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很榮幸介紹今晚的畢業演講嘉賓。過去四、五年中,史蒂芬.包默一直是我們的朋友,我也透過他兒子Sam成為他的朋友。Sam今天即將完成USC(南加大)四年的學業。快了、快了,我們會讓他通過。有幾件關於史蒂夫的軼聞是你在維基百科上看不到的,我認為值得一提。其中一件是,他是微軟第30位員工,他離開時微軟已有十萬員工,我想他或許是商業史上唯一一位公司總裁或執行長,經歷過公司員工從30人發展到十萬人的過程。思考一下,這是連續33年的職業生涯,相當特別。你會發現史蒂夫缺少熱情,因此我得把麥克風調大一點,這很難,雖然就算沒有麥克風你們也能聽見他的聲音,對嗎?當史蒂夫演講結束-我想告訴各位,我和史蒂夫另一個共同點就是對家人的愛。史蒂夫會帶家人用晚餐,這正是他該做的事。因此他離開這裡不是因為趕飛機或其他事,而是為了陪伴家人,這對我來說也是相當重要的事。因此我就不多說了,讓我們熱烈歡迎史蒂夫.包默。
你們應該更熱情一點。再來一次,讓我看看,我希望聽見你們的聲音。畢業生!(歡呼聲)(掌聲)好多了。這對我來說很重要,事實上我是MBA輟學生,這是我最接近MBA學位的時刻了,就在這裡。我站在臺上,聽Jim講話,心想會發生什麼事,但這都是屬於你們的-真正的MBA(企業管理碩士),而不是可憐的半吊子輟學生。你們即將從世上最棒的大學畢業,恭喜各位。或許我還是得找時間回來唸MBA,畢業典禮後我會考慮這件事。Jim稍微跟我談了一下這次的演講,他說:聽著,你的人生旅程有點奇特,但你幾乎34年來都在做同樣的事,如今是長久以來第一次你有機會選擇接下來要做什麼。今天每一位畢業生都面臨相同的處境,幾乎所有人都擁有大量工作經驗,你們有機會思考自己喜歡什麼、不喜歡什麼、什麼會激起你的雄心、讓你充滿熱情和能量。現在你面臨新一輪的人生選擇,你想著手創業、你想獲得成就感,有些人或許想創辦屬於自己的公司、創造非凡的成就。這是相當棒的事,確實相當棒。
當我聯絡到Jim時,我問他我該講些什麼,他說:你何不考慮談談如何創造自我?畢竟我花了很多時間體驗這個過程,一個你們正在經歷的過程。人生過程中,我獲得協助創造新事物的機會。這段時間我一直思索微軟的歷史,根據我的記憶,微軟大約經歷了八代,我錯過了第一代,這一代使微軟成長到-如Jim所言-約30名員工和250萬美元銷售額。我們剛進入所謂的第八代,幾個月前我有幸見證了它的開始,然後我決定是交棒給後繼者的時候了,讓他們繼續前進。因此我-謝謝,向我道賀的肯定是我的高爾夫教練,他是唯一肯定我對生意仍有益處的人。但我真正想說的是,我想過許多關於如何創業、如何開公司,我必須創造及改造自我。你們所有人都會擁有這樣的經歷,你會自問:我喜歡什麼?我該怎麼做才能創造價值?我如何為自己的人生創造價值?我如何為自己的事業創造價值?包括我創立的事業或我服務的事業,或非營利機構,這對在座各位來說是相當棒的貢獻。因此我想簡單談一下與經驗教訓有關的話題,內容或許會太簡要、太簡短、太模糊,如果我掌控得宜,我不想讓你們整晚耗在這裡,你們也想早點與家人團聚、共度美好時光。但我想花幾分鐘時間分享六點建議。有些人認為對一場好演講來說六點建議太多了,你們想得沒錯,因此我建議你們拿出手機、前往Twitter的stevebmicrosoft帳號,上面有這場演講的大綱,以免你們聽不清楚。這不是開玩笑,我把整場演講濃縮成140個字母,絕對值得一看。我想說的第一點是,想法很重要。
我在三年前的南加大畢業演講中稍微談過這一點,我確實仔細思考過該對你們說些什麼,我必須強調「想法很重要」這個觀念。人們認為經營的關鍵是領導力或努力工作或很多其它要素,確實如此。但歸根究柢,你擁有的想法將為你所服務的組織提供力量,它們將創造價值、優秀的團隊、充沛的精力、超凡的努力。若想法糟糕,這些都無濟於事。很多原因都可能導致糟糕想法的失敗。Windows和微處理器功率,很棒的想法,相當棒。想法很重要,即使你轉而思考自己的私人生活情況也是如此。你選擇做什麼,這些想法確實很重要。你們不需要在畢業的當下做出正確或完美的選擇,但你真正需要做的是不斷詢問自己:我在生活、事業、工作中是否追隨正確的想法?這種想法是否真的能創造價值?因為到了最後,如果想法錯誤,你將面臨失敗。我最近最喜歡舉的例子是-有部老電影,對你們來說有點年代了,叫《末路狂花》。兩名瘋狂的女子,行為有點脫軌。影片最後她們駕車衝下懸崖,相當有震撼力的場景。我心想,MBA畢業生應該停下來思考這個事實。如果你們追隨Thelma和Louise這兩名女子,你們依然會喪命,你們會墜落懸崖。領導力、組織和努力工作十分重要,但想法決定一切,這是第一點。
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1. Ideas matter
“I talked about this a little bit when I spoke three years ago, yet as I was really going through what I needed to say to you, I have to reinforce this notion that ideas matter. People think business is about leadership, they think it’s about working hard, they think it’s about a lot of things — which it is. But at the end of the day the ideas that you have will power the organizations that you join. They will create the value. A great team, great energy and great hard work will never make up for a bad idea. Now, bad