黄君李

没错，所有的成功学书籍都会对你说，“坚持”是世界上所有能影响世界的人共有的品质。但是，你怎么知道你是否应该坚持？你怎么知道你走的是不是一条正确的路？
    我今晚有些心神不宁，但不是因为橄榄球场的闪光灯，也不是因为这个繁忙酒店大厅的嬉笑喧哗，而是一个理念，一个新的对商业的比喻，它穿透了我的脑海，重塑了我看待事业的方式——商业是一条河流。试试看。它会为你的生意带来新的收入来源。
    这个隐喻不是我的首创，是我的好友Jody Johnson教练最近介绍给我的。之前我有些左右为难，一家顶尖的创新咨询公司联系我，想要我加入，于是我开始问自己：我是应该继续现在的，还是应该加入一个更为成熟的？也许你也面对过同样的问题：是否应该放弃燃烧在你前路未明的小径，还是踏上一条更为中规中矩的大道？
    没错，所有的成功学书籍都会对你说，“坚持”是世界上每个有所建树的人共有的品质。但是，你如何知道你是否应该坚持？你又如何知道你所走的路是否正确？
    Jody向我推荐了Roger Hamilton，他建议说，把你的事业想象成一个花园，把你的现金流想象成一条灌溉花园的河流。想要你的花园总能得到灌溉，就必须保证你的河水源源不断。
    我还记得我在大学时学过的流体力学，一条河的流量取决于两个因素：水流的速度乘以河的横截面积。想加大水流，你需要让水流得更快，或者，在流速不变的前提下，让河面变宽。如果你挖了一条又宽又急的河，你就可以建立你的帝国（想想尼罗河与古埃及吧）。
    加快水流
    水从高往低流，所以，想要让水流得更快，就要增加你的业务的坡度。具体来说，要比竞争对手提供相对价值更高的产品或服务。每一次改进，每个新功能，每一个创新的特性，就好像比竞争对手挖得更深一些，客户自然就会流向你。
    我从自己身上看到的是，过去十年时间我都在深挖。我已经写了四本书，办了数百场策略研讨会，研究了数百家公司，这些让我比别人挖得更深。或许我并不太懂捕鱼或是员工薪资，但我对决策的知识要比大多数人都丰富。
    我的专利 “异想者流程(The Outthinker Process)”，比起任何其他人都要发展得更深入, 至少某段时间是这样。我演讲中的每一个故事，我写的每个案例，都使我的流程价值更大，挖得更深。如果从现在开始，我不再改进我的流程（比如，找个公司上班），最终我的流程不会再比其他人的更好。
    我认为我的策略是有效的，因为我看到越来越多的信号表明，人们觉得它有用。举个例子，《哈佛商业评论(Harvard Business Review)》刚刚联系我，让我出乎意料，一家顶尖的快消品公司两年前参加了我的研讨会，现在想要办一次独家的项目。全球最大的包装食品制造商之一，参加了我的研讨之后，请我再去做一次演讲。我越来越多地发现，曾经接触过我的专利的客户，现在想要了解得更多。
    问问你自己 ：你的客户会是你的回头客吗？他们正在敲你的门吗？你的客户购置成本(customer acquisition cost)在降低吗？如果答案是肯定的，那么你正在增加你的河流的坡度。
    拓宽河面
    一条河从陡峭的斜坡上奔流而下，会制造很大的压力，如果河面太窄，水流会受限制。想打通恒河，你必须拓宽河面。用商业术语来说，增加杠杆。创造更多的产品、服务和渠道，让你能为客户更多的服务。陡峭的坡度能让你提高价格，河的宽度则能增加你收钱的次数。
    以我为例，我的河面正在加宽。我有好几个办研讨会的伙伴，他们已经为我组织活动多年，但今年我仍将增加新的渠道，签约了一家培训公司和一家演讲家经纪公司。我想根据我的专利打造一款数字化合作工具，我正在为之募集资金。我的“异想者基金”虽然处于草创阶段，也可能离第一笔生意不远了。
    问问你自己 ：什么是你为用户提供产品或服务的渠道，它们有扩大吗？
    我曾经的挑战在于，我想要衡量我的收益，但是我却找不到一个好的指标来说明我的收入是否增加了。这个收益与河流的比喻，提供了一套框架，能帮你认清你是否在走正确的道路上。
    我的河流在加速，因为我深化了它的价值；我的河流也在变宽，因为我打开了更多渠道。我想我会继续做现在的事……幸运的是，它也是我所热爱的事情。
To Know If Your Career Is On The Right Path, View Your Business As A River（gxglang.com)
It’s not the flashes of football or laughter and chatter in this busy hotel lobby that are distracting me tonight. It’s a concept, a new metaphor for business, that has been boring through my thoughts, reordering how I view my career: Business is a river. Try it on. It may open new sources of revenue for you.
