What should be avoided in business operation? In my ten years of consulting career, I have encountered the same question countless times: Excuse me, what should be avoided most in enterprise operation? Every time I simply answer: it must not be "water". Well, there is usually a second question: So, what is the highest state of enterprise management? Every time I continue to answer: it must be like "water". At this time, the other party will probably have two reactions: one is glaring or condescending, simply thinking that I am out of my mind and missed my future; The other kind of scratching his head again and again seems to feel that the Zen machine is deep and the Zen machine has not been solved. A fog is "water". For the latter, I am always happy to continue to rap. Tampering with Zen: ten years ago, water was water, ten years later, water was not water, and ten years later, water was still water. The realm of my home is not high, and there is a lot of dust. I can only tell all the guests about the realm of "seeing water is not water". Say "water" first. In my field of work, we can often see many cases of enterprises turning from prosperity to decline. We usually use a set of methodology of "point, line and surface" to analyze this decline. Point refers to the tipping point or leading differentiation of enterprise management; Line refers to an advantage line formed by differentiated point effect, that is, the Ma Qinuo line in competition; Face refers to the balance of enterprise development, that is, the system balance of barrel theory, making full use of strengths and avoiding weaknesses; Body refers to whether the enterprise and the environment can establish a balanced and harmonious alliance, and it is also the ultimate source of core competitiveness after the enterprise becomes bigger. In today's market environment, for a mature enterprise, both "point" and "line" are very important corporate personalities, but neither of them can constitute the source of advantages for the sustainable development of the enterprise, because your "tipping point" is easily copied or imitated by your competitors, and competitors often make a "big turn" around the thin "advantage line", and because of the rapid changes in the market environment, "point" In the process of this analysis, we found that these declining enterprises all experienced a "water injection" movement in their heyday without exception. What is water injection? Ni Fengrun of Changhong said a very classic sentence after his comeback. He said that his most important mission at present is to promote Changhong Group to reduce fever and reduce swelling. Why is it "swollen"? It is precisely because of excessive "water injection" that the circulation of enterprises is not smooth, and it is impossible to get rid of the old and absorb the new, which leads to more and more water in the body and forms "puffiness". In fact, this water injection technology can be seen everywhere in China enterprises, and it is generally dangerous. Moreover, many "water injection" enterprises started to inject water for very ideal and well-intentioned reasons. I once worked for a health care product company for three years, helping this company to go through the growth period and become one of the first private listed companies in China, and its performance was not brilliant. Like many entrepreneurs, company bosses have a strong sense of mission, very keen market insight and tough execution. Before listing, the company's market operation, internal management and capital operation were all operated by a group of entrepreneurs and local managers who joined the company one after another. The company's style is very simple, pragmatic and solid, and it pursues value orientation: that is, everything is judged and evaluated by whether it really creates customer value or company value. In fact, this is a very simple and avant-garde customer value theory. After listing, the company became rich overnight, which has also become the focus of attention of people from all walks of life. Therefore, the boss often hears the suggestions and criticisms of many famous people: what company image is too rustic, the company manager is not international, and so on. The boss made up his mind to transform, and the water injection project began: first of all, from the management, "wearing sandals" or even "not wearing shoes" should be replaced by "wearing leather shoes", so the company began to introduce airborne troops on a large scale. Airborne troops are not only extremely expensive, but more importantly, you have to pay a higher "landing cost" for them-how to integrate and coordinate airborne troops with the original troops. Airborne troops naturally bring airborne experience, which is exactly what you want, so learn ge today and P & tomorrow. G's brand manager system and the introduction of international consulting company 4A advertising company have been busy for some time. However, by the end of the year, there was liquidation: sales fell and profit margins fell, but only the customer complaint rate rose. I'm not advocating that the company is static, nor are these outsiders and inexperienced people. However, enterprises in China must be soberly aware that "the discerning person works hard to succeed, and the clear-headed person creates motivation". Enterprise transformation is by no means an overnight investment game. It is necessary to take corporate culture as the hidden line, corporate strategy as the bright line, and based on the company's actual ability and human resources, gradually adjust and improve. However, most enterprises are keen on "revolution". Once revolutionary achievements can't appear soon, they begin to spend money to inject water into organizational structure, human resources, brand management and advertising, and even dare to inject water into the statements of listed companies. Dear, at this time, "pay attention" to a monster, coupled with media propaganda and amateur worship, naturally think that Laozi is the world's first giant and does not have a fever. As a result, the action was slow, the decision failed, and it collapsed within three years. In less than eight years, the company mentioned above has been completely delisted from the first brand in the market, and all the shares of listed companies have been sold. Seeking truth from facts and not deceiving others may be the best advice for these companies. Kung Fu Emperor Bruce Lee wrote in his only book "Interpretation of Wushu": People are increasingly ignoring the essence of Wushu-winning. The three key elements of winning are simplicity, efficiency and