ideas can also fall flat on the floor for a lot of other reasons. Windows and the power of the microprocessor — great idea, great idea. And ideas matter.Even if you turn around and look at your own personal lives, the idea — what you choose to do — does matter. You don’t have to make a right choice or perfect choice now as you graduate, but what you really need to do is constantly ask yourself: Am I pursuing the right idea in my life, in my career, for my company — is this really something that will create value? Because at the end of the day, if the idea is wrong, you will fail.My favorite new analogy — there’s an old movie, too old for this class, called Thelma and Louise. Two crazy gals who kind of get off the rails and at the end of movie they drive off a cliff. Very charismatic in the movie, and I think to myself, MBAs should stop and reflect on the fact that if you followed Thelma and Louise, you still died. You went off the cliff.Leadership and organization and hard work matter, but ideas matter.”
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在說明第二點之前,我先向各位道歉。我打算以運動為例,我想建議各位去「健身房」,生活的健身房。你會在健身房做什麼?如果你是運動員,或像我這樣的退休老人?你在做準備、你培養出新能力、你變得更強壯、你變得更敏捷、你學會如何發揮優勢。在職業生涯中,這正是你們所需的訊息。我認為使微軟達成目前成就的原因之一,就是我們不怕進健身房。80年代末期,許多顧客和投資人說我們無法成為「真正的企業」。如今,許多人認為擁有3500億美元巨額資產的微軟是不折不扣的企業。即使在前途未卜的時刻我們也毫無所懼,只是努力工作,為變得更好做準備,培養新能力。我們談談你該做的事,無論是為了創業、為了你加入的醫院、或是為了你自己,你都需要培養新能力,讓自己更敏捷、更有優勢,這是我給大家的第二點建議。
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2. Hit the weight room
“I apologize in advance for the sports reference, but I would say get in the weight room — the weight room of life. What do you do in a weight room if you’re an athlete, or a retired senior citizen like me? You prepare. You prepare. You build new capabilities. You get stronger. You get faster. You figure out how to get leverage. Yet in your business lives, those are precisely the right messages.One of the things that I think has made Microsoft the company that it is today, is that we weren’t afraid to get in the weight room. In the late 80s, we had plenty of customers and investors who told us we would never be ‘an enterprise company.’ Today, many people think the bulk of the $350 billion of value in Microsoft is in our enterprise business. We weren’t afraid to sit there, even before we had it figured out, and just work to prepare to get better, to build new capabilities. Whether we’re talking about what you need to do for your startup, for the hospital that you join, or for yourself personally, you have to build new capabilities, new quickness and new leverage.”
