哈佛商业评论经典文章

万花筒里看成功1

案例1：一个55岁，很成功的风险投资家在考虑他的下轮投资。他不确定他是否还有足够的精力去开始下一轮持续七年的高强度的融资和咨询活动。“我简直无法想象再次享受那种节奏，坦率的说，我觉得是时候把我的注意力放到家庭里了。但是如果我没有向其他所有人那样努力工作的话，我就会觉得自己是一个失败者。我猜我该退休了”

案例2：有一个管理着10亿美元部门的消费品公司总裁，他发现制造和分销的错误将延迟新产品线的推出。零售商渴望购买该产品，股价压力巨大，而他的奖金与产品推广是否成功息息相关。如果他推出了这个产品，那么产品肯定是名列前茅的-但只可能是暂时的。因为可以预期消费者失望导致的顾客流式和花费在纠正错误上的时间显然会严重损害利润。咋这种情况下怎么做才算是成功？

案例3：一个32岁的软件工程师，拥有一个“神圣音乐学士”的第二学位，虽然她赶上了计算机快速发展的快车道，但她还是觉得自己的职业战略中缺少了某种东西。她一方面希望拥有高薪经理的生活方式，但另一方面做软件并不像为众人演奏风琴那么拉风。而且她想有朝一日拥有自己的房子和家庭。她在想：

“为什么我找不到一条能让我得到所有我想要的东西的职业道路，这些愿望真的是那么不合理吗？”

这些示例可能会有所不同，但这些人有一个类似的问题：他们都需要一个全面的框架来思考成功。而且，有类似问题的人还很多。

很多的研究调查发现，普通工作人群，甚至是有很多选择的人，对工作的不满和倦怠程度都很高。2001年的911事件引发的集体反思，让许多成功的人士重新审视他们的成功理念。紧随其后的公司丑闻浪潮使问题更加的尖锐。即使最敬业的员工也会问自己，他们是否会把自己的职业和公司推荐给子女。

追求成功就像是打移动靶，每次打下去一个，就会从另一个方向弹出五个。在我们实现一个目标后，我们会感到压力，需要更加地努力工作以赚取更多的钱，努力获得更多的消遣和娱乐资本。在技术和社会快速发展和变革的当今世界，新问题不断涌现，使得成功的标准和案例也不断的发生改变。

在过去的十年里，传统的职业道路突然变得毫无意义。专业人士在社会繁荣时期过度劳累，过得不快乐。然后在经济萧条时期不仅过度劳累，而且在竞争中处于弱势。而很多的企业发现他们使用错误的方法来衡量成功，1990年赚了一笔钱，但在2000年却为其股东和员工损失了很多钱，到最后什么也没捞着。通往成功之路如同Escher画中的无尽楼梯，不断前行，但却发现一直在原地打转。

面对这种不稳定，许多人认为成功需要一种“赢家通吃”的方法。他们认为，成功取决于全力以赴实现一个目标，无论是专心于工作还是致力于成为社区中最好的足球妈妈。但是无论这一个目标多么的崇高，都无法满足一个人所有复杂的需求和愿望，正如文中开头的那些案例一样。企业也是如此，单一目标是不行的。

幸运的是，成功和幸福不是非此即彼的拉锯战。如果发展的方式得当，你对自己和社会的美好理想可以成为成功的推力。我们研究了数百名取得持久成功，能做出积极改变并享受这一个过程的成就非凡的人。我们了解到，一些最成功的人之所以能到达自己的位置，恰恰是因为他们对成功的深刻洞见，和实现理想的灵活性有更深入的了解。

在这篇文章中，我们将介绍一个实用的框架，该框架将帮助你以同样的方式l理解什么是成功。但是首先，我们要仔细研究一下如何得出这个模型。

未完待续

Success That Lasts 1

A 55-year-old, highly successful venture capitalist is thinking about his next investment. He’s not certain he has the energy to start another seven-year round of intense financing and consulting activity. “I just can’t imagine enjoying that pace again, and frankly, it’s time I paid attention to my family. But I’d really feel a loser if I didn’t play the game as hard as everyone else. I guess I should retire.”*

The president of a $1 billion divisionof a consumer products company discovers that manufacturing and distribution bugs will delay the scheduled rollout of a new product line. Retailers are eager for the product, pressures on share price are intense, and the president’s bonus is tied to the rollout’s success. If he goes ahead, the product is sure to be on top – but only temporarily. The costs down the road from disappointed consumers and time invested in having to fix mistakes will clearly hurt the bottom line. What is success under these circumstances?

A fast-track 32-year-old software engineerwith a second degree in sacred music feels that something is missing in her career strategy. She wants the lifestyle of a well-paid manager, but software doesn’t feel as socially significant as playing the organ for a congregation. And she someday wants a house and a family. “Why can’t I find the career path that will get me all of these things?” she wonders. “Are they really so unreasonable?”

Different as these examples may be, these individuals have a similar problem: They all need a comprehensive framework for thinking about success. And they’re far from alone.

Survey after survey shows a high degree of job dissatisfaction and burnout among the general working population, even among those with plenty of options. In the collective soul-searching prompted by September 11, 2001, many high achievers revisited their notion of success. The wave of corporate scandals that followed soon after only made the questions more acute. Even the most dedicated employees wondered aloud whether they would ever recommend their own careers and companies to their children.

Pursuing success is like shooting at a series of moving targets. Every time you hit one, five more pop up from another direction. Just when we’ve achieved one goal, we feel pressure to work harder to earn more money, exert more effort, possess more toys. Standards and examples of “making it” constantly shift, while a fast-paced world of technological and social change constantly poses new obstacles to overcome.

During the past decade, traditional career paths suddenly became pointless. Professionals found themselves overworked and undersatisfied in the boom, then overworked and competitively vulnerable in the bust. And far too many businesses discovered they were using the wrong measures to gauge success, winning big in the 1990s only to lose big for their shareholders and employees at the turn of the millennium. The climb to success can feel like an Escher drawing of a staircase that goes nowhere.

In the face of such instability, many people assume success requires a winner-takes-all approach. They believe that success depends on putting all your energy into achieving one goal, be it a single-minded focus on your job or a commitment to being the best soccer mom in your community. But no matter how noble, one goal can’t satisfy all of a person’s complex needs and desires, as the examples at the beginning of the article demonstrate. The same holds true for the goals of a business.

Fortunately, success doesn’t have to be seen as a one-dimensional tug-of-war between achievement and happiness. If developed in the right way, your ideals of the good life for yourself and society can become powerful—and manageable—factors of success. We studied hundreds of high achievers who realize lasting success, make a positive difference, and enjoy the process. And we learned that some of the most successful people have gotten where they are precisely because they have a greater understanding of what success is really about and the versatility to make good on their ideals. In this article, we’ll introduce a practical framework that will help you see success in these same terms. But first, a closer examination of how we arrived at this model.

See you tomorrow