Introduction: Are You Choosing Your Principles After Seeing the Potential Gain?
You may be able to land a major contract. But you are being asked to present unverified performance claims as established facts. With this quarter’s targets in mind, you want to secure the order. Raising concerns might make you look as though you are holding the team back.
This is a hypothetical situation, but the difficulty is clear. The desire to increase sales conflicts with the responsibility to give customers accurate information.
In moments like this, we sometimes settle on the conclusion we want and then look for reasons to support it. Even if we can say, “We can verify it after the contract is signed” or “This is an exception,” we need to check whether we have shifted the standard we intended to uphold. Our book, Bushido for Modern Life: Foundational Edition, explains Gi as establishing a standard for judgment before gain or fear takes over. Gi, as used here, concerns a commitment to what is right and the responsibility to make choices accordingly.
Drawing on the book’s interpretation, this article considers how to apply Gi to modern management decisions. It does not make the historical generalization that all samurai acted according to the same standards. Its focus is practical: what to use as the basis for judgment when financial interests and relationships create pressure.
1. What Is Gi? Set the Standard Before Calculating Gains and Losses
1-1. Put What You Believe Is Right into Words That Can Guide a Decision
Bushido for Modern Life: Foundational Edition explains Gi as follows:
Gi in Bushido means defining the principle you must follow before you are swept away by profit and loss, emotion, or fear.
Bushido for Modern Life: Foundational Edition, Chapter 1, Section 1-3.
A policy such as “We want to be an honest company” does not, by itself, determine what to do when there is pressure to close a contract. Put it into words such as “Do not tell customers that unverified performance has been verified,” and you can identify which parts of a proposal need revision. Making a standard specific does not eliminate all uncertainty. It makes clear where to return when your judgment wavers. If facts are missing, you can acknowledge that and consider how to verify and explain them.
1-2. Gi Gives the Other Virtues Direction
The book introduces Gi first among the virtues and treats it as the backbone of judgment. “First” here does not mean a fixed ranking shared by samurai throughout every historical period. It describes Gi’s role in setting the direction of action within this book’s framework.
Without clarity about what courage is meant to protect, it can become the force used to push through an unrealistic order. Loyalty to an organization likewise cannot justify concealing information about harm to customers in order to meet a target.
If you begin with Gi, the first question is whether the action you are about to undertake meets the standards you intend to uphold. Then you use Yu to say what needs to be said, maintain Rei in the discussion, and practice Makoto by aligning your explanations with what you actually do.
2. Two Approaches to Judgment: Justifying the Desired Outcome or Considering Options Against a Standard
Using Gi to guide judgment does not mean abandoning considerations of profit or efficiency. It means establishing which options are acceptable and finding a workable approach within those boundaries.
|
Situation |
Starting with the desired outcome |
Starting with Gi as the standard |
|---|---|---|
|
Explaining an offer to a customer |
If it helps close the contract, clarify the uncertainties later. |
Disclose uncertainties and make commitments only within the scope of what has been verified. |
|
Running short of time |
Skip necessary checks to meet the deadline. |
Identify the checks that must be preserved, then reconsider the deadline or scope of delivery. |
|
Facing an objection |
Prioritize keeping the plan moving. |
Examine the facts behind the concern and whether the plan violates the standard. |
|
Discovering an error in judgment |
Look for reasons that make the earlier explanation appear correct. |
Acknowledge the gap between the standard and the action, then correct the explanation and response. |
This table is a modern application developed for this article. It does not treat the pursuit of profit as inherently unethical. The comparison helps assess whether the way a goal is pursued is compatible with responsibilities to customers and employees.
2-1. Separate Firm Principles from Adaptable Methods
Upholding a principle is different from insisting on a plan simply because it has already been decided.
For example, you can uphold the principle of not misleading customers while considering changes such as extending a deadline, reducing features, or proposing a trial. Changing the form of the agreement can still preserve the standard of communicating facts accurately.
If, instead, you conceal facts that should be disclosed because you do not want to change the plan, you are changing the standard rather than the method. Separating what must be upheld from what can be adjusted makes it easier to discuss where compromise is acceptable.
2-2. A Standard Must Do More Than Serve Your Own Interests
Even a principle you have chosen yourself needs scrutiny. A policy of “putting company profits first” can also be used to justify decisions that shift burdens onto customers.
