Common sense wins the world: the common secret of successful people

Chapter 8 Common sense of work - 80% of people walk with only one foot (3)
An hour and a half later, Joaquin came back and took back the visit confirmation form signed by the customer.The two employees were stunned. They looked embarrassed and wanted to say something, but they couldn't get it out.Mike said, "Tell them, how did you get there on time?" Joaquin shrugged, "It's very simple. Although there is some traffic jam on the main road, I told the taxi driver to take a detour and pay an extra $5 for the fare. "
This incident was later popularized by me as a typical example of the company's internal management, adding several basic principles for employee work assessment:
1. Have you tried your best to find a solution for a job?

2. Have you thought of all the ways if the job is not getting done?

3. If you were given another chance, what would you do?
These three questions are used in AutoNavi as a summary of ineffective work and used in our employee training.Half a year later, the person in charge of the administrative assessment department reported to me: the company has achieved very good results.Through intensive training, the execution ability of the company's employees has been greatly improved, and the initiative and participation in work have also increased very well.

Don't make any excuses - equal to the execution power to the end
Refuse to make excuses, let yourself be responsible for the work wholeheartedly, in fact, let yourself understand that there is no reason to respond to the orders of the boss at work.This allows you to develop strong determination and perfect execution.Let yourself seize every 1-minute opportunity within the limited time and do your best.

This is the embodiment of executive power and a direct expression of one's own value.Because your boss will see how well you do a job, and there will be no mistakes or omissions.Trying to avoid responsibility by perfunctory work will only leave a very negative impression in the eyes of your boss, which is very unfavorable for you.

Only by forging ahead and working hard can we improve execution.Only when you fully take responsibility can you complete 7 points of the 10 points required by your boss and be more than qualified for your position.Every boss hopes to see such employees. Once there is a chance for promotion, they will give priority to such subordinates, rather than those guys who hide behind when things happen and have to clear their responsibilities in advance!
Don't shirk responsibility - equal to actively tap your own potential

Without any excuses at work, we are required to actively think of ways to overcome difficulties.If you have the conditions, you have to do it, if you don’t have the conditions, you have to do it if you create the conditions.Establishing such common sense of work can improve one's own ability and tap one's own potential in the challenges one after another.Even if the result of the final work is not satisfactory, I have improved my working ability in the process, which is very helpful for the next task.

At the same time, rational use of time is also an important factor in being able to do a good job.Sometimes, the boundary between success and failure in one thing often lies in whether you have made good use of the limited time, whether you have fully grasped all the time, and whether you have started working early.The main reason why some people can't finish their work and the work effect is too poor is that they are not in a hurry at the beginning, and when they are in a hurry, they have no time.In the end, I can only find reasons for myself, or pass the buck to my colleagues.

After the task is issued, immediately regard this work as the most important thing at present, and act immediately after making a plan without delay, so that you can have enough time to think of the most perfect solution, and it will not happen It was only when he realized that there was nothing he could do.This is the embodiment of a positive attitude, and it is also the most basic professional quality that a person should possess.

Moreover, you will win the trust and recognition of the company through your positive performance, which will also be beneficial to your future career development.No one likes a lazy subordinate, even if he is very capable; the boss will appreciate an honest and willing subordinate, even if his current work ability is not enough, he will give him the opportunity to continue to perform, impart experience to him, and help him grow.

"Take it for granted" kills people

What work needs most is strict quantification and precise planning, not just imagination, creativity, unlimited passion and eclectic innovative spirit.

The work should let people see a clear prospect and a controllable process, and in this process, they should burst out their own ideals and add their own personality.

However, people are always obsessed with the latter wishful thinking and ignore the former, just like a passionate racing driver: "I work hard, I struggle, I surpass, as long as I do these things, I will definitely win over my opponent." Spiritual victory like Ah Q?Think about it and you can settle everything?Yes, many people live in this perfect illusion when they work, and they believe in the power of will one-sidedly, but the result always ends in "being hit by failure".

The successful people I have met—people who have achieved a certain level of career, they all have one thing in common: they have extremely rational thinking and professionalism in pursuit of controllability, and they never make emotional decisions "self-righteously".When the stock market crashed, the "gentlemen" who jumped from the skyscrapers on Wall Street showed their irrational side just as they did when they bought some dangerous stocks.

