与人为善“最给力”

felicity

[color="DarkOliveGreen"]1903年，英王爱德华七世(King Edward VII)出访巴黎。在他抵达时，街道两侧围观民众的态度明确表明，他在这里不受欢迎。但英王在前往爱丽舍宫途中以及在长达96小时的访法期间，始终保持着泰然自若的风度。芭芭拉•塔奇曼(Barbara Tuchman)在《八月炮火》(The Guns of August)一书中记述道，爱德华七世片刻不停的施展魅力，迷倒了法国人。“在他所到的每处地方，他都发表了亲切而机敏的讲话，表达了对法国人的友好和钦佩之情，谈到法国的‘光荣传统’和‘美丽城市’，称自己在访问期间感到‘由衷的快乐’，还表示相信英法两国已经‘一笑泯恩仇’”；而且，他是用娴熟的法语发表这些讲话的。

当爱德华七世离开巴黎时，街道上的民众这次高呼道：“万岁，我们的国王！”虽然英法仍需为两国友好展开努力，但那次访问不到一年之后，两国便签署了英法协约，并由此改写了世界历史。

同样是在巴黎，在爱德华七世访法的126年前，另一位魅力四射的人士以自己的方式迷倒了法国人。当时，处在萌芽期的美利坚民族缺少资金、缺少盟友，并处于节节败退之中。作为他们的代表，本杰明•富兰克林(Benjamin Franklin)现身巴黎——更确切的说，是现身巴黎的各个沙龙。他深受巴黎上流社会女性的喜欢，并赢得了法国王室的宠爱。由于美国在萨拉托加对英国取得一场不大不小的胜利，再加上富兰克林不知疲倦的魅力攻势，法国终于成为美国的盟友，世界历史也因此被改写。

这样的故事，我手中有成百上千，我的最新作品《小中见大》(The Little BIG Things)的创作动力便来源于此。

在写书的整个过程中，最让人头疼的就是选择题词（阐述该书精髓的一句话）。我总共写了16本书，就这第16本的题词选得令我满意——这要感谢19世纪美国政治家亨利•克莱(Henry Clay)：“细微之处的礼貌举止最令人感激和欣赏。”（第二名来自现代广告之父大卫•奥格威(David Ogilvy)：“我们送人不送到电梯口，而是一直送到街上。”）

好也罢歹也罢，我倒是被普遍视为一个热情激昂的演说家。或许是年逾65岁的我开始变得温和起来。但我并不这么认为。如果说优秀的企业建立在出色的人才和极佳的人际关系之上——2010年是如此，1910年也是如此，毫无疑问，1710年和1810年同样如此——那么它的基石就是得体、周到、心灵相通的倾听和赞赏的低语。事实上，克莱所说的“礼貌举止”，以及奥格威乐于将客户送上停在曼哈顿街道旁的汽车的态度，就是企业成功的基础。

其实，我不是第一次采用这个主题。我第一本书——与鲍勃•沃特曼(Bob Waterman)合著的《追求卓越》(In Search of Excellence)——的签名是一个六字短句：“硬即软。软即硬。”我和鲍勃对1980年前后困扰美国企业界的问题进行研究时发现，企业及企业顾问把事情都弄颠倒了。我们指出，最终，那些所谓的“硬数据”与“规划”，反倒是软的——因为根据我们近期的观察，前者极易被操纵；后者则通常是异想天开。那些被商学院及类似机构所看贬的软要素，才是真正的“硬要素”：包括人的问题、组织内外部关系的特征与质量。

对这些问题的思考，让我想起了最柔和、大概也是人类交往中影响力最持久的一个词语：与人为善。小说家亨利•詹姆斯(Henry James)曾说过：“人生有三件大事。第一，与人为善。第二，与人为善。第三，与人为善。”我的观察是：与人为善行之有效，且善有善报！

依照我“硬”工程学背景的传统，我在一张PPT幻灯片上列出了一个等式，并玩笑地称它为“你所需知道的一切”：K = R = P（与人为善=回头客=利润）。

关于“R”和“P”，证据显而易见：无论是街角的小店还是波音(Boeing)这样的全球性公司，其利润与回头客直接相关。关于利润与善意的联系，我所给出的证据有：爱德华七世的神奇96小时、本杰明•富兰克林、以及从乔治•华盛顿(George Washington)到纳尔逊•曼德拉(Nelson Mandela)的一系列传奇故事。我的短文集证明，细小的礼节与惊天动地的事件之间存在着不容置辩的联系。

