Why Are We Targeted? Understanding the Real Reasons

Take me and Zhang San, for example. He’s clearly not as capable as I am, yet when the company announced a layoff quota, the boss chose to let me go instead of him. Or take Li Si—he puts in far fewer overtime hours than I do—but when the bank announced its layoff quota, the boss again picked me over him. Wang Wu isn’t nearly as diligent or conscientious, and Zhao Liu has written a mountain of bugs. Yet in the end, the target is always me; I’m the one being laid off while they’re kept on.

Zhang San is the son of a director at a government bureau. If the boss laid Zhang San off, Zhang San’s father would cut off cooperation—and the boss would be the one terminated next. Li Si’s father is a major client. Fire Li Si, and his father pulls his deposits, sinking the boss’s career. Wang Wu is the boss’s yes-man; everyone knows he’s his favorite. Laying him off would leave the boss with no loyal followers—no one would listen to him, no one would follow his commands. And Zhao Liu? He’s riddled the codebase with bugs. If the boss fired him, the company would grind to a halt, the owner would fly into a rage, and the boss would be finished.

Zhang San, Li Si, Wang Wu, Zhao Liu—they’re all less capable than you. That’s your yardstick for judging the situation. You think the game is about who’s the better marksman, but the reality is it’s about whose beard is longer.

You think you’re competing against Zhang San, Li Si, Wang Wu, and Zhao Liu? No—you’re competing against the referee, against the boss who’s refereeing the game.If any of those four goes down, the boss goes down with them. So if the referee doesn’t want to get fired himself, he has to keep all four of them safe—and sacrifice you.

Most of us grow up conditioned by the school system: you study what’s on the syllabus, you’re tested on what was taught. No one hands you a philosophy exam in math class. But who checks that in the real world?

You buy a kilo of gold bars, then when you go to sell them back, you run into problem after problem. The shop shuts down. Other shops won’t honor their buyback policy. They’ll offer you a fraction of what you paid. Fortunately, in my story the shop stays open—but they still knock a chunk off the price. Do you know that? Yes, you do. So the only move is to buy from a shop large and stable enough that it won’t fold anytime soon. But don’t you pay a premium for that convenience? That’s just the cost of doing business. Go to the Shanghai Gold Exchange, and the price is 550. Walk into a retail shop, and it’s 600. Fair enough—they’re providing a buyback service.

Now picture Sun Qi buying twenty kilograms. Does he go to a retail shop? No—he buys straight from the Shanghai Gold Exchange at 550.

Isn’t he worried about the buyback hassle? Not at all. If the buyback falls through, so what? He just spends a little extra money, opens his own gold shop, stocks 20kilograms as inventory, hires a jeweler, and starts crafting pieces. See? He not only buys at a lower cost—he earns the spread and the crafting fees. A small business running smoothly. What can you do with one kilogram? Nothing.

You’re not going to throw another few million into opening a shop just to protect a position worth a few hundred thousand, and you certainly aren’t going to devote a full-time employee to it—after all, you have a day job. But Sun Qi doesn’t care. He can lay down another 2million to rescue a position worth tens of millions. After all the maneuvering and eventual liquidation, he might walk away with millions in extra profit. That’s the decent version of Sun Qi.

Now imagine the unscrupulous version: Sun Qi opens a renovation company, piles up debts to suppliers, and sits on them for years. Then he invites them in, one by one, to negotiate. If they’re willing, he offers them gold bars worth 10million to settle 20million in debt. If they refuse, tough luck—he’s got no Lao Luo talent for singing “I’m Really Repaying My Debts,” so he simply declares himself a deadbeat. Come collect then. Ask any debt-collection agency: once a debt goes overdue, it’s often sold for 20cents on the dollar, or even 10cents. And right now, they’re being offered a 50cent offer—in gold bars! Take it or leave it. The creditors grit their teeth and accept. Suddenly, Sun Qi has turned 10million in inventory into 20million in value.

He’s won big time.

That’s how life plays out.

Zhang San has an influential father. Li Si has a wealthy father. Wang Wu is a master flatterer. Zhao Liu holds leverage over the boss. Sun Qi has deep pockets. Every one of them brings their own edge to the table.

Whatever advantages you have, use them to exploit other people’s weaknesses—just like Zhang San, Li Si, Wang Wu, Zhao Liu, and Sun Qi. But if you’ve got nothing going for you, I’m sorry: there is one thing you must have.

You need wisdom—to see through people, to see through situations.