Learning from strong points to make up for shortcomings: Source from "Mencius Teng Wengong 1" written by Meng Ke of the Pre-Qin Dynasty: "Today Teng's strong points make up for its shortcomings, even if it is fifty miles away, it can still be a good country."

〔Allusion 〕Mencius is a typical representative of Confucianism and a very famous politician and thinker during the Warring States Period in my country. He is academically knowledgeable and kind-hearted, so he is respected by many people. Whenever people encounter difficulties or problems, they always ask Mencius for advice. And Mencius would also explain principles to people very kindly and politely and provide good suggestions. He likes to help people solve problems and solve problems.

During the Warring States Period, there were many scattered vassal states, some powerful and some weak. Teng State is a very weak country. Many powerful vassal states wanted to invade it and occupy its land and people. The Teng State was weak and could not stand up to the big vassal states, and it could not tolerate so many countries bullying it. The whole country has no choice but to seek protection from the big powers. Teng Wengong felt that it was not a long-term solution to simply let the big powers protect him. Moreover, a big country will not protect Teng State in vain, it will put forward many conditions. To get its protection, you must agree to these conditions, otherwise the consequences will be disastrous.

Only by making Teng rich and powerful can it no longer be bullied by other countries and no longer need to seek protection from big powers. This is the root of the problem. But the people of Teng didn't know how to make the country rich and strong. So Teng Wengong summoned all the ministers to discuss ways to strengthen the country. But after discussing for a long time, they didn't know how to make the country rich and strong. After they heard about Mencius' reputation, Teng Wengong personally asked Mencius for advice. Mencius encouraged Teng Wengong and told him that if he wanted the country to be prosperous and powerful, he must implement benevolent governance. Mencius said: "Confucius had a disciple named Yan Yuan. This man was Confucius's most proud disciple, and he was deeply influenced by Confucius' true heritage. Yan Yuan once said, 'Same kind of person is Shun, and that kind of person is me. He who can make a difference in the whole world Everyone should be like Shun. "Teng cut off the wide areas and added them to the short areas to form a square, and each side would be at least fifty miles long. As long as he implements benevolent government, he can definitely manage it into a square." A prosperous and powerful country."

Later, people summarized the idiom of "learning from each other's strengths to compensate for weaknesses" based on Mencius' words.

Exploit strengths and avoid weaknesses

——Human energy is limited. When you spend your energy on certain aspects, it means that you give up on other aspects at the same time. Instead of spending a lot of energy on transforming weaknesses into strengths, it is better to focus this energy on developing strengths, which will have a higher input-output ratio. To put it simply, people should "exploit their strengths and avoid their weaknesses."

Exploiting strengths and avoiding weaknesses is the right way (text)

Is a rabbit that can swim and run still called a rabbit? My answer is no. In the face of the big bad wolf, the Animal Management Bureau can let the rabbit and the tortoise live together: when encountering a strong enemy on land, the rabbit carrying the tortoise on its back can have both high speed and a strong shell as defense; in the river Here, you can let the tortoise and the hare swim quickly. Therefore, the critic frog has a more rational point of view than the thinker crane. It is better to exploit the strengths and avoid the weaknesses than to make up for the weaknesses and not exploit the strengths. The outstanding advantages can make up for the shortcomings. On the African savannah, the cheetah is undoubtedly the king of grasslands, but what is little known is that although the cheetah can outrun any creature on land, its strength is only equivalent to that of a strong calf, so the cheetah must survive in order to survive. , often running lifelessly from the moment they open their eyes, subduing their prey in an instant with lightning speed. The cheetah does not deliberately make up for its shortcomings in strength, but develops its speed advantage to ascend to the throne of the grassland and adapt to nature. Nature will eventually eliminate the cheetah with mediocre strength and speed, and push it to humans and a society. The talented person may be talented in one aspect and mediocre or even stupid in another aspect, but one outstanding advantage is enough to give him a bright future. Combining everyone's strengths makes the entire team stronger.

In the development process of China's Shenzhou series, it is divided into many systems, including the launch system, the control system, and the guidance system... People who know how to launch rockets may know nothing about the guidance of the spacecraft, but in all aspects When dwarfs with special skills gather together, they can stack up and become an undefeatable giant. On the green field, a team has forwards, central defenders, defenders, and goalkeepers. They all have their own strengths and weaknesses, but a good team faces its opponent not with 11 people, but with one person. This person can score goals, defend, and keep goal. In other words, 11 people have complementary advantages, and using one person's strengths to make up for one person's weaknesses is the way to victory. Just like the Mandarin Duck Formation of the Qi Family Army, several people form a small team. Some draw bows, some hold guns, some hold knives, and the rest hold shields. In this way, during confrontation, effective attacks can be launched from both near and far, and naturally they can fight. Nothing is invincible. So what about those of us who are new to the world? To be a mediocre generalist or an excellent specialist? The latter should be the answer: to be an excellent professional. It is much better to make one aspect of yourself into a delicious meal than to make your whole person into a tasteless piece of meatless food. If you can write brilliantly, you might as well write an amazing work. If you can think quickly, you can synthesize a new type of material. If you can run like flying, you can set a new record. Highlighting one's own strengths and combining the strengths of others to make up for one's own shortcomings is the last word for a person to develop better and faster. From this point of view, the frog can indeed see further than the crane!

In terms of famous sayings

Confucius said: When three people walk together, there must be my teacher. Therefore, the disciple does not have to be inferior to the master, and the master does not have to be better than the disciple. There is a priority in learning the Tao, and there is a specialization in the art, that's all. (There is a lot more in "Shi Shuo")

——Understanding: In daily interactions, there are several people with me, and among them there is always someone who is better than me in one or more aspects; which one should I choose? If something is good, I should learn to follow it; if something is bad, I must not follow the same example, but should learn from it and learn from it.

Zeng Zi (Zeng Shen) proposed that "a gentleman uses literature to make friends, and friends to help benevolence"; when friends meet, they exchange experiences in learning literature, culture and civilization, and learn from each other's strengths and weaknesses to achieve benevolence. Zeng Shen's father, Zeng Xi, expressed his ambition to Confucius. He described that in late spring, "there were five or six crown princes, six or seven boys," five or six adult friends, and six or seven young students, "bathing in Yi, enjoying the wind." "It's almost like dancing and chanting and returning"; swimming in the wind, singing and chanting poems. The magnanimity and far-sightedness of his performance was appreciated by Confucius.

——Experience: In life, how to make friends, Confucius has a saying, "No friends are as good as yourself", which often causes misunderstandings. Confucius means that when making friends, you should make friends with people who are better than me in one or several good aspects, that is, "choose those who are good and follow them." There is a more modest way of saying it: to make friends, you must see that your friends are better than me and learn from them.

"Choose the good ones and follow them, and change the bad ones - that is to say, friends should learn from each other's strengths and help each other.

Example:

Facing defects:

American Andy has only 4 fingers on his right hand. He is an excellent radio host, but being a TV host is his dream. , although Andy has almost all the conditions to be an excellent TV host, the heads of various TV stations rejected him after seeing his disabled hands. After a year and a half of hard work, Andy was finally hired by a TV station. During the audition, Andy wore imitation gloves according to the TV station's advice and faced the audience and his own shortcomings with the most natural attitude. Andy was warmly welcomed because of Andy's sincere, confident and charming hosting. Become an outstanding TV host. Letters from viewers continued to praise Andy's hosting skills and his frankness in facing his flaws. Audiences accepted his flaws.