Don't fail fast -- fail mindfully | Leticia Gasca

翻译人员: jacks peng 校对人员: Yolanda Zhang

[This talk contains mature language Viewer discretion is advised]

【本演讲含有成人词汇， 请观众酌情观看】

If we traveled back to the year 800 BC,

如果我们穿越到公元前800年的希腊，

in Greece, we would see that merchants whose businesses failed

我们会看到经营生意失败的商人

were forced to sit in the marketplace with a basket over their heads.

被迫坐在市场上，用篮子扣住头。

In premodern Italy,

在前现代意大利，

failed business owners, who had outstanding debts,

破产企业主，若有未偿还的债务，

were taken totally naked to the public square

会被赤条条地带到公共广场，

where they had to bang their butts against a special stone

用一块特殊的石头打自己的屁股，

while a crowd jeered at them.

同时还有一群嘲笑他们的围观群众。

In the 17th century in France,

在17世纪的法国，

failed business owners were taken to the center of the market,

失败的企业主被带到市场的中央，

where the beginning of their bankruptcy was publicly announced.

在那里，他们破产的消息被公之于众。

And in order to avoid immediate imprisonment,

为了避免立即入狱，

they had to wear a green bonnet

他们必须带一顶绿色的帽子，

so that everyone knew they were a failure.

这样每个人就会知道他们是失败者。

Of course, these are extreme examples.

当然，这些都是极端的例子。

But it is important to remember

但请记住，

that when we excessively punish those who fail,

当我们过度惩罚那些失败的人时，

we stifle innovation and business creation,

我们是在扼杀创新和商业创造的能力，

the engines of economic growth in any country.

而这些能力是每个国家经济成长的引擎。

Time has passed, and today we don't publicly humiliate failed entrepreneurs.

时间飞逝，今天我们已经不会 公开羞辱失败的企业家了。

And they don't broadcast their failures on social media.

他们也不会在社交媒体上 宣扬他们的失败。

In fact, I think that all of us can relate with the pain of failure.

事实上，我认为我们所有人 都体会过失败的痛苦。

But we don't share the details of those experiences.

但我们并不分享那些体验的细节。

And I totally get it, my friends, I have also been there.

我完全明白，朋友们， 我也陷入过那样的境地。

I had a business that failed

我有过生意失败的经验，

and sharing that story was incredibly hard.

而且分享这个失败真的很难。

In fact, it required seven years, a good dose of vulnerability

事实上，它花费了我长达 7年的时间，适度的脆弱感，

and the company of my friends.

还有我朋友们的陪伴。

This is my failure story.

我的失败故事是这样的。

When I was in college, studying business, I met a group of indigenous women.

当我还在大学的商学院学习时， 我遇到一群原住民妇女。

They lived in a poor rural community in the state of Puebla, in central Mexico.

她们住在墨西哥中部普埃布拉州 一个贫穷的农村社区。

They made beautiful handmade products.

她们会制作漂亮的手工产品。

And when I met them and I saw their work,

当我遇到她们，看到她们的作品时，

I decided I wanted to help.

我决定要帮助她们。

With some friends, I cofounded a social enterprise

怀揣着帮助这些女性获取稳定的收入，

with the mission to help the women create an income stream

以及提升她们生活质量的使命，

and improve their quality of life.

我与几位朋友共同创立了一个社会企业。

We did everything by the book,

我们一直在照本宣科，

as we had learned in business school.

正如我们在商学院学到的那样。

We got investors,

我们有了投资者，

we spent a lot of time building the business and training the women.

我们花了很多时间建立企业 和培训这些女性。

But soon we realized we were novices.

但很快我们意识到，我们只是菜鸟。

The handmade products were not selling,

手工艺品根本卖不动，

and the financial plan we had made was totally unrealistic.

我们做的财务计划也完全不现实。

In fact, we worked for years without a salary,

事实上，我们赔本赚吆喝地经营了几年，

hoping that a miracle would happen,

希望奇迹会发生，

that magically a great buyer would arrive

有个大买家会奇迹般地出现，

and she would make the business profitable.