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我想說的第三點是,它提醒我「查看一下你可愛的手機」。你需要學會如何說故事,尤其是MBA。當我說MBA時,其實是泛指現場所有人,但我的說法有點狹隘,因為我想不到一般性的表達方法,但我確實發現許多從學校出來的人只在意「我們該做什麼」,而不肯花時間學習如何說故事,講述為何他們的想法能為他人帶來價值。世上會說故事的人不多,我不確定自己下一步的人生規劃,我不知道,我不確定,我還沒有概念,但我在「健身房」花了很多時間研讀美國政府預算、健保成本和債務。我跟人們談論這些,沒人知道我在做什麼。我無法解釋,我不知道。本周早些時候我想到解釋的方法,身為微軟執行長,我負責簽署所謂的10Q,這是每季都得公佈的資料,這需要講述你公司的故事,你需要站在一群分析師面前。我表現得不算好,儘管如此-其實我做得還不錯,只是不常做。總之你每季都得上台報告,解釋自己的工作。你得講故事,什麼好、什麼不好、什麼有效、什麼沒效。美國政府沒有這樣的季度報告,我們政府不曾定期提供他們的故事,說明什麼有效、什麼沒效、成本花在哪裡、總統打算做什麼。國情咨文只是一份冗長的清單,無論你喜歡共和黨或民主黨,你依然無法得到一個簡單明瞭的故事。本周我開始告訴他人,我打算使用公眾可取得的資訊替政府總結出一份10Q。人們說:「哦,我們知道了。」這就是故事,一個可以讓人們瞭解的故事。你可以述說關於創業的精彩想法,你必須成為會說故事的人。有人會說:「我不擅長說故事。」你不擅長公開演講,我不是這個意思,我是指用一種清晰、簡單、明瞭的方式將你腦海裡想法的價值傳遞給他人,我認為這是企業經營中最不受重視的技能之一。這是我們在微軟明確要求的技能之一,如果說我希望你們至少培養一種新能力,說故事能力肯定是首選。
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3. Storytelling
“You really need to learn how to tell a story — particularly with MBAs. I do find that a lot of people coming out of school focus on the ‘what we should do,’ and don’t spend enough time learning how to tell the story of why their idea brings value to others. The number of storytellers in the world is very, very small.I don’t know what exactly I will do next in my life, I don’t know, I’m not sure. I don’t have an idea. But I’ve been spending a lot of time in the weight room reading up on the U.S. government budget healthcare cost of debt. And I say that to people, and nobody one knows what the heck I’m doing, I can’t explain, I don’t know.Earlier this week I came up with way to explain it. As CEO of Microsoft, I was responsible for signing on something called our 10Q. Every quarter you had to publish it. It had to tell a story of your company. You had to get up in front of analysts. I didn’t do that very well — I did it well, just not very frequently —but nonetheless every quarter you put out a statement, you explained yourself, you told the story, what’s good, what’s bad, what’s working, what’s not working. The U.S. government doesn’t put out a quarterly statement. There’s no regular story from our government about what’s working or what’s not working; where cost really is going and where it’s not; what the president is trying to do. The State of Union is a long list, and whether you like republicans or democrats, you still don’t get a simple and succinct story.I started telling people this week, I want to work from publicly available information on putting together a 10Q for the government. People said, ‘Oh, we get that.’ That’s a story. A story that you can start telling and people understand. You can have brilliant idea for your startup — you’ve got to become a storyteller. Some of you will say, ‘I’m not an expert at telling story, I’m not a great public speaker.’ That is not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about a clear, simple, concise way to convey the value of the ideas that are in your head. I think it’s one of the most under-appreciated skills in business. It’s one of the skills we did talk about explicitly at Microsoft. And if I could wish you one new capability to go build, it would be the capability of storytelling.”
