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

譯者: Helen Chang 審譯者: Bruce Sung

I met 273 start-up founders last year.

去年我和 273 名創業家會面。

And each one was looking for money.

每個都在找錢。

As a tech investor,

身為技術行業的投資者，

my goal was to sort through everyone that I met

我的目標是將遇到的每個人分類，

and make a quick determination

快速地判斷

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

哪些人可能會做出大事業。

But what makes a great founder?

偉大的創業家有什麼特質？

This is a question I ask myself daily.

我每天自問這個問題。

Some venture capitalists place bets

一些風險投資家

based on a founder's previous background.

根據創始人之前的背景下注。

Did they go to an Ivy League school?

他們是常春藤盟的校友嗎？

Have they worked at a blue-chip company?

他們曾在藍籌公司工作過嗎？

Have they built out a big vision before?

他們曾否建立過偉大的願景？

Effectively, how smart is this person?

這個人實際上有多聰明？

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

其他風險投資家評估 創始人的情商（EQ），

How well will this person build teams

這人如何建立團隊，

and build rapport across customers and clients?

如何在客戶間建立融洽的關係？

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

我用不同的方法來評估 初創公司的創始人，

and it's not complicated.

方法並不複雜。

I look for signs of one specific trait.

我尋找某個特定的特徵。

Not IQ, not EQ.

不是智商（IQ） 也不是情商（EQ），

It's adaptability:

而是適應性：

how well a person reacts to the inevitability of change,

人對必然發生的很多變化

如何應變。

and lots of it.

That's the single most important determinant for me.

這對我來說是最重要的決定因素。

I subscribe to the belief

我認為適應性本身 就是一種智力形式。

that adaptability itself is a form of intelligence,

and our adaptability quotient, or AQ,

我們的適應性商（AQ）

is something that can be measured, tested and improved.

可被測量、測試和改進。

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

然而 AQ 不僅對 初創公司創始人有用，

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

我認為它對每個人都越來越重要，

Because the world is speeding up.

原因是世界正在加速。

We know that the rate of technological change is accelerating,

我們知道科技正在加速變革，

which is forcing our brains to react.

迫使我們的大腦做出反應。

Whether you're navigating changing job conditions

無論是自動化所帶來的 工作條件改變，

brought on by automation,

shifting geopolitics in a more globalized world,

或是劇變的泛全球化地緣政治，

or simply changing family dynamics and personal relationships.

還是僅僅家庭動態 和個人關係的改變。

Each of us, as individuals, groups,

每個人、團體、

corporations and even governments

企業甚至政府，

are being forced to grapple with more change

人人都被迫應對 人類史上前所未有的變化。

than ever before in human history.

So, how do we assess our adaptability?

那麼，如何評估適應性？

I use three tricks when meeting with founders.

在與創始人會面時 我使用了三個技巧。

Here's the first.

這是第一個。

Think back to your most recent job interview.

回想一下您在最近的面試

What kind of questions were you asked?

問了什麼問題？

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

「告訴我某一回......」之類的，

對吧？

Instead, to interview for adaptability,

然而我喜歡問「如果」的問題

I like to ask "what if" questions.

來面試其適應性。

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

如果您的主要收入來源 在一夜之間乾涸了，怎麼辦？

What if a heat wave prevented every single customer

如果熱浪迫使得客戶 都不能去您的商店，怎麼辦？

from being able to visit your store?

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

詢問「如果」而不是詢問過去

forces the brain to simulate.

迫使大腦模擬

To picture multiple possible versions of the future.

和想像未來的多個可能版本。

The strength of that vision,

這眼光的力量

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

和那人能想出多少不同的情境，

給我許多資訊。

Practicing simulations is a sort of safe testing ground

模擬是個安全地 提高適應力的練習場，

for improving adaptability.

Instead of testing how you take in and retain information,

它不測試如何接收和保留訊息，

like an IQ test might,

那是 IQ 測驗做的，

it tests how you manipulate information,

而是測試如何在既定限制的情況下

given a constraint,

操縱訊息

in order to achieve a specific goal.

以實現特定目標。

The second trick that I use to assess adaptability in founders

我評估創始人適應性的第二個技巧

is to look for signs of unlearning.

是尋找「忘卻」 （unlearning）的特徵。

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

積極的忘卻者挑戰已知，

and instead, override that data with new information.

用新的訊息覆蓋這些已知。

Kind of like a computer running a disk cleanup.

