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????周二，豪洛斯?德丟發(fā)表了一則名為“要徑”的播客。該播客以2001年惠普（HP）聯(lián)姻康柏(Compaq)，蘋果(Apple)發(fā)布iPod為起點，從文藝復興時期的畫作談到了惠普首席執(zhí)行官李艾科與TouchPad的夭折，其內(nèi)容包羅萬象，發(fā)人深省。 ????但對于我來說，該播客的精華始于31分35秒，在接下來的5分鐘，德丟闡述了公司抗體這一概念： ????以惠普為例，我認為這些依托于現(xiàn)行商業(yè)模式運行的大型公司難以接受新的事物。因此，這些公司在發(fā)展中會出現(xiàn)一些突兀、不合邏輯、違背常理、令人費解的搖擺和反復?；萜諏Γê髠€人電腦時代）的到來心知肚明，欣然接受，宣稱愿意花費上10億美元甚至20億美元的資金購買必要的資產(chǎn)來渡過這個轉(zhuǎn)型期。結(jié)果，公司出現(xiàn)了消化不良的癥狀，并很快出現(xiàn)了排異現(xiàn)象。 ????在此我想借用“公司抗體”一詞。 ????“公司抗體”指的是公司內(nèi)部的元素，它們?nèi)缤袡C體一樣。其實體可以是人、預算、程序或規(guī)章制度的結(jié)合體。它們本身就是用來抵制創(chuàng)新，抵制核心業(yè)務的變化。它們這樣做并不是因為糊涂，而是它們將新事物視為病原，視為破壞公司這個有機體的某種威脅，因此這些抗體行動起來，必要之時甚至聯(lián)合起來將創(chuàng)新和變革趕盡殺絕。 ????公司抗體的這種做法還會獲得豐厚的報酬。他們的動機十分明確：“有人發(fā)號施令”。他們每年也會以此向老板邀功并獲得加薪。其實，無論首席執(zhí)行官如何高瞻遠矚，如果公司底層不能徹底領會并消化新事物，要實現(xiàn)宏偉藍圖也只能是紙上談兵。如果新生事物誓要取代原有的核心業(yè)務，除非精神分裂，否則抗體不可能接受這種新生事物。 ????在這種文化環(huán)境下，要保住像惠普touchPad這樣極具威脅的創(chuàng)新，德丟說，必須將其圈養(yǎng)起來，并在四周筑上高墻，請專人看守（最好是首席執(zhí)行官），射殺一切企圖靠近的敵對力量。最典型的例子就是蘋果的Mac電腦，當時公司內(nèi)部認為這是蘋果II代電腦這一搖錢樹的殺手。史蒂夫?喬布斯曾試圖加以保護，但戰(zhàn)事愈演愈烈，最終，董事會攤牌反對，喬布斯敗走麥城。 ????諾基亞（Nokia）的故事如出一轍。德丟曾是該公司的分析師。當時諾基亞希望推出一款基于Linux系統(tǒng)的智能手機，該項目在實驗室階段一直安然無恙，然而正當該項目準備進軍商業(yè)市場的時候，公司內(nèi)部卻響起反對的聲音。最后，在壽終正寢之前，該項目以平板電腦操作系統(tǒng)MeeGo這一半吊子的形式出現(xiàn)。德丟說，這款新產(chǎn)品當時需要的是強權(quán)的保護。 ????（新事物需要）來自公司最高層捍衛(wèi)者的保護，這些捍衛(wèi)者往往需要容忍新事物漫長的孕育期。這種類型的首席執(zhí)行官可謂是鳳毛麟角，然而這種特質(zhì)也正是史蒂夫?喬布斯的神奇和奧秘之處。他是迄今為止我們知道的唯一一個具有精神分裂行為能力的人——一個能讓病原與抗體在公司并存的人。 ????我向各位大力推薦這部長達57分鐘的播客。大家可以通過5by5 Network和 iTunes觀看。德丟每日的新作盡在Asymco.com，敬請關注。 |
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????In a wide-ranging rumination that takes its starting point in 2001 -- when HP (HPQ) was courting Compaq and Apple (AAPL) was launching the iPod -- Horace Dediu's Critical Path podcast Tuesday touched on everything from Renaissance painting to the death of the HP TouchPad at the hands of CEO Léo Apotheker. ????But for me the heart of the podcast is the five-minute segment that starts at the 31:35 point, when Dediu introduces the concept of corporate antibodies: ????In the context of HP, I would point out that these gigantic companies that are built on existing business models could not absorb the changes that were happening. This is why we're seeing these abrupt, illogical, irrational, inexplicable reversals. HP saw the writing on the wall, they saw [the post-PC era] coming and they said OK, we'll spend $1 or $2 billion to get the assets necessary to survive this transition. But you can see how hard it is to internalize that. And you see how it immediately gets rejected. ????There's a phrase I like to use: "the corporate antibodies." ????These are things inside the company, as an organism, if you will. These are entities -- be they people or budgets or processes or rules in binders. These are things that are designed to eat up innovation. To eat up changes to the core business. Not because they are stupid. But they see this newcomer, this entrant, as a pathogen. As something that's damaging the organism. So they act, sometimes even collude, to destroy it. ????And they're paid good money to do that. Their incentives are all very clear: "please do that." And they go to their boss every year and get a raise because they've done that. You have to understand that no matter how much the CEO has that vision, if the organization underneath has not been properly incentivized to absorb the change, it's almost impossible to build that kind of structure. It's schizophrenic to accept this intruder that's trying to take away your core business. ????For an innovation as disruptive as the HP TouchPad to survive in such a culture, Dediu says, it must be isolated, surrounded by an impermeable wall and protected by a gatekeeper -- preferably the CEO -- who will shoot anyone who comes near. A perfect example is the original Mac, which was seen within Apple as a pathogen set to destroy the Apple II, the company's cash cow. Steve Jobs tried to isolate and protect the Mac, but the pitched battle that followed led to a boardroom showdown that Jobs lost. ????A similar story unfolded at Nokia, where Dediu worked as an analyst. There a project to build a Linux-based smartphone was allowed to exist in the research labs, but was attacked from within as soon as it emerged as a commercial product. It finally surfaced in a half-hearted way as a tablet OS called MeeGo, before it finally got killed. It needed, Dediu said, someone with sufficient power to protect it. ????[It needed] this kind of champion at the very highest levels, someone who could endure the gestation for a long period of time. And that type of person is so rare as a CEO. Which is part of the mystique and magic of Steve Jobs. He's the only one that we know of really that is able to do these types of schizophrenic things -- like maintain a sustaining business and its disruption within the same organization. ????The full, 57-minute podcast is highly recommended. It's available through the5by5 Networkand on iTunes. You can follow Dediu's daily posts atAsymco.com. |
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