Ma Yun: The CEO’s ability is to use someone else’s head.

Ma Yun: The CEO’s ability is to use someone else’s head.

At the end of 2019, Ma Yun, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Alibaba Group, appeared in Xinhua News Agency and conducted an “open communication” with young editors. This gives us a close up of the charm of being a “father of business” by young entrepreneurs. His passion, wisdom, humor, as well as the signature "Zhang Man" and the wonderful questions of the Xinhua News Agency young editors made this exchange climax, applause continued, and laughter continued.

When talking about a person who doesn't know programming, doesn't understand finance, doesn't understand design, how to lead an Internet company to today, Ma Yun laughs at himself, the company asks him about things, he does not know 95%, he really does not I know, but he knows who knows who should know. He said that the CEO's ability is to use someone else's head.

In his speech, Ma Yun emphasized that he is an idealist. His romantic idealism complex has also been brought into Alibaba. Ma Yun said that the difference between Alibaba and other companies is that in addition to assessing the performance of employees, it also assesses the mission of employees. Feelings and values. In the future, we will add another indicator: social welfare.

Some people say that Ma Yun’s wisdom lies in the collision with the minds of wise people. Only by proposing wise questions can the wise Ma Yun hit the spark of fire. The editor of the media channel compiled the contents of Ma Yun’s speech and the interaction with the young editors of Xinhua News Agency, and shared with other netizens:

We have made more mistakes than we have scored in the past ten years.

Alibaba can have no Ma Yun, but Ma Yun can't live without Alibaba. I am in the company and I am not in the company. After 10 years of development, our company has grown from 18 people to more than 18,000 people today. In 2019, we recruited 5,000 new employees, which is not easy. In 2009, the economic situation was not good, and college students were having difficulty in employment. We will try to recruit more people. Some people say that it is even more fascinating to do this.

Over the past decade, we have made more mistakes than we have achieved. What other people want to know today is what achievements we have achieved. In fact, we did not feel that there was anything, but we survived. From 1999 to the present, there are at least 2,000 peers in the world who are doing e-commerce. Compared with them, we are really alive. Some people think that we are getting venture capital, and that the company that got venture capital at the time survived us.

Our generation is very lucky. On the day before the listing, I brought together all of Alibaba's employees, who are now the least millionaires. We asked them why you are so rich. I asked myself why I am so rich. Is it because we are more diligent than others? I feel that there are more people than our hardworking people. Are we smarter than others? I don't think it's reliable. No one has ever said that I am smart.

I have been studying for seven years. The college entrance examination took three years. Later, I took a teacher's college, a specialist, and at that time, there were few boys in college, and I "turned" into an undergraduate. I applied for a lot of work. In the first year, I lost 18 points and failed. In that year, I applied for 10 jobs in Hangzhou. No one wanted me. Finally, I went on a tricycle for two months. So along the way, I don't think I am smart.

In 2001 and 2002, the Internet experienced the coldest winter. No one wants to come to the Internet company, Alibaba is another weird name, almost no one believes in e-commerce. At that time, we were particularly difficult to recruit. In 2003 and 2004, the Internet has warmed up. Many Internet companies that are richer than ours have been listed. Many employees have changed jobs, and more capable people have started business. After a few years, our company went public, and everyone became a rich man. Everyone felt very good. But I think this is not because we are smart, just because we are very lucky. Today, we have achieved some results. I went back and looked at it. If I come back again, I will still go this way. Will it succeed? Will it come over? I think the probability is very low.

Live because of our idealistic color

I think why our company can survive because our idealism is strong. In the past ten years, China's Internet has been very difficult, basically three fronts: portals, games, and e-commerce. What are we going to do? What is our position?

First, doing portals is not our strength, we are more inclined to business. Second, there are too many games now. Many people around me are fascinated by games, including adults and children. I think the problem is big. When I was examining e-commerce and the Internet around the world, I found that the countries with the largest game production were the United States, Japan, and South Korea, but their games were exported. No country has developed games as a major cultural industry. I think the game can only be developed in a country where time is worthless. This piece cannot be done. The third is e-commerce. The easiest thing to do with e-commerce is simply the most incredible. Everyone thinks about it now, 1999, 2000, 2001, in that era, can you find a reason to say that e-commerce will succeed?

When there is no income, our hearts are very panicked and panic. But in our most difficult times, we received a lot of emails every day. Many companies expressed their gratitude and said that we helped them make money. We always feel that as long as customers make money, we can make money, so we persisted.