有點像清理電腦的硬碟。

Take the example of Destin Sandlin,

以德斯坦•桑德林為例，

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

他把自行車改裝成 把手向右時車會向左轉，

and vice versa.

反之亦然。

He called this his Backwards Brain Bike,

他稱之「反向腳踏車」，

and it took him nearly eight months

花了將近八個月的時間

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

來學習自在地騎它。

The fact that Destin was able to unlearn his regular bike

德斯坦能夠忘卻常規的自行車，

in favor of a new one, though,

改騎新自行車的事實，

signals something awesome about our adaptability.

表明我們有令人驚嘆的適應力。

It's not fixed.

適應力並非固定不變，

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

而是我們每個人都能

通過專注和努力來改善它。

through dedication and hard work.

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

甘地在自傳的最後一頁寫道：

"I must reduce myself to zero."

「我必須把自己減到零。」

At many points in his very full life,

他在充實非凡的一生中

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

仍然處處尋求回歸 初學者的心態，回歸到零。

To unlearn.

要忘卻。

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

通過這種方式，我認為

甘地的 AQ 得分一定很高。

Gandhi had a high AQ score.

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

The third and final trick

我評估創始人適應性的第三個

that I use to assess a founder's adaptability

也是最後一個技巧是尋找那些

is to look for people who infuse exploration

把新探索（exploration ） 注入生活和事業的人。

into their life and their business.

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

在新探索和利用資源 （exploitation）之間

有一種自然緊繃的關係。

And collectively,

總的來說，

all of us tend to overvalue exploitation.

我們全都傾向於高估利用資源。

Here's what I mean.

我的意思如下。

In the year 2000,

一名男子在 2000 年

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

與百視達首席執行長 約翰•安迪科會面。

the CEO of Blockbuster,

and proposed a partnership

他提議以一項合作夥伴的關係

to manage Blockbuster's fledgling online business.

來管理百視達剛起步的線上業務。

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

執行長約翰趕他出去，嘲笑他說：

"I have millions of existing customers

「我現有數百萬客戶

and thousands of successful retail stores.

和數千家成功的零售店。

I really need to focus on the money."

我真得專注於賺錢。」

The other man in the meeting, however,

而另名男子竟然是網飛的 首席執行長里德•哈斯廷斯。

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

In 2018, Netflix brought in 15.8 billion dollars,

網飛在 2018 年賺進 158 億美元，

while Blockbuster filed for bankruptcy in 2010,

而百視達在 2010 年申請破產，

正是該會議 10 年之後。

directly 10 years after that meeting.

The Blockbuster CEO

百視達首席執行長太過專注於

was too focused on exploiting his already successful business model,

把資源用在已經成功的商業模式上，

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

以至於看不見下一個轉角。

In that way, his previous success

因此，他之前的成功

became the enemy of his adaptability potential.

成為他適應的潛在敵人。

For the founders that I work with,

對於與我合作的創始人，

I frame exploration as a state of constant seeking.

我將新探索視為一種 不斷尋求的狀態。

To never fall too far in love with your wins

永遠不要太愛惜您的勝利，

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

而是積極地繼續尋找接下來 可能會取您而代之的東西。

When I first started exploring adaptability,

剛開始探索適應性時

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

我發現最令人興奮的是能夠改進它。

Each of us has the capacity to become more adaptable.

我們每個人都能變得更能適應。

但是把它想像成一塊肌肉：

But think of it like a muscle:

it's got to be exercised.

必須鍛煉它。

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

如果需要一段時間鍛煉，不要氣餒。

Remember Destin Sandlin?

還記得德斯坦•桑德林嗎？

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

花了八個月才學會騎那輛自行車。

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

隨著時間的推移，

使用我在創始人身上使用的技巧——

asking "what if" questions, actively unlearning

詢問「如果」問題，

積極忘卻，

and prioritizing exploration over exploitation

和把新探索擺在利用資源的前面，

can put you in the driver's seat --

可以讓您坐上駕駛座——

so that the next time something big changes,

那麼下次發生重大變化時，

you're already prepared.

您已經準備好了。

We're entering a future where IQ and EQ

我們正在進入一個 IQ 和 EQ 的重要性

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

都遠遜於快速適應力的未來。

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

我希望這些工具可以幫助您 提高自己的 AQ。

Thank you.

謝謝。

(Applause)

（掌聲）