Exclusive interview Chen Xiangdong: Entrepreneurship is not a deliberate preparation

More knowledge of the Web August 1 news, the temporary education industry a few months later, Chen Xiangdong return. A long holiday he never had had time to vent and meditate. The next step, where to go, and who to go with, he already has the answer. In the face of more than the network reporter, Chen Xiangdong detailed disclosure of the beginning of the new Oriental, and talk about their ideal entrepreneurial status and corporate culture. Further talk about leaving: want to pursue an unlimited number of possible network: This January, heard you leave the news, many people feel is sudden, unexpected, there are a lot of rumors outside. Chen Xiangdong: There are a lot of wrong interpretations, and today is the chance to tell the story. 2005, I attended the Harvard Business School's 16th President Class (TGMP16) at my own expense. This class has two basic requirements: The 15 work experience, the management of the company has 100 million U.S. dollars in revenue. At that time I just match the conditions, that year I was 34 years old, the youngest in the class. From 2005 onwards, I basically go abroad two times a year, mostly to Harvard University, each time about 10 days, a week of courses. On the one hand is to study, of course, more important is retreat. I used to walk around the Charles River at night, walking alone, thinking about what kind of life I should have lived. When I was 40 years old in 2011, I had a terrible feeling of anxiety when the new Oriental had done very well. At that point, often think of whether they should go out of the new east, from another perspective to grow their own, from another perspective to achieve new Oriental? Have you ever thought about how to combine the Internet to make education easier and more efficient? But because of the years of cooperation, tacit understanding and trust with Mr Yu's teacher and team, he has not been able to speak out. Multi-Knowledge Network: And then until 2013 years? Chen Xiangdong: No, by 2012, I think the time is ripe, can go to say, the muddy water incident happened, then I certainly can't say I have to go. In the muddy water incident, new Oriental shares plunged more than 50% in two days. Multi-Knowledge Network: The impression is more than 30% consecutive days of decline, should be the new Oriental IPO after an unprecedented trust crisis. But after the past, a lot of "bottom" buy friends have earned. Chen Xiangdong: Yes, my wife asked me why I didn't buy a new Oriental stock or even sell it or mortgage it. I asked her why so confident, she said: "Because you Chen Xiangdong every day to work busy until midnight, I can not confidence?" "The muddy water incident basically past, oneself unexpectedly again tangled up." When I decided to apply for a leadership course at Harvard Business School in November 2012, when the quota was full, I wrote to apply for this opportunity, and finally got the chance to learn, which played a fundamental role in the subsequent decisions. Multi-Knowledge Net: This leadership course is a course in your email that concludes "Life's design path and leadership mismatch". What happened at the time? Chen Xiangdong: Professor George, who was the lecturer in the course, resigned as CEO when he was ceo,57 in a pharmaceutical company. I asked him to leave at 57 years old, more than 10 years ago., do not regret after? He still has some regrets. "The regret is that it is not too early to leave." If you're a professional manager, you can choose to be 65 or 45 years old, and if you leave at 65, people think you're completely old. But if you leave at the age of 45, people will think you have an infinite variety of possibilities. "I have worked in new Oriental for more than 14 years, and I have never regarded myself as a professional manager, and I have always hated others for treating me as a professional manager, and I have always regarded new Oriental as my career." But after communicating with him, I was "hit". Mr Yu founded the new Oriental, more than 30,000 employees together to achieve today's new Oriental, the new Oriental has done very well, the team as a whole is really good, I think should be not too much regret to leave the time. In March 2013, I went to Harvard Business School's "Best Leadership Practice" course. Assess your work experience, personality maturity, and internal driving force by testing I realized that by the time I grew up in New Oriental, my leadership should have been "fast, innovative, and simple to push one thing, not just more on the integrated, executive, Coordinating duties. " Fortunately, Mr Yu can understand me, but many colleagues in the team can understand me, so I did not so embarrassed and remorse. Entrepreneurship is not deliberately prepared: to set themselves three "rules" of the network: The United States back, entrepreneurial story we already know. It is understood that you are also doing some investment, how to allocate investment and start-up time? Chen Xiangdong: I do this thing (more know net Note: "With whom learn (genshuixue.com)") is intended to enter the identity of investors, and then constantly inject more time, but really went in to find out, everyone to my expectations far beyond my expectations. I hope not to be too early to focus on exposure lights, to enjoy more quiet time, enjoy more private space, of course, can do more calmly. But after the July 8 media exposure, my life has indeed been a lot of impact. Multi-Knowledge Network: A brief departure from the industry for a few months, back after the biggest feeling is what? Chen Xiangdong: I returned to Beijing in April, still the same busy, but the busy scene has changed. I used to be busy with all kinds of meetings, and now I'm seeing different entrepreneurs with dreams, and I've been scheduled, and now it's more decisions and quicker communication. I didn't understand why there were so many people in the café, because I would have chosen to be in the office before. And when I put myself back to zero, I found out why cafes and teahouses are the place where entrepreneurs attack, and when a lot of entrepreneurs talk about their startups, or in the basement, or in the vernacular, I know that the heat of the Beijing venture today and the "cock silk" entrepreneurs are not easy. Multi-Knowledge Network: Yes, the entrepreneurial atmosphere in Beijing is very good, education, entrepreneurship projects are also very high heat. What is your own adjustment after you really enter the entrepreneurial state? Chen Xiangdong: I'm seeing a lot of people every day, usually 7:30 A.M. about aPlace, forty or fifty minutes to see a person, and then another dial, all the evening, 10 points when the time is also about, very busy, but very excited. In a sense, every day I was inspired and moved by good people and their entrepreneurial passions. I now go to work in the company, do not have their own big office, and everyone, is a workstation. In the company, everyone will call my name, of course, the English name. Now