Chang Ching-Jui's Perspective: Do 'Yes-Men' Rise Faster? Aligning with Your Boss's Frequency

A former acting president of National Taiwan University, who taught physics for 30 years, uses the underlying logic of many-body physics to thoroughly analyze the absurdities and difficulties you encounter in the workplace every day. No moral judgment—only explaining how phenomena operate.

Workplace wisdom from this article: People who flatter rely only on their mouths; those who tune frequencies also use their ears.

The Physics of Flattery

In my previous article, I mentioned that in 2016, during a management training course at National Taiwan University Hospital, I first used the term 'Physics Management.' But what truly made me believe this could become a series was another incident later on.

In 2017, I was invited to give a management lecture at Foxconn. Before the event, a manager, upon hearing I would speak about Physics Management, came over deliberately—perhaps to challenge me and embarrass me in front of others: 'You're a physics professor. Now you're talking about Physics Management. Can you tell me the physical principle behind flattery?'

A few people around laughed, anxiously waiting for my answer—perhaps even hoping to see me flustered and unable to respond.

I paused, then smiled and replied: 'Resonance.'

What is resonance in physics?

When an external driving frequency exactly matches a system's 'natural frequency,' the system absorbs energy intensely, causing its amplitude to reach maximum.

Like pushing a swing: if you push randomly, the swing just wobbles. But if you push gently at just the right moment, in sync with the swing’s natural rhythm, it rises higher and higher. This is resonance—pushing at the wrong time leads to double the effort for half the result; pushing at the right time leads to half the effort for double the result.

Physicists have studied resonance for centuries—from Galileo discovering the isochronism of pendulums, to bridge designs avoiding wind-induced vibrations. Resonance isn’t mysticism; it’s the most efficient energy transfer strategy.

But physics also teaches another key point: resonance requires not just frequency matching, but also a high Q-value—the system must have low energy loss. A high-Q organization or individual is like a smooth, frictionless bearing: energy transfers almost without loss. A low-Q system is like gears filled with sand (high friction, internal suspicion, and waste); even the best signal gets worn down.

Applied to organizations, this means: even if you match the frequency, if the other person is unwilling to receive, has narrow cognitive bandwidth, or lacks trust, your signal will eventually dissipate.

High-Q people can listen; low-Q people can’t receive even perfectly tuned signals. So beyond tuning, you must ask: is this person worth tuning to?

Why do most people hate flattery?

Most people react with disgust at the word 'flattery.' We’ve all seen those people at work: they agree with everything the boss says, remember every trivial detail the boss cares about, and deliver sycophantic remarks before the boss even speaks. Others watching feel disgusted, thinking this person relies only on relationships, not real ability.

Some organizations do have a subtle phenomenon: those disliked 'flatterers' actually rise faster than others—perhaps the saying 'everything has its limits, but flattery never fails' holds true.

It’s not that managers are blind. Most who reach managerial positions aren’t so foolish as to be bought by a few compliments. The real reason is that those who flatter often genuinely understand the boss’s thinking logic, decision preferences, and language habits.

This isn’t mere sycophancy—it’s a survival strategy in information-asymmetric workplaces. In complex organizations, whoever can quickly decode the decision-maker’s preferred frequency gains resources, authority, and trust faster. Why do others resent them? Because they either fail to tune into the boss’s frequency or refuse to adjust to it.

Why is resonance the same as 'flattery'?

Back to the Foxconn question: when I said flattery is resonance, I wasn’t joking.

Truly effective flatterers aren’t just blindly flattering—because that’s just noise, obvious to outsiders and instantly recognizable to the boss. Instead, they first carefully listen to what the boss cares about, how they think, and what language they use. Then they switch to that channel to communicate.

This isn’t flattery—it’s tuning.

Some think subordinates flatter just to please the boss. But sometimes, it’s because the subordinate notices the boss likes certain topics, so they emit signals at that frequency. When the boss receives it, they feel this subordinate 'gets me' and 'understands me.' What does 'understanding me' mean? It’s resonance. When your frequency matches mine, your signal gets amplified, and I’m bound to receive it.

