Eight birth control techniques

The core of how to improve the productivity of knowledge workers is the mode of production organized by enterprises, not the working methods or attitudes of managers.

Although we all know that in the era of information and knowledge society, we follow the management logic of "knowledge creates wealth" instead of "capital creates wealth", it is not easy to talk about how to improve the productivity of knowledge workers.

At least in China, it is often blamed on managers' over-management, over-management and over-management, which hinders or suppresses the creative work of knowledge workers. Therefore, people call on managers to move from commitment to inaction, from everything to less or even no matter. This is an old problem that China people think about management. Whenever they encounter new management problems, they always blame "people" instead of "organizations".

In fact, the core of how to improve the productivity of knowledge workers is the mode of production organized by enterprises, not the working methods or attitudes of managers. Generally speaking, it's like driving a car. It is the efficiency design of the car itself that determines the running speed of the car. No matter how rich his driving experience is, his creativity will also be subject to this. If the enterprise's own mode of production or work can't be changed, we can't get the expected productivity of knowledge workers.

Thoughts on assembly line production mode

Just look at the fact that the productivity of manual workers has increased by 50 times in the past century, and you will know that this is a correct judgment. In the early stage of social industrialization, automobile manufacturing could only rely on a very small number of professional and technical workers, so expensive cars were only patented products of a few rich people at that time. The appearance of Ford's assembly line production mode has standardized and generalized every production post, so the history of producing cars with only a few skilled workers has been completely subverted and rewritten. When a pair of black coal miners' hands can also make a "mysterious car", it means that the work efficiency of the most ordinary manual workers has improved to the level of skilled workers who used to be very popular. This is the credit and victory of the assembly line production mode itself. In any case, this is the labor productivity that the early "single product system" mode of production could not create.

Therefore, it is no exaggeration to say that assembly line production has rewritten the history of human lifestyle. Going to work on time, strictly observing the work system and operating according to the workflow have not only become our most basic management and production methods today, but also become our most basic lifestyle today. In fact, the social history of 200-300 years since industrialization is the history of production mode replacing lifestyle. More precisely, it is the assembly line mode of production that has created a lifestyle of 3. 1 minute in the whole society, while the lifestyle based on human nature has been submerged or even eliminated.

For a long time, we almost never doubted its correctness, but in fact, it played the role of "success is also Xiao He, failure is also Xiao He": in the industrial age, the labor productivity of manual workers appeared precisely because of the assembly line production mode. However, in the knowledge age, the production mode of assembly line system in the industrial age has just become an obstacle to the productivity of knowledge workers, because the productivity of knowledge workers is due to lifestyle, not production mode.

Defects of "eight-hour working system"

The so-called "the productivity of knowledge workers is due to lifestyle, not mode of production"! The simplest understanding is to ask yourself: will the creativity of a knowledge worker appear in the assembly line work mode? Will the ideas and creativity of a knowledge-based employee appear in a strict performance appraisal? Wait, to put it simply: if the enterprise promises to give intellectuals high money rewards or great spiritual honor encouragement, will an intellectual's creativity or creation respond to these stimuli? Answer: No, because money can buy the fruits of manual labor, but it can't buy the intellectual achievements of knowledge workers. We have never heard of any great scientific and technological inventions, which were stimulated by high pay or appeared within the prescribed eight-hour working hours.

In other words, there is almost no necessary causal relationship between the truth of knowledge workers' creative labor and the mode of production or work in the typical industrial age. I was deeply impressed and inspired by a little thing I experienced personally: one day, I came across a young man who used to work in our company in a hotel. He used to be an online artist, but now he runs his own design company. I suddenly asked him on a whim, does your design creativity mainly occur during working hours or in your spare time? He told me, I don't know, shopping, eating, and even watching concerts may suddenly get creative inspiration.

