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A friend came by my company and was amazed at the dedication of our young colleagues. At 9 PM, more than half were still there. At midnight, the lights were still on—even if many weren't in the office, they were still discussing work in the company's QQ group.
He asked, "Why are all the Gen Z employees I hire so disrespectful? Not only are they uncommitted, but they also threaten to quit at the slightest thing, even when I try to appease them! The turnover rate is ridiculously high. I know how to manage Gen Xers, but I'm at a loss with Gen Z!"
The Mahjong Management Method: Make Work as Fun as Playing Every Day
Well, if I were to answer this question, I'd first recommend he buy a book from "Kuaishubao": Haidilao You Can't Learn. I think my answer is all on one page of that book! Oh, I just happened to tear out that page and photocopy it. I don't have it on hand, but I can recall it from memory:
A grassroots employee at Haidilao summarized that if you work with the mindset of playing mahjong, you'll succeed! Think about it: when you're playing mahjong, if I accidentally drop a tile and it falls at your feet, do you complain that it's my fault, or do you just pick it up? OK, everyone just silently picks it up, right? Why don't you blame others for their mistakes at that moment? Because if you want to play the game and win money, you don't waste time on nonsense; getting back to the game quickly is what matters!
Mahjong players need to form a "small team" to play. If everyone agrees to meet at 8 PM, but by 7 PM three have arrived, it's three waiting for one, so they'll definitely call the missing person. Think about it: does that person complain, "Didn't we say 8 PM? You're early, so it's your fault. Why rush me?" Or do they quickly apologize and say they'll get there as soon as possible? They might even take a taxi, which they'd normally hesitate to spend money on, just to get there for the others!
Now, that mindset—using your actions to comfort your teammates—if applied to work, how healthy would that be?
Mahjong players often agree on a time to stop. But often, if they say they'll stop at midnight, at 11:30 PM the person who's losing might suggest, "Guys, I'm having bad luck today. Can we work overtime and play a few more rounds?" Usually, everyone agrees, right? Why doesn't anyone complain about this overtime? They all just go along with it?
Mahjong players never complain about the environment. No matter how hot it is, they'll play shirtless and not feel uncomfortable. If there's no table, they'll use a box! No matter how old or frail, once they start drawing tiles, they're immediately energized and full of stamina! Once they're into the game, all external bad conditions are like floating clouds—they don't matter, and they lose themselves in the game.
Mahjong players also practice their skills voluntarily! The difference between the 9-bamboo and 6-bamboo, or 7-character and 9-character, is tiny when felt by hand! But you see, mahjong players practice all the time, and as a result, their fingers seem to have eyes. No one forces them; where does this self-motivated, hardworking spirit come from?
Mahjong players have another huge advantage: when they lose money, they never blame others. If they're not skilled enough, they blame their own stupidity or bad luck. They never say, "You must have cheated! It's all your fault I lost money!" What a healthy mindset! If everyone at work had this attitude of not blaming others but looking for causes within themselves, which company wouldn't grow by leaps and bounds?
Basically, after reading this "Mahjong Theory," everyone probably applauds it. What I'm saying is exactly what we at Piao Wang have been doing. Our management is what I call "setting up the table."
Everyone naturally prefers playing over working. But Gen Xers grew up poor and had heavy hearts, so they suppressed themselves to work hard and strive silently. Now, Gen Z kids grew up relatively affluent and are more willing to give up material pursuits for freedom. So, if a company can make work feel like playing every day, many management problems will be solved.
So, just comparing management to mahjong isn't enough; you have to actually do it. That's why I say "set up the table." Set up the table in the company and let the mahjong fly for a while.
Let the Mahjong Fly
Mahjong's first characteristic is fairness: relatively speaking, everyone follows the rules, and over an evening, even the unluckiest person gets a chance to win a few hands. So everyone loves to play, even novices. At Piao Wang, for example, some rewards are given to everyone: if a hard ad on a certain day brings in 400,000 yuan, then everyone in the company wins a spring outfit. Every time weekly sales hit a new high, the whole company gets a reward; it's become an unwritten rule. The C-store has been enjoying rewards from one crown to five crowns...
The second characteristic is that mahjong involves an element of luck, making the game full of suspense. For instance, sometimes Piao Wang's reward is throwing darts, where the amount depends on where you hit. Sometimes it's drawing red envelopes, maybe 100 yuan, maybe 1,000... Sometimes it's guessing the next day's sales, and the closest guess wins 1,000 yuan (though 90% of winning is luck!). For example, a recent game: if there's a homepage hard ad the next day, whoever screenshots it first and posts it in the QQ group wins 999 yuan. Now everyone stays up late, testing their luck to see who can screenshot it first... Even the latest "food contest" during the Qingming holiday was mostly luck: everyone bought strange snacks, put them together, and competed to see whose food was more creative, with a big prize for the winner...
The third characteristic of mahjong is that, in the end, those who are more diligent, hardworking, and smarter will win more over time. For example, Piao Wang recently set up a new warehouse in Dashanzi, called "Shan Ku" (Mountain Warehouse). The one at Time International Building is called "Guo Ku" (National Warehouse). The two warehouses started playing games: daily fastest award, weekly most award, zero-error grand prize... In short, Shan Ku PK Guo Ku, and as they play, it becomes clear which warehouse is more diligent... Of course, in the end, customer satisfaction improves. Another example: if Piao Wang's online sales exceed 10 million yuan in May, the most diligent and core team will go on a Maldives vacation... This, in the end, is a competition of hard work and sweat.
Macroscopically, a core element of the Mahjong Management Method is: quick wins and losses, quick starts. It's like playing mahjong all night, which actually consists of many rounds. If you played all night and only won one hand, with only one winner, I bet mahjong wouldn't be as popular as it is now.
If Gen Z kids' daily work is full of this strong sense of game, they're happy when they win, and not afraid when they lose, just looking forward to the next round quickly. There's a saying: "With a bet, you might not lose; if you can win, you bet!" Once this strong atmosphere forms, it's hard for the young colleagues not to be engaged—it's just playing! (Though others might call it "dedication.")
Finally, I must explain, as Huang Tieying pointed out in the last chapter of Haidilao You Can't Learn, why you can't learn from Haidilao: it's because of the founder's personality. Management is an art, not a science. Since it's art, there's talent involved, and you can't learn it by force. Or, you can develop your own strengths, but it's hard to copy someone else's innate talent. Dell's extreme operational efficiency, Southwest Airlines' low-cost strategy, Apple's innovative creativity—these cases have been taught in business schools for years. Why hasn't anyone successfully copied them? Because they come from the founder's genes, their innate talent... honed over years, with every team member believing in it and every detail polished daily. How can you just learn it because it looks good? Forcing it often leads to losing your own identity, ending up counterproductive and severely damaging your vitality.
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