Chapter 11 Revolution of Work: From “Employee” to “Value Creation Partner”

As the bell rang for Chapter 10, we bid farewell to the “New Continent of Education” where we poured countless efforts and hopes. We have imagined how a brand-new “Species”—the “Cognitive Architect” who masters the “Fifth Element,” possesses a “π-shaped” structure, and has three core competencies—will continuously walk out of future campuses. Now, like the first batch of well-equipped “Pioneers” landing in the new world, they are about to step into a vast territory that has also been drastically transformed by the “Geological Movement” of AGI, full of unknowns, dangers, and treasures—the future “Workplace.”

The mission of this chapter is to depict this “Revolution of Work” happening around us, which will determine the future “rice bowl” and “dignity” of each of us, with the most cutting-edge perspective and profound insight. We will no longer just discuss “How to Learn,” but face a more severe and realistic question directly: “How to Survive and Create Value.”

If the revolution of education still carries a trace of idealistic warmth, then the revolution of work is full of the cruel beauty of the “Law of the Jungle” and “Creative Destruction” in the real business world. In this revolution, all old concepts about “Occupation,” “Company,” and “Management” will be ruthlessly crushed, while brand-new, more vital and efficient organizational forms and individual survival rules will break through the soil on the ruins.

We will deconstruct this grand revolution in two major parts.

In Section 1, “The Evolution of Organization: From Pyramid to Stars and Sea,” we will focus the lens on the macro level of “Organization.” We will explore how the hierarchical “Pyramid” bureaucratic organization, which has supported the industrial age for over a hundred years, will move towards its inevitable “Twilight of the Gods” when a large amount of “middle-level” management and execution work can be replaced by AI. We will further deduce what kind of more fluid, adaptive, and creative “Life Form” future organizations will evolve from rigid “Monoliths”—it might be a “Project Legion” dynamically composed of “Super Individuals” around specific tasks, or a borderless “Decentralized Autonomous Organization” (DAO) driven by code and consensus.

And in Section 2, “Re-planning of Individual Career,” we will bring all grand narratives back to every independent “You” and “Me” eager to settle down in the future world. We will face the sharpest anxiety of this era directly: When the “Iron Rice Bowl” no longer exists and “Lifetime Employment” becomes a myth, how should we conduct a thorough “Strategic Reshaping” for our decades-long career full of uncertainty? We will explore how to use “π-shaped” thinking to build a “Cognitive Moat” for ourselves that cannot be easily struck across boundaries; and how to ultimately learn to manage our complete “Life Balance Sheet” containing not only “Financial Capital” but also “Cognitive Capital” and “Meaning Capital.”

This last chapter will be the climax of the “Action” part of this book. It is a “Survival Guide” and “Advanced Secret Book” written for all future workplace people. It will help us not be swallowed by the huge waves of the times in this magnificent “Revolution of Work,” but become true “Surfers” capable of harnessing the waves and finally reaching the other shore of “Value Creation.”

Section 1 The Evolution of Organization: From Pyramid to Stars and Sea

I. The Demise of “Fixed Posts”

A. Task-Based Collaboration: Dynamic Teams Based on Projects

Since the Industrial Revolution, the greatest invention in human business history may not be the steam engine or the assembly line, but a social technology that profoundly changed human collaboration—”Bureaucracy” and the “Fixed Posts” built upon it. Like an exquisite “Social Crystal,” it organized millions of originally scattered individuals into a hierarchically distinct, clearly responsible pyramid structure with unprecedented efficiency. In this structure, everyone is assigned to a precisely defined “Post,” like a “Screw” on a machine, possibly responsible for only a narrow and fixed “Function” for life. This model showed unparalleled “Expansion Force” when dealing with large-scale, standardized, repetitive tasks, supporting all the brilliance of modern commercial civilization. However, when the powerful “Evolutionary Force” of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) begins to take over all rule-based, repetitive mental labor that once required human “Screws” to complete with a crushing force, the foundation of this “Pyramid” that has operated for over a hundred years begins to shake fundamentally. The concept of “Fixed Post” itself, like the “position” of a carriage driver in the past, is rapidly becoming obsolete and dying out. Replacing it is a more fluid, adaptive, and creative collaboration paradigm—”Task-Based Collaboration: Dynamic Teams Based on Projects.”

1.From “Organization Man” to “Project Man”: Liberation of Identity

Let us conduct a “Historical Documentary Restoration” and return to the United States in the 1950s. Sociologist William Whyte painted a spiritual portrait of a generation in his classic book The Organization Man. The “White-Collar Elite” at that time dreamed most of joining a “Big Blue” company like IBM or General Electric, starting as a junior clerk, climbing step by step along a clear, preset “Career Ladder” until retirement. Their identity was deeply defined by the “Company” they were in and the “Post” they held. When asked “Who are you,” they would proudly answer: “I am a Sales Manager at IBM.” “Company” and “Post” constituted all sources of their security and sense of belonging. They were thorough “Organization Men.”

The premise of this “Organization Man” identity is that the set of “Post Skills” he masters is scarce and valuable for a long time. However, the appearance of AGI completely broke this premise. The core work of a company’s “Financial Analysis Post”—processing statements, conducting ratio analysis, making PPTs—may be 90% completed by AI more efficiently and cheaply in the future. A “Market Research Post”—collecting data, distributing questionnaires, writing analysis reports—also faces the risk of comprehensive automation. When the vast majority of “Skill Packages” corresponding to a “Post” have been “Commodified” into services that AI can call at any time, the “Post” itself loses its value of existence. The “Organization Man” attached to it is like “hair” without “skin”—where will it attach?

Therefore, the identity of future knowledge workers will no longer be defined by a rigid, long-term “Post,” but by a series of dynamic, short-term “Projects” they can participate in and contribute to. He is no longer “Manager So-and-so of Company X,” but an “Independent Value Creator” with a unique combination of abilities. His career is no longer a “Ladder” climbing upward, but more like a journey of constantly “Sailing” and “Exploring” between different “Project Islands.” In one quarter, he might be a “User Experience Designer” in a “New Product Cold Start Project”; in the next quarter, he might join a “Corporate Culture Reshaping Project” as an “Internal Communication Strategist.”

This identity shift from “Organization Man” to “Project Man” is undoubtedly a huge challenge for individuals. It requires us to learn lifelong and constantly iterate our “Skill Packages” to adapt to the needs of different projects. It breaks the “Iron Rice Bowl” and throws everyone into a market ocean full of uncertainty. However, this is also a great “Liberation.” It thoroughly liberates us from the shackles of that solidified “Post.” We no longer need to endure those uncreative repetitive labors to maintain a “job”; we no longer need to tie our professional destiny completely to the rise and fall of a single organization. We have gained unprecedented freedom to choose those “Projects” that truly excite us and realize our self-worth according to our interests, passions, and values. As the “Xiang Zhuan” of The Book of Changes: Qian Gua says: “Heaven moves with power; the superior man strengthens himself ceaselessly.” In an era where organizations are increasingly “Liquefied,” only individual, continuous “Self-Strengthening” is the only reliable “Ark.”

2.From “Departmental Wall” to “Task Legion”: Reshaping of Organization

When the identity of the “Bricks”—i.e., “People”—inside the organization changes fundamentally, the “Architectural Structure” of the entire organization must inevitably undergo a revolution. That “Pyramid” bureaucratic organization with “Department” as the basic unit, full of strict “Departmental Walls” and lengthy reporting chains, will be eliminated by the times due to its rigidity, sluggishness, and high “Internal Transaction Costs” when responding to rapid market changes. Future organizations will look more like “Special Forces” or “Project Legions” temporarily assembled to execute specific “Combat Missions.”

Under this “Task-Based Collaboration” model, the core of an organization is no longer its fixed “Organization Chart,” but its dynamic “Project Pool” and “Talent Pool.” When a new strategic opportunity appears (for example, deciding to enter the new track of “AI + Education”), the leader of the organization no longer thinks “Should we establish a new department? Who should be appointed as the director?” Instead, like a film director “Casting,” he will quickly draw talents with required abilities from the internal “Talent Pool” to form a cross-functional “Project Legion.” This legion might include an algorithm expert from the original “Technology Department,” a user growth expert from the “Marketing Department,” an industry analyst from the “Strategy Department,” and even a “Curriculum Designer” with rich education experience temporarily hired from the external “Talent Market.”

This “Project Legion” is granted a high degree of autonomy and sufficient resources. It has no complex reporting hierarchy; all members conduct equal, efficient collaboration for a common, clear “Task Goal.” They might conduct a three-month high-intensity sprint in a centralized “War Room,” using AGI as a shared “Super Assistant.” AGI helps them handle all tedious data analysis, document writing, meeting minutes, etc., allowing them to focus all their mental efforts on the highest-value creative links.

