翻译哈佛商业评论经典文章

万花筒里看成功7

万花筒策略2

这也正是我们在优秀的领导者身上看到的思维方式：他们会在所有四个维度中分配所需要的精力，尽管他们会有要在其中一个维度中做到极致的压力。这就是文中开头的三个例子中主人公所缺乏的能力。他们没有一个鉴别和分类多个愿望的思维框架，这样他们就无法权衡那些看似相互冲突的目标，使之均衡推进。

那个疲惫不堪的风险投资家应该明白，“缩减”成就目标，是使得其他领域得到扩张的一种策略，而不是一种失败或者“一事无成”的做法。这种“万花筒”下的视野可以使他有足够的空间培养与家人的良好关系（这也是他一直想要的）。这不意味着他应放弃所有形式的成就，他只要简单的调整放在“成就”方面的精力。要做到这样的调整的话，需要有更多的创造性和灵活性。

那个负责监督有问题的产品推出的高管，面对短期成就与长期成就左右为难。

从“传承”的层面来看这个问题，能更好的帮助他重塑这个挑战-自己将为该产品的成功创建什么样的平台？如果决定发布不完善的产品，公司的未来经理将如何处理？从这个角度思考问题有助于他理清事情的优先顺序。与其被动的进行权衡取舍，不如积极应对问题，关注重要的东西，同时也要勇于放弃与之冲突的东西。最后，他推迟了新产品线的发布，不仅零售商对最后的产品感到满意，而且产品部门在制定解决方案的过程中，发现了一种新的方式，使其可以在三个国家的部门之间协调和利用该技术。

而那位在电脑和教会音乐之间左右为难的软件工程师，需要缩小或调整她在某些活动中的目标，然后再在其他要素中实现另外一些目标。当她尝试使用万花筒策略时，她很快就发现，教会音乐在她的“意义”类别中占有很高的地位（也就是对她很有意义），但从“成就”这方面看，却难成气候。她既没有技能也没有机会成为一个明星音乐家。而软件工程师的工作，在“意义”层面有比她以前想象的更大的潜力。她需要学习如何调整自己的软件产品，使其更加有社会价值，或者给与别人更多的帮助。她开始把教会音乐看做一种有“意义”的活动，而不是作为一种有“成就”的活动来划分，慢慢的就体会到了这么做的好处，练习音乐的同时，财务问题有保障，工作上也还和原来一样有竞争力。但为了同时满足“意义”和“成就”的需要，她应该减少出差，投入更多的精力于唱诗班。通过多种活动的搭配，透过万花筒，她可以看到更好的生活全貌，突然间，这种在某些活动上的缩减似乎使生活变得更加的积极了。现在她相信，自己能有策略的追求那些一度放弃的梦想。而且，她意识到，走这条路将需要她自身持续的成长-持久的成功需要的是持久的投入。

Success That Lasts 7

The Kaleidoscope Strategy 2

This is exactly the kind of thinking you see in good leaders: They anticipate what will be needed in all four dimensions of success despite pressures to deliver to the maximum in one. This is what the subjects in the three examples at the beginning of this article were lacking. They had no framework in which to identify and sort multiple desires so that they could go after their conflicting goals sequentially in a proportionate mix.

The burned-out venture capitalist needs to understand that scaling back his achievement goals is part of a larger picture of expansion in the other categories, rather than a paralyzing prospect of loss and “doing nothing.” This kaleidoscope view will allow him space to cultivate the emotional relationships he craves with his family. That doesn’t mean he should give up all forms of achievement; he simply needs to readjust the level of energy he puts into that category. Doing so will require more creative thought and versatility than he’s exhibiting now.

The executive overseeing the problematic product rollout was framing his dilemma in terms of short-term versus long-term achievement. He would do better to reframe his challenge in terms of legacy: What kind of platform would he be creating for the success of this product and that of future managers in the company if he decided to release incomplete products? Thinking about the problem from this perspective helped him clarify his priorities. Instead of feeling that he had to make a trade-off in a negative sense, he could take a positive view of what needed the most attention and what was worth sacrificing for. In the end, he delayed rolling out the new product line—and not only were the retailers delighted with the final results, but the product division, in crafting the solution, discovered a new way to coordinate and leverage its technological capabilities across three countries.

The software engineer torn between computers and church music needed to shrink or redirect her goals in some activities and develop them in others. When she tried the kaleidoscope strategy, she quickly saw that church music registered high in her significance category but would always be a limited outlet for achievement. She had neither the skill nor the opportunity to become a star musician. Software had more potential for significance than she had previously thought. She needed to learn how to change her job in ways that emphasized the social value she was creating in the products she worked on and the help she provided to others. She began to see benefits in framing church music primarily as an exercise in significance rather than in achievement, with all its competitive and financial associations. But to fill both chambers, she’d need to restructure her job commitments in order to minimize travel and commit to choir practice. When she looked at the whole picture of goals she could satisfy through the sum of these activities, scaling back suddenly seemed more positive. The pieces were enough. And, she recognized, taking this path would require continued growth on her part—something she had forgotten she valued and which she now had the confidence to pursue strategically. Enduring success required enduring commitment.

See you tomorrow