“A thousand-zhang dike collapses because of an ant’s burrow; a hundred-chi chamber burns down due to a spark from a crack in the chimney.” In business, no collapse comes without warning. A true crisis rarely stems from attacks by competitors, but from a tiny crack within an organization. At first, the crack is so faint that no one notices it, seeming trivial — until it becomes the starting point for total collapse.

Carelessness is not merely a slip in conduct, but slackness of the mind. When do people make mistakes most easily? Not when they are on high alert against threats, but when they think “it’s good enough.” As an old poem goes, “On the Jing Stream, rocks are treacherous; men stay watchful, and all year long no boats capsize. Yet on calm waters free of rocks, tales of sinking craft are often heard.” Danger keeps everyone on guard, yet boats often capsize in calm waters. Calm waters are not inherently more dangerous. Rather, people tend to relax their guard when things seem easy. Every thought of “it should be fine” or “it will probably work” bets years of hard-earned trust on an uncertain risk. Win the bet, and it is mere luck. Lose it, and you face irreversible defeat. An enterprise, however, can never survive by luck alone.