What are you willing to give up to change the way we work? | Martin Danoesastro

翻译人员: Heze Ma 校对人员: Yolanda Zhang

Have you ever watched a flock of birds work together?

你看过一群鸟成群飞行吗？

Thousands of animals, flying in perfect synchrony:

上千只动物， 以完美的协调性成群飞行，

Isn't it fascinating?

是不是很壮观呢？

What I find remarkable is that these birds would not be able to do that

我觉得最令人惊叹的是： 若这些鸟只能跟着一位领袖，

if they all would have to follow one leader.

那它们就无法如此成群飞行。

Their reaction speed would simply be too low.

因为如此一来，它们的 反应速度就太慢了。

Instead, scientists believe that these birds are aligned on

相反，科学家们相信这些鸟遵循着

a few simple rules,

几个简单的原则，

allowing every single bird to make autonomous decisions

这些原则让每一只鸟都可以自主决策，

while still flying in perfect synchrony.

同时以完美的协调性成群飞行。

Their alignment enables their autonomy,

共识让它们能够自主行动，

and their autonomy makes them fast and flexible.

而它们的自主又让 群体行动更快更灵活。

Now, what does this have to do with any one of us?

那这跟我们有什么关系呢？

Well, it's one way of illustrating what I believe to be the most important change

事实上，这是诠释 在我看来当今的工作方式中

that is needed in ways of working today.

最重要的改变的一种方法。

The world is getting faster and more complex,

世界正在变得越来越快，越来越复杂，

so we need a new way of working,

所以我们需要新的工作方式，

a way that creates alignment around purpose,

以目的为核心达成共识，

that takes out bureaucracy

取代官僚体制，

and that truly empowers people to make decisions faster.

真正授权每个人更快地做出决策。

But the question is:

但问题是：

In order to get there,

为了达成这个目标，

what are we willing to give up?

我们愿意放弃什么？

A few years ago, I was working with a bank

几年前，我与一家银行合作，

that wanted to embark on a digital transformation.

他们想进行数字化的改革，

They wanted their offering to be simpler, more intuitive, more relevant.

希望提供更简单、 更直观、更贴心的服务。

Now, I'm not sure how many of you have seen a bank from the inside,

我不确定多少人了解银行内部的流程，

so let me try to illustrate what many traditional banks look like.

让我试着形容一下 什么是传统的银行：

You see lots of people in suits

你能看到很多人穿着西装，

taking elevators to go to their department,

搭乘电梯抵达他们的部门，

marketers sitting with marketers, engineers with engineers, etc.

营销人员坐在营销人旁边， 工程师坐在工程师旁边，依此类推。

You see meetings with 20 people

你会看到二十个人的会议，

where nothing gets decided.

却没有做出任何决定。

Great ideas? They end up in PowerPoint parking lots.

即便有好的主意， 也会淹没在一堆幻灯片中。

And there are endless handovers between departments.

各个部门之间的交接没完没了。

Getting anything done can take forever.

把事情搞定似乎遥遥无期。

So this bank knew that in order to transform,

所以这家银行知道，想要改革，

they would have to improve their time to market

他们必须通过大幅改变工作方式

by drastically changing their ways of working as well.

来加速产品的上市时间，

But how?

但这该怎么做呢？

To get some inspiration, we decided to go and have a look at companies

为了汲取一些灵感， 我们去拜访了那些看起来

that seem to be more innovative,

很有创意的公司，

like Google, Netflix, Spotify, Zappos.

像是Google, Netflix, Spotify, Zappos。

And I remember how we were walking the halls at one of these companies

我还记得在2014年的12月， 我和一个管理顾问，

in December 2014,

以及一群银行家

a management consultant and a team of bankers.

穿过其中一家公司的大堂时的感受。

We felt like strangers in a strange land,

我们仿佛进入了一个奇异之地，

surrounded by beanbags and hoodies

被懒人沙发、卫衣、

and lots of smart, creative employees.

以及许多聪明， 有创造力的员工包围着。

So then we asked, "How is your company organized?"

于是我们不禁问道： “你们的公司是如何组建的？”

And we expected to get an org chart.

我们预期会拿到一张组织结构表。

But instead, they used strange drawings

然而，他们画了一些奇怪的圆，

with funny names like "squads" and "chapters" and "tribes"

标着有趣的名称，像是“小队”、 “地方分会” 或是 “部落”，

to explain how they were organized.

