达沃斯改变未来的四个半好点子

    “想法”一词给人的印象或许只是一个毫不起眼的二字单词，但这个世界已经因一个简单的“想法”而改变了许多次。歌德曾经说过：“大胆的想法就像前进的棋子,它们可能被吃掉,但也可能就此奠定胜局。”我在达沃斯世界经济论坛上花费了四天的时间，寻找大有希望的想法。果然，我发现了有几个想法潜藏在四周。以下就是在达沃斯论坛上讨论到的四个半很有影响力的想法。

    1. 社交媒体崛起！在全球范围内，很快就会有20多亿部智能手机通过社会化媒体形成互联。我第一次看到，出席达沃斯论坛的领导者们意识到这将改变许多事情。《纽约时报》（New York Times）专栏作者托马斯•弗里德曼说：“无论你是一国总理，还是一家公司的首席执行官，单向对话的日子已经成为过去。”他指出，我们现在正处于多源信息时代，不受各国政府、各种机构及社会传统的控制。领导者所面临的挑战，就是理解这些非结构化平台在重新定义文化、治理及国家的观念时可以产生的影响力。正如经济学家努里尔•鲁比尼所说的那样：“在中国新浪微博网站上，有3亿网民在抱怨社会不公及腐败现象，这将会产生深远的影响。”

    2. 追求颠覆性创新。哈佛商学院（Harvard Business School）教授克莱顿•克里斯滕森表示，世界需要更多的颠覆性创新，也就是那些能催生出全新的市场、产品及就业机会的变化，而不是效率创新或者渐进性创新。后面这些创新只会减少就业。我们今天面临的部分问题，就在于领导者们已经变得厌恶风险，他们通过提高效率的创新来追求短期回报。而为可负担得起的汽车、电脑和移动设备创造新市场的颠覆性创新现在不像以前那么常见了，这种趋势需要立即得以扭转。

    3. 接受违背直觉的创造力。 有关如何鼓励颠覆性创新的妙计来自于两位极具天赋的艺术家出席的会议，他们是：用包括废料在内不太可能采用的原材料创作艺术品的维克•穆尼克，以及格莱美奖得主埃里克•惠特克——他通过众包世界各地数千人的声音创建了一个突破性的“虚拟合唱团”。这些艺术家的例子表明，即便在不稳定时期，也可以通过违反直觉的创造力获得成功。

    4.以人为本思想回归商界。在今年的达沃斯论坛上，很多领导者都讨论了回归人力资本的重要性。鉴于目前利率跌至零附近，各大企业现金充裕，而有技能的人力资本却相当缺乏。它意味着，按照过时的财务指标来衡量企业是否成功已变得不太重要了。一个新的时代已经到来：衡量企业成功的基础转为创新及构想，而不只是看生产力。我第一次亲眼看到支持这个理念的人迅速增加，这个理念带给我们变革组织、并使组织更趋人性化的力量。

    It may come across as a humble four-letter word, but the world has changed many times over on account of a simple "idea." Goethe said that "daring ideas are like chessmen moved forward: they may be beaten, but they may start a winning game." I spent four days at the World Economic Forum in Davos in pursuit of promising ideas. And sure enough, I found a few of them lurking on the peripheries. Here are four (and a half) powerful ideas discussed at Davos:

    1. Hash tagged! Over two billion smartphones will soon be interconnected via social media all across the globe. For the first time, I saw that leaders at Davos realized that this will change many things. "The days of one-way conversation are over, whether you are the prime minister or the CEO," said New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman, stating that we are now in the era of multi-source information, uncontrolled by governments, institutions, and social traditions. The challenge for leaders is to understand the power of what can be generated from these unstructured platforms as they redefine culture, governance, and the notion of a nation. As economist Nouriel Roubini put it, "There are 300 million people on the Chinese equivalent of Twitter complaining about inequality and corruption. This will make a difference."

    2. Pursuing disruptive innovation. Harvard Business School Professor Clayton Christensen says the world needs more disruptive innovation -- changes that lead to fresh new markets, products, and jobs -- rather than efficiency innovation or incremental innovation, which only reduce employment. Part of our problem today is that leaders have grown risk-averse, seeking short-term returns through efficiency-enhancing innovations. Disruptive innovation -- which created new markets for affordable cars, computers, and mobile devices -- is less common now, and this trend needs to be immediately reversed.

    3. Embracing counterintuitive creativity. Inspiration on how to encourage disruptive innovation came during sessions with two incredibly talented artists: Vik Munik, who makes art from unlikely materials, including scrap; and Grammy award-winner Eric Whitacre, who created a breakthrough "virtual choir" by crowdsourcing the voices of thousands of people across the globe. These artists' examples revealed that you can succeed even in uncertain times through efforts of counterintuitive creativity.

    4. Putting humans back in business. At Davos this year, leaders discussed the importance of Return on Human Capital (RoHC). With interest rates dropping near zero, cash is in abundance and skills are quite scarce. This means that measuring business success based on dated financial parameters has become less relevant. The time has come for companies to measure success based on innovation and ideas, not merely on productivity. For the first time, I witnessed a groundswell of support for this thought, which brings the power to transform our organizations and make them more human.