Zeng Guofan believes that the most taboo thing is to talk high-mindedly, but there is no reality at all. When explaining what "real" means, he said: Those who are real do not talk big, they are not good at making a false name, they do not do things that are empty, and they do not talk about overly high principles.
Therefore, in his opinion, "It is better to know ten points about things in the world, than to score seven points for deeds." "If you know a word, you can do it." Li Yuandu led the troops to fight as a scholar, and Zeng Guofan was very uneasy about him, and repeatedly told him that he should be detailed in his military reports and not "empty auspicious words". In March of the tenth year of Xianfeng, Li Yuandu was ordered to defend Huizhou, and Zeng Guofan agreed with him in five chapters, the first of which was to ask him to "quit floating", that is, "those who do not need the good words of literati".
Management itself is a kind of practice, and management should return to the most basic elements, which is what Zeng Guofan said, "military is an extremely qualitative thing", that is, what Hu Linyi said, "can be rough and then refined, can be down-to-earth to use the wonder, and have one mind". If an organization can't do even superficial and simple things, such an organization, no matter how bluffing people on the surface, will also have problems.
△ Photo of Dingyuan Ship Source: "Shandong Museum" WeChat public account
Before the Sino-Japanese War, the Qing government purchased a large number of warships from Germany and other countries, and built a Beiyang naval division, known as the eighth in the world and the first in Asia, of which the "Dingyuan" and "Zhenyuan" are both ironclad ships with a displacement of 7,400 tons, and they are also the only two ironclad ships in Asia. Japan militarism has long regarded the Beiyang naval division as a thorn in its side, but because the country is small and weak, it cannot afford ironclad ships like "Dingyuan" and "Zhenyuan", so it can only build three warships with a displacement of 3,000 tons to 5,000 tons under the guidance of France engineers and name them "Sanjing Ships" to deal with "Dingyuan" and "Zhenyuan."
Even so, the Japanese were still not confident that they could defeat the Beiyang Naval Division. But one of the things that happened later made the Japanese realize that they could defeat the Beiyang Naval Division, that is, when the Beiyang Naval Division visited Japan and the Japanese Navy visited the ship according to the custom, the clothes of the Beiyang Naval Division soldiers were found drying on the main guns of the Beiyang Marine Division's battleship. The main gun is the most sacred thing in the Navy, how can it be allowed to dry clothes on it? From this, the Japanese concluded that the internal management of the Beiyang Naval Division was extremely chaotic.
Sure enough, after the First Sino-Japanese Naval Battle began, the Beiyang Naval Division had problems in almost every link, and the entire combat system soon collapsed. We all know the outcome of the Sino-Japanese Naval Battle: the Beiyang Naval Division was completely destroyed, while not a single ship of the Japan Navy was sunk. In terms of hardware, the Beiyang Naval Division is not inferior to the Japan Navy, or even above it, and the difference is real management.
△ Hunan Army guards in Niuzhuang during the First Sino-Japanese War Source: "National Humanities and History" WeChat public account
The Hunan army selects people and does things in a real way, thus forming a very simple culture.
Zeng Guofan once said: The benefits of Chu Junshui and Lu Shi are all in the absence of official spirit and blood, if the official spirit increases by one point, the blood will be reduced by one point.
The biggest advantage of the Hunan Army's naval division and land division is that it is real, and there is no hypocrisy, anything to put on a show, or something to save face. Some are just a simple, real blood. If there is more on the shelf, there will be less for the real thing.
Tsang Kwok-fan warned: "As the years go by, it will inevitably become a habit, so we should stop it." "Over time, any organization will inevitably be tainted with the habits of the yamen, and this is something we must be very vigilant about, because it is this habit that will hollow out the foundation of an organization.
He also said: I have a Chu teacher's atmosphere, I am still simple and hard-working. Lao Xiangying abides by the law, so its reputation has endured.
The culture of the Hunan army is roughly six words: "still simple, hard-working." "Lao Xiangjun abides by such a principle, so he can build an evergreen career.
"Still simple and hard-working" is the source of the Hunan army's combat effectiveness. What did the Hunan army rely on to win the war? It is this solid, tangible culture that depends on it.
Zeng Guofan's management style, on the surface, seems to give people a very stupid feeling, but it is very solid, this is like the dam of the reservoir, a layer of soil is tamped, a layer of soil is compacted, very slow, but once it is built, no matter how big the flood is, it will not collapse. You can also push a dam out of a bulldozer overnight, but when the flood comes, it will be washed away.
There were dozens of ministers who practiced the same group training as Zeng Guofan, Zeng Guofan was actually just one of these dozens of group training ministers, why did the group training of other people quickly disappear, and even the name was not left, but Zeng Guofan's Hunan army achieved a career? Because no one is willing to do such stupid kung fu as Zeng Guofan, or real kung fu. This kind of superficial clumsy kung fu is precisely what makes him special.
This is true for the management of the army, and the same is true for management. Liu Chuanzhi once explained why he puts so much emphasis on management fundamentals: "The reason why I put so much emphasis on management fundamentals is because the business environment always changes, whether it is because of competitors or other reasons. At the critical moment, it can be seen that the management foundation is not solid, and the flag is raised, and the three armies can move, and there are rules and laws; The battle was lost, and the team was not in chaos. It's power. ”