In this regard, Buffett has a famous saying: "Only when the sea ebbs, can you find out who is not wearing pants!" All jobs can fulfill this prophecy. If you take work for granted, work will be like sea ebbing. You show yourself.

John, the CEO of Procter & Gamble, commented on why the company he manages will become a well-deserved global king, saying: "People always think that Procter & Gamble is very mysterious. What can I say? There is only one thing. We have a set of scientific and objective principles. Quantitative management system, which has ensured P&G's success for more than 100 years, and it is still improving."
This means that every member and every process of Procter & Gamble abides by the common sense that "work must be quantified".They rigorously evaluate and make any decision, and visually control every workflow.As a result, the success rate of its products in the global market is as high as 85%. Many domestic companies can't even reach the poor 5%.

"I put so much passion into it, why did it fail?"
"Where did I not do it right? I have paid a lot, and my expectations are so high, why is luck still not on my side?"
"I have been busy with the project for several weeks, and I have written tens of thousands of words. Why did the boss throw it into the trash can after just looking at it?"
They are confused and anxious: "Why do my ideas never work? Why do his?"
Jim, the former CEO of McDonald's, said: "Successful products have strict quantitative operation manuals." Of course, successful people are the same.A person's success is essentially due to his excellent ability to organize himself.At the same time, this is also the core quality of becoming a good manager, or moving towards a higher starting point.Learn to use quantitative management in your work instead of being dominated by imagination or ambiguity, learn realism instead of fantasy, and return to rational common sense, so that you can process the creativity in your mind and turn it into real fruit.

The job means you have to fulfill the following four basic requirements:

[-]. Quality and efficiency
This is a requirement for work effectiveness, and it is also the most important link for bosses and customers.The value of the product (work) you provide is determined by quality and efficiency.For example, the manager asks you to write two advertisement design proposals within a week. If the two articles you hand in after a week are not up to standard, you can only return to rewrite, which means that you have not fulfilled these two requirements, and your work is not satisfactory. of any value.

[-]. Definite time
Jobs have time requirements.You can't let your boss or client wait for your results indefinitely, or even exceed several times the cycle to do a good job.All work (even if you are a freelancer) has a time limit and needs to be completed within a specific time, that is, "completed within a few months or days".

Our investigators have to submit a "feedback statistical report" once a week, and this statistical work should be completed no later than 9 hours.Not long ago, my assistant added a new rule: "Each survey consultant should submit his survey feedback statistics for the previous week before 3 pm every Tuesday." This is a clear time requirement for the work .

[-]. Definite Quantity
Of course, the work must have a certain amount of requirements, such as how long it needs to last, how many pieces (times) it needs to reach, and how many topics of consultation to provide.It should have a clear definition for the executor to complete clearly and on time.When the boss orders your department to sell no less than 40 electrical appliances within 5000 days, it is the regulation of quantity.

[-]. Do not exceed the specified error rate
There is also a limit on the error rate in the work, which is a requirement for the error rate.Once you make mistakes that exceed the established standards (the upper limit of tolerance), you will face penalties: fines, deductions of bonuses, and even dismissal.The specific price to pay depends on the rate at which you make mistakes.

Each of these four requirements must be precise and quantifiable.The company is using quantitative thinking to manage your work, and you should also adopt this thinking to manage yourself.It does not contradict "freedom of thought", but reminds us not to let the brain's "flash of inspiration" control important rational thinking, such as what we cannot do and what we should do.To develop a rigorous quantitative habit, but also to master a flexible quantitative method, you can expect to get something in your work, and it will be effective.

Don't be superstitious about data
Meghan, 32, is the host of ABC's financial show.She has determined to become a world-famous TV host since she was 7 years old, and has worked hard for 18 years, and successfully entered ABC.As the youngest rising star in the history of ABC to host a major program, her struggles are worthy of an inspirational book.

But after Christmas in 2012, the popular host in the audience's mind was fired. ABC executives announced without hesitation: "Meghan had to leave ABC due to physical reasons." The fuse of the incident was her report on the "Christmas Economy" topic the day before.She misbelieved the "data" provided by a Wall Street securities company - "76% of the output value created by Christmas products for this country is a bubble", and then took this research report full of charts and data tables in the program to discuss People make a mockery of the Christmas spending frenzy.

