[原创]Learn From Wei ShuSheng (魏书生)

Last weekend my family visited my brother-in-law who is a teacher. During a chat, he recommend that we have a look at how Wei ShuSheng (魏书生), one of the most famous educators in China, teaches Chinese language for his students, especially how he has magically turned those poor students who were both naughty and unruly into such well-behaved students that they were able to conduct excellent self-governance and focus on study even when their Teacher Wei was absent for a month. What’s more, the performance of his students is unbelievably terrific. This is definitely thought-provoking on how to educate kids, my brother-in-law said.

 

Brother-in-law was definitely right. Teacher Wei’s pedagogy (teaching methods) is also a good reference from the viewpoint of management and leadership.

 

Teacher Wei says that education is to help students enhance superb self-learning capabilities and cultivate good habits. Stories like tuition collection and teacher’s stopping teaching at students’ night self-learning times etc shed some interesting light on Teacher Wei’s Way (a term I’d like to coin): unless students’ desire to learn are awaken and provoked, it’s difficult if not impossible for teachers to teach anything to students no matter how hard they work; on the other hand, once students’ desire is flamed, students will become their own masters and right learning methods will naturally be identified and used. Consequently, they need little help from their teachers. With this mind, I think it’s true when Wei ShuSheng claimed that he was the least hard working teacher in China (he didn’t give a class at all since the nineties last century). However, this doesn’t mean that Teacher Wei indulges his students. On the contrary, numerous rules and regulations are in place and they have created marvelous environment in which students are encouraged to become effective and efficient self-learning masters.

 

Incidentally, this sort of “systematical governance” is further developed when Wei ShuSheng was promoted to be head of the local educational bureau.

 

In an organization, everyone is expected to take initiative to solve problems encountered and to learn new skills to tackle the ever changing business environment. However, if people are not motivated to proactively take innovative measures to deal with ever emerging new issues and problems, how can we expect that those issues will be talked at the right time by the right methods? Experience tells us that without proper motivation and incentives even outstanding staff may gradually become blurred among common work force, for most people, smart or average, are quick to sense what really matters in a company. Once the whole work force is indifferent to changes and issues that are vital to the survival and/or prosperity of the company, even hard working management doesn’t make a difference to the overall performance of the company. Management can’t do everything, which may kill the business, by themselves after all. Actually, it’s impossible for management to correct all of the costly inappropriate actions taken by unconcerned staff and operatives. On the other hand, once people in a company are motivated and they are passionate about their work, they will proactively do everything possible to identify root causes of matters encountered, and take innovative measures to eliminate their recurrence because the company is their own business and they will never regard something that is in the way of company’s continuous prosperity as “none of their business” even if that something is outside of their duties and responsibilities. In cases like this, what management needs to do is to work with its people to create a better environment (in the form of rules, policies, processes and corporate culture etc) where everyone is easier to make a difference. In short, perhaps Teacher Wei’s Way helps us understand what collaborative managment (无为而治) means from another angle. (For some additional information, you may refer to On Collaborative Managment (无为而治) )

 

According to Jim Collins and Jack Welch, right people first, right things second. Now Teacher Wei’s Way reminds us of this: as a service provider, conduct elaborate studies on the people you’re going to serve, tap people’s potential and create a favor environment to materialize their potential, and then those people will become the right people who are able to do right things. Since Wei ShuSheng is a teacher whose ultimate objective is to provide education to students while most companies’ objective is to make money and be a responsible corporate citizen, his teaching methods can’t be used directly by business managers. For example, to hire and fire is one of the most challenging jobs managers have to do; Teacher Wei’s Way prompts us to think twice before weeding the garden, which, however, has to be weeded.

 

To sum up, a study on Wei ShuSheng may provide us with excellent food for thought. I’m glad that this little article just acts as an usher.

 

 

 

 

 

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