Bushido, the workplace, and handling others’ mistakes

In the Bushido text, Hagakure, we find many suggestions on how to act, especially when dealing with others’ mistakes.

For example, it suggests not getting flustered when someone comes and rudely interrupts you, as though only their business could be important:

At such times, the etiquette of a samurai is to calm himself and deal with the person in a good manner. To treat a person harshly is the way of middle class lackeys.

In another passage, Hagakure suggests letting minor annoyances things slide:

It is a fact that fish will not live where the water is too clear. But if there is duckweed or something, the fish will hide under its shadow and thrive. Thus, the lower classes will live in tranquility if certain matters are a bit overlooked or left unheard. This fact should be understood with regard to people’s conduct.

In yet another passage, lenient sentencing is suggested for criminals:

At the time of a deliberation of criminals, Nakano Kazuma proposed making the punishment one degree lighter than what would be appropriate. This is a treasury of wisdom that only he was the possessor of.

I’m still trying to work out the wisdom, and I’m unsure as to whether the author, Yamamoto Tsunetomo, was being sarcastic or not concerning his honor of Kazuma.

My only idea is that by sparing the worse sentence, a person is given the chance to redeem themselves. I say this because later, he says:

When intimate friends, allies, or people who are indebted to you have done some wrong, you should secretly reprimand them and intervene between them and society in a good manner.

Personally, I’ve applied this principle many times, especially when doing group projects. During evaluations, I never report on people who didn’t work as hard.

You should erase a person’s bad reputation and praise him as a matchless ally and one man in a thousand. If you will thus reprimand a person in private and with good understanding, his blemish will heal and he will become good. If you praise a person, people’s hearts will change and an ill reputation will go away of itself.

Of course, this is easier to follow if you yourself are pulling at least your weight. I’ve yet to find myself in a situation where I’ve not pulled my weight.

In fact, it’s easier if you’re like me, and you pull more than your weight. It’s a simple matter of leadership, though you have to be careful to not let it become a matter of ego.

As a leader, you give the victory to the group. What’s important is that the work is done, and that in the future, your friends will be encouraged to do better.

Check out Bushido texts or Hagakure.