When modern leaders examine a standard, they need to consider who benefits, who bears the risks or disadvantages, and what they can explain to those people. The strength of a personal conviction does not establish that it is right.
When new information about the facts or consequences emerges, reassess the decision. Upholding principles is compatible with listening to opposing views.
3. Applying Gi at Work: Make Ethics More Than a Leader’s Personal Resolve
This section offers specific suggestions for applying Gi at work. The situations below are hypothetical examples, not actual cases presented in the book.
3-1. Lay Out the Standard, Facts, and Options Before Deciding
Before rushing to a conclusion in a meeting, state the standard you intend to uphold in one sentence. Then separate the facts needed for the decision from what remains unknown. With that distinction in place, compare the approaches that preserve the standard.
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Standard: Put duties into action. Make necessary reports. Raise concerns that are difficult to voice. Maintain Rei toward people with less power. Fulfill the responsibilities you have accepted through your response to the situation at hand.
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Facts: Examine the duties that come with your position. What should you protect as a leader? What promises have you made to colleagues and customers? Consider the responsibilities that accompany the authority you have been given.
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Options: Could changing the current plan allow you to uphold the standard while meeting the business objective?
This process is a set of questions developed for this article to guide judgment. It is not a checklist that automatically produces the right answer in every situation. Executives can use it to identify to whom they need to explain the reasons for a choice and the burdens it creates.
Scenario A: Being Asked to Promise Unverified Performance to Secure a Major Contract
The Gi standard: Do not present unverified performance as verified.
Before blaming the salesperson, establish which aspects of performance can be verified, under what conditions, and by when. Discuss other options with the customer, such as a trial agreement, a reduced scope of delivery, or a formal proposal after verification.
The contract may consequently be delayed beyond the current quarter. A decision consistent with Gi will not necessarily increase short-term profits. For that reason, also check whether the evaluation process makes the employee who upheld the standard bear sole responsibility for missing the target.
3-2. Apply Your Stated Standards to Performance Evaluations
If executives call for honesty but evaluate employees solely on sales, employees face conflicting expectations. Leaders who set a standard need to use it when evaluating people.
Scenario B: A High-Performing Manager Reports the Team’s Achievements as Their Own
The Gi standard: Do not misrepresent contributions to an achievement based on someone’s position.
First, check the division of responsibilities and what was reported, and give those involved an opportunity to explain. Once the facts are established, correct the reports and evaluations. Exempting a high performer from the standard makes it unclear which standards apply to whom.
Leadership requires more than speaking forcefully about ethics. It requires applying the same process of verification and correction to facts that are inconvenient for you. If your own judgment was mistaken, update your explanation and take responsibility for the necessary response.
4. Conclusion: Define the Line You Will Not Cross Before Pressure Arrives
Before your next major decision, try writing one sentence that states what you will not do, whatever you stand to gain.
“We will not promise unverified performance as verified, even if that means missing this quarter’s target.” A standard this specific can guide proposals, meetings, and evaluations. When a standard alone cannot determine the choice, continue verifying facts and considering alternatives.
Applying Gi at work requires attention to how you make promises, evaluate people, and correct decisions, as well as to your personal resolve.
Read About Miyamoto Musashi’s “Standard Before Drawing the Sword”
Chapter 2, Section 2-1 of Bushido for Modern Life: Foundational Edition uses Miyamoto Musashi to examine what strength is for and when to establish the standard that guides its use. The section title, “Standard Before Drawing the Sword,” is not a quotation from Musashi himself. It is the perspective the book uses to explore Gi.
The section describes Gi as follows:
It is a standard you establish internally — before the pressure arrives, before the incentives appear, before the easier path presents itself.
Bushido for Modern Life: Foundational Edition, Chapter 2, Section 2-1.
The section interprets Musashi’s life through Gi and connects it to a standard upheld independently of whether it produces results. It also includes an end-of-section exercise: write one sentence defining a standard you will not compromise, regardless of the outcome.
What will you use your abilities and authority for, and what line will you refuse to cross? If you would like to explore those questions through Chapter 2’s discussion of Musashi, visit the product and purchase page for the Bushido for Modern Life: Foundational Edition eBook.
👉 Get Bushido for Modern Life from Deep Japan in Kyoto.