以此来解释他们是如何运作的。

So then we tried to translate that to our own world.

我们试着把这些转译成自己的语言。

We asked, "How many people are working for you?"

我们接着问：“有多少人为你工作呢？”

"It depends."

“看情况。”

"Who do you report to?"

“你向谁报告呢？”

"It depends."

“看情况。”

"Who decides on your priorities?"

“谁决定你工作的优先顺序呢？”

"It depends."

“看情况。”

You can imagine our surprise.

你可以想象我们有多惊讶。

We were asking for what we thought were some of the basic principles

我们自认请教的是一些关于组建的

of organizations,

基本原则，

and their answer was, "It depends."

而他们的回答却是“看情况”。

Now, over the course of that day,

在那天之后，

we gained a better understanding of their model.

我们对他们的工作模式 有了更深入的了解。

They believed in the power of small, autonomous teams.

他们相信精简而自主的 工作团队的力量。

Their teams were like mini-start-ups.

他们的团队就像小型的创业公司。

They had product people and IT engineers in the same team

他们让产品部和工程师 在同一个团队里。

so they could design, build and test ideas with customers

这样他们就能够跟顾客一起 设计、打造并测试想法，

independently of others in the company.

而无需依赖公司其他人。

They did not need handovers between departments.

他们不需要做部门之间的工作移交。

They had all the skills needed right there in the team.

他们所需要的人才就在团队里。

Now, at the end of that day, we had a session

在那天结束的时候，我们有一个环节，

to reflect on what we had learned.

回顾我们今天学到了什么。

And we had started to like their model,

我们开始欣赏他们的模式，

so we were already thinking of how to apply some of these ideas to a bank.

我们已经在思考如何 将某些想法用在银行业。

But then, one of the hosts, a guy who had not said a word all day,

这时候，接待方的一位 当天一直一言不发的人

he suddenly said,

突然说：

"So I see you like our model.

“我看得出来，你们喜欢我们的模式，

But I have one question for you:

但我有一个问题问你们：

What are you willing to give up?"

你们愿意放弃什么呢？”

What were we willing to give up?

我们愿意放弃什么呢？

We did not have an answer immediately, but we knew he was right.

我们当下没有答案， 但我们知道他是对的。

Change is not only about embracing the new;

改变不只是拥抱新的方法，

it's about giving up on some of the old as well.

同时也要放弃一些旧的做法。

Now, over the past five years,

过了五年之后，

I have worked with companies all over the world

我协助世界各地的公司

to change their ways of working.

改变他们的工作方式。

And clearly, every company has their own skeptics

虽然每家公司都有他们自己的质疑，

about why this is not going to work for them.

觉得新方法对他们而言是行不通的：

"Our product is more complex,"

“我们的产品更复杂，”

or "They don't have the legacy IT like we do,"

“他们不像我们有这么多老旧的系统，”

or "Regulators just won't allow this in our industry."

或是“我们这个行业的监管者 不会允许我们这样做。”

But for this bank and also for the other companies

但对于这家银行与其他

that I have worked with afterwards,

和我合作过的公司而言，

change was possible.

改变是可能的。

Within a year, we completely blew up the old silos

一年之内，我们完全打破了以往

between marketing, product, channels and IT.

营销、产品、渠道和 信息技术部门间的孤立。

Three thousand employees were reorganized into 350 multidisciplinary teams.

三千多名员工被重新组织成 三百五十多个专业合作团队。

So instead of product people sitting just with product people

取代以往产品经理坐在一起、

and engineers with engineers,

工程师们坐在一起的模式，

a product person and an engineer were now members of the same team.

现在产品经理和工程师 隶属于一个团队。

You could be a member of a team responsible for account opening

你可能是团队里负责开立账户的一员

or for the mobile banking app, etc.

或是负责移动银行应用软件，等等。

At the go-live date of that new organization,

新组织架构正式运作的那天，

some people were shaking hands for the very first time,

有些同事之间是第一次握手，

only to find out that they had been sitting two minutes away from each other

同时发现彼此的座位之间 仅有两分钟的步行距离，

but they were sending each other emails and status reports for the last 10 years.

而在过去的十年中，他们可能仅仅 在给彼此发电子邮件和进度报告。

You would hear someone saying,

你可能听到有人说：

"Ah, so you're the guy that I was always chasing for answers."