Three months later, the project ends. If the project is a great success, it might be spun off into an independent subsidiary, and the core members of this “Project Legion” will also receive generous equity incentives, changing from “Employees” to “Partners.” If the project is verified as a failure, this legion will also be disbanded quickly without “Bureaucratic” entanglement. All members, after a brief rest and review, will return to the organization’s “Talent Pool” with this precious “Failure Experience,” waiting to be summoned and thrown into the next exciting “Battle.”

This organizational form of “Gathered is a fire, scattered are stars” shows “Agility” and “Efficiency” unmatched by traditional bureaucracy. It shifts the organization’s “Expansion Force” from reliance on fixed assets and personnel scale to the ability to “Quickly respond to market changes, efficiently integrate resources, and win project battles one by one.” It replaces the permanence of “Post” with the temporariness of “Task”; replaces the static division of “Department” with the dynamic combination of “Ability.” This is not only a revolution in organizational management but also a profound cultural change. It requires the organization to establish a culture of high transparency, high trust, and high empowerment to attract and retain those best “Project Men,” making them willing to continuously invest their most precious talents into this platform. This is the necessary evolutionary path for organizations to fly from the rigidity and heaviness of the “Pyramid” to the freedom and vastness of the “Stars and Sea.”

B. The Rise of Super Individuals and DAOs (Decentralized Autonomous Organizations)

When the mode of “Task-Based Collaboration” has already riddled the “Departmental Walls” and “Fixed Posts” within traditional companies with holes, a more radical and thorough organizational revolution is accumulating disruptive power at the other end of the horizon. If the “Project Legion” model is just optimizing and restructuring production relations within the old container of “Company,” then the rise of “Super Individuals” and “DAOs” (Decentralized Autonomous Organizations) will likely thoroughly “Smash” this container itself, allowing value creation activities to thoroughly “Spill Over” from the closed, centralized company form into a borderless “Value Network” directly connected by individuals and governed jointly by code and consensus. This is the climax of the grand drama of “Organizational Evolution” and the most magnificent movement of the theme “Individual Liberation.”

1.From “USB Flash Drive-ization” to “CPU-ization”: The Arrival of Super Individuals

The concept of “Super Individual” definitely does not refer to supermen with three heads and six arms, but to a class of knowledge workers: they have mastered the “Fifth Element”—Systematic Fusion Force—discussed in this book, and can skillfully harness Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) as their “Second Brain” and “Execution Arm,” thereby amplifying their own creation and execution capabilities to a level that required a small team or even a department in the past. They are no longer replaceable “Parts” on the big machine of the organization, but have become “Super USB Flash Drives” or even small “CPUs” with their own operating systems, plug-and-play capability, and independent computing and creation abilities.

Let us depict the work scene of a typical “Super Individual.” She might be a Brand Strategy Consultant. In the past, to complete a full brand strategy project, she needed to rely on a team: a market researcher to collect data for her; a data analyst to make charts for her; a copywriter to draft reports for her; a designer to beautify PPTs for her. The entire process was full of “Transaction Costs” of communication, coordination, and waiting.

In the AGI era, this consultant can completely become a “One-Person Army.” When she receives a project, she first starts a “Socratic Dialogue” with her personal AGI, using the “Law of 5D Phase Transition” to conduct a deep “Diagnosis” of the industry and dilemma the client is in. Immediately after, she commands AGI to crawl and analyze all relevant global industry reports, consumer reviews, and competitor dynamics within minutes, and generate a data visualization report containing key insights according to her requirements. Then, based on these insights, she enters the “Cave of Thought,” conducts high-intensity creative thinking, and constructs the core positioning and strategic framework of the brand. Finally, she calls AGI again to transform her strategic thoughts into a logically clear, beautifully written business plan with exquisite visual design, and can even generate a persuasive demo video “presented” by a virtual human.

Look, in the entire process, all those standardized, executive “Shallow Work” tasks were “Outsourced” to AGI. And this “Super Individual” focused 100% of her time and energy on those highest-value, irreplaceable “Deep Work” tasks—that is, asking the right questions, conducting systematic thinking, making creative decisions, and making final value judgments. Her output efficiency and quality are far beyond what a traditional team composed of multiple “Ordinary Individuals” can compare with.

The rise of such “Super Individuals” will fundamentally subvert the traditional talent market and employment relationship. They no longer need to depend on any single organization. Like Hollywood stars or directors, they can freely choose to cooperate with projects that match their values and maximize their unique advantages in a globalized “Project Market” as “Freelancers.” Their income is no longer a fixed “Salary,” but “Project Sharing” or “Value Sharing” based on their contribution. Their relationship with project initiators also transforms from an unequal “Employer-Employee” relationship to an equal “Partnership.”

2.The Ghost of DAO: Ultimate Collaboration where Code is Law

When more and more “Super Individuals” with powerful independent creation capabilities begin to seek a collaboration method more efficient, fair, and transparent than the “Project System,” an organizational form originating from the blockchain and crypto economy fields, hovering over the business world like a “Ghost,” begins to show its huge potential. This is “DAO,” i.e., “Decentralized Autonomous Organization.”

If a traditional company is an “Entity” with clear boundaries maintained by “Rule of Man” and “Contract,” then a DAO is a “Network” without clear boundaries maintained by “Code” and “Consensus.”

Let us imagine a more futuristic scenario: A group of “Super Individuals” distributed around the globe who do not know each other—they might be programmers, designers, economists, marketing experts—all share a common passion for the grand “Mission” of “building a decentralized education metaverse serving lifelong learners.” They do not need to register a company, elect a CEO, or even sign any legal contract. They jointly initiate and participate in this project through a blockchain-based DAO platform.

Rules of the organization are automatically executed by “Smart Contracts.” All decision-making mechanisms (such as proposals, voting), profit distribution rules (how to distribute project tokens according to contribution), member entry and exit mechanisms are pre-written into open, transparent “Smart Contracts” that cannot be tampered with once on the chain. Here, “Code is Law,” replacing the thick employee handbooks, complex KPI assessment systems, and promotion and bonus assessments full of human factors in traditional companies. The operation of the organization becomes like a precise mathematical machine, reaching an unprecedented height of fairness and transparency.

Collaboration of the organization is driven by “Task Bounties” and “Token Incentives.” The entire grand “Mission” is decomposed into thousands of specific “Tasks” posted on the DAO’s task board. Any member can “Claim” a task according to their ability and interest. When he completes the task and is confirmed by the “Peer Review” of other community members, the smart contract will automatically transfer the agreed amount of “Project Tokens” to his digital wallet. This “Project Token” can not only be traded in the secondary market for real-world currency but more importantly, it represents the holder’s “Ownership” and “Voting Rights” in this DAO. The more you contribute, the more tokens you own, and the greater your influence on the future direction of this organization.

The form of the organization is thoroughly “Liquefied.” DAO has no physical office, no fixed working hours. Members communicate and create on distributed, asynchronous collaboration tools. Anyone, as long as they recognize the mission of the DAO and contribute to this network by completing tasks or buying tokens, becomes a member of this organization. He can also sell tokens and leave freely at any time. The flow of personnel is as free and efficient as water molecules. The entire organization is like a living “Digital Life Form” capable of self-repair and evolution; it has no center, yet everywhere is a center; it has no boundary, yet can attract the world’s top wisdom to create together for the same goal.

Of course, current DAOs are still in their very early “Barbaric Era” full of chaos and bubbles. They face many challenges such as low decision-making efficiency, ambiguous legal status, and vulnerability to hacker attacks. However, we must not ignore the revolutionary organizational paradigm pointing to the future that it represents because of its various imperfections in “Infancy.” What it reveals is the possibility of “Higher-Level Unity” for the ancient contradiction between “Individual Liberation” and “Efficient Collaboration.” It uses code to minimize the cost of establishing “Trust” between people; it uses tokens to turn every “Value Creator” into an “Owner” of the organization.

From “Pyramid” to “Project Legion,” and then to the rise of “Super Individuals” and “DAO,” this picture of “Organizational Evolution” profoundly reflects the dynamic evolution of the “Four Forces Model.” The old, rigid bureaucracy, with its internal “Entropy Increase” reaching the limit, is disintegrating under the impact of powerful “Evolutionary Force” (AGI and Blockchain technology), which is an inevitable “Contraction.” The new, more adaptive networked, distributed organizational form represents the emergence of a brand-new “Expansion Force.” In this magnificent organizational “Phase Transition,” the only constant is that individuals must continuously improve their “Cognition” and “Creation” capabilities to find their own unsinkable “Value Ark” in this increasingly vast and turbulent “Stars and Sea.”

