如何跨越现实和梦想之间的鸿沟

如何跨越现实和梦想之间的鸿沟

The heart of career (and business) paralysis

Many of us get stuck between wanting to act, and taking action. The uncertainty of the uncharted path ahead can be daunting. Sometimes it feels as if circumstances are conspiring against us, and we find ourselves riveted in place.

我们当中有许多人在想要行动和采取行动之间摇摆不定。前方未知的道路充满变数，令人望而却步。有时境况仿佛与我们处处作对，我们发现自己寸步难行。

In corporate cultures, that hesitation can translate into what professors Bob Sutton and Jeffrey Pfeffer call the "knowing-doing gap:" the space between what we know we should do and what we actually do. The "knowing-doing gap" can lead to company paralysis when talk becomes a substitute for action.

鲍勃•萨顿和杰弗里•普费弗教授将企业文化中的这种犹豫称为“知行差距”，也

就是我们知道自己应该做的事与我们实际做的事两者间的差距。当空谈取代了行动时，“知行差距”可能会导致公司的瘫痪。

After learning about the knowing-doing gap, we began to see it everywhere. For example we witnessed it first-hand at Eastman Kodak Company. On a cold spring day in the mid-1990s, an IDEO team travelled to Rochester, New York for an audience with the Kodak executive team. We found a group of leaders with deep expertise who at least intellectually understood that the future of photography was digital.

了解到知行差距之后，我们会发现它在生活中无处不在。比如，我们曾在伊士曼柯达公司（Eastman Kodak Company）亲眼见到它的存在。20世纪90年代中期的一个寒冷的春天，艾迪欧公司（IDEO）的一个小组来到纽约州罗契斯特

市，参观柯达管理团队。在那里，我们发现这个领袖团队具有渊博的专业知识，他们至少在理性上知道，摄影的未来将是数字化。

Looking back, business historians may be tempted to suggest that Kodak's leadership was naïve. But that was not the case. In fact, we had to race to keep up with CEO George Fisher's agile mind. And no one could say Kodak lacked knowledge of digital photography. They had actually invented the digital camera in 1975, and later pioneered the world's first megapixel sensor. Kodak had a head start that should have yielded lasting advantage. So why didn't all that knowledge and first-mover advantage turn into decisive action?

回顾往事，商业史学家很容易将柯达失败的原因归结为管理层太过天真。但事实并非如此。实际上，我们必须加快速度，才能跟上柯达的首席执行官乔治•费舍尔那活跃的思路。没人能说柯达缺乏数码摄影的知识。实际上他们在1975年就发明了数码相机，随后研发了全世界首个百万像素级传感器。柯达占据先机，本应获得长久的优势。那么为何所有的这些知识和先动优势转化成为果断的行动？

For starters, tradition got in the way of innovation. Kodak's glorious past was just too alluring. Kodak had essentially owned consumer photography for a hundred years, with market shares in some segments as high as 90%. By contrast, digital ventures all seemed so risky, and Kodak wasn't providing enough "soft landings" for managers willing to take career risks in those new areas. Facing strong global competitors in the digital market, Kodak knew that it would struggle, and fear of failure transfixed the management team.8

首先，传统阻碍了创新。柯达辉煌的过去太过诱人。实际上，柯达已经在过去的一百年中占领了消费者摄影行业，在一些市场的占有率甚至高达90%。相比之下，数码化的冒险似乎风险过高，而柯达也并没有给愿意在全新的领域赌上自己职业生涯的管理层提供足够的“软着陆措施”。面对数码市场强有力的全球竞争对手，柯达知道前路荆棘密布，对失败的恐惧让它的管理层裹足不前。Caught in the knowing-doing gap, Kodak clung too closely to the

chemistry-based business that had been so successful for them in the 20th