Chǔfá tài zhòng jiù chéng le jiǎowǎngguòzhèng, fǎn'ér dǎjī shìqì.
Punishment that's too harsh becomes overcompensation and ends up hurting morale.
Tips
history
From the 《后汉书·仲长统传》 (Book of the Later Han): in trying to set things right after a chaotic age, reformers fall into 矫枉过正 — bending the bent stick so far the other way that it's bent again.
memory
Picture straightening a bent (枉) stick: push too hard and you've now bent it the other direction (过正 = past straight). The mistake isn't the correction, it's the excess.
