The Philosophy of “Find the Right People, Not the Best People”
Jack Ma, the visionary founder of Alibaba Group, has become one of the world’s most influential business leaders and philosophers, yet his path to prominence was anything but conventional. Born Ma Yun in Hangzhou, China, in 1964, Ma came of age during a period of significant social and economic transformation in China. He grew up in a modest household and was an ordinary student who failed his college entrance examination twice before finally gaining admission to Hangzhou Normal University, where he studied English. This early struggle with academic achievement became foundational to his later philosophy about identifying potential in people that others might overlook. His journey from a rejected college applicant and failed entrepreneur to the architect of one of the world’s largest e-commerce empires makes him uniquely qualified to speak about the importance of choosing people based on character and fit rather than pedigree or credentials alone.
Before founding Alibaba in 1999 with eighteen co-founders working from his apartment, Ma worked as an English teacher, a profession that deeply influenced his worldview and communication style. He launched a failed online directory service called China Pages in 1995 and struggled for years in the early internet economy of China. These formative experiences taught Ma that business success relies less on hiring Harvard graduates or industry veterans and more on assembling people who are aligned in vision, humble in approach, and willing to learn together. The quote “Find the right people, not the best people” emerged from this philosophy and was frequently repeated in interviews and company culture discussions from the early 2000s onward, particularly as Alibaba began its explosive growth. Ma often emphasized this principle when discussing how Alibaba managed to compete against and eventually surpass international e-commerce giants like eBay in the Chinese market, despite lacking the venture capital resources and technical expertise that seemed standard for such an ambitious undertaking.
What makes this quote particularly striking is how it challenges the prevailing assumption in both academic and corporate circles that excellence is a purely meritocratic pursuit best achieved by recruiting the most accomplished and credentialed individuals. Ma’s philosophy suggests instead that cultural fit, shared values, and the right attitude matter significantly more than titles, degrees, or previous accolades. This perspective was especially revolutionary in the Chinese business context of the late 1990s, where family connections and government relationships were often considered the primary determinants of business success. By explicitly rejecting the notion that the “best people” in conventional terms were necessary, Ma was both practically building a company culture that could adapt and learn quickly and philosophically questioning what “best” even means in an organizational context. He believed that people who were intellectually humble, willing to be wrong, and capable of rapid personal transformation would outperform those who arrived with fixed expertise and established ways of doing things.
Lesser-known aspects of Ma’s personality and approach reveal just how deeply he embodied this philosophy himself. Despite becoming extraordinarily wealthy, Ma has always maintained an unusual humility and willingness to admit mistakes. In 2008, when Alibaba faced criticism over marketplace fraud, rather than defensively protecting his reputation, Ma took personal responsibility and acknowledged failures in the company’s oversight systems. Furthermore, many people don’t realize that Ma practiced Tai Chi regularly, studied philosophy extensively, and spent significant time reading fiction—practices he credited with keeping his mind flexible and open to unconventional thinking. He was also famously theatrical and unconventional in his personal presentation, often appearing at company events in elaborate costumes or wigs, which humanized him to employees and demonstrated that success didn’t require conforming to traditional notions of corporate respectability. These quirky character traits were not separate from his business philosophy but rather expressions of his belief that organizations thrive when they embrace authenticity and individual personality rather than enforcing conformity.
The practical application of Ma’s principle became evident in how Alibaba built its organizational culture and selected leaders throughout the company’s growth stages. Rather than recruiting exclusively from prestigious universities or established tech companies, Alibaba actively sought out talented individuals from unconventional backgrounds who demonstrated hunger, humility, and alignment with the company’s mission to empower small businesses. Many of Alibaba’s early executives and department heads came from teaching backgrounds, modest family circumstances, or careers in completely different industries. This approach extended to international recruitment as well; Ma’s company brought in people from diverse countries and cultures, not based on their credentials at previous multinational corporations, but based on their understanding of and commitment to Alibaba’s vision. The company’s famous value system, which emphasized customer focus, integrity, and embracing change, became the true interview criteria, with Ma himself often participating in discussions about whether candidates embodied these values regardless of their professional background.
The quote has resonated across cultures and industries far beyond Alibaba’s walls, influencing management philosophy in Silicon Valley, traditional corporations, and startups worldwide. Entrepreneurs and CEOs from various sectors have cited Ma’s principle when explaining why they’ve successfully hired people who lacked obvious credentials but brought irreplaceable cultural fit and growth mindset to their organizations. In the age of artificial intelligence and automation, the quote has taken on renewed significance, as many business leaders have begun to recognize that the specific technical skills employers traditionally prioritized can become obsolete relatively quickly, whereas adaptability, collaborative spirit, and shared values remain perpetually valuable. Business schools and leadership development programs have increasingly incorporated Ma’s philosophy into their curriculum, using it to challenge students’ assumptions about meritocracy and talent identification. The quote has become particularly relevant in discussions about diversity, equity, and inclusion, as it implicitly critiques the homogenizing effects of credential-based hiring that has historically