3 ways to measure your adaptability -- and how to improve it | Natalie Fratto

翻译人员: Sijia (Scarlett) Huo 校对人员: Cherrie Li

I met 273 start-up founders last year.

去年，我同273位 初创公司创始人见过面。

And each one was looking for money.

他们所有人都在筹款。

As a tech investor,

作为一个技术投资人，

my goal was to sort through everyone that I met

我的任务是将 每一个我见过的人分类，

and make a quick determination

然后迅决定判断出

about which ones had the potential to make something really big.

哪些人具备做大事的潜力。

But what makes a great founder?

但是，是什么成就了 一位优秀的创业者？

This is a question I ask myself daily.

这是一个我每天都要问自己的问题。

Some venture capitalists place bets

一些风险投资人会

based on a founder's previous background.

根据创业者的履历背景下注。

Did they go to an Ivy League school?

他们是否毕业于藤校？

Have they worked at a blue-chip company?

他们是否在蓝筹公司工作过？

Have they built out a big vision before?

他们之前是否就构建过远大愿景？

Effectively, how smart is this person?

实际上就是说，这个人有多聪明？

Other VCs asses a founder's emotional quotient, or EQ.

其他一些风险投资人会评估 创业者的情商，也就是EQ。

How well will this person build teams

这个人组建团队的能力有多强？

and build rapport across customers and clients?

而他又是否能同客户构建和睦关系？

I have a different methodology to assess start-up founders, though,

而我有一套与众不同的 评估创业者的方法，

and it's not complicated.

并且方法并不复杂。

I look for signs of one specific trait.

我找寻某个特定品质的迹象。

Not IQ, not EQ.

不是智商，也不是情商。

It's adaptability:

而是适应能力：

how well a person reacts to the inevitability of change,

一个人在面对不可避免的 改变时反应如何，

and lots of it.

尤其是当有大量变动时。

That's the single most important determinant for me.

这就是那个对我来说 唯一且最重要的决定性因素。

I subscribe to the belief

我坚信，

that adaptability itself is a form of intelligence,

适应能力本身就是 一种智商的表现形式，

and our adaptability quotient, or AQ,

而我们的适应能力系数，即AQ，

is something that can be measured, tested and improved.

是可以被测量、测试和提高的。

AQ isn't just useful for start-up founders, however.

适应能力不仅仅 对公司创始人来说有用，

I think it's increasingly important for all of us.

我觉得它对我们 所有人来说都越来越重要。

Because the world is speeding up.

因为这个世界正在加速变化。

We know that the rate of technological change is accelerating,

众所周知科技在加速发展，

which is forcing our brains to react.

这迫使我们的大脑做出反应。

Whether you're navigating changing job conditions

不论你是在找寻办法 应对因为自动化

brought on by automation,

带来的工作条件的改变，

shifting geopolitics in a more globalized world,

因为全球化所带来的地缘政治的变迁，

or simply changing family dynamics and personal relationships.

或者单纯是为了 改变家庭氛围及人际关系。

Each of us, as individuals, groups,

我们每一个人，作为个人、群体、

corporations and even governments

公司、甚至是政府，

are being forced to grapple with more change

正被迫与空前的

than ever before in human history.

大量改变做抗争。

So, how do we assess our adaptability?

那么，我们该如何 评估自己的适应能力呢？

I use three tricks when meeting with founders.

在与创业者见面时， 我会使用三种诀窍。

Here's the first.

下面是第一条。

Think back to your most recent job interview.

回想你最近的一次工作面试经历。

What kind of questions were you asked?

你被问到了哪种问题？

Probably some variation of, "Tell me about a time when," right?

大概是类似于 “告诉我某个当你……时的经历，” 对吧？

Instead, to interview for adaptability,

取而代之，在针对适应能力的面试中，

I like to ask "what if" questions.

我喜欢询问 “如果......会怎样” 的问题。

What if your main revenue stream were to dry up overnight?

如果你的主营业务收入 一夜之间蒸发了，你会怎么办？

What if a heat wave prevented every single customer

如果热浪致使所有客户

from being able to visit your store?

都不能光顾你的店铺了，你会怎么做？

Asking "what if," instead of asking about the past,

问询 “如果……怎么办” 而非过去，

forces the brain to simulate.

迫使我们的大脑进行模拟。

To picture multiple possible versions of the future.

来勾画出关于未来的多种可能版本。

The strength of that vision,

预见的能力，

as well as how many distinct scenarios someone can conjure, tells me a lot.

以及有多少不同的情况能被预想出来， 能告诉我很多信息。

Practicing simulations is a sort of safe testing ground

练习情景模拟对于提高适应能力来说

for improving adaptability.

是一种安全的试验场，

Instead of testing how you take in and retain information,

跟测试你领会和 记住信息的能力如何，

like an IQ test might,

比如智商测试不同，

it tests how you manipulate information,

它测试的是你处理信息，

given a constraint,

当被给出一些限制时，

in order to achieve a specific goal.

以达到某个特定目标的能力。

The second trick that I use to assess adaptability in founders

我用来评估创业者 适应能力的第二种方法，

is to look for signs of unlearning.

是寻找他们 “反学习” 的迹象。

Active unlearners seek to challenge what they presume to already know,

活跃的的反学习者力图 挑战他们默认已知的东西，

and instead, override that data with new information.

