Recently, there was a news story that went viral online, which reported that a video blogger had contracted a fish pond, but after draining the water, villagers began to rush in to steal the fish.

This blogger is a kind-hearted person. The reason he contracted this fish pond was to do a good deed. This good deed was because the owner of the fish pond owed money to someone and could not pay it back, or was financially strained and unable to repay. Therefore, he contracted the fish pond to ensure that the person owed would receive their payment, while also hoping to recoup his costs through the fish pond.

However, he overestimated the goodness of human nature. He allowed others to fish, and from that moment on, it was as if he had opened Pandora's box. The villagers and nearby residents demanded to enjoy the benefits of the fish. The blogger did not express opposition, but he said that it was okay to catch some small fish, but not to catch the big ones, reaching a verbal agreement. However, in reality, from that moment on, it was destined that bad things would inevitably happen.

So when the blogger drained the pond and discovered many fish, he began to catch them. There were many onlookers nearby, and some people tried to join in. At first, they only caught some small fish, but gradually others rushed in, and the situation became uncontrollable. The original agreement to only catch small fish was completely disregarded; they only caught the valuable big fish, hauling them in by the sackful and taking them home.

This chaotic situation was likely beyond the blogger's expectations, and he could no longer control it. He casually remarked that he only allowed them to catch small fish, yet they even took the big ones, which was very unreasonable. So, unsurprisingly, the blogger ended up losing a lot of money from contracting this fish pond.

There were also some elderly people, including an old lady, who arrived late or had difficulty moving and could not rush to the pond to grab fish. However, seeing others take so many fish made them feel unbalanced, so they actively approached the blogger, demanding two fish. The blogger said they could take some small fish, but the old lady insisted on two big fish. Then, she personally picked the two largest fish and took them away. The blogger had no way to stop this behavior because if he did, it might lead to trouble like being accused of wrongdoing, which would be even more troublesome.

After this incident was exposed online, it caused a huge uproar, with all sorts of comments. However, netizens unanimously defended the blogger and nicknamed the village in Xiangtan City "Fish Stealing Village." After the village became famous, they felt very embarrassed, so they had the village secretary speak out. The village secretary claimed that the blogger was just trying to gain traffic and that the villagers did not steal fish. However, this statement did not gain the recognition of the majority of netizens because the facts were clear, and videos had been recorded. So, facts speak louder than words. Although the villagers had reported the incident to the police, it was unlikely they would win.

So what insights can we gain from this incident? First, do not break the rules. For example, when the blogger discovered that people were fishing in the pond he contracted that night, he should have stopped them. At that moment, stopping them was the only correct action, but he did not, which led to their increasing arrogance.

In other words, from that moment on, the broken window effect was created, causing those people to take more liberties. Those who secretly came to fish were caught but acted as if nothing happened, even saying that the fish should be freely given to their village. What kind of reasoning is that? Faced with such unreasonable demands, the blogger did not firmly deny them, which was a flaw on his part. At this point, if such people returned to the village, they might spread the message that the fish were free, and whoever grabbed the most would own them.

In rural areas, there are actually many people like this. Once they discover such situations, they will take more liberties, and they will also spread the news to more people, thinking of themselves as great benefactors.

When the pond was drained, too many people gathered nearby. At this time, the rules should have been reiterated: small fish should not be picked up either. Because it can be anticipated that people are not that self-aware, especially since the rules had already been broken before. If a serious rule is not established at this time, chaos is likely to ensue.

So when the water was drained, some bold individuals actively went down to catch fish, not only catching small fish but also big fish. Those who did not go down felt unbalanced, thinking they were at a disadvantage, and thus rushed in as well. In such a situation, it became uncontrollable, and some people led the way in catching big fish, claiming them for themselves. Under the encouragement and demonstration of these people, the broken window effect occurred, and many people inevitably stopped picking small fish and instead rushed to catch big fish, immediately hauling them home.

In this situation, those villagers who did not manage to grab fish felt they had lost out, especially some elderly people. After feeling disadvantaged, they actively approached the blogger, demanding fish with justification, insisting on big fish and boldly taking them if the blogger was unwilling to give them.

So analyzing the entire incident, while the customs of Jin Feng village have some issues, the blogger repeatedly tolerated and did not set clear boundaries for the rules, nor did he take the rules seriously, which is also a problem.

Therefore, in this situation, small fish should not be allowed to be picked. The blogger and his companions should catch both big and small fish themselves, and after they have caught the big fish, they can allow the villagers to pick up the remaining ones.

Human nature cannot withstand the test of interests. Thinking that allowing them to catch small fish is a small favor actually opens the window to their desires.

Therefore, in workplace management, once rules are established, they should be effective for everyone. They should not be ambiguous, nor should they test human nature. Testing human nature with rules often leads to the destruction of those rules.

Of course, this blogger can be considered magnanimous. When faced with such a situation, he did not lose his temper. Although he was somewhat angry, he did not lose control. After the video was posted online, the village indeed became infamous on the internet. Their secretary, in order to maintain the village's reputation, also distorted the facts. However, these after-the-fact actions cannot change the nature of the incident.

In the video, there is a detail that is thought-provoking. When the pond owner saw the situation, he said that once the video was posted online, it would be too embarrassing. The implication of this statement is that these people did not act according to the rules, displaying selfishness, greed, and looting in the face of interests.