Cognitive Scaffold

Preparing your thinking workspace

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MENTAL MODEL · M9169

Hold Office Without Work

Hold Office Without Work
CulturemediumChinese History and Classics
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Updated 2026-08-10

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INTRODUCTION

English translation pending.

CORE DEFINITION

Shi wei su can describes those who occupy a post the way a corpse occupies a ritual seat, drawing a salary without doing the work. In organizations they are the people in senior positions who create no value and survive on seniority alone, the most visible symptom of the Peter Principle. The model treats them as a blood clot in the organization that has to be cleared.

SCAFFOLDING EFFECT

psychology

Reduce cognitive load

- Judge by output, not tenure: evaluate every post on contribution rather than seniority or title. - Set the bar explicitly: attach clear duties and measures to each position so emptiness becomes visible. - Move or clear: transfer or remove the long-term zero-output holder rather than managing around them.

anchor

Anchor fast decisions

Value creation is what the organization pays for, but tenure and title are what a role gets measured against when no explicit output bar exists. Without one, a senior role can be held indefinitely without contribution, and the drain is not only the salary but the demoralization of everyone watching the standard go unenforced.

MINIMUM ACTION

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Source support: Explicit

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    zh.wikisource.orghttps://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E6%9B%BE%E5%9C%8B%E8%97%A9%E5%AE%B6%E6%9B%B8/1ZH · Explicit
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