The Real Gold of Our Economy Is in Our Hands | Salvatore Cali | TED

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Shelley Tsang 曾雯海

Recently, I renewed my daughter's passport.

最近，我更新了我女兒的護照。

I had to go to the police office three times.

我得去警局辦公室三次，

Wait for hours in long queues.

排幾個小時的隊，

Pay cash to the post office

支付現金給郵局，

and fill out tons of forms of repetitive data.

並填寫大量的表單， 有一大堆內容還是重覆的。

And why?

為什麼？

Why did I waste so many hours of my life,

我為什麼要浪費這麼多小時的生命，

when just a few years ago, I went to renew my own passport,

明明幾年前，我去更新 我自己的護照時，

but since I need it immediately for business reasons,

因為某些商業的理由， 我需要馬上拿到，

they proposed me the magic solution,

他們就跟我提起神奇的解決方案，

the fast track.

快速通道。

Once I demonstrated urgency and paid the extra,

一旦我證明了事態有多緊急 並支付了額外的費用，

miracle, I got my passport in five minutes.

奇蹟，我在五分鐘內就拿到了護照。

Whenever I see a fast track,

每當我看到快速通道， 我就知道會有緩慢的流程，

I know there is a slow process,

and the slow process often means a lot of wasted time.

緩慢的流程通常意味著 浪費很多時間。

But what is the impact of all this waste?

但是所有這些浪費會造成什麼影響？

With simple calculations,

從簡單的計算來看，

if every single person would waste one of their 200 working days

如果每一個人

都要浪費他們兩百個工作日中的一日

to renew their passport every five years,

去更新護照，每五年做一次，

that's 0.1 percent of GDP.

那就是國內生產總值 （GDP）的 0.1%。

In a country like Italy, this is 2 billion euros of missed GDP,

在義大利這樣的國家， 就等同於失去了兩億歐元的 GDP，

and that’s only for passports.

這還只是為了換護照。

Now imagine the impact of the waste

想像一下身份證和駕照申請、

from ID and license requests, work permits, tax declarations.

工作許可、報稅所浪費的 時間會產生多大的影響。

That's several points of GDP.

那是好幾個百分點的 GDP。

Solving this problem of waste

解決這種浪費問題 所能產生的影響會大於

would have a greater impact [than] what lawmakers achieve

立法者透過典型的財政法案 所能實現的影響。

through a typical financial act.

For the last 25 years,

在過去二十五年間，我分析了

I've analyzed how companies create value for their customers,

公司如何為其客戶創造價值，

and my research shows that, on average,

我的研究發現，

平均而言，

only five percent of labor really creates value.

只有 5% 的勞動力

真的在創造價值。

Five percent.

5%。

Can you imagine? Most of our time is wasted.

你能想像嗎？我們 大部分的時間都浪費掉了。

Five minutes to issue a passport is enough.

簽發護照只要五分鐘就夠了。

Companies must analyze their value streams --

公司必須分析其價值流——

which is the sequence of activity to create value for their customers --

也就是為其客戶 創造價值的一連串活動，

and dig inside of each tiny activity,

並深入探究每個微小的活動， 質疑它們的目的。

questioning its purpose.

Which activity really matters and what is just a legacy?

哪些活動真的重要？ 哪些只是以前留下來的？

Are you wasting your labor by overcontrolling,

你是否有把勞動力浪費在過度控制、

executing redundant tasks or fixing issues?

執行多餘的任務，或處理問題？

By rethinking the true purpose of each task,

藉由重新思考每項 工作任務的真正目的，

you will discover what is waste

你就會發現什麼是浪費，

and what is the real gold of your company,

以及什麼是貴公司真正的黃金，

價值的創造。

the creation of value.

Here is an example.

舉個例子來說。

What is the difference between a bunch of ears of corn,

以下這些有什麼差別：一串玉米穗、

200 grams of flour and a pizza?

兩百克麵粉，和一個比薩？

Organically, not much,

從有機層面上來說是差不多，但，

but they have different value.

但它們有不同的價值。

Labor and know-how can transform 20 cents of corn

勞動力和專業知識

可以把二十分錢的玉米 轉變為兩歐元的麵粉，

into two euros of flour

and then into a 20-euro pizza.

接著再轉變為二十歐元的比薩。

We act like the economy is this big, complicated thing.

我們好像把經濟視為 是個又大又複雜的東西，

But income, dividends,

但是收入、股利、

the stock of the private equity who owns the pizzeria,

擁有比薩店的私募股權的股本、

their futures, forwards, swaps, long and short options,

它們的期貨、遠期合約、 掉期合約、買進和賣出期權、

their cost of capital,

它們的資本成本，

even the interest rate of the central banks,

甚至中央銀行的利率，

they are all derivatives of the real gold,

都是從真正的黃金所衍生出來的，

which is the human labor which transformed cheaper corn

真正的黃金指的就是人類勞動力，

能將較便宜的玉米 轉變成昂貴的比薩。

into expensive pizza.

Without that human labor, none of it exists.

