Lord Mengchang hosted a banquet for his retainers, and in the midst of the feast addressed the three gentlemen, saying: "I should like to hear what wise counsel each of you might offer for my instruction." The several gentlemen all replied with deference, saying: "We await your command, we await your command." At this, Feng Yuan (also known as Feng Xuan) spoke up, saying: "I have heard that a fur coat worth a thousand pieces of gold is not made from the underarm fur of a single fox; the ridgepole timber of a great hall is not built from the branches of a single tree; and the laws and statutes established by the former kings are not perfected by the wisdom of a single counselor. Therefore, I hope you will give heed to the principle I speak of—listen widely to diverse opinions and gather worthy talents far and wide—and then the able and ambitious men of the realm may all be put to your service." Lord Mengchang, upon hearing this, said solemnly: "I reverently accept your instruction."
💡 商战启示录
Feng Yuan used the metaphor "a coat of a thousand gold pieces is not made from the fur of a single fox" to illuminate that the essence of Lord Mengchang's patronage lay not in sheer numbers, but in "listening broadly and embracing all" — that is, a decision-maker must break free from singular information sources and establish a multidimensional advisory system. In modern business, many CEOs fall into "information cocoons," relying solely on core executives or consulting firms, akin to taking fur from only one fox, leading to strategic blind spots. For instance, Nokia's executives once clung to the Symbian system, disregarding external developers and user feedback, and were ultimately disrupted by the Android ecosystem. In contrast, Huawei's Ren Zhengfei championed the "Blue Army" mechanism, deliberately establishing a department to play devil's advocate, while extensively incorporating input from customers, suppliers, and even competitors — much like Lord Mengchang's embrace of three thousand retainers — enabling sustained innovation in critical fields such as 5G and chips. Feng Yuan's wisdom further reminds entrepreneurs: the value of talent lies not in "possession" but in "activation," requiring an open, inclusive decision-making culture where "scholars" of diverse backgrounds dare to speak candidly. Today, ByteDance's management philosophy of "Context not Control," encouraging employees to challenge authority across departments, is a modern embodiment of "listening broadly." The true moat of a business has never been a single advantage, but rather the organizational capacity to continuously absorb diverse wisdom and dynamically adjust strategy.