Why Successful CompaniesPass the ‘Grandma Test’為何成功企業(yè)要通過“奶奶測試”

CEO Andrew Schaap argues that thinking carefully about spending choices is the key to growing a viable business and keeping investors happy.

首席執(zhí)行官安德魯·沙普認為，仔細考量支出決策是企業(yè)健康發(fā)展和令投資者滿意的關(guān)鍵。

When encouraging its portfolio companies to be fiscally responsible， an investment firm uses a unique guiding principle they call the “grandma test.” For every spending decision， it asks leaders to imagine that a 90-year-old grandmother is a shareholder and then consider the following： Is this good for the business—and does it help Grandma eat and pay her rent？

某投資公司在鼓勵旗下的投資組合公司履行財務責任時，采用了一種獨特的指導原則，他們稱之為“奶奶測試”。對于每一項支出決策，都要求領(lǐng)導者想象股東是一位90歲的老奶奶，并考慮以下問題：此決策是否對公司有利——又是否能讓股東老奶奶有吃有住？

Being fiscally responsible doesn’t mean being a tightwad， but it does mean thinking carefully about spending choices that impact the bottom line. Contrary to what has become accepted wisdom in recent years， a company can scale without burning through cash. In fact， as a CEO in a highly capital-intensive industry， I’d argue that prudent spending is the key to building a solid foundation for growth. Here’s how entrepreneurs， leaders， and executives can employ the grandma test to make smart financial decisions.

履行財務責任并不意味著做守財奴，但確實意味著要仔細考量關(guān)乎盈利狀況的支出決策。與近年廣受認可的觀念相反，一家公司可以在不燒錢的前提下擴大規(guī)模。事實上，作為資本高度密集行業(yè)某公司的首席執(zhí)行官，本人認為穩(wěn)健的支出決策是夯實增長基礎(chǔ)的關(guān)鍵。下面我們來看看企業(yè)家、領(lǐng)導者和高管們?nèi)绾卫媚棠虦y試來做出明智的財務決策。

Why spending wisely matters for every business

為何明智支出對每個企業(yè)都至關(guān)重要

I believe keeping a lid on spending is important for two reasons：

我認為，控制支出十分重要，原因有二：

Fiscal responsibility is crucial for the health of the business. Too many companies run into trouble by blowing money on things they don’t need.

財務責任對企業(yè)健康發(fā)展至關(guān)重要。太多公司因把錢花在不需要的東西上而陷入困境。

Companies have a fiduciary responsibility to shareholders. Investors entrust leaders with finding ways to be thoughtful about expenses， while still growing the business and their potential returns.

公司對股東負有信托責任。公司領(lǐng)導者是受投資者所托，要在謹慎支出的同時設法實現(xiàn)業(yè)務增長和潛在回報上升。

To address both of these factors， leaders must determine what’s essential and what’s not. Being fiscally irresponsible can spread through an organization like a hidden virus. The result： a lack of intellectual rigor around spending decisions.

針對上述這兩點，領(lǐng)導者必須明確哪些是必要的、哪些是非必要的。對財務不負責任會像隱形病毒一樣在組織中傳播擴散。其結(jié)果是，支出決策缺乏嚴謹?shù)乃伎肌?/p>

However， there is also such a thing as being too fiscally responsible. When a company is skittish about spending on what really matters， it can also fail in its fiduciary duty. To avoid that conflict， a leader must understand the details of the business and ensure that it’s nimble—knowing when to pursue growth opportunities but also when to pull back. The payoff？ Research shows that balancing growth and sensible spending can deliver substantially higher shareholder returns.

然而，還有一種情形，即對履行財務責任過于謹慎。當一家公司對真正重要的支出也猶豫不決時，它可能也無法履行其信托責任。為避免這種沖突，領(lǐng)導者必須了解具體業(yè)務的細節(jié)，并確保它靈活可變——知道何時應抓住增長機會、何時又該抽身觀望。由此得到的回報是什么？研究表明，平衡增長和合理支出可大大增加股東回報。

Baking fiscal responsibility into a business is easier said than done， but it’s well worth the effort. Here are a few things to consider.