沒有人類勞動力， 上述那些通通都不會存在。

And when you add up all the value created by the people in a country,

當你把全國人民 創造的所有價值加起來，

that's the GDP.

就會得到 GDP。

Unproductive labor has no real impact on GDP.

沒有生產力的勞動力 對 GDP 沒有真正的影響。

So here is the exciting part.

所以，很讓人興奮的是：

If five percent of the labor generates today the entire GDP,

如果 5% 的勞動力就能產生

現今所有的 GDP，

imagine if we could increase it just to 10 percent.

想像一下，如果我們 能將它提升到 10%。

你的工作日的 10％ 是多少？

10 percent of your workday is what?

Forty-five minutes?

四十五分鐘？

With these 45 minutes we could double the GDP.

只要有這四十五分鐘， 就可以讓 GDP 加倍。

The challenge is first to discover this real gold

挑戰在於：首先要發現 這個真正的黃金，

because it is hidden in an ocean of wasted labor.

因為它藏在被浪費的 勞動力這片汪洋中。

Where do we look first?

我們要從哪裡找起？

想找到浪費，最好的地方 之一就是公司的流程，

Well, one of the best places to find waste is in company's processes,

because they usually reflect your company's past

因為流程通常反映出貴公司的過去，

more than its present or future.

而非其現在或未來。

These legacies are massive waste generators.

這些遺留下來的流程 是巨大的浪費產生器。

[An] accountant matching purchase orders with the invoices

會計師比對採購單和發票

is a legacy of offline transactions.

就是離線交易時留下的流程。

Submitting your time sheet online

線上提交時間表是以前上班

is a legacy of punching into work with a physical stamp.

實體打卡時留下的流程。

My bank keeps sending me account balances as a PDF,

我的銀行一直寄給我

帳戶餘額的 PDF 檔，

so not only I waste my time by logging in, downloading, opening the PDF,

所以我不僅要浪費時間 登入、 下載，打開 PDF，

but searching a specific transaction

且尋找一筆特定的交易

is as difficult as it was 40 years ago, on paper.

和四十年前用紙本時一樣困難。

Instead of carrying these legacies into the future,

我們該做的不是將這些遺留下的 流程帶到未來，而是退一步。

we should take a step back.

When a company analyzes each and every activity of their value streams,

當公司去分析

其價值流中的每個活動時，

they should ask,

他們應該要問：

"Why am I doing this?

「我為什麼要做這件事？

Is it still necessary?

這還是必要嗎？

Can I use today's technology to make it more efficiently?"

我能不能用現今的技術 把它變得更有效率？」

Another consequence of this legacy

這些遺留下來的流程也會造成

is that we spend a large portion of our life

我們把人生很大一部分花費在

filling out the same useless data over and over again.

一次又一次不斷填寫 相同的無用資料。

To buy a plane ticket online,

線上購買機票時， 有些航空公司會要求提供

some airline companies require name, family name,

名字、姓氏、生日、

date of birth, ID number, expiration date,

身份證字號、到期日、國家、

country, gender,

性別，還有「小姐」 和「太太」的不同稱謂。

with the distinction “Miss” and “Mrs.”

For what?

是為了什麼？

So someone with my same name cannot use my ticket?

為了讓和我同名的人 不能使用我的機票？

So my wife can't give her boarding pass

為了讓我太太不能把她的 登機證交給另一位女士，

to another lady with her same name,

即使她有同樣的名字， 在同一天出生，

born on her same date, but still unmarried,

但因為她未婚，用「小姐」 而非「太太」就能區別？

so “Miss” and not “Mrs.“?

And today you shouldn't need the gender in the passport or a ticket.

現今，護照或機票 不應該需要性別資訊。

This is a legacy of a time

那是男女沒有相同權力的 年代遺留下來的流程。

where men and women didn't have the same rights.

So take a closer look at the data you collect.

因此，仔細看看你收集的資料。

For each piece of information, consider

針對每項資訊，都要想想

is it really necessary?

它真的有必要？

And do we already have it?

我們是否已經有這項資訊了？

I remember one company's database showing

我記得有一家公司的資料庫顯示

that 30 percent of their customers were Afghan accountants.

他們的客戶有 30％ 都是阿富汗的會計師。

What are the odds of that?

這種機率是多少？

Why so many accountants from Afghanistan?

為什麼有這麼多 來自阿富汗的會計師？

Obviously the first job listed alphabetically in the drop-down menu

顯然，

按字母排列的下拉選單中 排第一的工作就是會計師，

was accountant

and the first country was Afghanistan.

排第一的國家則是阿富汗。

But what this tells me is that the company didn't need this information,

但這個現象告訴我的是， 該公司不需要這些資訊，

and the customer didn't want to spend the time filling it.

客戶也不想花時間填寫它。

Another likely source of waste is overcontrollership.

浪費時間的另一個來源是過度控制。

I worked with a company whose procurement process

我曾與一家公司合作，

他們的採購流程需要 二十三個控制檢查點。

required 23 control checkpoints.