Before that, I never doubted that the "eight-hour working system" had any defects or mistakes. However, the young man's unintentional answer made me re-understand this question from a different angle, that is, the time for individual knowledge workers to create results has seriously deviated from the working hours stipulated by enterprise organizations. More precisely, there is no necessary connection between the strict examination of his working hours and his creative achievements. Unfortunately, we didn't realize this problem, but inherited the standard working hours of industrial age management without thinking. The management in the industrial age is to implement eight-hour standard working hours, and work time and life time are completely separated. However, the achievements of knowledge workers in the information age are merging them into one.

Therefore, enterprises can only improve the productivity of knowledge workers by changing their own production methods. To put it bluntly, if an enterprise organization cannot abandon the typical working methods of the industrial age, it is impossible to expect the creativity of knowledge workers.

Why is Yiwu Commodity City a company?

Enterprise organizations need to re-understand the concept of enterprise to change their production methods. For example, when we talk about Yiwu commodity market, we often say "market" and seldom say "company", but in fact, Yiwu commodity market is an out-and-out company and a listed company. Its full name is: China Yiwu Commodity City Co., Ltd., which became the second only to China Petrochemical in the selection of the top 100 competitive enterprises in China last year.

The question is: Why don't we regard Yiwu Commodity City as a company, but as a market? Because we have always believed that a company should have an authority like old Ford, like Ford Motor Company in its early years. We need to be as strict as old Ford, even use a secret supervisor like old Ford, and punish those lazy employees by tattling ... Only in this way can a company look more like a company.

On the contrary, Yiwu Commodity City Company is so unlike a company: first of all, it has no authority (at least without the authority of a company like Mr. Zhang Ruimin, I'm afraid few people know who the president of Yiwu Commodity Market Company is); Secondly, it has no products (the products of Yiwu commodity market are actually those market operators, but according to the traditional product meaning, no one will regard them as enterprise products); Third, it has no management (Yiwu Commodity Market Company has become a thorough service platform, and they are not managing, but serving). Obviously, it is difficult for us to call a company without authority, products and management a "company".

At this time, we will suddenly realize that whether a company is like a "company" is actually based on the typical corporate appearance of the industrial age. In fact, a company must have authority, punctuality system, strict performance appraisal and so on. This is a typical standard production method of assembly line system in industrial age. Why should we follow the trend today? But few people think and question. Obviously, the question is not whether Yiwu Commodity Market is a company, but that our narrow and old thinking mode should be laughed at.

Lifestyle determines the fate of the organization.

Enterprises need to return to life style from production mode and change their own production mode.

For example, in Shanghai, an intellectual engaged in industrial design suddenly resigned, left the big enterprise where he used to work and joined the ranks of freelancers. The reason for his resignation is simple: he can't stand the strict punching system and the requirement of developing and designing products as planned in advance. In the eyes of enterprises, this is a typical bad employee. Can you call the company without a punch card system and a plan? !

What's really interesting is that before long, the intellectual engaged in industrial design began to cooperate with the original company as a freelancer. The relationship between the former manager and the managed has now become a cooperative relationship between business partners. Everything has magically changed. The head of the enterprise department began to treat his former subordinates respectfully and equally, and this subordinate also treated his work with unprecedented professionalism. The design scheme jointly developed by both parties was worked out through consultation, which not only shortened the time compared with the original enterprise development scheme, but also achieved the best design effect through repeated revisions.

When an intellectual is within the organizational boundaries, his personality and enthusiasm are virtually restricted and suppressed. However, when he gradually left the enterprise organization and became a freelancer, his creativity doubled. Obviously, this is a great irony to the way enterprises produce or work. Everything is like Zhu Deyong's cartoon: "Working is boring, but working is enjoyable". At this moment, we discovered a secret. The so-called difference between internal members of an organization and external partners is actually only the difference between the "ideas" of the enterprise organization itself.

