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PostsLet's talk about the Wang Teng incident
Every summer, Xiaomi holds cultural activities related to integrity. For a Fortune 500 company, values are always the sacred and inviolable action guidelines for all employees.
After reading various online versions of the Wang Teng penalty incident and confirming with trusted friends, the currently known internal email is likely the final official response. As for the exact reason, it may involve another confidentiality agreement.
Generally, external institutions or partners consulting with internal employees charge fees ranging from thousands to tens of thousands per hour. Wang Teng, who has been with Xiaomi for years and managed a hundred-person team at REDMI, couldn't have been unaware of this red line. From Wang Teng's perspective, sacrificing his achievements at Xiaomi for such a small amount of money is completely not worth it.
At the Xiaomi family banquet earlier this year, I had close interactions with two REDMI colleagues, Wang Teng and Xinxin. Wang Teng was as humorous and witty as in videos, while Xinxin was slightly more reserved, enthusiastically posing for photos with visitors.
The key question is: Did Wang Teng do it deliberately?
If the amount involved was large and the circumstances severe, the company's supervision department would typically hand the case over to relevant authorities for processing, with a chance to recover losses. However, the announcement email did not mention this. Both parties chose to post simultaneously, indicating that the integrity department had communicated with Wang Teng in advance, confirming the specific disciplinary issues before making a joint public announcement.
If Wang Teng, as previously speculated, leaked company secrets to competitors or institutions by accepting consulting fees, the entire process would likely have been much harsher.
Based on current information, Wang Teng's mistake is a fact. It might have been a momentary lapse or a misguided decision, but without full context, we shouldn't rush to conclusions.
For Xiaomi, talent development has always been a top priority at the group level. Whether it's Xu Fei and Zhang Jianhui in the new president's office or Qu Heng in the technology committee, all are key talents cultivated from Xiaomi's early days.
What struck me most was Lei Jun's New Year's Eve livestream, where he talked about Wang Teng's journey at Xiaomi—starting in the mobile division under Lei Jun, then moving to sales in Henan, and recently being promoted to general manager of REDMI's brand marketing department. It was the perfect time to leverage his accumulated resources and connections.
Lei Jun must have been saddened by Wang Teng's dismissal.
For companies of a certain scale, "rule of law" must prevail over "rule by individuals" to ensure smooth operations and avoid strategic disruptions due to individual factors. This is the purpose of the supervision department.
Where there are people, there is drama.
Most companies, in practice, often let things slide due to personal relationships. While this may seem insignificant in the short term, over time, it leads to a disregard for rules, resulting in "bad money driving out good" and the collapse of regulations.
Logically, Wang Teng was one of Lei Jun's close associates. Yet, Lei Jun chose not to intervene as the boss but let the supervision department decide, which in a way reflects Xiaomi's robust oversight mechanisms.
The relationship between a company and its founder is like that between parents and children—dynamic and complex. Early on, founders set examples due to underdeveloped systems, but as the company grows, they must step back and delegate, intervening only in critical moments.
Xiaomi's first core value is: "Befriending users."
Thus, most business and product leads open social media accounts to interact with users and gather feedback.
Most don't aim to leverage Xiaomi's influence for personal gain but do so as part of their job, which also subjects them to greater scrutiny.
Some comments under Wang Teng's Weibo are outright abusive. As an individual (not a Xiaomi employee), this is his most defenseless moment. Everyone has career highs and lows; kicking someone when they're down is despicable.
As of writing, Wang Teng has responded to some rumors. Everyone makes mistakes; what matters is learning from them.
Rumors stop with the wise. Hopefully, Wang Teng will reflect deeply and strive to be better.
September 9, Mars, Qinghe.
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