“原来你就是那位 我一直追着要答案的人。”

(Laughter)

（笑声）

But now, they're having coffee together every day.

但现在他们每天都一起喝咖啡。

If the product guy has an idea, he can just raise it

如果产品经理有个想法， 可以直接提出来，

to get input from the engineer who is sitting right next to him.

立刻就能获得坐在 他旁边的工程师的意见。

They can decide to test with customers immediately --

他们可以决定立刻进行顾客测试，

no handovers, no PowerPoints, no red tape,

不用移交、幻灯片或耗时的繁琐手续，

just getting stuff done.

就能直接把事情搞定。

Now, getting there is not easy.

要做到这样的程度并不容易。

And as it turns out,

我们发现

"What are you willing to give up?"

“你们愿意放弃什么？”

is exactly the right question to ask.

就是最核心的问题。

Autonomous decision-making requires multidisciplinary teams.

自主决策需要跨行业合作的团队。

Instead of decisions going up and down the organization,

摒弃公司范围内繁琐迂回的决策过程，

we want the team to decide.

我们希望让团队自己做决定。

But to do so, we need all the skills and expertise for that decision

但要做到这一点，我们需要 团队拥有所有必需的

in the team.

技能和专长。

And this brings difficult trade-offs.

随之而来的就是困难的取舍。

Can we physically co-locate our people who are working in different buildings,

我们能重新整合大家工作的

different cities or even different countries today?

不同的大楼，城市甚至国家吗？

Or should we invest in better videoconferencing?

或者，我们应该投资 更好的视频会议工具吗？

And how do we ensure consistency in the way we do things

我们如何确保不同团队行事的

across these teams?

一致性？

We still need some kind of management matrix.

我们仍需要一种管理体系。

Now, all these changes to structure and process and procedure --

要实现所有这些组织架构、 过程和步骤的改变——

they are not easy.

并不容易。

But in the end,

但最终，

I found that the most difficult thing to change

我发现最难改变的

is our own behavior.

是我们自己的行为。

Let me try to illustrate.

让我试着解释一下：

If we want these teams to be fast, flexible, creative, like a mini-start-up,

如果我们希望团队更高效，更灵活， 更有创意，就像是一个小型的创业团队，

they have to be empowered and autonomous.

那他们必须被授权，能够自主决策。

But this means we cannot have leaders commanding their people what to do,

这代表我们不能有主管不停 来下指令告诉别人：做什么，

when to do, how to do.

何时做，怎么做。

No micromanagers.

无需微观管理者（控制狂）。

But it also means that each employee needs to become a leader,

这也代表每个员工都需要成为领导者，

regardless of their formal title.

无论他们在工作中的正式职称是什么。

It's about all of us stepping up to take initiative.

这是让我们每个人都 往前站一步，采取主动性。

Now obviously, we also cannot afford

当然，我们无法承受

to have all these teams running in different directions,

所有团队都朝向不同的方向前进，

because that would certainly lead to chaos.

因为这肯定会带来混乱。

So we need alignment and autonomy at the same time,

所以我们需要同时实现共识和自主，

just like a flock of birds.

就像一群鸟一样。

In an organizational setting,

在一个组织环境里，

this requires new behaviors,

我们需要新的行为方法，

and with each new behavior,

每个新行为的诞生

there is giving up on something old as well.

也意味着一些旧的方法要被舍弃。

Leaders have to make sure that everyone in the organization

领导者必须确认组织里的每一个人

is aligned around the overall purpose -- the why --

有一致的整体目标——即为什么——

and the overall priorities -- the what.

有在整体上一致的优先顺序——即做什么。

But then they have to let go and trust their teams

然后他们应该放手，相信团队

to make the right decisions on how to get there.

将做出对的决策来达到目的。

Now, creating alignment requires open and transparent communication.

达成共识需要开放且透明的沟通。

But you know how they say that information is a source of power?

大家常说信息就是力量，

Well, for some managers,

但对于一些管理者来说，

sharing information may feel as if they're giving up that source of power.

分享信息就如同放弃自己的权力。

And it's not just managers.

这不仅限于管理者。

The teams need to communicate openly and transparently as well.

团队亦需要开放且透明的沟通。

In these companies, the teams typically work in short sprints,

在这些公司，团队常常采取 短时间密集工作的方式。

and at the end of every sprint, they organize a demo session

每一次项目的尾声， 他们都会组织一次演示活动，

to share the output of what they've done, transparently.

