Law of Siphon Effect

Author: Wang Yan (Editor)
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-09-01
Features: Peter Drucker, a renowned management scholar, once aptly pointed out, "The 'Wine and Sewage Law' is the most classic and dominant principle in corporate talent management!" The human-centric management culture of trend leaders emphasizes that modern enterprise management must be based on a people-oriented perspective. The Bible clearly states the principle of valuing people: "We are all like sheep who wander, each following their own path." Therefore, talent management must guide the 'sheep' onto a single path, screen and direct group talent, remove the destructive 'sewage,' and align the strengths of qualified individuals toward a common goal—this is talent management.
The classic description of the 'Wine and Sewage Law' is as follows: It refers to pouring a spoonful of sewage into a barrel of wine, resulting in a barrel of sewage. In any organization, there are usually a few difficult people whose purpose seems to be to ruin things. What's worse is that they are like rotten apples in a fruit basket—if not dealt with promptly, they can quickly spread and corrupt the other apples. The terrifying aspect of the "rotten apple" lies in its extraordinary destructive power. A virtuous and capable person entering a chaotic department may be overwhelmed, while an incompetent and talentless individual can quickly turn an efficient department into a disorganized mess. Organizational systems are often fragile, built on mutual understanding, compromise, and tolerance, and are easily damaged or poisoned.
Another important reason why destroyers are so formidable is that destruction is easier than construction. A master craftsman may spend days meticulously crafting a piece of porcelain, but a donkey can destroy it in a minute. If an organization has such a donkey, even with numerous master craftsmen, it will produce few outstanding results. If such a donkey exists in an organizational team, it should be removed; if that is not possible, it should be tied up.