如果人与人际关系是企业成功的必要条件（我坚定不移地认为它们是），那么，得体、周到及诸如细心聆听之类的要素，应该成为管理准则中至高无上的法则。

我将以我的名誉担保：实际上“软”才是“硬”，而与人为善=回头客=利润。

过去是。现在是。未来也是。

Kindness can be the hardest word
By Tom Peters

In 1903, King Edward VII journeyed to Paris. Crowds lining the streets on his arrival made clear that he was not welcome. But he maintained an imperturbable demeanour during the ride to the Elysée palace and for the duration of his 96-hour visit. In The Guns of August, Barbara Tuchman reports that the king charmed the French without let-up. “Everywhere he made gracious and tactful speeches about his friendship and admiration for the French, their ‘glorious traditions’, their ‘beautiful city’, his ‘sincere pleasure’ in his visit, his belief that old misunderstandings are ‘happily over and forgotten’” – and all in perfect French.

When the king left Paris, the crowds this time shouted: “Vive notre roi!” Hard work remained but, less than a year later, the entente cordiale was signed between France and Britain – and the history of the world was reshaped.

In the same city, 126 years earlier, another charmer had his way with the French. Representing a budding American nation that was out of money, without allies and marching backwards, Benjamin Franklin alighted in Paris or, rather, the salons of Paris. He charmed the ladies and became a favourite of the court. Courtesy of a modest American victory against the British at Saratoga and Franklin’s tireless charm offensive, the French became an ally – and the history of the world was changed.

I have amassed a collection of hundreds of such tales, which became the impetus for my most recent book, The Little BIG Things.

In the process of writing a book, there is nothing more difficult than choosing an epigraph – a dozen words that encapsulate one’s work. In this, my 16th book, I was for the first time satisfied thanks to Henry Clay, the 19th-century American statesman: “Courtesies of a small and trivial character are the ones which strike deepest in the grateful and appreciating heart.” (The runner up, from David Ogilvy, the father of modern advertising: “We don’t take people to the elevator – we take them down to the street.”)

For good or ill, I am rather widely considered to be a fiery orator. And perhaps, now past 65, I’ve gone soft. But I don’t think so. If good business is built on great people and superb relationships – and it is in 2010 as it was in 1910 and, doubtless, 1710 and 1810 – then it is built on a bedrock of decency, thoughtfulness, empathetic listening and murmurs of appreciation. Indeed, it is built on Clay’s “courtesies” and Ogilvy’s willingness to escort clients to their car at street level in Manhattan.

This is, in fact, an old theme for me. The signature of my first book, In Search of Excellence (written with Bob Waterman), was a six-word phrase: “Hard is soft. Soft is hard.” As Bob and I examined the problems besetting US corporations circa 1980, we believed they and their advisers had got things backwards. We said that in the end it was the supposedly “hard numbers”, so readily manipulable as we have seen of late, and the “plans”, that are so often flights of fantasy, that were soft. And the true “hard stuff” was what the business schools and their ilk undervalued as soft: people issues, character and the quality of relationships inside and beyond the organisation’s walls.

Thinking about all this led me to the softest word of all – and the word with perhaps the most lasting impact in dealings among humans: kindness. The novelist Henry James said: “Three things in human life are important. The first is to be kind. The second is to be kind. And the third is to be kind.” My observation: Kind works! And pays off!

In the tradition of my “hard” engineering background, I put forth an equation, facetiously labelled “all you need to know”, on a PowerPoint slide: K = R = P (Kindness = Repeat business = Profit).

As to the “R” and “P”, the evidence is clear: profitability, whether at the corner shop or a global company such as Boeing, is directly related to repeat business. As to the kindness connection, I offer as evidence the tales of King Edward VII’s magical 96 hours, Benjamin Franklin, and a host of others, from George Washington to Nelson Mandela. The power of my collection is the indubitable link between small courtesies and earth-shattering events.

If people and relationships are the sine qua non of enterprise success, and I flatly assert that they are, then decency, thoughtfulness and the likes of attentive listening should know no peers in the management canon.

I will stake my professional reputation on it; “soft” is indeed “hard”, and Kindness = Repeat business = Profit.

Then. Now. Tomorrow.