Friday, March 31, 2006

(十三) 你的業務是甚麼?


去年離世的管理學大師Peter Drucker(彼得杜拉克1909-2005),眼光獨到,意見精闢,早已名聞遐邇。但原來最能突顯他的功力的,是他所提出的問題,而不單是他提供的答案。請看以下美國《福布斯》(Forbes)財經雜誌的一篇報導:
一九八九年,業務遍佈全美的清潔公司ServiceMaster 的董事會主席William Pollard,帶同各董事往訪Drucker取經。賓主坐下,Drucker 帶入正題:可否請告訴我,你們的業務是甚麼?(What is your business?) 董事各有答案:家居清潔,清除害蟲,保養草地……Drucker 一語中的:「先生,你們全錯了,你們並不明白你們的業務是甚麼,你們的業務是訓練低技能人仕使他們有工作能力。」──Pollard把ServiceMaster日後的成功,歸功於Drucker這項洞見。 (大意)
過去幾年,我有機會為公司、機構及個人提供顧問服務,同時介紹「自由人」(Free Agent)的概念,指出今日職場,無論是受僱或自僱,人人都應看自己為「自由人」,都是自己的「一人企業」的老板。當論及這些課題時,發現「你的業務是甚麼?」這問題非常適切,每次提出,都帶來豐富的討論,屢試不爽──保險業經理的業務原來是訓練及輔導,以栽培建立其從業員團隊,而不單是熟識本行;以邊緣女性為服務對象的社會機構,需要視義工訓練為其核心業務,組織才有發展的動力;當專業裱畫師父認定「文化承傳」為其未來的人生目標時,原來會促使他的業務轉變:(一)栽培新一代裱畫師,(二)教育客戶對裱畫及收藏的認識,(三)帶動全行隨著時代轉變創新,(四)個人續漸蛻變至專業顧問的角色。

去年六月,在港與一位主內弟兄踫面,是他在溫哥華攻讀博士時已認識的,三年前他得到加中一所大學的教席。傾談中,他大吐苦水──不容易找到高質素的博士生,自己對教學水準的要求,加上出版研究論文的壓力,使他不勝負荷。其後,我們用了幾個早上把他的問題逐步拆解。一星期前,我收到他來的電郵:「謝謝指引,我聽了你的意見,把自己的業務看為建立一個訓練體系,而非單單出版論文……最近,學生給我的教學評價全面報昇……」看來,他對教授生涯還是蠻有信心的。

你看重你的「一人企業」嗎?你的業務是甚麼?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I guess being a christian makes it easy to answer that question. Our business is to love God and love people. But it is easy to say theorectically but almost impossible to do in practice.

For example, Paul instructed the Galatians to use their freedom to "serve one another in love" (Gal 5:13). But I always wonder how I can apply that in a business world. It makes no sense (or opposite sense) to "serve my competitor in love". Maybe one day I will be brave enough to actually try out this simple business objective. Or maybe the old saying is still true: no risk, no gain.

JamInside said...

What is competition? = “to strive for together” (ancient Greece words)

So that I won't see a competitor as an enemy but as an opponent!

To do so I need someone to push me. I need an opponent, someone to challenge me, to strive together, to help to improve my God-given gifts in business which is a part of his creation.

JamInside said...

What is competition? = “to strive for together” (ancient Greece words)

So that I won't see the competitor in business as an enemy but an opponent.

To do so I need someone to push me. I need an opponent who I respect in love, someone to challenge me, to strive together, to help improve my God-given gifts in business which is a part of his creation.