Manhattan Reborn 1978

Boston, Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States.

Afternoon~

346 Hanover Street, inside Cantina Italiana.

Cantina Italiana is an Italian restaurant founded in 1913. It still insists on providing the most authentic and traditional Italian cuisine.

Whether it is pizza, seafood, traditional pasta or desserts, diners can enjoy the rich Italian culture and style.

Inside the restaurant, as it was past lunch time, there were only four diners sitting at a round table by the window.

David and his fiancée Lilith, his mentor Professor Bartlett, and the "uninvited guest" Cheryl who arrived halfway, are the only four remaining diners.

David picked up the cheese and wiped the corner of his mouth, glanced at his mentor Professor Bartlett sitting opposite him, looked at the "distinguished guest" Cheryl sitting on his right, and asked.

"Have you read The Peter Principle, a book by the famous management expert Lawrence Peter published in 1969?"

"No."

On David's right, Cheryl, the eldest daughter of old Morgan and the "eldest princess" of the Morgan family, was intrigued by this question. She blinked and shook her head while holding the juice.

"Well, okay!" David raised his eyebrows and grinned, looking at his fiancée Lilith who was sitting on his left. Seeing that she was also cooperating and shaking her head, he said.

"It's normal that you don't know Lawrence Peter's name."

"Because before he published The Peter Principle, he was just a well-educated doctor of philosophy of education."

"After the publication of The Peter Principle, the brand-new management sub-discipline he created in the book – hierarchical organization – attracted the attention, popularity and resonance of countless people, directly propelling the book to the top of the non-fiction rankings, where it remained at the top for 20 weeks."

"The word hierarchy, originally used to describe the hierarchy of the church, has expanded to include any organization with a hierarchical structure."

"Hierarchical organization is a social science, and it's now also known as the law of ladders."

"Some say it holds the key to unlocking the mysteries of all hierarchical systems and the entire structure of civilization."

"Everyone involved in business, industry, politics, administration, military affairs, religion, and education is bound up in hierarchical organizations and is governed by the Peter Principle."

"Dr. Peter points out in his book that in any organization that adopts a hierarchical management system, the minimum requirement for internal personnel to be promoted is that they are competent or basically competent in their current positions, and those who are incompetent will never be promoted."

"So the general rule of promotion in an organization is that as long as someone is competent, they will be promoted sooner or later. If they are still competent in the job at the next level, they will be promoted again. Once they are promoted to a position where they are no longer competent, their promotion process will automatically end."

"So what are the criteria for defining who is competent and who is not? And why is the issue of promotion limits so common?"

"In his book, Dr. Peter cited some proverbs and verses to illustrate this."

"For example, the British poet A. Pope has this line in his epic poem 'On Man'"

"What will happen? He wants to soar higher and higher, but he is unable to achieve true perfection."

"This poem perfectly describes the mentality of people in hierarchical organizations. They tend to be dissatisfied with the positions they are in because they have already achieved success and need further challenges, always wanting to move to a higher level."

“That’s why people keep working hard to prove themselves and climb up until their position reaches the theoretical limit of promotion.”

David said, turning his gaze to the "Eldest Princess" Cheryl, looking at her pretty face with a half-smile on her face, and shrugged.

"There is a paradox in human nature as we know it~"

“Human potential is infinite. We can call it human freedom or possibility. This is the greatness of human beings.”

"At the same time, when people feel restricted and constrained in every way and believe they are not free, they will also feel insignificant."

“Human beings are a contradictory combination of freedom and unfreedom, self-awareness and lack of self-awareness, self-confidence and lack of self-confidence.”

"The difference between people is that some can recognize their own shortcomings and correct them through self-reflection or reminders from others, while others cannot."

"For example, those who are already in high positions but are unwilling to admit that they are not competent, only a very small number of them are able to voluntarily step down and make way for more competent people."

"Among the remaining people, some will choose to promote one or more capable subordinates to perform their duties in their place, using their contributions and achievements as capital for their own advancement to higher levels."

"Those who remain at the end will generally choose to promote less capable subordinates than themselves, making them their power tentacles within the organizational hierarchy, gradually closing the path to advancement from the lower ranks."

"Is this what you just said...its close connection with Parkinson's Law?" Cheryl asked with a slightly strange chuckle.

"That's right!" David picked up the cutlery again, took a sip of the very delicious Italian seafood soup, and nodded.

"No wonder I received so many calls complaining to me after you attended the meeting..." Cheryl turned to look at Professor Bartlett, her eyes flashing and her smile becoming even more intense.

