Volume B-1 | Gate of Seeing: Four Laws for Seeing Truth
This is an English translation of 中文原文
Opening: Why Do We Often “See Wrong”?
Have you had this experience:
You clearly felt you saw things clearly, made a decision, but later discovered you were completely mistaken. Not because you’re stupid, not because you weren’t diligent enough, but because your way of “seeing” was wrong.
Like the blind men touching an elephant, what each touches is real, but none is the whole. The problem is not “what you saw is false,” but “what you saw is only a part, yet you thought it was everything.”
The Gate of Seeing speaks of how to “see correctly.”
Law One | All Measurement Has Windows: Acknowledge What Tool You Use to See the World
Story: Three People Look at the Same Company
Three friends discuss a startup’s prospects.
- Person A is an investor, looks at financial reports and growth curves, concludes “great potential.”
- Person B is a company employee, looks at internal management and team atmosphere, concludes “a complete mess.”
- Person C is a user, looks at product experience and customer service response, concludes “passable.”
Who’s right, who’s wrong? All right, and all wrong.
Because they see three different facets of the same company. A through the window of financial reports sees capital market expectations; B through the window of internal management sees the organization’s real state; C through the window of user experience sees the product’s actual value.
These three windows are each real, but none is complete.
Law’s Core: Make Clear Your Observation Window
So, the first law is: Acknowledge what tool you use to see the world, what this tool can see, and what it cannot see.
- When you look at a person, is it through social media, face-to-face interaction, or others’ accounts?
- When you look at an event, is it through news reports, firsthand experience, or post-event analysis?
- When you look at a problem, are you standing in the involved party’s angle, observer’s angle, or looking back from the future?
Every observation method is a window. The scenery outside is real, but the frame limits your view.
Practical Point: Change Three Windows Before Concluding
For important decisions, don’t look through just one window. At least change three angles:
- Change source: Information from different people, different media, different positions.
- Change time: Different time slices of past, present, future.
- Change demographics: People from different backgrounds, different degrees of impact.
If what three windows see is roughly consistent, your judgment is relatively reliable. If the conclusions completely contradict, it means things are more complex than you imagined, be more cautious.
Law Two | Changing Units Doesn’t Change Facts: Speak Clearly, Don’t Be Fooled by Jargon
Story: Three Reporting Methods
Boss asks employee: “How’s the project going?”
- Employee A says: “Completed 60% of the task volume.”
- Employee B says: “Spent 80% of the budget.”
- Employee C says: “30% of time remaining.”
All three state “facts,” but the feelings are completely different. A makes it seem pretty good, B makes it seem somewhat over-budget, C makes it seem time-tight.
But actually, they might be talking about the same project. Just using different “units”: task volume, budget, time.
Law’s Core: Make Your Measurement Standard Clear
So, the second law is: Whatever units, terminology, or jargon you use, the underlying facts don’t change. Make your measurement standard clear so others can understand too.
- When you say “success,” do you mean making money, influence, or team growth?
- When you say “risk,” do you mean low probability, large loss, or uncontrollable?
- When you say “important,” do you mean urgent, long-term, or wide impact?
The same word can have completely different “scales” in different people’s minds. If you don’t align the scales, discussion will fall into talking past each other.
Practical Point: Have Others Retell Your Words Their Way
A simple test: have the other person use their own words to say what you mean. If what they understand matches what you said, communication succeeded. If it’s completely off track, your expression has problems, or your “scales” aren’t aligned.
Don’t blame others for not understanding, first check if you spoke clearly.
Law Three | Time Resolution Lower Bound: To See More Clearly, You Must Spend More Time
Story: Quick Judgment and Slow Judgment
You’re interviewing a candidate, two methods:
- Chat for ten minutes, see first impression, decide quickly.
- Chat three rounds, one hour each, deeply understand from different angles, then decide.
Which is more accurate? Of course the second. But the cost is higher: three hours, three rounds of coordination, longer wait.
This is the “time-resolution” tradeoff: If you want to see things more clearly, you must pay more time and energy.
There’s no magic for both fast and accurate.
Law’s Core: Give Important Matters Sufficient Time Windows
So, the third law is: Allocate corresponding time windows according to the matter’s importance.
- Important but not urgent matters (like strategic planning, core hiring, major investments), give them sufficient time, see clearly slowly.
- Urgent but not too important matters (like daily coordination, small problem fixes), decide quickly, accept some ambiguity.
- Both important and urgent matters—either your planning has problems, or it’s an accident. Accidents are acceptable, but if you’re always “firefighting,” your time management has loopholes.
Practical Point: Set Minimum Waiting Periods for Important Decisions
For key decisions, set a “minimum waiting period.” For example:
- Important personnel decisions, at least three contacts, spaced a week apart.
- Large investments, at least two weeks of research, can’t finalize same day.
- Major strategic pivots, at least a month of discussion, let the team fully understand and provide feedback.
If someone pressures you to “decide now,” either they’re creating pressure, or you’ve been pushed into a passive position. Either way, be alert.
Law Four | Phase-Density Consistency: Say It and Do It, Resources Must Follow
Story: The Distance Between Slogans and Reality
A company’s boss says at the annual meeting: “This year our focus is product innovation!” Thunderous applause below.
But back to reality, you’ll find:
- R&D department budget was cut 20%.
- Product managers’ performance indicators are still “on-time delivery,” not “innovative breakthroughs.”
- All bonuses and promotions still go to the sales department.
Then this “product innovation” slogan is just empty words.
Law’s Core: What You Say and Resource Allocation Must Align
So, the fourth law is: To see what a person or organization truly values, don’t look at what they say, but where they allocate time, money, and energy.
This is “phase-density consistency”:
- “Phase” is direction, what you say, what you think.
- “Density” is thickness, resources you actually invest.
The two must align to be called consistency between words and actions.
Practical Point: List Resource Inventory, Check for Matches
If you want to test your own or others’ “sincerity,” make a list:
- I say “family is most important,” how much time do I spend with family per week?
- I say “health first,” how much time and money do I invest in exercise and diet?
- I say “learning is lifelong,” how much time per week do I spend reading and thinking?
If your resource allocation completely doesn’t match your slogans, that’s self-deception.
And at the organizational level, if managers’ slogans and resource allocation are inconsistent, employees quickly discover and vote with their feet.
Conclusion: Push Open the “Gate of Seeing”
These four laws all speak of “how to see correctly”:
- All Measurement Has Windows: Acknowledge your tool is limited, change three windows before concluding.
- Changing Units Doesn’t Change Facts: Make your measurement standard clear, align scales before discussing.
- Time Resolution Lower Bound: To see more clearly, give important matters sufficient time.
- Phase-Density Consistency: Say it and do it, spoken direction and resource thickness must match.
These laws are not profound theory, but the most fundamental life wisdom.
But most people violate these laws their whole lives: only look at problems from one angle, then firmly believe they saw everything; use different standards to measure themselves and others; want quick decisions but complain results aren’t accurate; say one thing but the body is honest.
Push open the “Gate of Seeing” means acknowledging: seeing truth requires method.
And the method is in these four laws.