The Limits of Specialisation"The Tao of the Absolute has no name. Although infinitesimal in it's Simplicity, the world cannot master it."

"If leaders would hold onto it, all things would naturally follow. Heaven and Earth would unite to rain sweet dew (indicative of a kingdom at peace) and people would naturally co-operate without commands."

"Names emerge when institutions begin. When names emerge, know likewise to stop. To know when to stop is to be free of danger."

"The presence of the Tao in the world is like the valley stream joining rivers and seas."

Lao Tzu advises enlightened leaders to move towards simplicity and away from complexity - towards universality rather than differentiation. As always he advises leaders to know when to stop and to practice non-interference.

Leaders who insist on exacting systems and roles in their organisations cannot create a natural, effortless atmosphere for the completion of projects, because the structure they conceive of is suited for machines not humans.

When people are forced into roles and every aspect of their work defined, their possibilities become limited, they no longer create and they do not evolve.

When leaders systematise every detail in their organisation, they close it off from all possibility of evolution. Just as life-forms that are highly specialised move in the direction of extinction, this path leads to the extinction of the organisation.

On the other hand, with open-ended management, the people have nothing to resist or resent. They become spontaneously co-operative because their attention shifts to the end rather than the means. (32)