"I know that after you had your heart surgery, you said you didn't want to be involved in family affairs anymore."

"Please rest assured, I will take good care of them for you."

"For me? No need." Professor Bartley's gray eyebrows twitched, and he squinted his eyes, smiled, and shook his head.

"I will take good care of David and the professor." Lilith, who was sitting opposite Cheryl, heard her say this and expressed her attitude after Professor Bartlett.

"OK then."

Cheryl showed a trace of regret on her face. She quickly smiled as if relieved that Professor Bartlett had rejected her recruitment and took the initiative to change the subject.

"After you left at noon, Dad asked Panaris to quickly set up a team to secretly enter IBM and conduct a month-long internal investigation."

"David, what you said made almost everyone at the meeting feel a sense of crisis!"

"Oh? This is not good news for me."

"Ha! Are you showing off?"

"NO, NO, NO!" David smiled bitterly and shook his head, looking at Cheryl seriously.

"If we observe and analyze from the perspective of a rational observer, using all known theories, it's not difficult to find~"

"The Morgan family has been passed down to this day, going through several important stages, including development, accumulation, integration, cohesion, division, and control, before finally forming the relatively stable hierarchical organizational system we have today."

"Please note!"

"I'm talking about stability here, not stability."

"Stable means that the current Morgan family hierarchy is relatively mature. Unless a fierce battle for succession breaks out, this system won't undergo any major changes."

David, who had been observing Cheryl's expression, noticed that the smile on her face was slowly disappearing. After quickly weighing the pros and cons in his mind for a few seconds, he continued.

"Murphy's Law, Parkinson's Law, and Peter's Theorem are the most outstanding theories in the management academic community of the 20th century, and every outstanding manager should study and research them in depth."

"I don't think a few words can shake the hierarchical management system that your father spent decades building and the trust they have in each other."

"I am not naive enough to think that no one has ever discovered the huge hidden dangers of IBM before me!"

"Because it has already suffered from the big company disease that is very common among domestic listed companies today. Anyone with a keen eye can find problems from its annual financial reports and official announcements. It's not difficult!"

"And you just said that your father, Mr. Morgan Sr., has asked your brother Panaris to set up an investigation team to quietly enter IBM and conduct in-depth research before the reform."

"This actually proves that the problems currently facing IBM and other companies and enterprises are the first test left by Mr. Morgan for his successor!"

"Whoever can crack it perfectly will initially possess the inheritance rights to manage the family assets."

"You and I are both very aware of this, which is why you showed up here right after the meeting, hoping to get some support from us."

"Tell me, am I right? Sister Cheryl!"

"Okay, you guessed right!" Cheryl nodded readily and admitted it, then changed her tone and looked at Professor Bartlet.

"However, you may have misunderstood my idea."

"Actually, I'm not as determined to secure the position of family heir as everyone imagines, nor have I ever thought of engaging in a battle of the century with Panaris."

"That's right!"

"I did feel very unhappy about being a woman."

"I have also expressed my desire to fight for the inheritance in front of my parents and siblings."

"But my thoughts have changed now!"

As Cheryl spoke, she gently embraced her bulging belly with both hands, a layer of "maternal light" appeared on her face, and she smiled softly.

"I have three siblings, and if you add Elder, Grace, Pine, and Lilith, I have seven siblings in my family."

"But I only have one father and one mother. If their love is divided equally among eight children, each person will get too little!"

"So I've been particularly competitive since I was little, and I love competing with them for their love, hoping to get more attention and favor."

"Now, I am going to be a mother and have my own children."

"Looking back, I seemed so naive."

"Then read more and enrich your mind with the latest knowledge that is most in line with the development of the current era!" David picked up a shrimp with his fingers and put it into his mouth, jokingly saying.

"Okay, can you recommend some books to me?"

"Of course you can. You know the management guru Peter Drucker, right?"

"Yeah, I've heard of it."

"His books, including The Effective Executive, The Practice of Management, Introduction to Management, Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, and Practices, People and Performance: The Essentials of Drucker on Management, and The Observer, are all excellent management classics that are perfect for you."

"Also, if you can find more time to balance work and life, I suggest you take a look at some game theory. I'll be asking you in a few months..."

"No, it's my mentor, Professor Bartlett's new book, 'Behavioral Economics', which will be published in a few months!"

"Oh?" Cheryl couldn't help but turn her head to look at the silent Professor Bartley when she heard David say this.

Although she didn't say anything, her eyes expressed everything.

As a bystander throughout the whole process, Lilith kept observing the three silent people. Although her expression was calm, she was already extremely shocked in her heart.