# The Wu-Wei Strategy By:: [[Brian Heath]] 2022-09-27 In Taoism, there is the paradoxical idea of Wu-Wei. Often it is translated as something akin to effortless inaction to achieve action in human affairs. There is a lot to say about Wu-Wei and I'm hardly a Taoist scholar. However, one may think of it as going with the flow of the river while still performing your task of steering the boat. Trying to go upstream with all of your efforts will not change the flow of the river and you will be exhausted. It's an endless struggle. Going with the flow of the river is the natural order of things and will be much easier. This does not mean that you don't have agency or should not care about the flow of the river. There may still be rocks to avoid and it may be your job to notice those rocks and inform the person steering the boat. But most of the time the natural flow of the river will avoid these rocks and effortless inaction is the best path. Wu-Wei is letting the natural order of things happen, including when it is time for you to perform your function. Forcing it to happen against the natural order of things is wasted effort. Within an organization, we often resist the natural order. Instead, we attempt to [[Trying to Do It All|take control and force things to happen]]. We attempt to force cross-functional alignment or for others to change. This is not the natural order. If the organization is on the path to change, then timing is everything. You can't force an apple tree to grow faster but you can take care of it until it has grown and harvest the fruit many years later. If the organization is not on the path to change, your effort is a waste. You are going upstream. Many problems within organizations have a natural way of resolving themselves and often we act too impulsively and aggressively. We think we can control the universe when we clearly cannot. Instead, do not fight the organization, let problems come to you, and then only take action to steer the boat with the flow of the river. In this way, you make effortless inaction on the path to achieving progress. #### Related Items [[Strategy]] [[Taoism]] [[Wu-Wei]] [[Business]] [[Nature]]