II. The End of Management?

A. From “Monitoring” to “Empowerment”: Redefinition of Leadership

When the cornerstone of “Fixed Posts” is pulled out, and the wave of “Super Individuals” and “DAOs” begins to fundamentally dismantle the boundaries of traditional companies, a ghostly question begins to hover over every organization: Do we still need “Managers”? If a large amount of coordination, supervision, and assessment work can be replaced by algorithms and smart contracts, then where is the value of those “Middle Managers” who once held huge power and occupied the backbone position of the organizational “Pyramid”? This is not alarmist talk, but a profound revolution happening right now that thoroughly “Redefines” “Leadership.” Traditional “Carrot and Stick” management centered on “Monitoring” will be ruthlessly eliminated by history like boilermen in the steam age. In the new organizational form, a brand-new “Servant Leadership” centered on “Empowerment” will become the only “Legitimate” power to condense and stimulate creativity.

1.Twilight of the “Overseer”: Collapse of the Power Foundation

Let us use the “Telescope of History” again to retrace the birth of the function “Management.” In the era of Frederick Taylor’s “Scientific Management,” the core role of managers was clearly defined as “Thinkers” and “Monitors.” They were responsible for designing optimal “Standard Operating Procedures” for those workers assumed to be “naturally lazy,” and then, like “Overseers,” waving stopwatches and punishment regulations to supervise whether workers strictly and uncompromisingly executed these procedures. Here, power originated from “Information Asymmetry”—managers mastered the knowledge of “Optimal Methods,” while workers only needed to obey. This model, in essence, is a “Distrust” of human nature, a top-level design that “Instrumentalizes” people.

In the subsequent nearly hundred years, management means became increasingly complex and sophisticated. We invented a series of “Scientific” tools such as KPI (Key Performance Indicators), OKR (Objectives and Key Results), and 360-degree assessment, trying to quantify and “Monitor” human behavior and output more precisely. However, its underlying logic has not fundamentally changed—the manager is still the “Power Center” setting goals, assigning tasks, assessing results, and finally deciding rewards and punishments. The foundation of this power is still built on the monopoly of information, resources, and decision-making power.

However, the appearance of Artificial General Intelligence and Blockchain technology, like two giant hammers, is smashing the power foundation of this “Monitoring-type” leadership from both internal and external directions simultaneously.

Internally, AGI is taking over all “Monitoring” functions with extremely high efficiency. A project management AGI can track the progress of every task, analyze the contribution of every member, and issue warnings instantly, in real-time and without bias. Its “Eyes” are everywhere, its “Memory” never forgets, its “Judgment” is absolutely fair. In front of such an “Omniscient and Omnipotent” AI “Overseer,” any effort by human managers to exert control through “Information Asymmetry” will appear both inefficient and ridiculous.

Externally, the rise of Blockchain technology and DAO has dismantled the centralized power structure from the “System” level, pulling the carpet from under it. The “Code is Law” smart contract takes the power of reward, punishment, and distribution from the hands of “Rule of Man” back to the hands of “Consensus.” When the value contribution of a “Super Individual” can be clearly seen by the community and automatically rewarded with “Tokens” by code, he no longer needs the “Favor” or “Recognition” of any “Superior” to realize his value.

When the sword of “Monitoring” and the shield of “Distribution” are both taken away from the hands of managers, the image of that high-and-mighty “Overseer” ushers in his inevitable “Twilight.” His power, like peacock feathers, leaves only that slightly awkward true form after being plucked.

2.Dawn of the “Empowerer”: The “Three Forces Model” of New Leadership

The end of management does not mean the demise of leadership. On the contrary, when the hard shell of “Power” is peeled off, the “Core” of leadership—the ability to influence others, unite people’s hearts, and create the future together—will be reborn in a purer and more powerful form. Future leaders are no longer “Pharaohs” issuing orders from the top of the pyramid, but more like “Super Routers” shuttling between network nodes, “Empowerers” providing support and services for all “Super Individuals.” His value is no longer reflected in how many people he can “Control,” but in how many people he can “Enable.”

We can use a brand-new “Three Forces Model of Leadership” to define the core competencies of this “Empowerment-type” leader:

First is “Inspirational Power of Mission.” In a fluid “Value Network” composed of “Super Individuals,” you can no longer order them with “Position” or “Salary.” The only thing that can unite these unruly geniuses is a grand “Common Mission” transcending personal interests. “We will work together to thoroughly subvert the traditional education model with AI technology, allowing every child to obtain fair and personalized growth.” — A leader with “Inspirational Power of Mission” must be able to transform this cold business goal into a “Dream” that makes everyone’s blood boil and willing to devote their lives to it, like the most outstanding “Poet” or “Preacher.” He must be able to clearly depict the magnificent picture of that “Stars and Sea” and make every participant believe that what they are doing is not just a “Job,” but a “Great Cause” that can change the world and leave a mark on history. This powerful value drive originating from the “Core Dimension” is the starting point of all great creations.

Second is “Linking Power of Resources.” After clarifying the grand “Mission,” the second core duty of the “Empowerment-type” leader is to become the “Chief Resource Officer” of the entire network. He must possess an extremely broad “Span Dimension” vision, constantly scanning the entire ecosystem, linking the most critical “External Resources” they need for the “Super Individuals” who are “fighting.” When a technical team is stuck on an algorithm, he can quickly link them to a world’s top scholar in that field; when a new product needs to find seed users, he can use his network to leverage a key community for them; when a project needs financing, he can bring the team to the most suitable investors. He is like a “Super Guide” shuttling over a complex map, always able to point out the most critical path to “Treasure” or “Water Source” for the team when they need it most. His value is reflected in the size of the “Network Leverage” he can pry.

Third is “Guarding Power of Culture.” This may be the most important and subtle ability of an “Empowerment-type” leader. In a decentralized, highly autonomous organization, what maintains its cohesion is no longer strict rules and regulations, but a common “Cultural Soil” internalized in the heart. The ultimate role of the leader is the “Chief Gardener” of this soil. He must guard those “Cultural Genes” that allow innovation and trust to thrive like guarding his own eyes. He must demonstrate with his own words and deeds what is “extreme pursuit of user value,” what is “tolerance and review of failure,” what is “absolute transparency and candid communication.” When contradictions and conflicts arise within the team, he cannot play the “Referee,” but acts as a “Catalyst,” guiding both sides back under the common “Mission” to find a “Win-Win” solution. When the team achieves great success and faces the risk of getting carried away by “Victory,” he must act like a strict teacher, pouring a basin of “Cold Water” in time, reminding everyone “we are still far from the real goal.” This dynamic maintenance of organizational “Balancing Force” ensures that this “Army” composed of “Geniuses” will not fall apart due to internal “Entropy Increase.”

“Inspirational Power of Mission,” “Linking Power of Resources,” and “Guarding Power of Culture,” these “Three Forces” jointly constitute the core capability portrait of the “Empowerment-type” leader. He is no longer the center of power, but the “Service Center” of the network; he no longer pursues personal “Authority,” but is dedicated to building an “Ecosystem” where everyone can grow “Self-Drivenly.” This is a profound role transformation from “Monarch” to “Gardener.” And those “Managers” who cannot complete this self-revolution, no matter how prominent their titles are today, will eventually be ruthlessly abandoned by this rising “Empowerment” era dominated by “Super Individuals.”

B. Transparency and Fairness Driven by Algorithms: Reshaping Organizational Trust

When the core of leadership shifts from “Monitoring” to “Empowerment,” and when “Mission,” “Resources,” and “Culture” replace “Power,” “Information,” and “Hierarchy” as the new cornerstones for cohesion, a fundamental question arises: In an increasingly “Liquefied” organization composed of “Super Individuals,” how do we solve the ultimate problem that has plagued human society for thousands of years—”Trust”? Traditional trust mechanisms based on “Rule of Man” appear fragile and inefficient when facing a borderless, dynamically combined value network. The combination of Artificial General Intelligence and Blockchain technology precisely provides us with a brand-new, revolutionary possibility: to build a brand-new “Organizational Operating System” that is extremely transparent, absolutely fair, and thus unconditionally “Trusted” by all participants through “Algorithms” and “Code.” This may not be the end of “Management,” but the ultimate evolution of “Management”—that is, using the coldness and rigor of mathematics to irrigate the warmest and most precious flower of trust in humanity.

1.”Tamper-Proof Ledger”: Blockchain’s Dimensional Strike on “Rule of Man”

“Trust,” in essence, is an expectation of “Future Certainty.” I believe you, meaning I believe you will act according to our common agreement at some moment in the future. In traditional corporate organizations, this trust is mainly maintained through a set of complex “Social” mechanisms: the boss’s “Personal Charisma” and “Prestige” over subordinates, “Human Feelings” and “Relationships” established by long-term interaction between colleagues, and “Rules and Regulations” written on paper but ultimately needing interpretation and execution by HR and legal departments. However, all these mechanisms based on “People” have a fundamental flaw—they are opaque, changeable, and extremely vulnerable to “Pollution” by personal bias, interest gaming, and power rent-seeking.