Now, how many of these 23 people were looking closely, do you think?

你認為這二十三個人當中 有幾個會仔細檢查？

And is it more likely that none of them were paying careful attention,

是不是比較有可能， 他們全都不會留心，

assuming that at least one of the other 22 were?

因為他們假設其他二十二個人 總會有一個人會留心？

Too often overcontrollership kills controllership

過度控制往往會扼殺掉控制，

because it kills accountability.

因為它會扼殺掉責任歸屬。

I was listening to a legal department complain

我曾聽一個法務部門抱怨說

that in addition to checking every contractor for compliance,

除了檢查每個承包商 是否符合規定之外，

they were fixing grammar and spelling

他們還得修正文法和拼字，

because people drafting the contract knew that the lawyer would fix it.

因為起草合約的人 知道律師會修正這些。

But come on, a lawyer to check spelling?

但，拜託，讓律師來檢查拼字？

That's expensive, isn't it?

那太昂貴了吧？

Instead, we should ask ourselves,

我們應該改問我們自己：

那種控制檢查是否真的必要？

is that control check really necessary?

The answer is quite simple, just math.

答案非常簡單，就只是數學。

Does it cost more to do the check or to fix the mistake if it occurs?

是做檢查的成本比較高，

或者「如果」有錯誤發生 再去修正的成本比較高？

This gets tricky with very low probability,

針對失敗機率很低 但成本很高的事件，

very high cost of failure event.

這個問題就變得很棘手。

People tend to overmitigate.

人通常會過度緩解風險。

And in many cases this creates even more problems.

在許多情況下， 這樣會造成更多的問題。

In the UK, all commercial fire alarm systems must be tested weekly,

在英國，所有商業用火警系統 都必須每週做測試，

and you often see inside the building signs like,

在建築物內部常會看到這種標牌：

“Fire test every Tuesday at 3pm.”

「每週二下午三點進行火警測試」。

Now, if you were a criminal,

如果你是罪犯，

at what time and which day would you commit your crime

你會選哪一天的什麼時候

犯下你的罪行，可以 不用太擔心警報？

without worrying too much about alarms?

Overmitigation creates also a lot of waste.

過度緩解也會造成大量浪費。

First, because of false positives,

第一個原因是偽陽性，

like a credit check continuously blocking orders

比如信用檢查，

不斷拒絕沒有真正付款風險的訂單。

with no real risk on payment.

Second, because of pure overprocessing.

第二個原因是單純的過度處理。

My cinema app requires I change my password every three months.

我的影城 app 要求我 每三個月更改密碼。

Six to eight letters, uppercase, lowercase,

六到八個字母，

要包含大寫、小寫、 特殊符號、數字。

special signs, numbers.

Whenever I need to use it,

每當我要用這個 app 時 就得花上十分鐘才能登入。

I spend ten minutes to log in.

But this is to avoid what?

但這是要避免什麼？

That a hacker goes to the cinema [in] my place?

駭客會去影城坐我的位子？

If they go, I hope they enjoy the movie,

如果是的話，我希望 他喜歡那部電影，

because the real risk to the cinema company

因為影城公司面臨的真正風險

is that I buy fewer tickets.

是我越來越少去買票。

Logging in was so inconvenient that I stopped using the app.

登入太不方便了， 導致我不再使用那個 app。

Companies should not sacrifice their customer journey

公司不應為了過度緩解風險

for the sake of over-risk mitigation.

而犧牲客戶的使用流程。

And by the way, making something difficult for your customers,

順道一提，讓你的客戶覺得很困難，

it does not mean it'll be difficult for a professional hacker.

並不表示專業駭客也會覺得很困難。

More likely, it'll mean less sales and less value created.

這比較有可能表示

銷售量減少以及創造的價值減少。

Altogether, these small changes to your company's processes

總而言之，對貴公司的 流程做這些小小的改變

can have a profound effect.

可能會產生深刻的影響。

企業家和主管應該 將他們的優先考量重新聚焦

Entrepreneurs and managers

should refocus their priority into the real gold.

在真正的黃金上：

吸引人才、

Attract talent.

Help them grow, channel their energy

協助他們成長、

將他們的能量用來真正創造價值。

into the real value creation.

But there is another reason, arguably more important.

但還有另一個原因，可說是更重要。

A world with less waste and more time dedicated to true value creation

減少浪費並把更多時間 投入真正價值創造的世界，

is a more sustainable world,

是更永續的世界，

where people can enjoy their work more.

大家可以更享受自己的工作。

Free from time-wasting frustration and distraction,

少了浪費時間的挫折和分心，

they would have more time with their family and friends.

他們會有更多時間給家人和朋友。

They would enjoy more art, more entertainment.

他們會去享受更多藝術、更多娛樂。

The real gold of our economy is in your hands.

我們經濟的真正黃金 就握在你的手中。

Please, for a better world, strive to create more value.

拜託，為了更好的世界，

努力去創造更多價值。

Thank you.

謝謝。