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第四點,珍惜時間。每個人都談過這一點,你或許認為我是指工作與生活的平衡,沒錯。你或許認為我是指時間管理,也沒錯。但我真正想鼓勵你們做的是做個回顧,或許是每天、每週、每個月,想想你的時間花在哪裡。我曾經聽過一位微軟員工為一群我們的合作夥伴演講,他講了一個關於時鐘的歷史與發明的故事,我越來越坐立難安,我心想,我們需要賣東西給這些人,我們需要告訴他們我們的產品有多好,我們需要告訴他們為何賣這種產品能大賺一筆,這傢伙卻滔滔不絕地述說時鐘的歷史故事。最後他說:「我希望你們瞭解時間的概念,這是你們最珍貴的資產。」我痛恨這場演講,今天我卻引述給你們,因為它讓我的生活發生重大的變化。我製作了一張關於時間預算的試算表,我打算如何運用我的時間,我儘量依預算表實行。當你思索在生活或工作中該做哪些重要的事時,你需要決定時間框架,什麼時候需要有耐心、什麼時候需要急迫,這沒有標準答案。創業成功需要60天還是10年?這個問題沒有標準答案,確實沒有。但除非你像世界未來的領袖一樣不斷詢問自己,對各種投資來說什麼是適當的時間框架。我知道你們首先對時間所做的重大決定,所有人都會考慮找工作。你必須決定需要多久才會「知道」自己喜愛這份工作,或許是6個月,或許是1年。你會在同一家公司待3年、5年或10年?你的職業生涯會是什麼情形?你不需要今天就找到答案,但你必須明確思考這個問題。你應該明確思考:我太過急切,或太有耐心?我該如何處理及考慮時間的運用?本周早些時候我遇見大學畢業後第一份工作的同事,當時我在寶潔工作,負責銷售Duncan Hines系列產品。我們曾一起看棒球賽,我最後成了微軟執行長,事實上他現在是通用電氣執行長。當時我們一起鬼混,現在傑夫.伊梅特是通用電氣負責人。我們銷售Duncan Hines系列產品時,下午經常一起玩廢紙團投籃遊戲。傑夫的運氣也很棒,他只在矽谷待了一天。我們討論矽谷的文化,有人問他:「你對Twitter有何看法?估價過高還是過低?」傑夫和我對看一眼,他搶先說,十年內的發展無人知曉,沒有人能確切得知十年內的發展。在獲得真正成果之前,時間框架比你想像中長得多。我並非給予你們任何建議,我只是希望你們珍惜時間。
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4. Treasure time
“You might think I’m talking about work/life balance, and I am. You might think I’m talking about time management, and I am. But I’m really encouraging you to just step back, if not daily, weekly, monthly, and think about your time.I went to a speech once that was given by a guy from Microsoft who’s one of our business partners, and he told the story about the history of the clock and how it got invented. I was getting very fidgety. We needed to sell these people something, we needed to tell them why our product is good, we needed to tell them why they’re going to make a lot of money selling our product. This guy just kept going about the history of the clock. He gets to the end of story and he said, ‘I wanted you to understand time. It’s your most precious asset.’ I hated the speech and here I am quoting it to you today because it made a real difference in my life.I keep a spreadsheet with a time budget — how I want to spend my time — and I manage to the budget. When you’re thinking about the important things to go do in your life or in your business, you have to decide time references. When should you be patient and when you should be urgent — there’s no right answer. Is a startup supposed to succeed in 60 days or 10 years? There’s no right answer to that question, there really isn’t. But unless you’re constantly, as leaders in the world tomorrow, questioning what is the right time frame to use in thinking about the various investments you’ll do…I know the first major decision you’re going to make about time. All of you will take a job, and you will have to decide how long before I know I love this? Is it six months, is it a year, do you stay after it for three years, five years, 10 years? What does your career look like? You don’t need to know today. But you should think about it explicitly. You should think explicitly, am I being too urgent or too patient? How do I process and really think about time?I was meeting earlier this week with a guy I worked with in my first job out of college at Proctor and Gamble on Duncan Hines brownie mix. We used to play wastepaper basketball on Duncan Hines brownie mix. He just spent a day in Silicon Valley and we were talking about the culture in the Valley and people were asking him what he thought of twitter. Is it overvalued, is it undervalued? Jeff and I looked at each other and he said it before I could: “Nobody’s going to know for 10 years. The time frame before you can really assess some things is far longer than you think. I’m not making a recommendation, I’m merely asking you to please treasure your time.