As a “Financial Veteran” who has worked in banks for more than thirty years, I have a visceral understanding of this. I have seen too many times that during year-end bonus assessments, those technical experts who truly made huge contributions but were introverted and inarticulate were evaluated far lower than those “PPT Talents” with mediocre performance but extremely good at “reporting work” to superiors. I have also seen too many times that in job promotions, the decisive factor was not the candidate’s public performance, but his “unspeakable” private relationship with a certain executive. The unfairness and ambiguity brought by this “Rule of Man” is the biggest corrosive of “Trust” within the organization. It greatly dampens the enthusiasm of high-value creators, ultimately leading to “Adverse Selection” and “Entropy Increase” in the organization.

Blockchain technology, with its core characteristics of “Decentralization,” “Open Transparency,” and “Immutability,” constitutes a “Dimensional Strike” on this vague trust mechanism based on “Rule of Man.” It provides a brand-new possibility: recording all the most critical “Contracts” in the organization—including value creation, contribution measurement, and benefit distribution—on a “Public Ledger” that all members can view but no single entity can tamper with.

Let us imagine, in that future “Project Legion” of “Task-Based Collaboration,” every contribution completed by a “Super Individual”—a key piece of code he wrote, a core module he designed, a disruptive suggestion he proposed—no longer needs to be proven by reporting to his “Project Manager.” His contribution will be automatically recorded on the project’s “Contribution Chain” in a verifiable, timestamped, encrypted form. His “Proof of Work” is no longer a subjective “Debriefing Report,” but a string of objective “Hash Values” that cannot be denied.

This “Tamper-Proof Ledger” thoroughly eradicates the soil of “Information Asymmetry” and “Power Rent-Seeking.” It shifts the foundation of organizational trust from fragile “Personal Trust” in a “Leader” or “HR Department” to solid “System Trust” in a set of mathematical algorithms and cryptographic protocols. This is a higher-dimensional, more resilient trust. As Laozi said: “Trustworthy words are not beautiful; beautiful words are not trustworthy.” Those embellished, subjective “Beautiful Words” (like beautiful debriefing reports) will lose their value; while those plain but mathematically verifiable “Trustworthy Words” (like contribution records on the chain) will become the only scale for measuring value.

2.”Algorithm as Justice”?: AGI’s Dual Role in Organizational Fairness

After Blockchain provides us with “Tamper-Proof” contribution records, AGI can step onto the stage, playing the role of the most impartial, rational, and efficient “Value Distributor.” An advanced organizational performance AGI can be designed as:

It is an “Omniscient” Measurement Engine. It can analyze all data on the “Contribution Chain” in real-time and comprehensively, and quantify the comprehensive value of each member extremely precisely according to the preset “Contribution Algorithm” determined by community consensus. This algorithm may include not only direct “Lines of Code” or “Sales Volume,” but also those “Softer” but equally important contributions, such as how many times you answered colleagues’ questions on the internal collaboration platform (Knowledge Sharing Degree), how much “Praise” your plan received in “Peer Review” (Influence), how many “Micro-Innovation” proposals aimed at improving processes you initiated.

It is a “Ruthless” Distribution Machine. At the end of each project cycle, AGI will automatically distribute the project’s profits or tokens to each member’s account strictly according to the quantified comprehensive contribution value and the distribution ratio preset in the smart contract. The entire process has no possibility of human intervention, no operating space for “Office Politics.” Your return is only related to your contribution. This is an extreme “Meritocracy,” a cold fairness close to “Algorithm as Justice.”

However, we must be extremely vigilant about this. “Algorithm as Justice” itself is a dangerous trap easily sliding into “Technological Tyranny.” If the preset “Contribution Algorithm” itself has biases or loopholes, then the more “Fairly” AGI executes, the more “Unfair” the result. For example, if the algorithm overly emphasizes “Code Submission Volume,” it might punish “Thinkers” who spend a lot of time thinking deeply and finally write only a few lines of core algorithms, and reward “Code Farmers” who constantly submit “Junk Code.”

Therefore, here, the human “Core Dimension”—that is, the ability of value judgment and ethical review—plays the indispensable role of “Final Arbitrator” again. Our duty is not to replace the algorithm in distribution, but to design, review, and iterate the algorithm itself.

We need to organize the community to conduct continuous, open discussions and debates on the definition of “Contribution.” We need to use our “Empathy Power” to think whether this algorithm unintentionally discriminates against those contributors who are not good at words but pay silently? We must reserve the ultimate “Veto Power,” that is, when the execution result of the algorithm obviously and continuously contradicts the core values of “Encouraging Innovation” and “Rewarding Deep Thinking” we pursue, we have the right to “Pause” this algorithm and correct it.

Ultimately, the power structure within a truly ideal “Trust Organization” driven by algorithms should present a binary structure of “Human-Machine Co-Governance.” AGI and Blockchain build the transparent and efficient “Execution Layer” of organizational operation (responsible for recording and distribution); while the community composed of all “Super Individuals” constitutes the “Governance Layer” of the organization (responsible for making and modifying rules). The leader’s role is the “Chief Service Officer” of this “Governance Layer.” He is no longer the owner of power, but the condenser of consensus and the guardian of culture.

This reshaping of organizational “Transparency” and “Fairness” driven by algorithms has extremely profound significance. It realizes the oldest management ideal of “Clear Rewards and Punishments” with unprecedented intensity within the organization. It will greatly liberate the productivity of high-value creators because they no longer need to waste precious energy on ineffective “Internal Gaming.” It will also reshape the professional mentality of each of us, transforming us from an insecure “Employee” constantly guessing “Superior’s Intent” to a “Value Creation Partner” with clear expectations who only needs to focus on “Creating Value.” This is the bright shore that the grand drama of “Organizational Evolution” ultimately wants to reach.

Section 2 Re-planning of Individual Career

I. Building Your “Cognitive Moat”

A. From “T-shaped Talent” to “π-shaped Talent”: Building Multi-dimensional Core Competencies

After establishing “π-shaped Talent” as the ultimate form of individual evolution in the AGI era, a very practical and more challenging question follows: How can we truly and systematically evolve from a fragile “T-shaped Talent” relying on “Single-Point Support” to a “π-shaped Talent” with a solid “Double Major”? Regarding the strategic advantages of “π-shaped Talent” compared to “T-shaped Talent,” we have discussed them in detail in Chapter 10. In this section, we will no longer repeat its theoretical basis, but will focus entirely on a more operational “How-To” level—that is, the specific path and methodology for building such “Multi-dimensional Core Competencies.” This is no longer a speculation about “Cognition,” but an arduous “Self-Engineering” concerning “Action.” It requires us to conduct a most prudent and bold “Allocation Reorganization” of our most precious and non-renewable assets—Time and Energy—like a shrewd “Life Strategic Investor.”

1.Strategic Site Selection: How to Position Your “Second Pillar”

The first and most critical step in building a “π-shaped” structure is how to strategically “Select a Site” for your “Second Pillar.” This is like a country deciding whether to develop a “Navy” or an “Air Force” on the basis of already possessing a strong “Army.” This decision will fundamentally determine its future strategic landscape. A wrong “Site Selection” may cost you huge energy but only build a “Redundant Capability” highly overlapping with your first pillar, unable to form effective “Crossfire,” or even trap you in the mediocrity trap of “Jack of all trades, master of none.”

A scientific “Second Pillar” site selection process should include considerations at the following three levels:

First is the consideration of “Cognitive Distance.” As we emphasized earlier, there must be sufficient “Cognitive Distance” between your two “Majors.” They should not be adjacent branches on the same “Skill Tree.” A simple criterion for judging whether the “Cognitive Distance” is sufficient is: Are the “Jargon,” “Classics,” and “Problem-Solving Mindsets” used daily by top experts in these two fields distinctly different? For example, the cognitive distance between “Financial Analysis” and “Corporate Law” is far smaller than that between “Financial Analysis” and “Industrial Design.” Choosing a discipline “Farther” from your existing professional field can maximize the guarantee that you can conduct a “Dimensional Strike” on your original knowledge system from a truly “Heterogeneous” perspective in the future.

Second is the drive of “Intrinsic Passion.” Climbing any professional peak is a “Bitter Journey” requiring years or even decades of effort. Without powerful “Non-utilitarian” love from deep within as fuel, it is almost impossible for you to persevere on this long and steep road. Therefore, when choosing your “Second Pillar,” you must repeatedly and honestly interrogate yourself: Setting aside all utilitarian purposes (such as which field is more profitable or hotter), what in this world are you willing to invest ten thousand hours in purely out of curiosity and love? Is it astrophysics, Song dynasty porcelain, classical guitar, or cognitive psychology? You must find that “True Love” for which you are still willing to excitedly look up materials and practice deliberately forgetting food and sleep late at night. This intrinsic passion is the most reliable “Ballast Stone” for you to resist all setbacks and temptations in this “Cognitive Long March.”