让整个生意变得有利可图。

But that miracle never happened.

但那个奇迹从未发生。

In the end, we had to close the business,

最终，我们不得不关闭公司，

and that broke my heart.

这让我十分痛心。

I started everything to create a positive impact

我开始这一切是为了给艺术家的生活

on the life of the artisans.

创造积极的影响。

And I felt that I have done the opposite.

但我感到，整个事情的发展却事与愿违。

I felt so guilty

我感到内疚，

that I decided to hide this failure

于是决定在接下来几年的

from my conversations and my resume for years.

交谈和简历中隐藏这个失败。

I didn't know other failed entrepreneurs,

我不认识其他失败的企业家，

and I thought I was the only loser in the world.

当时只觉得我是世界上唯一的失败者。

One night, seven years later, I was out with some friends

7年之后的一个晚上， 我跟朋友一起出去，

and we were talking about the life of the entrepreneur.

我们谈到了企业家的生活。

And of course, the issue of failure came out.

自然而然地，我们聊到了失败的话题。

I decided to confess to my friends the story of my failed business.

我决定向朋友坦白 曾经创业失败的经历。

And they shared similar stories.

而她们则分享了类似的故事。

In that moment, a thought became really clear in my mind:

在那一刻，我的脑海中清晰地 出现了这样一个念头：

all of my friends were failures.

我所有的朋友都是失败者。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Being more serious, that night I realized

严肃地说，那晚我意识到：

that A: I wasn't the only loser in the world,

首先，我不是世界上唯一的失败者，

and B: we all have hidden failures.

第二，我们全都在隐藏自己的失败。

Please tell me if that is not true.

如果有谁没这么做过， 请一定要告诉我。

That night was like an exorcism for me.

那个晚上对我来说， 就如同一场驱魔活动。

I realized that sharing your failures makes you stronger, not weaker.

我意识到分享你的失败 可以让你更强，而不是更弱。

And being open to my vulnerability

坦然面对自己的脆弱，

helped me connect with others in a deeper and more meaningful way

帮助我与其他人建立了 更深和更有意义的连接，

and embrace life lessons I wouldn't have learned previously.

并拥抱过去无法学到的生活教训。

As a consequence of this experience

作为分享我们不成功的

of sharing stories of businesses that didn't work,

商业故事的结果，

we decided to create a platform of events

我们打算创建一个活动平台，

to help others share their failure stories.

来帮助别人分享她们的失败故事。

And we called it Fuckup Nights.

我们称之为“搞砸之夜”。

Years later, we also created a research center

几年后，我们也创建了以个研究中心，

devoted to the story of failure

致力于失败故事，

and its implications on business, people and society

以及它对商业，人类和社会的启示，

and as we love cool names, we called it the Failure Institute.

由于我们喜欢比较酷的名字， 于是称之为“搞砸研究所”。

It has been surprising to see

令人惊讶的是，

that when an entrepreneur stands on a stage

当企业家站在舞台上

and shares a story of failure,

分享他们失败的故事时，

she can actually enjoy that experience.

她能够享受那种体验。

It doesn't have to be a moment of shame and embarrassment,

这不一定像过去一样，是象征着

as it used to be in the past.

羞耻和尴尬的时刻。

It is an opportunity to share lessons learned

这是一个分享经验教训

and build empathy.

和构建同理心的机会。

We have also discovered

我们也发现，

that when the members of a team share their failures, magic happens.

当团队成员分享 她们的失败时，奇迹发生了。

Bonds grow stronger and collaboration becomes easier.

纽带增强，协作变得更容易了。

Through our events and research projects,

通过我们的活动和研究项目，

we have found some interesting facts.

我们发现了一些有趣的事实。

For instance, that men and women react in a different way

比如，男人和女人在生意失败之后，

after the failure of a business.

反应是不一样的。

The most common reaction among men

男性最常见的反应是

is to start a new business within one year of failure,

在失败后的一年内再次开始新的业务，

but in a different sector,

但是在不同的行业，

while women decide to look for a job

而女性则决定找份工作，

and postpone the creation of a new business.

