The Way of Tao

As a partnership, Sagebrush is committed to excellence.  Yet we are as much about striving for excellence as we are about avoiding the destructive appetites of possession and yearning for more.  The strength of our values is founded in our culture.  And just as each corporation has its own culture, so too do we have our own unique attitude toward doing business – one that dates back to 600 B.C.

Our Way of Business is Epitomized in The Way of Tao.

[      Taoism is neither a school of thought nor a religion.  Rather it is a way of thinking.  Simply defined, Tao is about "following the flow" and "embracing the Way."

 

[      Tao is about balance.  It recognizes how strength comes from balance and how universal forces tend toward balance.  The most common metaphor used for Tao is the element of water.  Wherever it is found, water naturally flows down the easiest path until it finds a peaceful state of balance and equanimity.

[      Tao is about causality.  Each decision can lead to a cascade of consequences.  Tao recognizes the importance of being conscientious in one's decision-making and how each decision must be carefully assessed beforehand.

[      Tao is about reciprocity.  It recognizes the inherent goodness of all people and the propagation of good through reciprocity.  “Do good” and others will, in turn, be galvanized to do good.  Like the molecular lattice of ice, we live in an interdependent world.   And in this world, every person can be an agent of good.

[      Tao is also about cyclicality.  It recognizes that many things in this world including time are cyclical.  Seasons are cyclical as are markets.  And yet cyclicality is a necessary condition for restoring balance.  The same flood that can destroy a village can be the very agent for ensuring a bountiful harvest.

 

While modern Western business teachings insist on promoting the ideas of self-empowerment and individual control, Taoism recognizes the dangers thereof and how the idea of control can be but a mere illusion.  Yet not all Western teachings refute the Way of Tao.  Instead, Taoist principles can be found as an underpinning to some of the most powerful contemporary Western ideas on capitalism.

At the top of the list, there is perhaps no greater Taoist philosopher than the great economist, Adam Smith.  Smith speaks of “the Way" of the Invisible Hand.  Like water: "capital will flow according to its own nature; the invisible hand."  He further notes in The Wealth of Nations how capital can grow rapidly from a trickle to a gush.  "Money, says the proverb, makes money. When you have got a little, it is often easy to get more. The great difficulty is to get that little.”

High on the list of contemporary Taoist business leaders is Warren Buffett.  Behind the surface of Berkshire Hathaway is a de-centralized management philosophy that likewise reflects the principles of Tao.   Buffett has been known to instruct his subordinates to: ''let me know about any bad news as soon as possible, but otherwise, you are free to call me as often or as seldom as you like." When asked of his reasons for deferring to his managers, his reply: "is simply that I am not inclined to make myself unhappy. I sort of accept things as they come.''

The Way of Tao has many applications to business.  And Sagebrush has found one such application in the way of money management.

For further information on Taoism and business, please visit our dissertation on "New Management Principles for the 21st Century: the Way of Tao."