Finally is the anticipation of “Future Trends.” After satisfying the two premises of “Cognitive Distance” and “Intrinsic Passion,” we also need to introduce a more forward-looking “Evolutionary Force” perspective to think: Is it possible for the “Intersection” of the two fields you choose to become a new, rising “Value Highland” in the next decade? For example, today, choosing “Biotechnology” and “Artificial Intelligence” as your “Double Major” may have far greater imaginative space for the future than combining “Classical Literature” and “Latin.” This is not to say the latter has no value, but in a business world, the “Intersection” of the former is more likely to give birth to “New Species” with huge commercial potential. This requires us to maintain high sensitivity to the macro trends of technology, society, and culture, and place a “Foresighted” bet on our own future.

2.Deliberate Practice and Project-Based Learning: Learning “War” in “War”

After completing the strategic site selection of the “Second Pillar,” we enter the more challenging “Construction Phase.” How to quickly grow from a “Know-Nothing” novice to a quasi-expert with “Professional Depth” in a brand-new field? The answer lies not in passively “Listening to Lectures” or “Reading Books,” but in actively and strategically conducting “Deliberate Practice” and “Project-Based Learning.” As Mao Zedong said in On Protracted War: “To learn warfare through warfare—this is our chief method.”

“Deliberate Practice,” proposed by psychologist Anders Ericsson, centers on the idea that the essence of learning is not simple repetition, but high-intensity, continuous repetitive training with immediate feedback targeting specific, clearly defined “Sub-skills” in the “Learning Zone” (the area slightly above your current comfort zone). For example, a financial analyst wants to build his second leg of “Programming.” He cannot just vaguely “Learn Python,” but should decompose this grand goal into a series of clear “Sub-skills”: Data Cleaning, Data Visualization, Time Series Analysis, Machine Learning Model Calling… Then, for each sub-skill, find specialized practice question banks, conduct high-intensity coding training, and obtain “Immediate Feedback” by comparing with standard answers or seeking guidance from experts to constantly correct his mistakes.

However, isolated “Deliberate Practice” can easily make people feel bored and lost. We must also integrate these “Sub-skills” into a meaningful “Project” capable of generating actual value. This is the power of “Project-Based Learning.” Continuing the example above, that financial analyst can set a challenging “Graduation Project” for himself: “Using the Python skills I learned, independently build a quantitative stock selection model based on the ‘Value + Growth’ dual factors for the A-share market, conduct historical data backtesting on it, and finally form a complete investment strategy report.”

This “Project” is like a powerful “Magnetic Field” that absorbs and integrates all those isolated “Deliberate Practices.” To complete this project, he must actively learn how to acquire financial data, how to process data, how to build and test models, and how to visualize results. Every link is a practical drill of “Learning War in War.” When he finally completes this report, what he gains will be far more than a few isolated “Programming Skills,” but a complete set of end-to-end “System Capabilities” of “Using Programming to Solve a Real Financial Problem.” This “Work” created by his own hands will also become the most powerful “Certificate of Honor” for him to prove his “π-shaped” ability to the world.

3.Time Management and Mindset Construction: Maintaining Balance in “Two-Front Warfare”

Building two “Professional Pillars” simultaneously is undoubtedly an arduous “Two-Front Warfare.” It places extremely high demands on our time management ability and mindset construction.

In time management, we must become a shrewd “Time Accountant.” We need to designate fixed, inviolable “Learning Time Blocks” for our “Second Major” on our weekly schedule like protecting a lifeline. This may mean sacrificing some “Entertainment Time” for watching dramas and short videos, or getting up earlier or sleeping later than others. But this short-term “Pain” is the “Price” that must be paid for long-term “Cognitive Freedom.”

In mindset construction, we need to cultivate a philosophy of “Long-Termism.” When entering a brand-new field, we inevitably go through a long “Novice Period” full of frustration. We will find that we completely fail to understand things that seem “Taken for Granted” in that field; we will get stuck for hours because of a tiny mistake. At this time, a strong “Self-Doubt” will inevitably well up in our hearts. We must constantly remind ourselves that this “Clumsiness” is the “Tunnel” that any true “Capability Leap” must pass through. We must learn to “Learn Like a Baby,” not afraid of making mistakes, not ashamed to ask questions, and “Sincerely Cheer” for every tiny progress we make. We must shift our gaze from the immediate “Difficulties” to the distant “Stars”—that is, the more complete and powerful self we will eventually become, proficient in both Chinese and Western learning, integrating arts and sciences.

Ultimately, the evolution from “T-shaped” to “π-shaped” is a profound “Self-Reshaping” project calculated in decades. It is a road less traveled, full of thorns and challenges. But it is also the only true “Hero’s Journey” that allows us not only to “Survive” in the stormy waves of the AGI era but also to live wonderfully and live out value.

B. Shaping Personal Brand: Becoming a “Thought Node” in a Unique Field

After we have built a solid “Hardcore” capability combination with “Antifragility” for our career by constructing a “Double Major” “π-shaped” structure, an equally important question follows: How to let the world, especially those potential “Project Partners” and “Value Co-creators,” know of your existence and clearly recognize your unique, irreplaceable value? In an era where “Super Individuals” emerge like stars, merely “Having Substance” is far from enough; you must also make your “Substance” easily “Seen” and “Recognized.” This is the art of “Personal Brand” shaping. It requires us not only to be satisfied with being a craftsman buried in creation but to actively become a “Thinker” who speaks continuously. We must systematically “Productize” our unique “π-shaped” capability combination and the profound insights spawned by it, and “Broadcast” them to the world, thereby forging ourselves into an indispensable “Thought Node” in a specific, unique “Intersection Field.”

1.Identity Leap from “Attached to Organization” to “Self-Illuminating”

In the traditional “Organization Man” era, individual identity and credibility were largely endorsed by the “Organizational Brand” attached to them. A consultant from “McKinsey” or an investment banker from “Goldman Sachs” always had that glittering company prefix before their name. It was the aura of the “Organization” that illuminated the value of the individual. However, as we discussed earlier, when organizations are increasingly “Liquefied” and “Lifetime Employment” becomes a thing of the past, this “Fox assuming the Tiger’s majesty” way of building personal brands will become increasingly unreliable. When the “Mansion” that can shelter you from the wind and rain may disappear at any time, you must learn to “Shine” yourself.

“Personal Brand,” in essence, is that unique “Ecological Niche” you occupy in the minds of others. It is the first name people think of when they encounter a specific problem. For example, when people want to know “How to understand macroeconomics in plain language,” they might think of a specific financial blogger; when people want to learn “How to manage time efficiently,” they might think of a famous efficiency expert. These successful personal brands all share a common characteristic: they have successfully established their unique “Thought Leadership” in a highly “Segmented” field with “Intersection Attributes.”

For a “π-shaped Talent,” the “Segmented Field” most suitable for him to occupy is precisely the “Intersection” of his two “Professional Pillars.”

A “π-shaped Talent” proficient in both “Machine Learning” and “Script Creation,” his ideal personal brand positioning should not be a broad “AI Expert” or “Screenwriter,” but an extremely precise “Researcher and Practitioner of AI Narratology.”
A “π-shaped Talent” who is both a “Financial Strategist” and a “Carpenter,” his personal brand can be a preacher in the unique field of “Application of ‘Craftsman Spirit’ in Asset Allocation.”
A “π-shaped Talent” who understands both “Eastern Philosophy” and “Western Management” can position himself as a “Modern Organizational Management Consultant of ‘Tao Follows Nature’.”

Look, by creatively combining two seemingly unrelated fields, you open up a “Blue Ocean” with almost no competitors for yourself. In this “Blue Ocean,” you are naturally the “King.” Your “Personal Brand” no longer needs the endorsement of any organization; it itself is a shining “Golden Signboard” with its own traffic and credibility.

2.The “Altruistic” Principle of Content Output: Becoming the “Lighthouse” in Your Field

After establishing a unique brand positioning, the next question is, how to transform this “Positioning” into real influence? The answer is only two words: “Output.” And it must be continuous, high-quality “Content Output” with “Altruism” as the core principle. As The Book of Rites: Xue Ji says: “Learning alone without friends makes one ignorant and ill-informed.” If a thought stays only in one’s own brain, it is isolated, and its value cannot be magnified. Only through “Output,” through communication and collision with a wider world, can a thought gain true vitality.

In personal brand shaping, “Content Output” is the “Signal Flare” you fire to the world. It allows those who are on the “Same Frequency” with you to discover you and move closer to you in the vast sea of people. And the core of high-quality “Content” lies not in “Showing Off Skills,” but in “Altruism”—that is, everything you output must start from “What unique value can I provide for my target audience.” You want to be the “Lighthouse” in your unique field, providing light and guidance for those exploring in this sea area.