并推迟创造新事业。

Our hypothesis is that this happens

我们对此的猜测是，

because women tend to suffer more from the impostor syndrome.

女性更容易受到“冒牌者症候群”的折磨。

We feel that we need something else to be a good entrepreneur.

我们觉得我们还需要其他东西， 才能成为好的企业家。

But I have seen that in many, many cases women have everything that's needed.

但我在很多案例中见到，女性其实 已经具备了所需要的一切品质。

We just need to take the step.

我们只是需要多迈出一步。

And in the case of men,

而在男性的例子中，

it is more common to see that they feel they have enough knowledge

更普遍的情况是，他们觉得 自己已经拥有了足够的知识，

and just need to put it in practice in another place with better luck.

只是在等待一个更好的机会。

Another interesting finding has been

另一个有趣的发现是，

that there are regional differences on how entrepreneurs cope with failure.

企业家如何应对失败， 表现出了地域上的差别。

For instance, the most common reaction

比如，在美洲大陆，

after the failure of a business in the American continent

生意失败后人们最常见反应是

is to go back to school.

回归学校。

While in Europe, the most common reaction is to look for a therapist.

而在欧洲，人们更愿意去找个治疗师。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

We're not sure which is a better reaction after the failure of a business,

我们不确定面对生意失败， 究竟哪种反应更好，

but this is something we will study in the future.

但以后会仔细研究一下。

Another interesting finding has been

另一个有趣发现是，

the profound impact that public policy has on failed entrepreneurs.

针对失败企业家的公共政策 所带来的深远影响。

For instance, in my country, in Mexico,

例如，在我的国家，墨西哥，

the regulatory environment is so hard,

监管环境苛刻，

that closing a business can take you a lot of time and a lot of money.

关闭一家公司需要花费 大量的时间和金钱。

Let's begin with the money.

我们先说说金钱。

In the best possible scenario,

在最好的情况下，

meaning you don't have problems with partners,

意味着你跟伙伴，

providers, clients, employees,

供应商，客户，员工没有纠纷，

in the best possible scenario,

在最好的情况下，

officially closing a business will cost you 2,000 dollars.

正式关闭一家公司需要花费2千美元。

Which is a lot of money in Mexico.

在墨西哥，这个数目可不算小。

Someone who earns the minimum wage

一个赚最低工资的人，

would have to work for 15 months to save this amount.

需要工作15个月才能存够这笔钱。

Now, let's talk about the time.

现在，我们再来说说时间。

As you may know, in most of the developing world,

你可能知道在多数发展中国家，

the average life expectancy of a business is two years.

企业的平均预期寿命是2年。

In Mexico, the process of officially closing a business takes two years.

在墨西哥，正式关闭一家企业 也需要两年的时间。

What happens when the average life expectancy of a business

当企业的平均预期寿命跟

is so similar to the time it will take you to close it if it doesn't work?

关掉它的时间一样长时，会发生什么？

Of course, this discourages business creation

显然，这无法鼓励企业创新，

and promotes informal economy.

反而会促进非正规生意。

In fact, econometric research has proved

事实上，经济研究证明，

that if the process of declaring bankruptcy takes less time and less money,

如果宣布破产的流程越短，花钱越少，

more new firms will enter the market.

更多新的企业就会进入市场。

For this reason, in 2017,

正因为如此，在2017年，

we proposed a series of public policy recommendations

我们提出了一系列在墨西哥

for the procedure of officially closing businesses in Mexico.

关闭企业的流程的公共政策建议。

For a whole year,

在整整一年中，

we worked with entrepreneurs from all over the country

我们与全国的企业家

and with Congress.

和国会一道工作。

And the good news is that we managed to help change the law.

好消息是，我们成功地协助修改了法律。

Yay!

吔！

(Applause)

（鼓掌）

The idea is that when the new regulation comes into force,

其背后的想法是，当新规生效时，

entrepreneurs will be able to close their businesses in an online procedure

企业家将可以通过快速且 廉价的线上流程

that is faster and inexpensive.