在企業(yè)經(jīng)營中仔細考量財務責任是言易行難之事，但很值得付出努力。以下幾點可資斟酌。

Make scarcity a feature， not a bug

讓短缺成為特點而非缺陷

It may sound counterintuitive， but I believe scarcity can boost productivity. If a company adopts a frugal mindset， I have found that people often rise to the occasion and find ways to do more with less.

這聽起來可能違反常理，但我認為短缺能提高生產(chǎn)力。當一家公司奉行節(jié)儉的思維模式時，我發(fā)現(xiàn)人們往往會隨機應變，找到花更少錢做更多事的辦法。

Making managers relatively scarce is part of the deal. Too often， middle managers push paper from one desk to another， creating red tape for everyone else. Being thoughtful about how you structure teams can help all workers do their most productive work.

讓管理人員相對短缺是途徑之一。中層管理者常常就是把文件從一張桌子推到另一張，人浮于事，給其他人造成層層阻礙。慎重組織團隊能幫助所有員工達到最高的工作效率。

Want more proof that scarcity can be a good thing？ Look at all the successful companies that launched during an economic crisis—half of the Fortune 500. For businesses looking to learn from those inauspicious starts， the secret may lie in capturing the cost-conscious spirit of a downturn before you’re actually in one. Amazon， Costco， and Ikea are notoriously frugal companies whose eye on the bottom line helped propel them to enormous growth.

想知道更多證明短缺可能是件好事的例子嗎？看看那些在經(jīng)濟危機期間成立并取得成功的公司吧——《財富》世界500強中半數(shù)如此。如果企業(yè)想從這些剛開始時運不濟的公司身上汲取經(jīng)驗，秘訣可能是在經(jīng)濟真正陷入衰退前牢牢把握節(jié)約成本的原則。亞馬遜、開市客和宜家都是出了名的節(jié)儉型企業(yè)，其對利潤的關(guān)注推動它們實現(xiàn)了巨大的增長。

But remember： Scarcity is a two-way street. A leader must also know when being frugal hurts productivity or growth， adjusting spending as needed to keep the business healthy and capitalize on opportunities.

但請記住：短缺是一條雙向道。當節(jié)儉損害生產(chǎn)力或阻礙發(fā)展時，領(lǐng)導者必須同樣予以重視，根據(jù)需求調(diào)整開支，從而保證公司健康發(fā)展并充分利用機遇。

Hire thoughtfully

謹慎招聘

Fiscal responsibility is much more than reining in travel expenses and saving on paper clips. For most organizations， the biggest cost is people. If a team member is too busy， the impulse is to bring on another employee. But that new person might have little to do because they’re only picking up the 15% or 20% overflow from someone else.

財務責任遠不止是控制差旅費和節(jié)約回形針之類的辦公用品。對大多數(shù)組織而言，人力成本是最大的支出項目。如果一個團隊成員太忙了，組織就會本能地想要再招一個員工。然而新人可能沒有什么事做，因為他們只能分擔其他員工溢出的15%或20%的工作。

This kind of hiring can be a bad investment and can breed resentment among teams. When the rest of an organization sees colleagues with a lighter workload， productivity can drop.

這樣的聘用可能并不劃算，還可能使團隊中滋生不滿情緒。當組織中的其他成員發(fā)現(xiàn)同事工作量較輕時，工作效率可能隨之下降。

Rather than thoughtlessly hiring， keep in mind that not getting everything done each day isn’t a reason for anyone to panic. To the contrary： It sharpens people’s minds on the highest and best use of their time and on the things that really move the needle.

與其草率雇人，不如牢記：任何人都不必為當日事無法當日畢而恐慌。恰恰相反：這會使人頭腦更敏銳，知道如何利用時間最有效，著眼真正能取得成效的事。

When a company absolutely must hire， it should do its homework and aim to bring on the best talent. Mediocre employees drag down the exceptional ones. When you hire second-rate team members， costs rise， productivity falls， and then you face a larger systemic challenge.