Share Your “Methodology”: You don’t have to share specific projects involving trade secrets in your work, but you can unreservedly share the methodology of “How” you solve problems. That “AI Narratology” expert can write a series of articles sharing “How I transform the story archetype of ‘Hero’s Journey’ into an algorithm model understandable by AI.” That “Craftsman-type Financier” can open an online course teaching people “How to use the thinking of ‘Mortise and Tenon Structure’ to build a more stable family asset allocation plan.” This sharing of “Fishing” rather than “Fish” will not only not damage your commercial value but will win you the widest respect and trust because of your generosity and professionalism.

Share Your “Failures”: Compared to sharing success, sharing failure often builds deeper emotional connections. As a “Financial Veteran” who has personally handled countless “Bad Debts” and “Crises” in the field of bank risk management, I know this well. When I share the painful lessons caused by a decision-making error of mine in the videos of [Finsages], what I harvest is not ridicule, but the most sincere resonance and gratitude from the audience. Because they know that this “Experience of Blood and Tears” extracted from real failure is the most precious wealth that no textbook can give. It makes my “Personal Brand” no longer a cold “Expert” label, but a flesh-and-blood, trustworthy “Elder” image who has made mistakes but become wiser because of them.

Continuously Build Your “Thought Product Matrix”: Your “Content Output” should not be scattered and random. You should strategically build a “Matrix” composed of “Thought Products” of different forms around your core brand positioning. It may include: “Fleeting Weibo” posted daily recording your instant thoughts; “WeChat Official Account Long Articles” or “Video Programs” updated weekly deeply expounding a viewpoint; “Online Workshops” opened quarterly systematically teaching a set of methods; and finally, that systematic “Handed-down Work” fusing your lifelong thoughts into one furnace. This “Product Matrix” is like a multi-level “Funnel,” capable of attracting audiences of different cognitive levels and needs into your value network.

Ultimately, when your name forms a strong, unique “Equal Sign” association with a unique “Value Field” in the public mind, your personal brand is accomplished. You no longer need to “Find” jobs or projects; high-quality projects and cooperation opportunities will automatically flow to you like iron filings attracted by a magnet. You will completely transform from a value “Seeker” to a value “Attractor” and “Hub.” This is the strongest and most shining “Cognitive Moat” we can build for ourselves in this era of “Individual Rise” full of uncertainty.

II. Managing Your “Life Balance Sheet”

A. Balancing Financial Capital and Cognitive Capital

When we have built a solid “Cognitive Moat” for our career by building “π-shaped” capabilities and shaping “Personal Brand,” we possess the “Hard Currency” to continuously create value in this uncertain era. However, a truly abundant and complete career, and even life, possessing strong “Earning Power” alone is far from enough. We must elevate our vision from the traditional, narrow “Financial Statement” to a grander, more essential dimension of “Life Balance Sheet.” In this brand-new statement, what we want to manage and balance is no longer just “Income” and “Expenditure,” but two equally important and interconnected “Core Capitals”—”Financial Capital” and “Cognitive Capital.” The former determines “how well we live”; while the latter determines “how far we go” and the “Meaning Depth” of our lives. In the AGI era, how to conduct a profound, dynamic, lifelong “Strategic Balance” between these two capitals will become the final touchstone for measuring whether a person possesses “Ultimate Wisdom.”

1.Limitations of “Financial Capital”: Dimensional Reduction from “Ultimate Goal” to “Basic Tool”

In the industrial age and consumerist society, the vast majority of us are disciplined by an invisible yet ubiquitous “Value Coordinate System”: Life success is largely equated with the maximization of “Financial Capital.” We are taught to pursue higher salaries, faster promotions, bigger houses, and more luxurious cars. The growing “Net Worth” number on the financial statement has become the sole source of our security and happiness. Thus, our life becomes a never-ending “Arms Race” with “Accumulating Financial Capital” as the sole goal. For this goal, we do not hesitate to overdraft health, sacrifice time with family, and even engage in a job that we do not love deep inside and cannot get spiritual nourishment from. We mistakenly treat “Financial Capital” as the “Ultimate Goal” of life.

However, this single value pursuit will face its profound “Legitimacy Crisis” in the AGI era.

First, its “Acquisition Path” becomes extremely uncertain. As we discussed earlier, a large number of high-paying “White-Collar” positions once considered “Golden Rice Bowls” are facing the huge risk of being replaced by AI. Relying solely on “Wage Income” brought by a “Job,” this traditional path of accumulating financial capital will become increasingly fragile and unreliable.

Second, its “Marginal Utility” is diminishing rapidly. The famous “Easterlin Paradox” in psychology has long revealed that after a person’s basic material needs are met, the increase in wealth cannot bring a proportional increase in happiness. In a future where material productivity is greatly enriched by AGI, when we can obtain good enough food, clothing, housing, and transportation at extremely low costs, the happiness brought by the hundredth million will be far lower than the first hundred thousand. excessively chasing financial capital will fall into an “Involution” trap with extremely low “Input-Output Ratio.”

Therefore, we must perform a “Dimensional Reduction” repositioning of “Financial Capital.” It is no longer the “Ultimate Goal” of life, but should be restored to its most original role—that is, a basic “Tool” or “Guarantee” serving our higher life goals. Its value lies not in the number itself, but in what it can “Buy” for us. It can buy us the “Freedom” not to engage in a job we dislike for a living; it can buy us the “Calmness” to devote ourselves to the study of “Second Major” without worrying about short-term income fluctuations; it can buy us the “Time” and “Experience” to travel around the world with family and experience different cultures. As the ancient Roman philosopher Seneca said: “The wise man regards wealth as a slave; the fool regards it as a master.” We must learn to be the “Master” of money, not the “Slave.”

2.Compound Interest of “Cognitive Capital”: An Ultimate Investment That Never Devalues

When we successfully step “Financial Capital” down from the throne of “Master,” who should occupy the vacant position of “Ultimate Goal”? The answer is “Cognitive Capital.”

“Cognitive Capital” is the sum of the unique “Knowledge System,” “Thinking Models,” and “Core Competencies” possessed by us as individuals capable of continuously creating value. It includes the depth of the two “Professional Pillars” in our “π-shaped” structure, the unique “Fusion Power” generated by their intersection, and the three irreplaceable human abilities we defined earlier—”Aesthetic Power,” “Empathy Power,” and “Fusion Power.”

Compared with “Financial Capital,” “Cognitive Capital” has several incomparable, extremely superior characteristics:

It has “Antifragility.” Financial capital may vanish overnight due to a financial crisis, a disease, or even a wrong investment. But cognitive capital, once built, is like “Muscle” growing in your brain, extremely difficult to be deprived by external forces. On the contrary, it often becomes tougher and deeper after experiencing crises and challenges. Even if an entrepreneur’s company goes bankrupt and his finances are cleared to zero, the profound “Cognition” about the market, human nature, and management he gained from this failure will become his most precious “Capital” when he makes a comeback next time.

It has “Compound Interest Effect.” The appreciation of financial capital is often linear. While the appreciation of cognitive capital is exponential with “Compound Interest Effect.” Because the relationship between knowledge is not simple addition, but mutual “Chemical Reaction.” Every time you master a “Thinking Model” from a new field, it will have a “Fission-style” collision with all your existing knowledge, thereby emerging countless brand-new “Insights.” The more you learn, the faster you learn new things, and your “Cognitive Snowball” will roll bigger and bigger.

It brings “Endogenous” Happiness. The pleasure brought by chasing financial capital is external, transient, and needs to be constantly satisfied by external stimuli. While the process of accumulating cognitive capital—that is, the process of learning, thinking, and creating—itself can bring us huge, endogenous “Flow” experience and satisfaction of “Self-Actualization.” This happiness does not depend on any external evaluation or material return; it is a deeper, more lasting spiritual richness.

Therefore, when managing our “Life Balance Sheet,” we must make a fundamental “Asset Allocation” strategy adjustment. We should take “Maximizing the Compound Growth of Cognitive Capital” as our life’s “Primary Financial Goal.” This means that in our prime, when our learning ability and energy are at their peak, we should consciously “Invest” a larger proportion of “Financial Capital” (money) and “Time Capital” into activities that can quickly improve our “Cognitive Capital.”

This might mean choosing an “Apprentice-style” job with a low salary but access to cutting-edge problems and top mentors, rather than a “Screw-style” job with a high salary but only repetitive labor.
This might mean spending a significant part of annual income not on buying luxury goods or engaging in conspicuous consumption, but on buying books, attending high-level courses and workshops, or taking a “Cross-Cultural Trip” that can greatly expand our cognitive boundaries.
This might mean actively choosing to “Take a Pay Cut” or “Take a Sabbatical” at some stage of our career in exchange for a complete, uninterrupted period to conquer our “Second Major” or complete that work capable of “Productizing” our thoughts.