In fact, the intellectual only did one thing: he replaced the mode of production organized by enterprises with his own lifestyle, and he began to arrange his own work style or rhythm according to his own lifestyle. He began to design his own work goals and motivate himself with his own goals. Of course, this does not mean that the organization is useless or dissolved, but that the organization must profoundly review its mistakes. In fact, so far, commercial organizations rarely review their mistakes. They always habitually criticize individuals severely. Even after valuable knowledge workers flee from the organization, they will still comfort themselves and say, "Although this person is capable, he does not conform to our corporate values." They are so rigid that they stick to the so-called values. Even though the values have seriously affected the work efficiency of knowledge workers, they still won't examine the values themselves.

Of course, there is a doubt: if the future enterprise organization is really more and more loose in management, blurred in boundaries and more and more market-oriented, then all kinds of production and manufacturing work of enterprises are still in a mess? ! We should not ignore the background change of a social era, that is, there are fewer and fewer industrial enterprises focusing on manufacturing. At least the future we can see today is that less than 20% of industrial manufacturing enterprises in the world can meet the basic needs of human life, which means that most industrial enterprises need to be transformed into service-oriented or lifestyle-oriented enterprises, otherwise they cannot survive.

At the same time, even industrial enterprises with manufacturing as the mainstay use fewer and fewer manual workers. As the management scientist Minzberg said, there are only two employees in the future factory: one is responsible for feeding the dog, and the dog is responsible for watching this person not touch the automatic production line in the factory. This seemingly impossible statement is gradually becoming a reality.

Therefore, the return of enterprise organization from production mode to lifestyle is actually to break the boundaries between enterprise organization and various management modes in the industrial age. Its essence is to re-establish the management mode of enterprise organization around lifestyle. So far, many enterprises have begun to make beneficial attempts in this respect, including the exploration of new organizations such as virtual organization, internal marketization and service management. In fact, in the future, not only will there be more and more one-person companies, one-person publications, one-person shopping malls, etc., but it will not prevent them from becoming a powerful enterprise organization, because they have larger and wider partners besides the so-called "one-person organization".

Characteristics of future enterprise organizations

The flattening of the organization. A reliable structure in organizational construction is originally the least hierarchical, that is, an organization that is as flat as possible. Time pressure requires organizations to make quick responses and decisions to maintain the competitiveness of enterprises. It is the application of enterprise computer technology and internet technology that makes the information transmission inside and outside the enterprise more convenient and direct. A large number of intermediate levels in the original organization have been deleted, and the reduction of management levels is helpful to enhance the response ability of the organization. All departments and personnel of the enterprise face the market more directly, reduce the delay between decision-making and action, and speed up the response to the dynamic changes of the market and competition, thus making the organizational ability more flexible and responsive.

Organize the network. In management organizations, hierarchy and coordination are emphasized. The center of a networked organization has a small-scale core composed of key figures, which provides the organization with lasting core competence. Under the condition of network economy, we can make full use of the powerful ability of the Internet to integrate resources and carry out network management. Through the development of the Internet, many scattered information resources faced by enterprises are integrated and utilized, and many different systems are observed through one interface, so as to realize fast and accurate decision-making.

Infinite organization. Organization is not a tangible obstacle, and its boundaries are often more and more invisible. Enterprises will no longer use many boundaries to separate people, tasks, processes and places, but focus on how to influence these boundaries, so as to implement information, talents, rewards and actions where they are most needed as soon as possible. "Boundless" does not mean that enterprises do not need boundaries, but rigid boundaries, which make enterprises permeable and elastic. Flexible organizational structure mode replaces rigid mode, and sustainable structure replaces the original relatively fixed organizational structure.

Diversification of organizations. Enterprises are no longer considered to have only one suitable organizational structure, and the organizational structures of different departments and regions within enterprises are no longer a unified model, but different organizational structures are constructed according to specific environment and organizational goals. Goals determine strategy, and strategy determines structure. Managers should learn to use every organizational tool, understand and have the ability to choose the appropriate organizational tool according to the performance requirements of a task, and shift from one organization to another.