"What this data tells us is that the Christmas economy is like a bunch of monkeys putting on their hats and climbing a tree thinking they're far from the surface," she said. , stolen by the fat man in the tuxedo under the tree."
Viewed in isolation, this is nothing, just a normal show complaint.But Meghan has offended one of ABC's main sponsors: a large national supermarket chain that manufactures and sells Christmas trees.They invested millions of dollars in advertising expenses on ABC only on this grand festival, but they were "ruthlessly humiliated" by the head host of the TV station on that day.Therefore, before the show actually ended, the board of directors had already received protest calls from sponsors.

Megan's experience is not an accidental phenomenon. Excessive superstitious data is a common "phenomenon" among people. Even most people have regarded data as a kind of common sense-they rely on data to make judgments and have the psychology of authoritative worship of data.However, if you praise the conclusions drawn from simulation curves, histograms and pie charts without careful research and evidence, and decide your own behavior based on them, then you are likely to be farther and farther away from the truth .

In this regard, Megan said regretfully: "I arbitrarily thought that this was a solid material without verification, but in the end I realized that it was just a trick for competitors to use the TV station to attack, discredit and play tricks on each other. The securities company The data provided by the company simply doesn't speak for itself, and I blindly think that it can be used as evidence on the show to support my point of view."
Data is not normal, it reflects only a static or "phenomenon" within a certain period of time, and sometimes even an "illusion".

If you make inferences and take actions based on data beyond the scope of common sense, you will often lose miserably. Countless examples have proved this point.

The data is not unconvincing, provided that it has been collected by multiple parties, and this collection must be objective, neutral and comprehensive.

In an FBI meeting, my boss Harold once held a copy of the New York Times and said to us: "The media is the womb that breeds liars, especially when they release some data about a certain field, you can All you see is that bastard sitting in front of the computer with a sinister face and making up lies, trying to test your IQ with such a poor report." Harold's evaluation is extreme, but in case the federal agents are investigating Influenced by media reports, his metaphor is not far off the mark.

None of us know the true or false ratio of news reports, and no one can count them.All the time, people in the media are distorting the truth, hiding the truth and making up another kind of "truth".They are employed by certain interest groups, such as Wall Street financial conglomerates or political lobbyists, to provide statistical data through ingenious design, but they will not tell you how these data are obtained, whether there is circumstantial evidence and scientific basis.

It is possible that some of the data you see is meaningless and has no real value.As Sandra, a famous Wall Street trader, explained to me—he was arrested in September 2003 for defrauding investors in the market—“The company asked me to create some numbers to convince investors that this is a profitable stock. It says a risk ratio of 9, but I listed an 7.9 return on investment up front, so I'm not surprised that people don't hesitate to sign the purchase agreement."
The market analysis report and return forecast "made" by Sandra itself is not wrong in numbers, but he has carried out subtle camouflage in key links.He put the high return on investment (almost impossible) in the most prominent position, telling potential investors at the beginning that "this is a stock that will never lose money and will definitely make you rich", and then In the part of risk assessment, he was vague and even deliberately ignored the most basic introduction to stock market risks, so that ordinary investors who had never bought stocks had no resistance to it.

The securities company he worked for obtained improper benefits of 7 million US dollars during the 3000-month operation, and 5821 people were deceived.However, just after our investigation was completed and the results were announced, there were still many people who held the stock who did not believe the facts before them—they held the report swearingly and suspected that the federal agents had found the wrong target.

There is also a lot of data that only tells you about correlation, not causation.Or conversely, let people who see it make judgment errors, such as understanding correlation as causation, and causality as correlation, and then draw absurd conclusions.It's like the Earthquake Bureau listed an earthquake and a certain athlete's participation in a high jump competition in a report.Did an earthquake happen because someone jumped high?Of course not, but the problem is that someone will be fooled.

Any data that violates common sense is abnormal

You have to be wary of a project that is too tempting, such as the one offered by Sandra, as there is often an abyss hidden behind the alluring prospect.Although this is an era where it is easy to create myths, many investment projects have miraculous returns, but this is not universal, and all have their own special reasons, which are not beyond the scope of common sense.Some people made tens of millions of yuan by operating stocks for the first time. The reason may not be that he knows stocks too well, but that he has learned inside information in advance.

This is common sense: anything that happens beyond the norm, there must be a special reason behind it.It's hard to be successful when you're following along.Many people fail in their careers because they ignore the existence of this common sense when faced with temptation, and their inner impulses overcome reason.

Don't be fooled by biased data
(End of this chapter)