Student Question
Hello, Master Chi. For those working in operations and marketing, and for professionals broadly who feel stuck in their personal development — how can they learn more effectively given the current environment?
Master Chi’s Response
There are essentially two points.
The first concerns today’s broader environment. Most working professionals — especially those with operations and marketing backgrounds — need to seek out new paths for personal development. But inevitably, only a small number will actually get results.
For those who genuinely want to break out of the involution (内卷) cycle — to escape the zombie-like, going-through-the-motions state and do something of real value — this moment may actually be an opportunity in disguise.
Let me explain what I mean.
Within the working professional class today, two significant shifts are underway.
First, many people’s goals and pathways for personal development are no longer clear or certain. They need to carve out time to genuinely re-explore what direction they’re even heading in.
Second, the current environment has produced a growing number of people who are either frantically chasing short-term wins or who have simply chosen to lie flat (躺平) and check out entirely. As a result, the number of people with both the genuine motivation and the capacity to invest seriously in learning and exploration has actually been declining.
For operations and marketing professionals of the past, there was a reasonably well-defined path to pursue greater personal growth: start at a small company, work hard to climb to a certain level, then move to a star company as a core contributor or mid-to-senior manager — and from there, consider launching your own venture or taking on larger projects. It was difficult, but the path itself was relatively clear.
Today, that era of predictable corporate career advancement has dissolved. And I don’t mean that employment opportunities have vanished entirely. I mean that the old model — pursuing personal growth by job-hopping your way into a large company, climbing through promotions, earning ever-higher salaries and titles — that path can no longer be considered the mainstream. The job market, whether at large or small companies, has seen both hiring demand and advancement opportunities shrink dramatically. Simply having a job at all is now considered a decent outcome.
I met with the CEO of a publicly listed company last week. He mentioned that since AI has developed the way it has, he could cut at least a third of his current team. The only reason he hasn’t pulled the trigger is out of consideration for human relationships and a sense of social responsibility.
So the corporate ladder is no longer something most people can rely on. That is the reality.
As for starting your own business — most people simply aren’t fully prepared in terms of experience and judgment, and their risk tolerance is still very fragile. Many also face a lack of self-awareness and unclear direction. To put it more bluntly: many people suffer from a mismatch between their self-perception and their actual abilities — eyes set too high, hands that can’t reach. These are mindset issues that need to be addressed before anything else.
All of the above requires considerable time to genuinely resolve. If none of these issues are worked through, taking meaningful action becomes very difficult — let alone achieving results. When your mindset is unstable and your learning goals and path are undefined, you simply cannot solve any problem worth solving. It takes longer just to explore and untangle these foundational questions.
The second major point.
Today, only those who have built genuine core competency in a specific area can hold their ground — and more importantly, they carry their own certainty with them rather than depending on external conditions.
So rather than keeping your primary focus outward — asking where the opportunities are, which industry has a brighter future, where the next wave is coming — turn the lens inward instead. Ask yourself: in what area should I be building my core competitive advantage? What can my core competency actually bring me?
The logic is simple. In today’s era, market tailwinds and easy opportunities have become rare. In the past, many people could catch a fortunate wave — making the right bet at the right moment — and quickly reap the rewards.
But today is an era of mean reversion.
You’ll notice that those who caught a lucky break before but never built a solid foundation are now finding themselves in a state of payback. Take many P7s and P8s (senior and staff-level roles) at major tech companies — a significant number of them, after being laid off, simply cannot find another job.