人尽其才

Pronunciation: rén jìn qí cái Literal meaning: Everyone uses their talents

Origin & Usage

The Huainanzi argues that a ruler's skill lies in placing people where their particular capacity is worth something, and illustrates it with the philosopher Gongsun Long, who took on a disciple whose only distinction was an enormously loud voice. The other students thought it absurd until the party reached a river with the ferryman on the far bank. Let each person (人) exhaust (尽) their (其) talent (才) — the claim is not that everyone is talented but that talent is specific, and that the failure is usually in the placing rather than the person.

Examples

English: "In our team, everyone is encouraged to contribute their unique skills."

Chinese: 在我们的团队中，人尽其才，充分发挥每个人的特长。