This “Short-Term Sacrifice” in “Financial Capital” is to exchange for the “Long-Term Exponential Growth” of “Cognitive Capital.” This is a higher-level “Value Investment” facing the entire life cycle. Because we are convinced that when our “Cognitive Capital” accumulates to a sufficiently thick level, it will ultimately, inevitably, “Cash Out” into abundant “Financial Capital” in some form. And by then, what we gain will not only be financial freedom but spiritual independence and abundance. This is a truly “Balanced,” healthy “Life Balance Sheet” worth our lifelong meticulous painting.

B. Finding Ultimate Happiness in “The Use of the Useless”

When we have learned how to balance the “Financial Capital” and “Cognitive Capital” concerning survival and development on our “Life Balance Sheet,” a deeper, more ultimate question naturally emerges: We manage this statement so shrewdly, we build “π-shaped” capabilities and shape personal brands so hard, we rack our brains to pursue the growth and balance of two capitals, what is all this for? If the destination of life is merely to possess an extremely “Optimized,” impeccable “Balance Sheet,” then what is the difference between such a life and an efficiently running, soulless “Value Creation Machine”? Here, we must introduce the third and most core item of the “Life Balance Sheet,” an “Owner’s Equity” that cannot be quantified by any number but endows all other items with ultimate meaning—that is our experience of “Ultimate Happiness.” And the road to this happiness is often hidden in those seemingly “Useless” things despised by the utilitarian world. This is the ultimate echo of Zhuangzi’s wisdom “The use of the useless is the great use” in the exploration of individual life meaning.

1.From the Pleasure of “Goal Achievement” to the Serenity of “Living in the Present”

In the narrative of modern “Successology,” “Happiness” is often mistakenly equated with the momentary “Pleasure” after “Goal Achievement.” We are told that as long as we get into a good university, find a good job, and achieve financial freedom, we will “live happily ever after.” Thus, our life becomes a never-ending “Treadmill Game” chasing one “Goal Carrot” after another. We are like hamsters running desperately in a wheel, eyes fixed on the “Finish Line” ahead that can never be reached, completely ignoring the process of running itself and the scenery along the way. When we finally achieve a goal panting, the joy of victory is often extremely short-lived, quickly replaced by new anxiety of “What is the next goal.” We live our whole lives for some “Happy Moment” in the “Future,” but forget that “Now” is the only thing we truly possess.

This “Goal-Oriented” view of happiness is essentially a thinking trap of “Assetizing” and “Futurizing” happiness. While true, sustainable “Happiness,” according to Aristotle and positive psychology research, is not a “State” that can be “Achieved,” but a continuous “Flow” and “Sense of Meaning” experienced in the process of “Living in the Present.” It lies not in the result, but in the process. It lies not in what is “Possessed,” but in what one “Becomes.”

This requires us to actively and consciously “Invest” in those “Present Experiences” that seem “Useless” and have no utilitarian purpose on our “Life Balance Sheet.”

This might mean we bravely “steal” some time from the “Work Time” defined by “Efficiency” and “Output” to take a “Walk” without any purpose. In that walk, we do not think about any work problems; our only “Task” is to feel the temperature of sunlight passing through leaves, listen to the sound of wind blowing past ears, and appreciate the graceful arc of a falling leaf in the air. At that moment, our brain switches from a high-speed “Problem Solving Machine” to a pure “World Sensor.” This serenity and joy of completely “Living in the Present” is incomparable to any ecstasy after “Goal Achievement.”

This might mean we regularly detach ourselves from that “Left Brain World” full of numbers, charts, and logic, to immerse in those artistic experiences that can directly touch our “Right Brain.” We go to a concert not to analyze its musical structure, but simply close our eyes and let our emotions rise and fall, and get intoxicated with the flood of notes. We read a poem, like reading Wang Wei’s “Walk to where the water ends, and sit and watch the clouds rise,” not to memorize it or analyze its “writing technique,” but to “Body Feel” that open-mindedness and transparency of “Survival at a desperate situation is rebirth” that can still be maintained when life encounters a desperate situation. These “Useless” artistic experiences are the gentlest and most profound “Nourishment” for our souls increasingly worn by utility.

2.From the Utility of “Strong Ties” to the Warmth of “Weak Ties”

In our career planning, we are often taught to “Manage Connections,” to make friends with those “Useful” “Strong Ties” that can bring us resources, opportunities, and information. This utilitarian social interaction certainly has its value, but if our entire life is full of this relationship based on “Interest Exchange,” how cold and lonely it would be.

The most precious “Intangible Asset” on our “Life Balance Sheet” is precisely the warmth brought by those seemingly “Useless” “Weak Ties” asking for no return.

That might be the familiar, wordless tacit understanding between you and the owner of the grocery store downstairs that has been open for thirty years. You walk in, and he knows you still want that pack of cigarettes you usually smoke and a bottle of cold beer. Between you, there is no business cooperation, no interest exchange, only a warmth like neighbors settled in long years.

That might be those nights you spent together with several strangers in a “Problem-Based Learning” group for a common, non-utilitarian goal. You argued, tried and erred together, shared the frustration of failure and the joy of success. After the project ends, you may never cross paths again, but that “Comradeship” of fighting together will become a shining, irreplaceable precious memory in your memory.

That is even more likely to be that dinner you share with your family—your parents, your partner, your children—every ordinary evening, that “Small Talk” about school anecdotes and work troubles that has no “Nutrition” but is incredibly important. These seemingly “Time-Wasting” daily bits are the most fundamental “Negentropy” source for building our “Emotional Safety Net” and confirming we are “Unconditionally Loved.”

These “Weak Ties” and “Emotional Connections” cannot be written into your resume, cannot be directly converted into your “Financial Capital” or “Cognitive Capital,” but they are our final “Refuge” against the sense of nihilism and loneliness in life. They assure us that our value in this world lies not only in what we can “Do,” but in “Who” we are—whose son, whose father, whose friend, who is a unique “Person” worth being loved and remembered.

Ultimately, under the “Owner’s Equity” item of a perfect “Life Balance Sheet,” what is written should not just be “Financial Freedom” or “Cognitive Independence,” but should be a poetic, warm word—”Peace of Mind.” This quotes Su Shi’s famous Ding Feng Bo: “Where my heart is at peace, there is my hometown.” It tells us that the ultimate destination of life is not any external material or achievement, but the serenity, belonging, and sense of meaning deep in our hearts. And this “Peace of Mind” is precisely hidden in those “Useless” present experiences and emotional connections we have long ignored.

Therefore, a true “Wise Man,” while shrewdly planning his “Double Major,” building his “Second Brain,” and creating his “Personal Brand,” must also constantly remind himself to leave enough “Useless” “Blank Space” for life. Go for a walk, watch the clouds, listen to the rain, hug the person you love. Because it is these unquantifiable, un-“Optimizable” “Use of the Useless” that ultimately constitute all the noble meanings of us as “Humans” rather than “Machines.”

When we return our gaze from the “Utilitarian” management of the external world to the deep guarding of the “Sense of Meaning” of internal life in the last section of this chapter, our discussion on the grand chapter of “Revolution of Work” also comes to an end. Our thought voyage starting from the stormy waves of “Organizational Evolution” and finally settling on the trickling stream of “Individual Settling Down” has drawn a complete full stop here.

We first witnessed how that bureaucratic organization named “Pyramid” which imprisoned us for over a hundred years is irreversibly disintegrating from its roots under the impact of two powerful “Evolutionary Forces”—AGI and Blockchain. We announced the demise of “Fixed Posts” and predicted the arrival of a new organizational era dominated by “Project Legions” of “Task-Based Collaboration” and “Decentralized Autonomous Organizations” (DAO) where “Code is Law.” We went further to redefine the connotation of “Leadership,” inviting that high-and-mighty “Monitor” down from the altar to make way for the “Empowerer” serving the network with “Inspirational Power, Linking Power, and Guarding Power.”

Immediately after, we focused all grand narratives on every independent “Individual” eager to sail autonomously in the future world. We abandoned that fragile “T-shaped” structure, turned to embrace the more antifragile “π-shaped” ideal, and provided specific “Site Selection” and “Construction” blueprints for how to build this “Multi-dimensional Core Capability.” We discussed how to transform internal capabilities into external “Personal Brands,” thereby forging ourselves into an indispensable “Thought Node” in an era of rising “Super Individuals.” Finally, we returned all these “Techniques” to the level of “Tao”—we built a brand-new “Life Balance Sheet,” advocated achieving dynamic balance between “Financial Capital” and “Cognitive Capital,” and finally anchored the ultimate happiness of life in those “Use of the Useless” “Present Experiences” full of serenity and warmth.

