22 Unwritten Rules of the Chinese Office (Something You Should Read After Graduating) – Truly Classic

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Those who work quickly, come and take a look, and experience it----*--- 1. There must be a circle. No matter what one does, it’s like creating one’s own prison: if one doesn’t join a group, they become an enemy to everyone ； By joining one circle, you become an enemy of another ； Joining two circles is the same as not joining any circles at all. Only those elite who seek to defeat all rivals on their own can completely avoid the troubles associated with groups – such people usually have only one group, and that group consists of just the boss alone. 2. It is necessary to strive to become second. Your rank is proportional to the number of people who help you—if you’re first, you’ll end up second due to a lack of help ； Being in second place always means having more support, but the downside is that one can never become first. 3. It is necessary to understand the definition of responsibilities. Duties are the tasks that you must carry out, but the rule of survival in the office is that duties encompass all tasks other than those that you must do. 4. One must attend every dinner party. If you participate, your remarks at the dinner will turn into rumors ； If you don’t participate, your rumors will turn into talk at the dinner table. 5. One must understand the Eight Trigrams theorem. By becoming close friends with one or more colleagues, all your flaws and private matters will be exposed in the office ； If you become close friends with one or fewer colleagues, everyone will be interested in your flaws and private matters. 6. It must be understood that working overtime is an art. If you do your work during working hours, you will be considered not diligent enough for not working overtime ； If you don’t do your work during working hours, you will be considered inefficient and forced to work overtime. 7. One must be skilled at accepting criticism. Faced with your supervisor’s judgment that you are right and lack the ability to understand the issue ； Thinking you’re wrong and that you lack the ability to solve problems – the best way to accept mistakes is to avoid talking about them. Last rule: do not discuss fairness with the boss. 8. It is necessary to understand the meaning of the phrase “it’s good to be confused sometimes”. Being confused makes people think you lack determination, while not being confused makes people think you’re difficult to get along with – the art of knowing when to be confused lies in choosing the right moment for it; when to be confused depends on the extent to which you are not confused. 9. It must be understood that collectivism is a choice. If you don’t support the decision of the majority, your idea will not be approved ； If you support the decision of the majority, it will reduce your chances of promotion—those with ability always stand against the group. 10. Seniority must be taken into account. If you don’t acknowledge your seniors, they won’t give you a chance for promotion ； If you acknowledge your seniors, then you won’t have a chance to get promoted until they do – the whole purpose of seniority is to prepare for the day when you will be in front of them. 11. Ranking of intelligence must be prohibited. Geniuses should avoid offending mediocrities, although geniuses will inevitably offend them—mediocrities never really like to be around geniuses. 12. One must learn the skills of not negotiating. If conflicts over interests are resolved face to face, they become unsolvable ； If it isn’t resolved face to face, it won’t be truly solved. A fundamental principle is that conflicts of interest will never be resolved. 13. It is necessary to understand the purpose of the existence of secrets. If something becomes a secret, its purpose is for it to be known. If everyone knows a secret, you must say you don’t know it ； Similarly, if everyone who knows the secret says they don’t know, it can be inferred that everyone knows it. 14. It must be understood that holding meetings is a way. What can be spoken of is not the eternal Way ； That which can be named is a name; that which cannot be named is not a name. One must speak in meetings, but the speech cannot have any content. If what you have to say is meaningful, it’s better to stay silent—the purpose of a meeting is to find a solution to a problem, and in most cases, that solution lies in holding the meeting itself. 15. Marriage status must be kept a secret. It’s a comedy when people in secret marriages fall in love at the office, but it’s a tragedy when single people do the same. The best outcome is that married people experience an office romance ； The worst outcome is that unmarried people end up in an office marriage. Lastly, unless it’s absolutely necessary, never think about pursuing the boss’s female secretary. 16. It is necessary to master more than one high-level language. Advanced languages include mixing foreign languages into Chinese, including flattery within insults, revealing others’ secrets while claiming to uphold confidentiality, and expressing contractual intentions through vulgar jokes. High linguistic skill is of secondary importance; choosing the right moment to speak is what truly matters. Using a high-level language at the wrong time is not as good as using a low-level language at the right time. 17. Financial management must be part of daily life. When the supervisor is around, use the phone as a company phone ； When the supervisor is not around, use the company phone as a personal phone ； Borrowing money from colleagues, but not lending to them ； When meeting strangers, one should be the first to pay the bill; once you become acquaintances, never pay the bill. Last point: never donate more than your superior does. 18. It is necessary to understand the significance of attending training courses. Training courses are not casual spring outings; their purpose is to help you acquire knowledge beyond your job responsibilities ； Since the knowledge you learn is outside your job responsibilities, the training course can be regarded as a relaxing outing. 19. One must learn to put on an act. If you are reliable but not pretentious, most people think you’re not reliable ； If you’re unreliable but always put on a show, everyone thinks you’re reliable. 20. One must understand the constructiveness of superficial appearances. Those who can create meeting slides cannot have private discussions ； Reports can be written; requests cannot be made orally. If you have completed a task but haven’t submitted a plan, it’s as if you didn’t do it at all ； If you don’t do something but still submit a plan, you can treat it as if it’s already done—after all, all business managers who have studied business administration stubbornly believe that reviewing the plan is their job, while execution is the responsibility of those below them. 21. Personal success must be shared with the group. Everyone is a candle – meant to light oneself and illuminate others; if you only light yourself, your future will be dark ； If you only illuminate others, you will turn to ashes. 22. Rules must be followed. To be a rule-abiding person, please act in accordance with the obvious rules ； If you want to be seen as a person who follows the rules, act in accordance with the unspoken rules. Explicit rules and implicit rules are often opposite to each other; therefore, when they conflict, following the explicit rules while acting according to the implicit rules constitutes the highest rule.