There are also employees who help us through the difficult period. I am especially grateful to my colleagues. Up to now, no one program has been compiled by me. No product is designed by me. No advertisement is made by me. No financial budget is what I do, but the company is growing bigger and bigger.

I often say that we want our company to be a blue sky, a down-to-earth earth and a transparent air. I hope that our employees will join the company and never worry about the tax bureau to check the accounts. Don't worry that the public business bureau knocks on the door and says that we are illegal. Don't worry about the public security bureau to catch people. All employees will feel at ease.

Transparent air can make work full of innovation. Any system in the company, as long as you dare to ask, I dare to answer, without any concealment. I don't think it's important to see you outside. How do you see the world is the most important thing. If you can't let your employees firmly believe that all of the things you advocate are to perfect the society, and all efforts are made to let the employees grow up, then the company can't do well.

Mission and values ​​are the most valuable things

The most valuable thing about our company is that we have a great sense of mission and value.

From 2001, we began to assess the sense of mission and values. Each quarter is assessed, and the sense of mission and values ​​are tied to the bonus. Some people say how to evaluate soft things? I have always felt that "virtual things are real, real things are virtual", so that they will succeed.

For example, our company's assessment of employees is two latitudes. One is performance, one is value. Our mission is that there is no hard business in the world, and our values ​​are integrity.

In 2001, Alibaba had a discussion on the decision to live and die, which we called the Zunyi Conference. At that time we decided which way to go in the future. At that time, we couldn't get the money, and the company argued whether or not to give kickbacks. Finally, we decided that this company is not giving kickbacks. Three months later, our best two salespeople gave kickbacks. Open or not? Of course, open. If there is a sales employee, the performance is very good, but his values ​​are very poor, the teamwork is very bad, and the integrity is not so much. We call it "wild dog" and immediately open it.

There is also a kind of person who is very friendly and willing to help people. It is a good person at first sight, but there is never any performance. This kind of person we call "the little white rabbit", he ate all the grass on the side. This kind of person, do not stay? If it is a wild dog, chances can not be given, but the little white rabbit is to give the opportunity. But if you give the opportunity, you can't do it, then ask him to go.

Our company also has a system that sounds weird, that is, the last 10% elimination. We eliminate ourselves, compete to eliminate us, and society eliminates us. I have always felt that state-owned enterprises have many problems because they do not eliminate employees. We must learn to eliminate ourselves.

One employee wrote me a letter saying that our company does not pay attention to democracy and does not pay attention to human freedom. Why, he said that you have assessed your values. I will ask, first, before I join us, I must have told you that we are evaluating values, and we are 8 years old. You can choose to come or not. Second, you feel that the values ​​are not interesting after you come in, you can still go out. Today, more than 18,000 employees of Alibaba are coming in and out. I have not left one person.

Willing to be 1% mad, because the successful people are 1%

Some people say that my company is a mad company, I admit. They say that 99% of companies in China are not like you. I think we are willing to do 1% because the successful people are 1%.

Some people in Harvard thought that in that era China could not have a company's assessment of values ​​and missions. Later, he was invited by me to come to China to experience our company. Later, he said, before I came, I thought that Ma Yun was a madman. After I came, I found out that you were really a madman. People in the madhouse do not believe that they are mad, they believe that outsiders are mad. I hope to form a "belief" of a company in our company. A group of outstanding colleagues believe that through their own efforts, they can continuously create value. I can't guarantee 100% of the people who join our company, but I hope that 70% of people believe that we can let SMEs survive, grow and develop. We firmly believe that young people are coming to our company on the right track.

In February 2019, we will add another more imaginary thing, that is, we will evaluate one more social welfare for each employee. Without this, I feel that our younger generation cannot face the future. Performance is the embodiment of your ability. Values ​​are the embodiment of your heart. Ability and heart must be integrated with society. According to this assessment, I believe that Alibaba will go to another class.

The world has undergone tremendous changes and globalization is faster. We must ask us what we have to do with society, what relationships we have with our customers, what relationships we have with our employees, and what our relationship with the environment is.

I have been in Davos for 8 consecutive years. Seven years ago, when Davos discussed social responsibility, I didn't know what they were discussing. Imagine these foreigners, the money has not earned back what social responsibility. Later, the more I listen, the more I understand. Three years ago at a press conference, two foreigners made up as reporters and suddenly rushed over to me. They said with anger, I want to protest! Against the sale of shark fins on Taobao. I was also very angry at the time, but finally promised that I personally did not eat shark fin. Later, we stopped the shark fin on Taobao, and we couldn't sell shark fin on Alibaba. This policy, supported by young people, has also received support from netizens, and the industry has also given high marks. If you want your business to have a future, please care about the environment and care for the society. This enterprise can go far. The company policy is not designed to please employees and to please customers, just to do the right thing.

