最不可思议的父女档

    他是研究商业战略的首席教授。她是大放异彩的都会奇幻小说作家，读者是十几岁的青少年。他们在一起组成了一对不可思议的父女档。

    69岁的理查德•鲁梅尔特是父亲，他从1976年起就任教于加州大学洛杉矶分校的安德森管理学院（UCLA Anderson School of Management）。他的新书《战略优劣谈》（Good Strategy/Bad Strategy）入选了《金融时报》（Financial Times）与高盛年度最佳商业图书奖的决胜名单。39岁的卡珊德拉•克莱尔（原名：朱迪斯•鲁梅尔特）自从2004年来一直在创作系列小说《凡人圣物》（Mortal Instruments）。之前的10年，她为娱乐杂志和小报撰稿，有时也在网上发表同人小说。这套系列小说以纽约为背景，讲述勇斗恶魔的Nephilim（又称暗影猎人）的冒险故事。克莱尔已经卖出超过1,000万本书，最近还签下价值1,000万美元的两个出版协议。根据系列改编的第一部电影《凡人圣物：白骨之城》（City of Bones）正在多伦多拍摄，明年夏天将由索尼影视公司（Sony Pictures）推出。

    今年夏天，鲁梅尔特和克莱尔在《财富》杂志（Fortune）的办公室接受了戴维•A.卡普兰的采访，倾谈创造、营销和父母影响。下面是对话的剪辑版本。

    理查德，您是知名学者，您的著作销量数以万计。卡珊德拉，你在通俗读物的某个细分市场也是名声显赫，销量更大。这两个职业选择之间存在什么联系吗？

    鲁梅尔特：都是遗传（大笑）。她是我的骄傲。她太优秀了。

    克莱尔：我父亲只相信自然选择，不相信后天培养。

    他在你13岁的时候也这么想吗？

    鲁梅尔特：她13岁的时候，我觉得遗传不起作用，至少从我这边没起作用。

    克莱尔：我觉得父亲对我的职业有巨大影响。作为艺术家，不管是同行、经纪人、出版商，还是社会，大家都鼓励你不要去考虑金钱、战略，不要去想着如何规划职业，如何树立自己的品牌，而是认为我们就应该专注于艺术本身。

    于是，你的父亲让你把自己当作一个公司来经营？

    克莱尔：对！我成长的过程中一直在听他探讨战略和管理。当然我也读过他写的书。他一再跟我强调，有战略的人必然胜过没有战略的人。所以不管遇到什么情况，我的第一反应就是问：“那么，有什么战略吗？”对一个作家而言，这很不寻常。

    鲁梅尔特：有一种典型的失败战略，就是有野心但没计划。朱迪读了那本书稿的某个章节。几周之后，她告诉我：“有次我的出版商说，‘我们对你的下一本书充满期望’。”她接茬说：“那么你们有什么打算……？”

    克莱尔：我们在董事会议室谈话。出版商【西蒙舒斯特（Simon & Schuster）】说：“我们计划提高你的知名度，增加销量。”我就问：“你们有什么具体的计划来实现这一点吗？”他们回答：“呃，我们会让这本书得到更多关注，多卖几本。”

    他们没有计划少卖几本？

    鲁梅尔特：他们只提出目标，而不是行动计划。她对此分得很清楚。

    He's a leading professor of business strategy. She's a wildly successful author of urban fantasy novels for teenagers. Together, they're one of the more unusual father-daughter pairings.

    Richard Rumelt, 69, is the dad. He's been at the UCLA Anderson School of Management since 1976. His Good Strategy/Bad Strategy was shortlisted for the 2011 Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year. Cassandra Clare (born: Judith Rumelt), 39, has been writing the Mortal Instruments series since 2004—following a decade of writing for entertainment magazines and tabloids, and occasional posting of fan fiction online. Set in modern New York City, the series centers on the adventures of the demon-fighting Nephilim (also called Shadowhunters). Clare has sold more than 10 million books and recently signed two multi-book deals for $10 million. The first Mortal Instruments movie, City of Bones, is shooting in Toronto and will be out next summer from Sony Pictures (SNE).

    Rumelt and Clare talked to David A. Kaplan at Fortune's offices this summer about creativity, marketing, and parental influence. Below is an edited transcript of their conversation.

    Richard, you're a well-known academic and have sold tens of thousands of books. Cassandra, you're a well-known author for a certain segment of the mass market—and have sold even more books. Is there a connection between the two careers?

    RUMELT: It's all genetics [laughter]. I'm very proud of her. She's blossomed fantastically.

    CLARE: My father is a big believer in nature over nurture.

    Did he think that way when you were 13?

    RUMELT: When she was 13, I thought it wasn't genetics—or at least not my side of the family.

    CLARE: I think that there's an enormous amount that my father has influenced in my career. We as artists are actively encouraged—by other authors, your agent, publisher, and society—not to think about money, strategy, how to manage your career, how to create a brand, because we're supposed to focus on the art.

    So, your father helped you to think of yourself as, well, a corporation?

    CLARE: Yes! I grew up listening to him talk about strategy and management. I've read his book obviously. And he's always pressed upon me that the person who had a strategy is going to win out over the person who doesn't. So when I come into a situation, my immediate question is, "Well, what's the strategy?" And I think that's unusual for a writer.

    RUMELT: One kind of bad strategy is where people have aspirations, but no plans. And Judy read one of my chapters on that in draft form. A couple weeks later, she told me, "Well, my publisher said, 'We have high hopes for your next book.'" And she said, "And you're going to – ?"

    CLARE: We were in the boardroom. The publisher [Simon & Schuster] said, "Our plan is to raise the profile and increase the sales." And I said, "What are your concrete plans to achieve that?" They said, "Well, we're going to get the book more attention and sell more copies."

    As opposed to a plan to sell fewer copies?

    RUMELT: They were naming goals instead of actions. She gets that sensibility of distinguishing between the two.