contribute to a domestic operating system and spend the money where it ought to be spent—even if doing so might offend everyone. What should you do?

Take five minutes to think about it.

If you think my hypothetical scenarios are too absurd and lean toward biased conclusions, let me offer one last set of assumptions.

Suppose the leader of this SOE is your own father. What kind of decision would he make? Or you can imagine him as any relative you know quite well: what decision would they make?

The differences between people are not as vast as you might think. As long as your chain of thought extends a bit further, you will harbor fewer illusions and possess more realistic grounding.

Hopefully, this rudimentary insights will be of some help when you choose your major and map out your future career.