Cultivate young consumer groups to create one billion jobs

It is very difficult to persuade to change the winners, and it is more important to cultivate future successes. The people who spend money on Taobao today are young people with low incomes. Ten years later, they will become white-collar workers, gold collars and leaders. I am spending a lot of time to train young buyers. The future of the Chinese economy is based on young people. I want to pay attention to what young people are concerned about. This is why I invested in Huayi Brothers. Sometimes I can't understand the young people's speech. I went to the movie to know what young people want to see and what they want to do. For example, the fire that sold in the previous section of Taobao was the ticket for Noah's Ark. If you don't watch "2012", you certainly don't know why.

The three goals of Alibaba's 10th anniversary are: First, we must provide an equal platform for 10 million small businesses around the world; Second, create a job opportunity of 100 million; Taobao created directly on the Internet last year. Employment opportunities are around 1.7 million and 1.8 million. This year, the 2.5 million employees in the logistics industry are mostly due to Taobao. Third, they provide a consumption platform for 1 billion people around the world.

Happy work, live a serious life

Shopping malls are like battlefields, but shopping malls are not battlefields. It’s not that you are dead or that I live on the station, but destroying the opponent on the mall doesn’t mean you will win. Competition is happiness. When the customer is on your side, you win.

Are we doing business for money? I have never thought about money since the first day, and I am interested. I advocate happy work and live a serious life in the company. We advocate young people to take life seriously. If you don't take life seriously, life will not take you seriously.

Work is happy. If you are not happy with your work, what are you doing? Although people and people are born differently, each of us is very fair. Bill Gates is 24 hours a day, and we are 24 hours a day. How can I make myself happy 24 hours? 24 hours can be divided into 3 8 hours. An 8-hour meal, crowded bus, etc., there are 8 hours to sleep, only 8 hours, you know what you are doing - go to work. This is a very clear 8 hours, are you happy? Happiness will innovate and happiness will relax. Choosing our own happy things will make you more comfortable.

Ma Yun interacts with Xinhua News Agency young editors

Q: Alibaba's product development, design, you are not involved, then what is your role for Alibaba, what is your core value?

Ma Yun: I am the gatekeeper of Alibaba's mission and values. Corporate culture is never created by a few magazines and wall newspapers. The corporate culture relies on bits and pieces of action to accumulate. I am involved in the development of corporate strategy. However, for young people in the company, I give them the opportunity to make decisions. 95% of the questions they came to ask me, I said I don't know, I will ask, you said. Only then will they make decisions. Every effort I made was that when Ma Yun left the company, Alibaba still existed. My purpose is to destroy my existence.

Q: Many college students are not bad now, but there are no opportunities and opportunities like your previous success. Young people will succeed and pay more. Can our generation still believe that we can succeed on our own efforts?

Ma Yun: It is very painful for people to have no faith. If you join a company, this company doesn't tell you what they believe in. This is an irresponsible company. I never believe that the opportunity to start a business in the times has passed. People like me can succeed, and 80% of people in China can succeed. Each of us will make excuses for our own failures, and will not find a direction for our own success. Society will always have opportunities, and success will never lack opportunities.

Your role model today is that a young man said that I am going to open a small shop. I worked hard for a year. I have suffered a lot. I have succeeded this year. Therefore, what we lack is not the opportunity, lack of determination, lack of perseverance, short-term efforts, lack of spirit of giving up, lack of the spirit of "focus".

Q: You are the gatekeeper of Alibaba's values. How do you guarantee that today's world will develop rapidly and your values ​​will follow the right path.

Ma Yun: I am not a boss, the boss is a customer, and we work together for the values ​​and mission of our faith. Customer first, integrity, dedication, passion, embrace change, teamwork. Our most unique thing is to embrace change and survive in change. What is good for the society and good for the customer, I will use it. Have a heart that embraces change, but stick to your beliefs.

Q: Will Alibaba be surpassed by other companies within ten years?

Ma Yun: Of course. Any company that has a birth will die. We are proposing to survive for 102 years. Lived in the last century, lived this century, and lived for the next century. Of course it will be surpassed, and the Internet will develop because as long as it is advanced thinking, I will definitely learn it. Cultivate healthy opponents to compete with me. But it is a little hard to surpass and replace us within ten years.