透视企业家（Entrepreneur Insiders）是一个在线社区，美国创业界最睿智、最有影响力的一些大咖会在这里及时回答与创业和职业有关的问题。今天的问题是：有没有什么宝贵经验可以帮助企业家把企业做得更好？答问者是智库X Fellows的创始人兼首席惊喜官、数字媒体平台Novus的联合创始人、无人机服务供应商HaloDrop的创始成员、Exponential Happiness一书的作者库纳尔·苏德。

“指数化”思考可以帮助企业家把做得更好。指数化思考意味着，要为更远大的事业服务，不再局限于个人。打造盈利业绩良好的企业实现个人富裕是一回事，但达到目标之后，企业家往往会想：接下来该做什么？

指数化思考的企业家不仅关心业绩好不好，还会关注企业有没有散发正能量。作为企业家，你要搞清楚“为何”奋斗，与内心的激情结合起来，不断激发团队寻找解决方案从而克服最艰巨的挑战——这也是许多企业家寻求的持续影响世界的唯一方式。

假如你的企业从事信息、水、能源或者医疗保健方面的业务，可以寻找改善行业的方法。只要持续努力解决大挑战，工作就有了目标，还会影响所有参与其中的人。

以苹果公司为例。苹果已经连续九年占据《财富》“全球最受赞赏的公司”排行榜头名，在九大分项中均排榜首。关键在于，苹果的愿景不仅是买电脑，而是采取了指数思考方式，凡事以达成目标为驱动力。如今这家企业完全改变了人们的生活方式。

非洲有这样一句谚语：想走快，独自走；想走远，一起走。为了与团队和怀有同样理想的投资者增进关系，指数化思考的领导者要完全抛弃自我。与他人合作可以跳出个人的小圈子，更迅速地创造更伟大的成就。

缔造一家伟大的企业就像跑一场马拉松。没有“为何”奋斗的强烈动机，企业家难以保持前进的动力。了解企业的目标后，所有相关的人也会获得前进的动力。清晰的目标就像企业的道德罗盘，即便将来不可避免地面临挑战，全体成员也能始终踏实前行。深具开拓精神的企业家彼得·戴曼迪斯说过，预测未来的最佳方法就是开创未来。如果团队成员都对正努力打造的未来蓝图很兴奋，你们就是团结一致无往不胜的。

如果你觉得上述场景很吸引人，可能会想从哪里开始着手。首先，你必须由内而外改变自我，了解自己的目标，及时与企业全员分享。然后营造以服务为核心、以使命为驱动力的企业文化。伊隆·马斯克就是个好例子。身为光伏发电系统供应商SolarCity、特斯拉汽车公司和太空运输公司SpaceX的创始人兼首席执行官，马斯克的奋斗目标是改变世界与全人类。要确保企业决策的基础是道义勇气、同理心和同情心。最后，重点是利用突破性技术在新市场中解决现实问题。

例如，技术不过是加快革新速度的工具。可如果用技术向全世界免费提供互联网服务，或者为最贫穷的国家提供医药，技术就具有了变革意义。技术不仅能挽救成千上万的生命，还能提供更多途径和机会，改善人们的生活水平。想一想，假设没有谷歌、即时通讯工具WhatsApp和打车应用Uber，你的生活会变成什么样。生病时，这三大平台可以帮助人们更好地照顾自己。技术是有用的。

最后，指数化思考是有可能改变企业，但更重要的是会改变你这位领导者。宏大的愿景能激发员工解决重大的挑战并充分利用科技创新，团队才能真正改变世界，精神饱满迎接每天的工作。我的导师、HaloDrop的创始人大卫·罗伯茨曾如此表述：“勇气并不代表不害怕，而是认定有些事比恐惧更重要。勇者不会永生，但畏首畏尾地活着等于白来世上走一遭。” （财富中文网）

作者：Kumal sood

译者：Pessy

审校：夏林

The Entrepreneur Insiders network is an online community where the most thoughtful and influential people in America’s startup scene contribute answers to timely questions about entrepreneurship and careers. Today’s answer to the question, “What important lesson can transform every entrepreneur’s business for the better?” is written by Kunal Sood, founder and CXO of X Fellows, co-founder of Novus, part of the founding team at HaloDrop, and author of Exponential Happiness.

Being “exponential" can transform every entrepreneur's business for the better. Being exponential means serving a cause greater than yourself. Building a business with a good bottom line and making yourself wealthy is one thing. But entrepreneurs who accomplish this goal usually ask, “What next?”

Exponential entrepreneurs are not only concerned with doing well, but doing good. Find your “why,” align it with your passion, and continually strive to inspire your team to build something that solves the world's greatest challenges—that’s the only way to create the lasting impact that many entrepreneurs seek.

If your business is connected to information, water, energy, or health care, look for ways your company can improve the industry. Constantly striving to solve big challenges brings purpose to your work, and everyone connected to it.

Take Apple (aapl), for instance. It holds the top spot on Fortune’s World’s Most Admired Companies list for the ninth year in a row. The company placed first in nine attribute categories. Bottom line: Apple goes beyond selling computers. The company is exponential. It’s purpose-driven. And it’s changed the way people live forever.

There’s an African Proverb that says, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” Exponential business leaders remove all egos to build stronger relationships with their team and like-minded innovators. You can build something much bigger than yourself—and faster—when you work together.

Building a great business is a marathon. And it’s hard to keep pushing forward without a strong “why.” Knowing your purpose will propel anyone associated with your business forward. It acts as a moral compass, keeping everyone grounded and on course when the inevitable challenges of business arise. The pioneering entrepreneur Peter Diamandis says the best way to predict the future is to create it. If your team is excited about the future you are creating, you’ll be collectively unstoppable.

If this sounds compelling, you might be wondering about where to start. You first have to transform yourself from the inside out. Understand your purpose and share that throughout your organization. Then, you must create a culture that is service-orientated and mission-driven. Elon Musk is a good example. As the founder and CEO of SolarCity, Tesla Motors (tsla), and SpaceX, he has a mission to change the world and humanity. Ensure that your business decisions are underpinned by moral courage, empathy, and compassion. Lastly, focus on leveraging breakthrough technologies to solve real-world problems in new markets.

For example, technology alone is just a tool to accelerate change. But when used to provide free Internet around the world or deliver medicine to the most impoverished economies, it becomes transformative. Not only does it save billions of lives, but technology also improves quality of life by increasing access and opportunity. Think about how different your life would be without Google (goog), WhatsApp, and Uber. These three platforms allow individuals to take charge of their health when illness strikes. Technology works.

Finally, being exponential may change your business, but more importantly, it will transform you as a leader. A powerful vision that inspires people to solve grand challenges and leverages technological innovation can allow your team to truly change the world, and feel incredible showing up to work each day. My mentor, David Roberts, founder of HaloDrop, explains it with this quote: “Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something is more important than fear; the brave may not live forever, but the cautious do not live at all.”