关闭他们的公司。

(Sighs)

（松一口气）

On the night we invented Fuckup Nights,

在我们创建"搞砸之夜"时，

we never imagined that the movement would grow this big.

我们从来没想到这场运动 会发展到如此大的规模。

We are in 80 countries now.

我们的业务已经开展到80个国家了。

In that moment, our only intention

在创立那刻，我们唯一的意图

was to put the topic of failure on the table.

是把失败的话题放到桌面，

To help our friends see that failure is something we must talk about.

去帮助我的朋友认识到， 失败是我们不应该回避的话题。

It is not a cause of humiliation, as it used to be in the past,

它不再像过去那样，只代表着羞耻，

or a cause of celebration, as some people say.

或是庆祝的理由，也有人这样形容。

In fact, I want to confess something.

事实上，我需要坦言一件事情。

Every time I listen to Silicon Valley types or students

每次我听到硅谷范的论调，或者有学生

bragging about failing fast and often like it's no big deal, I cringe.

吹嘘自己如何迅速失败，而且常常觉得 这没什么大不了的，我就会感到不寒而栗。

Because I think that there is a dark side on the mantra "fail fast."

因为我觉得“迅速失败”的 言论有着很大的弊端。

Of course, failing fast is a great way to accelerate learning

当然，迅速失败是加速学习， 避免浪费时间的

and avoid wasting time.

好办法。

But I fear that when we present rapid failure

但我害怕的是，当我们把迅速失败

to entrepreneurs as their one and only option,

当成企业家们的一个或唯一选项时，

we might be promoting laziness.

我们可能在鼓励浅尝辄止。

We might be promoting that entrepreneurs give up too easily.

我们可能在鼓励企业家轻易放弃。

I also fear that the culture of rapid failure

我同时也害怕这种草率失败的文化

could be minimizing the devastating consequences

对企业失败所带来的恶劣影响

of the failure of a business.

过于轻描淡写了。

For instance, when my social enterprise died,

例如，当我的社会企业倒闭时，

the worst part was that I had to go back to the indigenous community

最糟糕的环节是，我需要回到原住民社区

and tell the women that the business had failed

告诉那些女性，生意失败了，

and it was my fault.

这是我的错。

For some people this could be seen like a great learning opportunity for me,

在有些人看来，这是我 得到的最好的教训，

but the truth is that the closure of this business

但真相是，关闭这个生意，

represented much more than that.

其背后的意义要深远得多。

It meant that the women would stop receiving an income

它意味着这些女性将没法获得

that they really needed.

她们迫切需要的收入。

For this reason, I want to propose something.

针对这一点，我有个提议。

I want to propose that just as we put aside the idea

我想要提议，就像我们摒弃了公开羞辱

of publicly humiliating failed entrepreneurs,

失败企业家这种想法一样，

we must put aside the idea that failing fast is always the best.

我们也必须把“迅速失败总是 最佳选择”的想法抛诸脑后。

And I want to propose a new mantra:

我想要提出一个新的箴言：

fail mindfully.

谨慎地失败。

We must remember that businesses are made of people,

我们必须记住公司由人组成，

businesses are not entities that appear and disappear

公司不是创立和失败都没有

magically without consequences.

任何后果的神奇实体。

When a firm dies, some people will lose their jobs.

当公司关闭时，有些人会失去工作。

And others will lose their money.

有些人会失去收入。

And in the case of social and green enterprises,

在社会和绿色企业中，

the death of this business can have a negative impact

这些企业的死亡会对它们服务的

on the ecosystems or communities they were trying to serve.

生态或社区产生负面的影响。

But what does it mean to fail mindfully?

那么谨慎地失败是什么意思呢？

It means being aware of the impact, of the consequences

意思是注意企业失败的

of the failure of that business.

影响和后果。

Being aware of the lessons learned.

注意学到的教训。

And being aware of the responsibility

意识到与世界分享

to share those learnings with the world.

这些教训的责任。

Thank you.

谢谢。

(Applause)

（鼓掌）