并用新信息将（旧）数据推翻，

Kind of like a computer running a disk cleanup.

与格式化电脑磁盘相类似。

Take the example of Destin Sandlin,

以德斯坦·桑德林为例，

who programed his bicycle to turn left when he steered it right

他设计当将车把转向右侧时， 自行车会向左转向，

and vice versa.

反之亦然。

He called this his Backwards Brain Bike,

他将其称为逆脑力自行车。

and it took him nearly eight months

而仅仅为了学会 如何较为正常地骑行它，

他就花了将近八个月。

just to learn how to ride it kind of, sort of normally.

The fact that Destin was able to unlearn his regular bike

德斯坦能反学习骑行常规自行车，

in favor of a new one, though,

以新代旧，

signals something awesome about our adaptability.

标志着一些关于 我们的适应性的优点。

It's not fixed.

它不是一成不变的。

Instead, each of us has the capacity to improve it,

相反，我们每个人都有能力

through dedication and hard work.

通过勤奋付出与不懈努力去提高它。

On the last page of Gandhi's autobiography, he wrote,

在甘地自传的最后一页，他写道，

"I must reduce myself to zero."

“我必须让自己归零。”

At many points in his very full life,

在他无比充实的一生中的很多时刻，

he was still seeking to return to a beginner's mindset, to zero.

他仍力图回归初心，归零。

To unlearn.

回归未知状态。

In this way, I think it's pretty safe to say

因此，我可以很自信的说，

Gandhi had a high AQ score.

那就是甘地有着很强的适应能力。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

The third and final trick

第三条，也是最后一条

that I use to assess a founder's adaptability

我用来衡量创业者适应力的绝招是，

is to look for people who infuse exploration

寻找那些将探索融入

生活和事业的人。

into their life and their business.

There's a sort of natural tension between exploration and exploitation.

在探索与开发间有一种自然张力。

And collectively,

而整体来看，

all of us tend to overvalue exploitation.

我们都倾向于过分重视开发。

Here's what I mean.

举例来说，

In the year 2000,

2000年时，

a man finagled his way into a meeting with John Antioco,

一个人在同約翰．安提奧， 即百视达的首席执行官开会时

the CEO of Blockbuster,

加入了自己的想法，

and proposed a partnership

并提议一同合作

to manage Blockbuster's fledgling online business.

管理百视达刚成立的在线业务。

The CEO John laughed him out of the room, saying,

首席执行官约翰笑着 把他赶出了房间，并说，

"I have millions of existing customers

“我拥有上百万的已有客户，

and thousands of successful retail stores.

以及成千上万个运营良好的零售店。

I really need to focus on the money."

我真正需要关注的是钱。”

The other man in the meeting, however,

而那个参会的男人，

turned out to be Reed Hastings, the CEO of Netflix.

事后得知是里德·哈斯廷斯， 网飞公司的首席执行官。

In 2018, Netflix brought in 15.8 billion dollars,

2018年，网飞公司收益158亿美元，

while Blockbuster filed for bankruptcy in 2010,

而百视达却于2010年登记破产，

directly 10 years after that meeting.

这距离那场会议，正好过去十年。

The Blockbuster CEO

百视达的首席执行官，

was too focused on exploiting his already successful business model,

过于重视开发 他已取得成功的商业模型，

so much so that he couldn't see around the next corner.

以至于不能看到下一个“转角“。

In that way, his previous success

这样一来，他之前的成功

became the enemy of his adaptability potential.

成为了他适应性潜能的敌人。

For the founders that I work with,

对于那些我合作过的创业者来说，

I frame exploration as a state of constant seeking.

我将探索定义为 一种持续寻找的状态。

To never fall too far in love with your wins

永远不要过度沉溺于胜利的喜悦中，

but rather continue to proactively seek out what might kill you next.

而是继续积极地寻找那些 接下来有可能置你于死地的东西。

When I first started exploring adaptability,

当我第一次探索适应能力时，

the thing I found most exciting is that we can improve it.

我所发现的最令人兴奋的一点 是我们可以提高它。

Each of us has the capacity to become more adaptable.

我们每个人都可以成为 更具适应能力的自己。

But think of it like a muscle:

可以将适应力想象成肌肉：

it's got to be exercised.

它需要经常得到锻炼，

And don't get discouraged if it takes a while.

不要因这个过程 花费的时间太长而泄气。

Remember Destin Sandlin?

还记得德斯坦·桑德林吗？

It took him eight months just to learn how to ride a bike.

他花了整整八个月的时间 才学会如何去骑车。

Over time, using the tricks that I use on founders --

日积月累，使用 我用在创业者上的方法——

asking "what if" questions, actively unlearning

多问“如何……怎么办”， 积极回归未知状态，

and prioritizing exploration over exploitation

并将探索看得比开发更为重要，

can put you in the driver's seat --

就能将你置于主导位置——

so that the next time something big changes,

以便下次重大改变发生时，

you're already prepared.

你已准备就绪。

We're entering a future where IQ and EQ

我们正面向一个智商和情商 都远不如适应速度重要的未来。

both matter way less than how fast you're able to adapt.

So I hope that these tools help you to raise your own AQ.

所以我希望这些工具 能帮助你提高自己的适应能力。

Thank you.

谢谢。

（掌声）

(Applause)