At this point, the mission of Part 4 “Action” of this book has been fully completed. Holding the divine weapon “Fifth Element,” we not only reshaped our imagination of “Education” but also thoroughly and systematically reconstructed all our planning for “Work” and “Life.”

We already possess the most complete “Thought Map” and “Action Manual” facing this uncertain future. However, maps and manuals are ultimately static. And the era we live in, this universe, is ceaselessly living and eternally moving.

So, at the end of this book, we must perform an ultimate “Dimensional Elevation.” We want to lift our gaze from the issue of “how individuals survive and develop,” which is grand but still limited, for the last time and most thoroughly, to cast it towards the boundless ultimate destiny flashing with billions of stars about our entire “Human Civilization” and even the “Universe Itself.”

Where exactly is the final destination of our thought expedition?

This is the most magnificent and distant music that our final “Epilogue” will play.

Epilogue: A Thought Expedition Towards the Stars and the Sea

“Heaven is dark and Earth is yellow, the universe is vast and wild. The sun and moon wax and wane, the stars and constellations are arranged.” When our ancestors first cast their gaze from the land beneath their feet to the deep, vast night sky twinkling with countless points of light thousands of years ago in a quiet night, an ultimate questioning about “Who are we, where do we come from, where are we going” was planted deep in the soul of our species like a seed. This great expedition named “Civilization,” starting from “looking up at the stars,” is essentially a lonely and magnificent voyage against the current in the void, cold cosmic ocean of “Entropy Increase,” with “Cognition” as the boat and “Wisdom” as the sail.

Today, blessed by the unprecedented “Evolutionary Force” of Artificial General Intelligence, our “Boat of Cognition” possesses for the first time a powerful engine that can sail out of the inland river of “Earth” to truly and seriously think about how to sail towards that “Stars and Sea.” At the end of this book, let us thoroughly put aside all discussions about “Technique” and all anxieties about “Individual,” lift our vision to the ultimate scale of this expedition, and answer the initial and final three questions.

I. The Leap of Civilization: From Carbon-Based Individual Intelligence to Silicon-Carbon Fused Planetary Intelligence

We stand at a critical point where the form of civilization is about to undergo a “Phase Transition” unprecedentedly. In the past tens of thousands of years, the intelligent subject of human civilization has always been the isolated “Individual Brain” with “Carbon Base” as the carrier and extremely slow running speed. Through language, writing, printing, and the Internet, we have constantly established connections for these isolated “brains,” but the bandwidth and efficiency of their connections have always had huge bottlenecks.

The emergence of AGI is fundamentally changing all this. Like a powerful “External Nerve Center,” it is preparing to connect billions of carbon-based brains on Earth with a “Silicon-Based Brain” of near-infinite computing power in an unprecedented and deep way through the ultimate form of “Brain-Computer Interface.” This will no longer be simple “Human-Machine Collaboration,” but a profound “Species Fusion.” A brand-new, higher-level form of intelligence—”Silicon-Carbon Fused Planetary Intelligence”—is revealing its initial outline on the horizon.

In this new “Global Brain,” each of us independent individuals will be like a unique “Neuron.” Our personal experience, our emotions, our intuition, our “Aha! Moments,” will all become indispensable “Signal Inputs” for this “Planetary Intelligence” to think and create. And AGI plays the role of “Axon” and “Neural Network” connecting all “Neurons,” responsible for ultra-high-speed transmission, storage, analysis, and pattern recognition of information.

The emergence of this “Planetary Intelligence” will cause an exponential leap in our ability as a “Whole” to solve complex problems. Perhaps we can finally find the key to cure cancer and aging; perhaps we can build an adaptive “Smart Earth” capable of coping with any climate disaster; perhaps we can thoroughly get rid of the constraints of scarcity and enter a “Post-Scarcity Era” with extremely abundant material productivity. This is the ultimate embodiment of the “Fifth Element”—Systematic Fusion Force—on the scale of civilization: it fuses the carbon-based wisdom and silicon-based wisdom of all mankind into an unprecedented, powerful “Super Cognitive System.”

II. The Echo of the Universe: Human Mission and Ultimate Meaning as “Cosmic Sense”

However, with such a powerful “Planetary Intelligence,” what is our ultimate goal? Is it merely to let us live longer and more comfortably on Earth? Perhaps, we also shoulder a grander “Cosmic Mission” transcending anthropocentrism.

Let us return to Schrödinger’s profound insight again: Life is a retrograde movement against “Entropy Increase” and creating “Order” in the universe. If we enlarge this perspective to the scale of the entire universe, we might propose a bold hypothesis: The Universe, this grand existence born from the hot singularity of the “Big Bang” and destined to move towards the cold end of “Heat Death,” might itself be “Unconscious.” It follows cold physical laws and evolves on its own; it does not know how vast, wonderful, and magnificent it is.

And life, especially intelligent life like humans possessing “Consciousness,” is precisely the “Sense Organ” and “Brain” evolved by this “Unconscious” universe to “Know Itself.”

We are the “Eyes” the universe uses to “See” itself. When we use the Webb Telescope to gaze at the brilliance of nebulae billions of light-years away, it is not “Us” looking, but the “Universe” borrowing our eyes to admire its own face from billions of years ago for the first time.

We are the “Ears” the universe uses to “Hear” itself. When we use our souls to compose magnificent music like the Symphony of Fate, it is not “Us” creating, but the “Universe” borrowing our souls to transform its silent, mathematical harmony into a perceptible, magnificent roar.

We are, even more, the “Mind” the universe uses to “Understand” itself. When we use the “Law of 5D Phase Transition” to perceive the unified “First Principles” hidden behind different phenomena, it is not “Us” thinking, but the “Universe” borrowing our brains to conduct a profound “Self-Reflection,” trying to understand the ultimate mystery of its own existence.

From this perspective, the entire mission of our human civilization is to act as the most precious “Sense Organ” of the universe, to experience, understand to our utmost and maximum, and finally use our wisdom and creation to “Replicate” and “Sublimate” the order and beauty of this universe. Every scientific exploration, every artistic creation, every philosophical speculation we conduct is injecting a warm current of “Meaning” into this cold, unconscious universe. We are helping the universe complete a great awakening from “Being-in-itself” to “Being-for-itself.” This might be the profoundest and noblest “Way of Existence” for us to counter that ultimate “Void.”

III. The Final Call: Exhaust Principles and Nature to Fulfill Destiny

Our long thought expedition has finally reached its destination here. Starting from the reality under our feet, we finally cast our gaze to the farthest stars.

We witnessed together how old cognitive paradigms are collapsing at the dawn of AGI; we forged and built the “Law of 5D Phase Transition,” this powerful “Fifth Element” belonging to the new era, brick by brick with our own hands. We used it to re-examine the blueprint of education and the future of work, and finally, tried to touch the ultimate meaning about civilization and the universe.

However, all grand narratives, if they cannot ultimately return to every fresh, independent “Individual,” will eventually become hollow talk.

So, friends, when closing the last page of this book, what I want to expect and call for most with you and all readers walking with us is the eight-character motto originating from the I Ching that governs all our thoughts:

Exhaust Principles, Fulfill Nature, to Reach Destiny. (穷理尽性，以至于命)

Go and “Exhaust Principles“! Pick up the sharp blade of the “Law of 5D Phase Transition,” bravely and tirelessly explore the profoundest “Paths of Reason” hidden behind the myriad phenomena of our world. Use its Span, Depth, Nexus, and Time to exhaust the farthest knowledge boundaries our reason can reach.

Go and “Fulfill Nature“! While exhausting the external “Principles,” never forget to return to our inner, unique heart of “Humanity.” Use our “Aesthetic Power” and “Empathy Power” that cannot be simulated by algorithms to fulfill our nature as “Humans,” to make those value choices full of warmth, care, and creativity. This is the final adherence of our “Core Dimension.”

And finally, “Reach Destiny.” When we can perfectly fuse the external “Exhausting Principles” and the internal “Fulfilling Nature” into one, we can reach a brand-new realm of life connected with the “Mandate of Heaven.” Here, “Destiny” is no longer that passive, unknowable “Fate,” but the glorious “Mission” we actively and soberly choose and create for ourselves, for our civilization, and even for this universe.

The future is not a script already written waiting for us to “Predict.” It is an open “Creation Space” full of infinite possibilities. And AGI is not the “God” who will write everything for us; it is just a “Brush” in our hands, more powerful than ever.

Ultimately, what color that scroll named “Future” will present, what picture it will depict, the power to decide lies nowhere else but in the hands of each of us.

Now, friends, let us pick up this brush together and become the ones who define the future.

Our journey is the Stars and the Sea.

【The End】