This metaphor is not my own. My good friend and coach Jody Johnson from ActionCoach introduced me to it recently. I was struggling with a dilemma. One of the leading innovation consulting firms had approached me about working with them and I was starting to wonder, should I continue on my own or join something more established? You’ve probably faced similar quandaries yourself: Should you abandon blazing your uncertain trail and step onto a better-worn path?
Sure, all the leadership books you read tell you that “persistence” is the common trait of anyone who has had a significant impact on the world. But how do you know if you should persist? How do you know you are on the better path?
Jody introduced me to the work of Roger Hamilton, who suggests you think of your business as a garden and your cash flow as a river feeding the garden. To know that your garden will continue to flourish, you want to make sure your river is flowing.
I remember from my college fluid dynamics class that volume of a river’s flow is the function of two things: speed of the water multiplied by the cross-sectional area of the river. To get more flow, then, you need to speed up the water and/or keep the water speed the same by widening the river. If you build a wide, fast-moving river, you can build an empire (think of the Nile and ancient Egypt).
Increasing water speed
Water flows from high points to low. So to get the water to flow more quickly you need to increase the incline of your business. Specifically, this means increasing the relative value of your offering to your competitors''. Every improvement, new feature, innovative characteristic of your product/service is like digging a little deeper than your competition. Customers will naturally gravitate to you.
What I saw for myself was that I have spent nearly 10 years digging. I’ve published four books, facilitated hundreds of strategy sessions, and researched thousands of companies all to dig deeper than others. I may not know much about fishing or employee compensation, but I know strategy at a deeper level than most.
My IP--“The Outthinker Process”--is, for a while at least, more deeply developed than what most others can offer. Every story I incorporate into my speech or case I write makes my process a bit more valuable, digging it deeper. If I stop improving my process now (e.g., by joining a firm), eventually my process will be no better than others’.
I think my strategy is working because I am seeing growing signs that people find it valuable. For example, Harvard Business Review just contacted me out of the blue because a leading consumer products company had attended my workshop two years ago and wants to conduct a proprietary program. One of the largest packaged food companies in the world attended my workshop and wants me to give a speech. I’m increasingly seeing clients who have experienced my IP and now want more.
Ask yourself: Are your customers returning for more? Are they starting to bang on the doors? Is your customer acquisition cost decreasing? If so, you are increasing the slope under your river.
Widen the river
A river coursing down a steep slope produces a lot of pressure, but if it is too narrow its flow is still limited. To open up the Ganges, you want to widen the river. In business terms that means increasing leverage. Create enough products, services, and channels to allow you to serve more clients. If the steepness of your slope allows you to increase your price, the width of your river allows you charge that price more often.
In my case I am seeing the river widening. I have several seminar partners who have been organizing events for me for years, but this year I am adding new channels. I signed deals with a training company and a speakers bureau. Both are ramping up new business quickly. I’m raising capital to launch a digital collaboration tool based on my IP. My “Outthinker Fund, ” while still nascent, is potentially close to its first deal.
Ask yourself: What are your channels for getting your product/service to customers, and are they growing?
The challenge for me has been that I like to measure revenue but have lacked the indicators to tell me whether that revenue is growing or not. This metaphor--your revenue as a river--provides a structure to help you see if you are on the right path.
My river’s speed is increasing, as I deepen its value, and its width is growing, as I open up new channels. I think I will stick with this...luckily, it also happens to be what I love.