The Structure of Loyal-Minister Exclusion and Organizational Rigidity in Zhenguan Zhengyao
1. Question
Why do exclusionary personnel decisions make an organization rigid and ultimately lead it to collapse?
2. Abstract
For a state or an organization, human talent is originally one of its most important resources. Even so, when we look back at history, there are many cases in which capable people who supported a state or an organization were excluded or purged.
For example, in the Spring and Autumn period, King Fuchai of Wu fulfilled his revenge against Yue, but then excluded his famous minister Wu Zixu, and his state was later destroyed. Fan Li, who served King Goujian of Yue and contributed to the fall of Wu, resigned from office and left Yue, saying that one can endure hardship together with a ruler, but cannot share wealth and honor with him. This symbolizes a pattern in which, after success, an organization can no longer retain valuable people.
Seen as a personal survival strategy, such judgment may be rational. However, from the perspective of OS Organizational Design Theory, the decline of Human Resource Governance, H, directly leads to a decline in the health of the OS. In other words, the fact that capable people leave, or are excluded, is itself already a sign of organizational collapse.
This study examines the dialogues between Emperor Taizong and his ministers in Zhenguan Zhengyao and analyzes structurally why loyal and capable people come to be excluded.
3. Method
This study extracts, as Layer 1 facts, passages in Zhenguan Zhengyao in which Emperor Taizong and his ministers discuss cases where loyal ministers were excluded.
It then reconstructs, in Layer 2, why loyal and capable people are excluded and what happens inside the organization when this occurs. Finally, in Layer 3, it derives insights that remain applicable to modern organizations.
4. Layer 1: Fact
1) The destruction of loyal ministers means the loss of a state’s capacity for self-preservation
In Chapter 1 of the Against Slanderers and Sycophants section, Taizong says that those who slander and flatter are pests to the state, and that foolish and mediocre rulers are misled by them, with the result that loyal ministers and filial sons suffer under false charges.
The same chapter also presents the exclusion and execution of the Northern Qi general Hulu Mingyue and the Sui statesman Gao Jiong as cases that later led to state decline. What is shown here is the recognition that the exclusion of loyal people is not merely a personnel loss, but the loss of the state’s capacity for self-preservation itself.
2) Upright people fall silent, and flatterers draw near
In Chapter 3 of the Seeking Remonstrance section, Taizong says that if a ruler suspects his ministers, the realities below cannot reach above, and ministers cannot fully devote their loyalty and judgment. He also says that ignorant people work at slander and disturb the relationship between ruler and minister.
This shows a structure in which upright people can no longer function, while accommodating and slanderous people move closer to the superior. Once the exclusion of capable people begins, it is not only one loyal minister that is lost. The composition of the organization’s human resources itself begins to change.
3) Fear of the ruler produces silence
In Chapter 1 of the Seeking Remonstrance section, Taizong says that under a cruel ruler like Emperor Yang of Sui, ministers shut their mouths tightly and never let him hear of his faults, and as a result the state came to ruin. He also says that close attendants such as Yu Shiji, though heavily favored, feared anger if they remonstrated against the ruler’s faults, and merely accommodated him, only to be killed in the end.
What is shown here is a structure in which the ruler’s intimidation and the fear he creates silence ministers, and the corrective information necessary for the organization stops moving.
4) The ruler’s arbitrary rule causes frank speech to disappear
In Chapter 3 of the Seeking Remonstrance section, it is said that a wise ruler knows that he has faults, listens to the loyal advice of his ministers, and works to correct them, and therefore becomes better and better. By contrast, a foolish ruler protects his own faults and refuses the remonstrance of his ministers, and therefore remains foolish.
This shows the structure in which frank speech itself disappears once the superior closes the corrective path by himself. Arbitrary rule is therefore not only a result. It is also a cause that cuts off corrective information.
5) If the ruler is foolish and violent, even wise ministers cannot save the state
In Chapter 1 of the Against Slanderers and Sycophants section, cases are presented in which dark and mediocre rulers are misled by slanderers and flatterers, loyal ministers suffer false charges, and the state falls into disorder. In other words, even if wise and loyal ministers exist, if the ruler himself is foolish and brutal, their corrective function cannot live, and the state cannot be saved.
What is shown here is that the mere existence of excellent people is not enough. It is the judgment structure on the side of the superior that ultimately decides the life or death of the state.
5. Layer 2: Order
From these facts, the problem of personnel exclusion in Zhenguan Zhengyao can be understood not as a mere unfair personnel action, but as a phenomenon that simultaneously deteriorates the organization’s information structure, decision-making structure, and human structure.
First, behind the exclusion of capable people lies a structure in which the superior no longer accepts inconvenient information or opposing opinions. Loyal and wise ministers bring into the organization the realistic recognition and corrective information that it needs. However, if the superior rejects such input as unpleasant, corrective information is transformed into dangerous information, and “those who say what is right” become the targets of exclusion.
What is happening at this point is not merely a breakdown of human relations.
Inside the organization, four changes begin to develop.
1) The exclusion of personnel produces the death of information
Once people begin to be excluded, the organization starts to prioritize not “what is right” but “what is dangerous to say.” As a result, problems are no longer raised, the field falls silent, and the upper layer makes decisions without knowing reality.
In this sense, personnel exclusion is not merely a human loss. It is an act that stops the circulation of information inside the organization.
2) The exclusion of personnel brings about organizational rigidity
Once information no longer moves upward, speaking itself becomes a behavioral risk. Everyone begins to prioritize the avoidance of responsibility and avoids making judgments or taking action on their own.
As a result, decision-making becomes formalized, neither the field nor the upper layer can perform its original role, and organizational functions themselves gradually become rigid.
