最近在硅谷，我听到有人说：“你所听说的每一个创意都将变成现实。”许多创意未能实现，不见得是因为它很糟糕，而是因为它们过于超前，成本过高，抑或是因为这些点子有些离奇。但我们现在已经有了平板电脑：触碰一下，就会有各种神奇的事情发生。软件正在改变一切。所以，必须不断重塑自己的公司，彻底改变商业模式。如果结合对消费者行为与要求的了解，商业活动能够使内容消费更加简单，那便可以作为制胜的法宝。当然，前提是要尊重消费者的隐私。我们正在研究语音技术，通过语音技术，我们可以对遥控器说：“查找电影，剧情片，高清，我的孩子们喜欢，”然后电视瞬间就会弹出各种答案。人们需要做的就是点击一下，然后坐下来欣赏就可以了。这就是我们目前的努力方向，我认为这种技术前途无限。

    你一直在谈论商业模式创新，这对于每一个行业的公司来说都至关重要。你在商业模式创新过程中学到了什么？

    归根结底，还是取决于选择的人。最困难的事情莫过于越过忠于公司的老员工，从外面招人，或者是辞退某个人。但这也是最重要的事情，我一直很庆幸公司在这方面非常稳定。史蒂夫·伯克（目前负责NBC环球）在我们的有线公司工作了多年，他的经营非常成功。他被调任到NBC环球之后，我们从有线电视运营商特许通信（Charter）聘用了尼尔。当时，不论尼尔还是公司都面临着很大的困难。但几年过去了，在我看来，聘用尼尔是我曾经参与的最明智的决定之一。

    所以，当你考虑如何改变公司发展方向时，重点在于团队中的人，以及彼此之间能否坦诚相待。和接受现状的程度相比，你对于改变现状的专注度有多高，后者更重要。我们有实实在在的创业文化，我认为它源自公司的灵魂——重视家庭，将自己想象成落后的一方。随着公司规模的壮大，我们如何利用这种规模进行创新？如何实现更快的发展，而不是放缓发展脚步？如何承担更多风险，而非少冒风险？随着公司做大，你会发现这些问题与我们的直觉截然相反。这就是我的工作，使公司文化保持活力。用安迪·格罗夫的话说，我就是一个妄想狂。

    康卡斯特拥有许多有形资产，但最宝贵的是其人力资本和公司文化。这已经是个老生常谈的问题了。

    的确如此，但完全正确。

    译者：刘进龙/汪皓

    I was recently in Silicon Valley, and somebody said to us, "Every idea you've heard about someday is going to happen." None of those ideas are necessarily bad; they just were way ahead of their time, too expensive, maybe a little quirky. But we now have tablets: You touch them, things happen. Software is changing everything. So you have to reinvent your company all the time and reinvent the business model. If commerce and knowledge of your behavior and your desire -- with privacy very much top of mind -- can make it easier to consume content, then that's a winner. We're playing with voice technology that lets me talk into my remote and say, "Find movies, dramas, high definition, that my kids would like," and boom! -- up come answers. You click and you watch. Those are the kinds of things we're working on that I think have great promise.

    You've been talking about innovating the business model, which is highly relevant for a lot of companies in every industry. What have you learned about how to do that?

    It all comes down to the people you choose. The hardest part in business is to pass somebody over who's been loyal, to go outside, to have someone leave. To make those calls is the name of the game, and I've been very fortunate with great stability. Steve Burke [who now runs NBCUniversal] ran our cable company for many years successfully. But when he moved over to NBCUniversal, we recruited Neil Smit from Charter [a cable operator]. That was hard for Neil and hard for the organization. But a couple years later, I think it's one of the best decisions I've ever been involved with.

    So when you're trying to figure out how to change your trajectory, it's who's on the team and how honestly you're talking among yourselves. How focused are you on not accepting status quo? We've got a real entrepreneurial culture, and I think it comes from the roots of the company, being family-oriented, feeling like we're the underdog. As we've gotten larger, how do we use that size to innovate and go faster, not slower, and take more risks, not less risk? Those are counterintuitive as you get bigger. That's my job, to keep the culture feeling feisty -- paranoid, as Andy Grove said.

    This comes through time and again. Comcast has a lot of physical capital, but it's the human capital and the culture that are the most valuable.

    It's corny, but it's 100% right.