work also began to wear more internet style. Some time ago I was reading a book, which talked about the success of the Three principles: the first is to get along with people, the second is not delay, the third is to insist. This rule is too simple to say, but if a person can really do these three points, in time, it will certainly succeed. I think in today's era, especially as a "head", these three points are still very important, you have to win everyone's trust, you have to work hard to go forward, you have to insist on not give up! Multi-Knowledge Network: Entrepreneurial things, by a lot of people concerned, will it be a bit of an accident? Chen Xiangdong: A few didn't think of it. I did not think that after I left the new Oriental will have so many people concerned about, did not expect to leave the new east after so many people understand me, also did not expect to leave the new Oriental after there are so many people support me, but also did not expect to leave the new Oriental I will so soon to start. When anyone decides to do something, it must be because at the right time you meet the right person to do something you think is right. I didn't expect to "bump into" my own "climate, geography and people" so quickly. Multi-Knowledge Network: Timing, people, things, the realization of three elements of the agreement is actually difficult. Chen Xiangdong: Actually I also think, these are you deliberately prepared? Not really. But if you're not ready, it's hard to be your chance if you get a chance. I have been preparing for the past years. I often say that work is not just for the company, but also for yourself. 1999 at the end of the new Oriental, then the staff is hundreds of people, to my departure, the new Oriental has more than 30,000 people. I feel that I am being paid attention to and supported in a way that new Oriental is the most famous brand in China. I went to work in 1988, until January 31, 2014, I have never had a long holiday to accompany my family and accompany my children. The more important meaning is never so long time to empty themselves, to zero, back to the origin, do not forget beginner's mind, know yourself, think about where you want to go, who you want to go with, you and everyone how fast to ... During the rest of my time, there was no work email, and in a sense, it was really down. I used to go to bed 2 o'clock, 7 o'clock in the morning, and when we arrived in the United States, 11 o'clock was "forced" to sleep and wake up in 6 o'clock in the morning. I have enough time to think, to ask myself. The ideal corporate model: the need for judgment, cohesion and cultural power to know more about the network: just now you mentioned the right time, 2010 has seen the trend of the Internet, now to do this thing, late? Chen Xiangdong: Actually, I was on vacation in America.It was a bit longer, but then it became more and more unsettling--I saw the widespread use of the O2O, the scene of corporate fulfillment, including in the United States, where my daughter was learning to use the ipad, and I think that for the whole of China, the online education scene was imminent and missed later. Now the infrastructure has met the requirements, the popularity of domestic computers, bandwidth, hardware supporting all to an ideal state. I think it's just the right time to use the Internet to transform education, or to inject more Internet elements into education. Multi-Knowledge Network: Last year is also very hot, all kinds of people in trial and error, is tantamount to saying that many nails have been touched. Chen Xiangdong: Yes. What is the right time? Do too early, is the martyrs, to do too late, see only the figure. In the right time, trial and error has been done, nails have been touched, but also there will be a person rushed in to help you educate the market, education users. If you can really grasp this beat, you can make a big business. Multi-Knowledge Network: The biggest attraction of entrepreneurship, can be based on their own ideas to build a team, grinding products. What should you really turn into as an entrepreneur, your ideal start-up company or entrepreneurial team? Chen Xiangdong: The first to have judgment, that is, direction. The direction is wrong, stop is progress, the direction is right, fast is opportunity. Many people are wrong when they choose the point of entry, and the back can only be mistake and wrong. The second is charisma, which is the pattern. The pattern is small, you can only find the worse people, the pattern is big, you can find more than you are cattle. To inspire others is to need you to pay more, you need to be a role model, need to be able to speak, the letter must be. The third is the cultural power, namely the spirit. Faith is different, everywhere is nails and conflict, faith is consistent, everywhere is spring and drizzle. Cultural power is strong, things and people, people and people, people and companies will have a sticky, emotional, temperature, have moved, so, there will be trust, have a common dream and career. Multi-Knowledge Network: Talk about some of the topics unrelated to entrepreneurship. Many traditional organizations are trying to do the Internet, even the transition, but the overall pace is not very fast. What is the crux or difficulty of the traditional organization doing online? Chen Xiangdong: The biggest challenge the traditional institutions face in embracing the internet is that your genes are offline and you want to transform yourself into an online company, it's not you. Disruptive innovation must come from outside the enterprise. According to the World law, to complete a huge subversion, the probability of success is very low. But what I want to say is that in the present situation, we all exaggerate the influence of the Internet on education, and there will surely be a coexistence of both online and offline. For traditional institutions, it is necessary to find their own advantages and keep on the internet, but this does not negate and replace the inherent long-term core competitiveness of traditional institutions. Of course, some of the education will indeed be overturned, this is determined by the audience, such as the products for college students, because of the economic ability of college students, they have the will and time to seek free products. When a product, online and offline experience when the difference is not small, you can free, this time on the line may be a subversion. Written in the end: Chen Xiangdong is a story, true temperament of people, talk to the good, often "digress" to the original in the story of the new Oriental, the friendship is palpable; corporate culture, return to zero since his wake is now often his mouth, he spoke simple and straightforward, meet a few greetings after "have any questions to ask" ... has realized the identity conversion, Chen Xiangdong but always busy, see a lot of people every day, do a lot of things. He is no longer a new Oriental executive, but with the brand and spirit of the new Oriental departure. (Multi-Knowledge network Chui)