3) The exclusion of personnel causes the spread of self-protective people
In an environment where loyal and capable people are excluded, the survival purpose of the OS is displaced by the self-protection of the members. As a result, those who face reality and propose necessary measures are treated as deviants, while those skilled in accommodation and self-protection, in other words yes-men, multiply.
At this stage, the organization is not only losing people. It is also distorting the very selection standard that decides what kind of people can survive.
4) The exclusion of personnel creates an irreversible spiral of deterioration
When people are excluded, members turn toward self-protection and keep silent. As a result, the OS loses the chance to correct its own recognition and begins to repeat wrong judgments. Failures accumulate, and when they pass the critical point, organizational collapse becomes visible all at once.
However, one important point must be noted: not every exclusion of personnel has the same meaning. The exclusion of harmful flatterers and the exclusion of wise ministers are completely different in result. To distinguish between them, the exclusion must be judged in light of the OS’s original purpose, that is, its survival purpose.
For this reason, OS Organizational Design Theory requires not only Human Resource Governance, H, but also the Validity of the OS’s Decision Criteria, V.
Accordingly, the health of the OS can be expressed as follows:
Health of the OS = A × IA × H × V
If an organization is filled with people driven by self-protection, personnel exclusion is highly likely to damage the OS’s survival purpose. In that case, both H and V decline, and the health of the OS as a whole becomes low.
By contrast, if a person who is truly harmful to the organization is appropriately excluded, H and V function in a direction consistent with the OS’s survival purpose, and the health of the OS rises.
Therefore, the problem is not the presence or absence of exclusion itself.
The essential criterion is whether the exclusion is a valid judgment consistent with the OS’s survival purpose.
6. Layer 3: Insight
A structural reading of Zhenguan Zhengyao shows that the exclusion of personnel is not merely the loss of “one useful person.” It is an act that redefines the criteria by which the organization decides what to protect and what to treat as dangerous.
As a result, the following chain develops inside the organization.
1) The exclusion of personnel produces the death of information
When capable or loyal people are excluded, “safety” becomes more important than “rightness” inside the organization. Problems are no longer raised, the field falls silent, and the upper layer no longer sees reality. The organization loses its channel for realistic recognition and becomes blind.
2) The exclusion of personnel produces organizational rigidity
In an environment where speaking becomes punishable, nobody wants to take responsibility. As a result, judgment and proposal stop, and the organization tries to survive by not moving. This means that organizational function stops and becomes rigid.
3) The exclusion of personnel multiplies self-protective people
When exclusion becomes normal, the self-protection of individual members becomes more important than the OS’s survival purpose. Yes-men multiply, and those who argue for the measures necessary for the organization are excluded as deviants. The organization then moves not by rationality of purpose, but by rationality of self-protection.
4) The exclusion of personnel produces an irreversible spiral of deterioration
As exclusion advances, members fall silent, corrective information is lost, and the OS repeats misjudgments. Failures accumulate, and when they pass the critical point, collapse appears to happen suddenly. In reality, however, organizational collapse has been progressing quietly long before that moment.
This shows that the problem of personnel exclusion is not only a problem of H, but also a problem of V. If the judgment about who should be excluded is not valid in light of the OS’s survival purpose, the exclusion turns into self-destruction.
Therefore, the health of the OS must again be confirmed by the following formula:
Health of the OS = A × IA × H × V
- A (Recognition): correct recognition of reality
- IA (Information Structure): a structure in which necessary information rises and correction can work
- H (Human Resource Governance): a structure in which capable people are appointed and loyal ministers are protected
- V (Validity of the OS’s Decision Criteria): whether judgments of exclusion and appointment are consistent with the OS’s survival purpose
Thus, personnel exclusion is dangerous not simply because it creates loss. It is dangerous because it spreads distorted criteria throughout the organization about what is dangerous to say and who deserves to survive, and thereby lowers the health of the OS itself.
7. Implications for the Present
The same principle applies to modern organizations. Sometimes organizations use retaliatory personnel actions or demonstrative exclusion to bind people through fear and make them follow the will of the top. However, such personnel exclusion turns the organization into a yes-man structure and becomes a factor that distorts realistic recognition.
As a result, wrong judgments are repeated, failures accumulate, and one day the organization appears to collapse suddenly. In reality, however, the collapse has been progressing quietly for a long time through the loss of corrective functions and the stoppage of information circulation.
Therefore, what modern organizations should fear is not merely an increase in turnover.
What must be watched is whether a structure has emerged in which “those who say what is right disappear, and only those who accommodate remain.” There lies the true sign of organizational collapse.
8. Conclusion
The exclusion of personnel is not merely the loss of one valuable person. It is an act that shows what kind of people the organization protects and what kind of people it treats as dangerous. It therefore becomes the starting point for the later spread of yes-men, information distortion, functional rigidity, and collapse.
What must truly be asked is not whether exclusion took place or not. The real question is whether that exclusion was a valid judgment consistent with the survival purpose of the OS, or whether it was a distorted judgment driven by fear and self-protection.
Personnel exclusion is not merely a personnel problem.
It is a core problem of governance that affects the organization’s information structure, decision criteria, and survival capacity.
Therefore, the exclusion of personnel makes an organization rigid because it replaces the standards of speaking, correction, and appointment with fear and self-protection.
9. Source Texts
Harada Tanenari, Shinshaku Kanbun Taikei: Zhenguan Zhengyao (Vol. 1), Meiji Shoin, 1978.
Harada Tanenari, Shinshaku Kanbun Taikei: Zhenguan Zhengyao (Vol. 2), Meiji Shoin, 1978.