So the term 'flattery' actually reveals a management truth: Effective communication isn’t about making your signal louder—it’s about tuning your frequencies more precisely.

But here’s a key physical problem: resonance is actually hard.

Anyone who’s studied resonance knows it’s not as simple as it seems. Resonance has strict conditions: the driving frequency must be very close to the system’s natural frequency, and the system’s Q-value (quality factor) must be high—meaning low energy loss. In other words: you need precise understanding of the boss’s thinking pattern, and the boss must be someone willing to receive signals. If either condition fails, resonance won’t occur—only awkward one-way output.

Flattery is often hated because most people see the successful flatterers but ignore the difficulty of resonance itself. They think that person just knows how to flatter, but the truth might be: that person decoded the boss’s frequency, while others didn’t.

Of course, some 'flattery' is purely false sycophancy—mere noise without frequency alignment. It never causes resonance and only consumes system energy. Such energy-wasting flattery will eventually be sensed by the boss, because physically, it can’t work: driving without matching natural frequency doesn’t amplify energy—it creates interference. That’s the common saying: 'flattery backfires.'

Therefore, in any organization, the responsibility for reducing noisy, energy-wasting flattery lies with the manager.

High-Q managers: open-minded, with solid trust and no departmentalism—so when subordinates tune correctly, energy transfers without loss, creating good management outcomes.

Low-Q managers: full of suspicion, bureaucratic infighting (high friction). In such systems, no matter how well subordinates tune, signals get worn down by internal resistance.

Thus, excellent managers must not only tune to subordinates’ frequencies but also reduce organizational friction and raise the system’s Q-value, so correct signals are effectively amplified.

Two Types of Managers

Tuning isn’t just a subordinate’s upward communication survival strategy—it’s also a core leadership skill for managers. Having served in administrative roles for over 30 years, I’ve observed many managers and gradually realized they fall into two types.

The first, I call the 'Radio Station Type.'

This person speaks the loudest in meetings, delivering their logic from start to finish, regardless of whether others can follow. They believe 'I spoke, therefore I managed.' Emails are long, instructions detailed, but subordinates’ reactions are usually 'Oh, here we go again.' Not out of disrespect, but because their frequency never aligns with subordinates’.

Such managers are often exhausted. They feel they’re putting in the most effort, yet get the least feedback. The harder they push, the more passive and inactive their team becomes.

The second, I call the 'Frequency-Tuning Transmitter Type.'

This person doesn’t speak loudly or forcefully, but when they do, people listen.

I once met a manager with a habit: in meetings, he’d first listen. He never interrupted, didn’t rush to rebut, and didn’t immediately offer advice. After the other finished, he’d say: 'So what you mean is… did I understand correctly?'

It sounds simple, but most managers can’t do it. Most interrupt by the third sentence, or say, 'I already know what you’re going to say.' Slightly better managers don’t interrupt but are already thinking, 'How will I rebut this?'

His second habit: he never used jargon. Managing budgets, he wouldn’t say 'diminishing marginal returns'—he’d say, 'It’s like paying an extra mortgage every month.' Managing processes, he wouldn’t say 'standard operating procedures'—he’d say, 'It’s like spending an extra hour commuting daily.' He translated abstract management terms into relatable life experiences.

This manager was later headhunted by another company. After he left, the department’s atmosphere clearly changed, and efficiency immediately dropped. The systems and people hadn’t changed much—but the leader who could tune and correct 'frequencies' was gone.

There are two types of managers: Radio Station Type and Frequency-Tuning Transmitter Type. Flattery is effective frequency transmission. (Author provided)

When frequencies align, management works

I’ve also seen managers who work hard but receive the most private complaints from subordinates.

They arrive earliest, leave latest, repeatedly emphasize key points in meetings, and chase every detail via email. Yet their teams’ efficiency never improves.

Where’s the problem?

It’s not that they’re not trying. Their frequency is wrong. They output strong energy, but it’s their own frequency, not the system’s needed frequency. Like pushing a swing with all your might, but completely out of sync with its rhythm—the swing won’t rise; it’ll just wobble.

In the end, they blame the subordinates.