公开透明的分享他们的劳动成果。

And every day,

每天，

each member of the team gives an update

每个团队成员都会更新

of what they are working on individually.

他们各自的工作状况。

Now, all this transparency can be uncomfortable for people,

这样的透明度可能会 让一些人觉得不自在，

because suddenly, there is no place to hide anymore.

因为突然之间，一切都变得无处可藏了。

Everything we do is transparent for everyone.

我们做的所有事情 对他人来说都是透明的。

So, alignment is not easy,

所以达成共识并不容易，

and providing autonomy is not so obvious, either.

赋予自主权也不是一蹴而就的。

One executive at another company

另一个公司的主管

likes to explain how he used to be a master of milestone-tracking.

曾以“进度管理专家”自诩；

Now, today, to know how things are going,

而现在要想掌握情况，

instead of looking at status reports,

他不再看进度报告，

he needs to walk down to the team floors to attend one of their sessions.

他必须走进每一个团队， 参加他们的会议。

And instead of telling people what to do,

不再是告诉别人该怎么做，

he looks for ways to help them.

而是寻找帮助团队的方式。

That is radical change

对于自诩是

for someone who used to be a master of milestone-tracking.

“进度管理专家”的人来说， 这是一个巨大的改变。

But in the old world, this executive said,

这位主管说： “在过去的思维里，

"I only had the illusion of control.

我只拥有控制权的假象。

In reality, many projects would run over time and over budget, anyway.

实际上很多项目仍会拖延，超出预算；

Now I have much more transparency,

现在，我拥有更高的透明度。

and I can course-correct much earlier if needed."

必要的话，我可以及早修正事态发展。”

And middle managers need to change as well.

中层管理者也必须做出改变。

First of all, without the handovers and the PowerPoint,

首先，没有工作移交与幻灯片演示，

there's less of a need for middle managers.

将需要更少的中层管理者。

And in the old world, there was this idea of thinkers and doers.

在旧的思维里， 区分了“思考者”与“执行者”，

Employees would just follow orders.

员工只负责执行命令。

But now, instead of only managing other people,

但现在，除了单纯管理员工，

middle managers were expected to become player-coaches.

中层管理者更被期待扮演 教练兼球员的角色。

So imagine, for the last 10 years,

想象一下：过去十年，

you have just been telling other people what to do,

你只需要告诉别人做什么，

but now you're expected to do things yourself again.

但现在你被期待更亲力亲为。

Clearly, this model is not for everyone,

虽然这样的模式并不是 所有人都能接受，

and some great people leave the company.

一些人才也因此离开了公司。

But the result is a new culture

但结果是新的职场文化——

with less hierarchy.

降低了官僚色彩。

And all of this is hard work.

这些成果来之不易，

But it's worth it.

但这很值得。

The companies that I worked with,

我合作的那些公司，

they were used to deploying new product features a few times per year.

以往他们一年只能对产品的 新功能进行有限几次的部署，

Now they have releases every few weeks,

而现在，他们每隔几周 就会更新产品功能；

and without the handovers and the red tape,

无需工作移交、耗时的繁琐手续，

the whole organization becomes more efficient.

整个工作组都变得更高效。

And finally, if you walk the halls of these companies today,

最后，若你走进这些公司的大厅，

you just feel a new energy.

你能感到一股新的力量。

It feels as if you're walking the halls of a very large start-up.

就像走在一个非常大型的创业公司里。

Now, to be fair, these companies, they cannot claim victory yet.

平心而论，这些公司 还不能自称已经成功。

But at least with this new model,

但至少在这样新的模式下，

they are much better prepared to respond to change.

他们能够更好的应对改变。

The world is getting faster and more complex,

世界正在经历着越来越快， 越来越复杂的改变，

so we need to reboot our way of working.

我们必须重新调整工作的方式。

And the hardest part of that change is not in structure

而其中最难的不是改变架构、

or process or procedure,

过程或步骤，

and it's also not just senior executives taking charge.

也不仅是让资深管理者承担责任。

Leaders will be all of those in the organization

那些拥抱改变的人， 就是组织里的领导者。

who embrace the change.

We all have to lead the change.

我们必须一同领导变革。

So the question is:

所以问题是：

What are you willing to give up?

你愿意放弃什么？

Thank you.

谢谢大家。

(Applause)

（掌声）