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第五點,硬漢,做個硬漢。我甚至被貼上硬漢的標籤,我想這在微軟是眾所皆知的事。有人說:「硬漢」到底是什麼意思?充滿熱情,這是「硬漢」的部分特質,堅毅這也是「硬漢」的特質。對自己可能達成的目標保持樂觀,無論是針對工作、生活、創業或公司前景保持樂觀,成為我所說的「鯊魚」。聽起來很危險,讓我解釋一下,這與另一部老電影《安妮霍爾》有關。安妮霍爾或電影中某個角色說了一句經典臺詞:「男女關係就像鯊魚,不前進就只能等死。」具有硬漢特質的人就像鯊魚:不前進,毋寧死。你必須持續推動自己追逐下一個目標、進行下一個目標、尋找下一個目標。並非完全不同的目標,而是詢問下一個問題、進行下一次試驗,保持堅毅、熱情、樂觀,我認為這一切都是成功的基本根源。對事業與職業來說這是成功的基本根源,其重要性超乎你的想像。
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”5. Hardcore“Be hardcore. I kind of wear brand hardcore on me. I would think that would be a little bit of my reputation at Microsoft. People say what the heck do you mean by that? Be passionate. That’s being hardcore. Be tenacious. That’s being hardcore. Be optimistic about what you can achieve in your own careers, in your own lives, in your startup, in the companies you join. Be optimistic. Be what I could call sharks. That’s’ a dangerous thing to say so let me explain. Another old, old movie, Annie Hall. There’s a great line where Annie Hall or somebody says, ‘Relationships — in this case between men and women — are like sharks. They move forward or they die.’ Hardcore people are like sharks. They move forward or they die.You have to be constantly pushing yourself to look for the next thing, do the next thing, find the next thing. Not the thing that’s very different, but to ask the next question, do the next examination, be tenacious, be passionate, stay optimistic. There’s a whole theme there that I think is a far more fundamental source of success for business and for careers than you can ever imagine.”