當公司確有必要招募員工時，一定要做好功課，旨在聘到最佳人才。平庸的員工會拖累優(yōu)秀的員工。招進水準不高的員工會導致成本增加，生產(chǎn)效率下降，然后使公司面臨更大的系統(tǒng)性挑戰(zhàn)。

Do a productivity audit

進行生產(chǎn)力審核

Spending wisely means making productive use of time and resources. Here are three ways for companies to maximize the return on those investments.

明智開支意味著對時間和資源的高效利用。以下是使企業(yè)投資回報最大化的三種方式。

· Look at outputs： Whether it’s a piece of hardware or some marketing collateral， is a particular group producing something of value？ If not， it may be time to rethink the projects they’re focused on.

· 關(guān)注產(chǎn)出：無論是具體產(chǎn)品還是營銷材料，某個團隊是否在產(chǎn)出有價值的東西？如果沒有，那么也許是時候重新考慮他們專注的項目了。

· Make the most of meetings by shrinking them： Even today， many companies have a bloated meeting culture straight out of Mad Men. The default one-hour meeting in Outlook encourages people to mistake activity for productivity. That is why I set all of my meetings to 30 minutes. In this case， time literally is money. Shopify estimates that a half-hour meeting with a handful of employees and an executive can cost upwards of $2，000.

· 通過縮短會議來提高會議效率：即使今天，仍有許多公司存在照搬自《廣告狂人》的那種膨脹會議文化。微軟Outlook軟件默認的1小時會議會使人誤把忙碌當作產(chǎn)能。這就是我把自己的所有會議時間都設定為30分鐘的原因。在這種情況下，時間真的就是金錢。根據(jù)加拿大電商軟件開發(fā)商Shopify的估算，一名高管和數(shù)名員工開會半小時，就可能造成2000多美元的損失。

· Hold team leaders accountable： In my company， the heads of individual teams own their group’s productivity， regardless of the links between business units. I have found that when leaders have independence， they are more likely to be accountable.

· 讓團隊領(lǐng)導者負責：在我的公司里，不論業(yè)務單元之間是否相互關(guān)聯(lián)，單個團隊的工作效率都由該團隊領(lǐng)導者負責。我發(fā)現(xiàn)，領(lǐng)導者如果具備自主性，會更可能有責任心。

Don’t be afraid to say no （or not yet）

別害怕說“不”（或“現(xiàn)在不行”）

I’ve regularly turned down spending requests from my people—while still leaving the door open. When a team member recently came to me with an ask that wasn’t fully baked， I said I looked forward to seeing the business case， business use， and return on capital. From my perspective， if someone wants money， it’s on them to convince me by showing that they grasp the numbers and understand the costs.

我經(jīng)常拒絕來自員工的經(jīng)費申請——但同時仍給他們保留了機會。最近有個團隊成員向我提出申請，但理由不夠充分，我當時回復說，我期待了解商業(yè)案例、商業(yè)用途和資本收益等方面內(nèi)容。在我看來，如果有人需要資金，那就得通過他們所掌握的數(shù)據(jù)和計算的成本來說服我。

The business landscape is littered with the wreckage of companies that got ahead of themselves. Leaders and their teams should be realistic about what they can accomplish. Without skimping on ambition， pursue a growth trajectory that’s built on smart financial choices. And for goodness’ sake， don’t forget Grandma.

因好高騖遠而戰(zhàn)死商場的企業(yè)比比皆是。領(lǐng)導者及其團隊應該對自身完成任務的能力有符合實際的認知。尋求建立在明智財務決策基礎(chǔ)上的發(fā)展之道，同時不失雄心。還有，看在上帝的份上，別忘了股東老奶奶。

（譯者為“《英語世界》杯”翻譯大賽獲獎者）