---
title: "Ten Modern Management Principles Entrepreneurs Need to Know"
description: "This article outlines ten modern management principles, including the Dolphin, Fishbowl, Hedgehog, Wooden Bucket, Drawer, Catfish, Hot Stove, Horsefly, Harmony, and South Wind principles, each illustrated with examples and practical applications for managers."
author: "New Distribution"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
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published: "2014-05-11"
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# Ten Modern Management Principles Entrepreneurs Need to Know

> This article outlines ten modern management principles, including the Dolphin, Fishbowl, Hedgehog, Wooden Bucket, Drawer, Catfish, Hot Stove, Horsefly, Harmony, and South Wind principles, each illustrated with examples and practical applications for managers.

More familiar with distributors than manufacturers, and more knowledgeable about internal management than distributors.
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**1. The "Dolphin" Principle** Scientists describe dolphins as intelligent, friendly, natural motivators, and excellent socializers and communicators—qualities most needed in new corporate management models. In modern enterprise management, the "Dolphin" principle should be applied to uphold convictions and pursue fairness. Managers should be broad-minded, open to criticism, emphasize teamwork, and delegate more authority and responsibility to subordinates.
**2. The "Fishbowl" Principle** A fishbowl is made of glass with high transparency; no matter the angle, everything inside is clear. Applying the "Fishbowl" principle to management requires managers to increase transparency in all work, striving for openness, fairness, and justice. With transparency, managers' actions are under the supervision of all subordinates, effectively preventing abuse of power and strengthening self-restraint mechanisms.
**3. The "Hedgehog" Principle** Two sleepy hedgehogs huddled together for warmth but, due to their quills, moved apart. Yet, feeling cold, they came back together. After several attempts, they found a suitable distance: close enough to share warmth without being pricked. The "Hedgehog" principle is the "psychological distance effect" in interpersonal interactions. Managers should maintain close relationships with subordinates to earn their respect, while also keeping an appropriate psychological distance to avoid compromising principles in work.
**4. The "Wooden Bucket" Principle** This principle states that a barrel made of uneven planks holds water not determined by the longest plank but by the shortest. To increase the barrel's capacity—improving overall effectiveness—one should not lengthen the longest plank but focus on reinforcing the shortest. This tells managers to address weak links in the unit; otherwise, overall performance suffers. As the saying goes, "take advantage of strengths to make up for weaknesses"—the purpose of leveraging strengths is to compensate for weaknesses; without doing so, improving overall effectiveness is difficult.
**5. The "Drawer" Principle** In modern enterprise management, this is also called "job analysis." Enterprises in developed countries highly value this and have established job classification systems to varying degrees. The "Drawer" principle is a vivid management term describing that in every manager's desk drawer, there is a clear job responsibility rule. In management, there should be no position without authority, no responsibility without authority, and no authority without responsibility; instead, position, responsibility, authority, and benefits must be integrated.
**6. The "Catfish" Principle** A Norwegian deep-sea fishing company, to keep sardines fresh during transport, placed several catfish in each tank. The lazy sardines immediately swam actively to avoid being preyed upon, thus keeping the entire tank "alive," and the sardines arrived at port still fresh. The lesson: organizations should introduce competitive mechanisms, turning pressure into motivation to remain vibrant.
**7. The "Hot Stove" Principle** Every organization has its rules, and anyone violating them must be punished. The "Hot Stove" principle vividly illustrates punishment principles: (1) A red-hot stove warns without touching—the warning principle. Managers should regularly educate subordinates on rules to warn against violations, which will lead to punishment. (2) Whenever you touch a hot stove, you get burned—the seriousness principle. Violating rules always results in punishment; promises must be kept. (3) When you touch a hot stove, you are burned immediately—the immediacy principle. Punishment must follow the wrongful act promptly, without delay, to correct behavior in time. (4) Whoever touches the hot stove gets burned—the fairness principle. Everyone is equal before the rules.
**8. The "Horsefly" Principle** Even a lazy horse will perk up and run fast when bitten by a horsefly. That is, to make a horse run fast, it needs sufficient stimulation. Practice shows that timely and appropriate motivation acts like a perpetual motion machine. Managers should use their wisdom to unite difficult-to-manage but crucial people, leveraging their roles to achieve higher performance for the organization.
**9. The "Harmony" Principle** "Harmony" comes from the Greek words for "whole" and "individual synthesis," indicating that management must emphasize the coordination of individuals and the whole, creating high harmony between them. Its specific features are: (1) Self-organization: Managers delegate decision-making to subordinates, allowing them to manage themselves. (2) Complementarity: People have different experiences and knowledge, leading to varied views and approaches. One manager's duty is to facilitate mutual complementation and exchange of different views and methods. (3) Individual dispersion and overall coordination: In an organization, groups and individuals are parts of the whole, each with dispersion and creativity, which should be coordinated to build the overall image. (4) Rhythmicity: Managers should foster a harmonious, vibrant atmosphere between the organization and individuals, stimulating intrinsic motivation and pride.
**10. The "South Wind" Principle** Also known as the "Warmth" principle, it originates from a fable by French writer La Fontaine. The North Wind and South Wind bet on who could remove a traveler's coat. The North Wind blew cold and biting, but the traveler only wrapped his coat tighter. The South Wind blew gently, bringing warmth, and the traveler unbuttoned and then removed his coat. The South Wind won. This fable illustrates that warmth is better than cold. Managers applying the "South Wind" principle should respect and care for subordinates, reducing bureaucracy and increasing human touch. Thus, subordinates will feel genuine warmth, shed mental burdens, and fully engage in work. Modern managers are no longer aloof bosses; they are ordinary people who exercise management subtly, making subordinates feel unmanaged yet effectively constrained.
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