intuition, but people are mistakenly keen on gestures. Many of our enterprises are increasingly ignoring the essence of management: simplification, efficiency and value, while people are mistakenly keen on endless pursuit of the so-called latest management methods. Returning to the essence and simplifying the system is the lasting way for enterprises. Besides, it must be like "water" in the era of large-scale industrial production that enterprises pursue "rigid policies" and "rigid structures". Every big enterprise, like a small society with strict barriers, is committed to the integration of the whole industrial chain and maintains its own operating order with insurmountable rigid system and Taylor management mode. In such enterprises, the human factor, whether you are a manager or a blue collar, is more positioned as a "revolutionary screw", a part of a big machine, or an extension of the machine. Undoubtedly, with the development of the times, people are more and more aware of the defects of rigid structures and begin to seek solutions that combine rigidity with flexibility. Some specialized management scholars also put forward the concept of "flexible strategy". What exactly is a flexible strategy? Laozi said in Tao Te Ching: The world is not weak, the strong can win, the weak can win, the soft can win, and the world knows everything. On this basis, we put forward the manager's "water-based thinking" theory, which mainly contains three levels of connotation: First, the low-lying consciousness of "hundred rivers entering the sea": why "hundred rivers entering the sea"? Because the sea is at the lowest place. Most of the students who are about to join the Management Institute want to be excellent managers, but I don't know if you have enough psychological preparation to become an excellent "managed person" after leaving school. Based on my observation and understanding of many enterprise managers, a manager must have a peculiar "talent": that is, he can lower himself in time and learn from the environment. Seven years ago, as a "novice" in the consulting field, I saw the richest man, Mr. Liu Yonghao, seriously writing down my nonsense in his notebook, just because he thought what I said was very interesting and had never heard it before; Until today, Mr. Liu's conversation with anyone is always recorded at any time. Niu Gensheng, the boss who personally accompanied Mengniu, the champion of enterprise growth in China, went to the lecture hall of your school on an empty stomach after a whole day's meeting, just because he heard that the speaker had some fresh ideas. I have also heard an old migrant worker's evaluation of Mengniu construction site: this fat man is the best and most polite to me and always asks me questions. And "the fat man" is Niu Gensheng, the president of the group that the old man doesn't know. Only with this kind of consciousness and ability to reduce oneself in time can we become "lifelong learners", enrich the source of our management thoughts and create new management miracles. For a company, the most difficult thing is how to transfer and copy this ability to avoid bureaucracy and the tendency of water injection. The second is the management function of "water is good for all things without contention". For a manager, the most difficult thing to do is to "strive for". The role consciousness of enterprise managers has four realms: no dispute, no dispute, no dispute and no dispute. The first two are masters of wasting resources and should be pushed out to be beheaded. However, many enterprises have problems in team building, and even team division has appeared. Most of them are because the core figures in the team made a low-level mistake of "what to fight for". This "struggle" not only refers to the struggle for fame and profit, but also shows "striving for merit" more often. Because for many management stars, good performance and great contribution are recognized by the team, so many people think that I have paid so much and dedicated myself to the interests of the enterprise. Can't I criticize others? Can't scold subordinates? Can't I mainly deal with some problems? Can't get a bigger say? But the fact is that any enterprise with such a "management star" will not last long. Because the bigger the enterprise, the more it needs competitive endurance, not just competitive explosiveness. Only when managers have the accomplishment of "conquering the enemy without fighting" can they completely inherit their management ability and transform their personal wisdom into their company's ability. Thirdly, the management element "water-based" of "combining rigidity with flexibility" is mainly embodied in four elements in enterprise management: adaptability, permeability, inclusiveness and principle. First of all, water is a ubiquitous substance, and it is best at "drifting with the flow" and adapting to changes in the external environment. When it enters the mountainous area, it becomes a stream, and when it flows into the depression, it becomes a lake. A cup of water is poured into a cup and a bowl of water is put into a bowl. Secondly, "water drops wear the stone" is a strange phenomenon in nature. Compared with stone, water is weak and hard, but over time, weakness will overcome strength because water has strong permeability. Third, water is an all-encompassing tangible substance, and all other substances in the world can be surrounded or merged by water; Of course, no matter how the environment changes and the form changes, the components of hydrogen, dioxins and dioxins are very stable in chemistry, and the "bottom line principle" of water is eternal. If an enterprise's structure and strategy can "follow the trend and go with the flow" like water, then the enterprise will have first-class comprehensive competitiveness, because it has completely integrated its own reform and development into the rhythm of market and environmental changes. This is also the true meaning of "boundaryless organization" advocated by Jack Welch at the end of GE. For most young people and modern enterprises in China, they are often not "weak" in the face of competition and change, because we are smart, hardworking and ambitious; But it is often "fragile", because we pay attention to explosiveness and ignore endurance, strength and toughness, and people who pay attention to time ignore people who make clocks. But don't forget that vulnerability and weakness are always twin sisters. Therefore, in today's China, we should go back to the origin and learn from the most common water. Maybe we can understand why water can be everywhere and affect the world.