Asakura Clan House Code - Law #12 | Part 12 of 17 Article Series

ORIGINAL TEXT:

Do not allow men with special talent whether monks or laymen to serve other families.  However, this proscription does not apply to those who have no desire of serving the Asakura family and only wish to peddle their skills.

MODERN INTERPRETATION:

Only employ people who are committed to your group and share your goals.  Don’t employ people who aren’t sincerely interested in helping you succeed, and don’t have common incentives.  In the same line, be careful of allowing excellent people to support rival clans.

Samurai Version of ”We’re Always Looking for Good People”

If you’ve got it, you’ll “get gotten”!  The Asakura Clan were big believers in “always looking for good people!”  In other words, they were actively utilizing men of great talent to increase the power and influence, and thus security, of the House of the Asakura.  But they had principles - and the first principle was loyalty.

A Samurai Job Interview: Ability? Yes. Loyalty? No. BYE BYE!

Should a man of great talent exist, but not wish to serve the Asakura family, then this law proclaims that the Asakura should have nothing to do with this man.  If someone had the skills and ability, but was more interested in making profit from selling his skills to the highest bidder,  then it would be a mistake to retain that person.

Samurai Version of “Non-Competition Clause”

However, when one reads this law, one cannot help but read between the lines.  Was this law written as a secret decree in a politically correct manner?  The Asakura House Code was publically available for other clans to read, including the Shogunate.  It would be ridiculous for the Asakura House Code to openly call for members of the Asakura clan to assassinate men of great ability who wished to serve other clans?  

Should there be a great warrior or a great craftsman passing through the Echizen province, and there was no one around to bear witness, what would happen to that man?

If a master bladesmith, able to craft incredible swords, came to Echizen to peddle his services, would the Asakura Clan let him live?  Would they blackmail him?  Torture him, imprision him?  Would the man “go missing in a fishing accident?”  

Would you make it easy for a Rival Clan of Highly Trained Warriors to Gain Power?

Should these great talents get into the hands of a rival clan, it would not help the Asakura.  But openly calling for the assassination or at minimum, jail, torture, disfigurement, claiming possessions, or similar of such men would be foolish to openly write in the Clan’s House Code.  It would quickly bring political upheaval and threaten the Asakura Clan’s power as the military officials of the Echizen province.

In considering the wisdom of the Samurais, we must put things in historical context.  We must remember that they were warriors and were devoted to ensuring the safety of their clans, even to the point of fighting to the death in large scale warfare with other clans. 

Secretly encouraging the prevention of allowing people of great talent from getting into the hands of rival clans is a strong possibility here, when one reads between the lines. 

Modern Day Asakura Clan Strategy - Non Compete Contracts

In modern times, most standard business contacts have some form of a “non-competition” clause.  There is generally a minimum period, say 1 year for example, where a high ranking engineer or professional is legally binded to refuse employment by a company offering similar services or products (competitor).  

The company (leadership) effectively prevents other companies (rival clans) from having men of special talent (professionals with insider knowledge) serve them (work for them and spread all your secrets!).

Samurai Life, though different, was not THAT different!  Many ways of conducting affairs remain the same today.  Most businesses use strategies, outlined here by the Asakura House Code from 1480AD, that are aimed to “ETHICALLY” prevent people of great talent from helping other companies!

NEXT ARTICLE IN THE SERIES: A PREVIEW

The next article, Law #13, is regarding the importance of a belief system which places pragmatism and internal locus of control above luck / destiny / fate, and therefore the criticality of seeking truth, preparing to be ready for what may come, and constantly planning and adapting.