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最後,同樣重要的是樂在其中。你不可能每天每分鐘都快樂,我不在乎你從事什麼工作。你知道,無論你從事什麼工作,我不在乎你獲得多少報酬,這一切我都不在乎,這不會總是發生,但你最好對工作樂在其中。事實是,很多成功不僅來自好的想法、具有硬漢特質、進「健身房」鍛鍊,很多成功仰賴運氣。我知道我本身就是最好的範例,我很清楚過去34年中,我遇過的科技界成功企業家幾乎都是如此。人們讓成功看起來像是來自全知全能之天才的遠大計畫,但真正導致成功的是大量的好運。因此如果想擁有大量好運,你最好樂在工作,別因為「應該這麼做」而進行下一次就業或創業,而是因為你「想這麼做」。因為在你心目中沒有任何工作比你所選擇的更棒、更令人振奮、更令人每天充滿活力的上工。當你開始發現工作令人不快時,請保持耐心,因為時間也是考量因素。不斷提升自我,因為只有提升自我才能幫助你想出下一個好點子。我敢肯定在座很多人都想自行創業,創業的第一條原則就是你必須擁有好點子。但如果你樂在其中、如果你培養能力、如果你珍惜時間,如果你堅定心志、培養硬漢特質,自然會產生好點子。當我考慮人生下個階段,我需要新的想法,使我充滿熱情的想法,我將經歷某些相當不同的歷程,也將經歷一些相似的歷程。我學習新事物、探索新主題。你們已經歷過大部分艱苦的歷程,你們回到學校、獲得企管碩士學位,在許多方面犧牲良多,無論是對你們本身或今天在場的家屬來說。你將找到一些令你有所啟發、充滿熱情的事物,你將擁有新的想法,你將擁有所需的能力,你將瞭解時間框架、擁有堅毅特質,並藉此改變世界。我希望你們能達成目標,我希望你們今天-尤其是在這所大學的畢業典禮中-有所收穫。Jim提過,我兒子也參加了畢業典禮。差了一兩屆,沒什麼大不了。確實如此,就時間意義而言,這沒什麼大不了。但我喜歡南加大的原因,在於這所學校的精神與我認為成功所需的重要特質一致。我在三年前的畢業典禮中說過這些,我再說一次:「繼續奮鬥」。這句話的意義就是:「做個硬漢」、尋找新想法。無論-我們在早上的畢業典禮中提過,無論你是用英語講特洛伊木馬的故事還是用希臘語或拉丁語,都是講述像你們這樣擁有驚人能力和才華的人。最重要的是擁有成為「硬漢」和「繼續奮鬥」的決心。恭喜各位,祝你們擁有偉大事業、美好人生。如果你需要工作,請聯繫steveb@microsoft.com,感謝你們所有人。
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6. Fun, luck
“Last but not least, have fun. You’re not going to have fun every minute of every day — I don’t care what job you take, I don’t care how well rewarded you are, I don’t care anything about that — it won’t happen all the time. But you better be having fun in what you do.The truth is, a lot of success won’t just come from ideas and being hardcore and being in the weight room. A lot of your success is going to come from luck. I know that was true in my case and I know frankly it’s the case of almost every successful entrepreneur I met in the tech business in the last 34 years. People will make it seem like it was the grandmaster plan, in all cases, of an all knowing and all seeing genius — that and a lot of luck is what really leads to success.So given that you’re going to have to have a lot of luck, you better be having a lot fun. Don’t take the next job or don’t do the next startup because you should. Do it because you want to, because you can think of nothing better, more exciting, more energizing to get up everyday and go do than whatever it is that you selected.Be patient when you get the first signs that it’s not fun, because time must be measured. Constantly be improving yourself because only by improving yourself will you maybe find that next idea. I’m sure there are many people in this audience who’d like to do a startup, yet the first law of doing a startup is you got to have an idea. But if you’re having fun, if you’re building capabilities, if you’re treasuring your time, if you’re building your muscle and being hardcore, the good ideas will come to you.stevebusc1As I look at next phase in my life, I need a new idea, something I’m fired up about. I’m going through a process very different in some ways, but not very different in others. I’m learning new things, I’m studying new topics. You’ve done most of the hard work now. You’ve come back. You’ve taken your graduate degrees in business at great sacrifices in many cases to all of you and to the families that are here today. You will find something that really switches you on, that fires you up where you have an idea, where you have the capabilities, where you have time frame and the tenacity to really go out and make a difference. I wish you well with that and I wish you well with that particularly today at this commencement from this university.My son is going through the graduation process — one or two classes, that’s no big deal, in the sense of time, it’s no big deal. But what I love about USC, is the spirit of this place is consistent with the values that I think are so important for success. And I said this at commencement three years ago, and I’ll say it again. The simple two word expression, “Fight on,” is about being hardcore. It’s about looking for new ideas. And whether you tell the story of the Trojans in English, or you say it in Greek, or you say it in Latin, it’s all about people like you with amazing capability and capacity, and most importantly the determination to be hardcore and to fight on.
Congratulations. Have great careers, great lives, and if you need a job — steveb@microsoft.com.”