The Road Ahead

The Road Ahead is an illustrated career-and-motivation book written by Wen Shiren and illustrated by Cai Zhichong. Starting from the idea that "for anyone who lives, the road ahead is a real, living 'path in front of them,'" it is neither fortune-telling nor futurology, but a discussion of how a person should view and plan their tomorrow. The author begins with the meaning of life, roughly sorting views on the origin of life and its purpose into a Creator camp, a non-Creator camp, and a "billiards camp," then argues that one's prospects are "in my own hands": first establish a correct outlook on life, gain a clear understanding of the world, and then set concrete, feasible goals that can be reached step by step. The second half widens the view from the individual to the group, exploring how a company too has a meaning to its life, an appropriate scale, and competitiveness, and, from the standpoint of the office worker, how to choose a company (through personnel, promotion, pay, and learning) and how to cultivate the "virtue, talent, ability, drive, and teamwork" that office workers need: honesty and dedication, mastery of languages and skills, seeing things through, solving problems, cooperating with others, and collective learning. It closes with three different paths ahead, becoming a manager, starting one's own business, and intrapreneurship, and with the story of "The White Butterfly" and "The Courage to Live." Short and illustrated with Cai Zhichong's cartoons, written in plain language, it is a popular book aimed at young people about to enter society and those new to the workplace.