Li Shanyou: Li Yanhong must first turn himself into a wolf.

Without changing the company's business direction and products, how can employees change their way of doing things?

Text/Li Shanyou

When a company's original mainstream business and mainstream market are becoming increasingly mature, it is typical to face the pain arising from new business and new market transformation. Therefore, Li Yanhong's demand for changing the way employees think and promoting the creation of corporate culture into a wolf culture is not a case.

The history of Chinese entrepreneurial enterprises is still very short, and it may not be completely aware of such crises. In Baidu, the crisis has actually emerged. Frankly speaking, Li Yanhong's problems are almost inevitable. Taking this opportunity, he found a good problem, but did not find a solution.

The important question is: Is it the boss or middle-level manager of a company's real decision makers and drivers?

In the early days, a startup company was mainly decided by its founder, but there was no major problem. However, as the company grew to the middle and late stages, its founders began to stay away from the front-line products. A completely innovative idea often comes from a grassroots employee, product manager, or engineer. However, it is difficult for them to express their innovative ideas directly to the company's top management. Instead, they must be uploaded layer by level supervisors, that is, middle managers.

In this way, the middle-level manager has the right to choose: he often gives priority to suggestions with high success rates, or puts forward some suggestions After packaging at a certain stage. This process is a concentrated embodiment of the true subconscious, potential culture, and potential rules. It is the power to push a company forward.

Since the company's real decision-making power or potential decision-making power is determined by the middle layer, what is the middle-layer decision-making paradigm? There are two main management methods: professional management and entrepreneurial management. When using the latter, we often need to face the uncertainty and risks of a new business and go through a destructive innovation stage.

The difference between the two management methods is that the most common mistake made by professional managers is not to lose the opportunity to do something, but to dare not take responsibility for failure. They rely on numbers and various methods to deduce and prove the feasibility of the case, and gradually form a professional management that is afraid of adventure.

However, new businesses must be accompanied by too many risks and uncertainties, which means the executors must dare to face failures. It is said that Baidu employees are not wolf-oriented enough to be petty. However, even if 1000 wolves are introduced to this end, once the ideas these wolves put forward during product development are repeatedly opposed by sales, technical, and marketing personnel, they will gradually degrade into sheep.

If 99% of a company's revenue and profits come from mature business, when an emerging business emerges, the success or failure is unpredictable, A rational manager will naturally invest resources in mature business. Under the pressure of having to submit reports to NASDAQ, who dares to invest resources in an uncertain business? Therefore, this is the contradiction and collision that must be experienced in the face of a new business. This also explains why, in a mature market, when a destructive technology suddenly emerges, the more perfect the management, the more painful the failure.

The most fundamental problem Baidu faces is clear at a glance: in the PC Internet field, Baidu has a mature business model and occupies an almost monopolized position through search. However, it is well known that, with the advent of the mobile Internet era, PC Internet is about to be replaced.

It is extremely difficult for Baidu to develop mobile Internet products based on existing systems, architectures, management methods, business models, cost structures, and DNA. Baidu should create a new entrepreneurial organization to engage in mobile Internet businesses. The corporate culture carried by existing employees is closely related to the growth of Baidu, and it cannot be suddenly asserted that this corporate culture fails. Li Yanhong understands that the root problem is actually a wolf problem. So I think he should first turn into a wolf. In his second entrepreneurial mentality, he should re-position his role as a product manager, the wolf culture of the entire enterprise can be truly stimulated.