A system is a functional whole composed of parts that are mutually restricted. The salient feature of systems thinking is its emphasis on looking at problems from a systems perspective, which originated in the Santa Fe Institute in the United States after World War II. After Qian Xuesen returned to China from the United States, he has been committed to promoting systems theory. He said at the national conference: "We need to think about and solve problems as a whole, I don't mean to say that one by one is specific, one by one is a big achievement, but on the whole, the waste is too great, the efficiency is too low, which is really worrying." "I am very touched by this sentence, everyone in the company is working hard, but some things have not worked, I am ashamed, should be responsible, or the system is not well planned.
The traditional method of dividing disciplines according to separate subjects such as physics, chemistry, economics, etc., is not scientific. For example, "looking at the side of the ridge as a peak, and looking at the height from a distance", observing Lushan is still the case, and studying the infinitely diverse and complex objective world requires observation from different angles to obtain different facts. Different observers of the same fact come to different conclusions, thus forming different knowledge systems. The system of scientific knowledge established by observing the objective world from a systematic perspective is systematic science. Here's how systems theory originated:
The ancient Chinese treated the natural world as a cohesive whole, believing that nothing exists in isolation, but is inextricably linked with other things, and once the individual is separated from the whole, the individual not only destroys the complete system, but also loses its original appearance. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is a typical representative of holistic understanding.
But Greece doesn't think so, and treats the objective world as a whole, and I can't gnaw on such a big thing. The Greeks hypothesized that a system is composed of multiple parts, and that the system can be broken down into a set of basic elements, each independent of each other; Decomposition can eliminate complexity, as long as the decomposition is small enough, the problem can be simplified and easy to study; By combining the knowledge of the elements, we can realize the understanding of the whole. This approach, as opposed to holism, is called reductionism.
Euclid's "Geometry Original" in Greece is the product of reductionist thought, using five independent axioms to deduce all geometric knowledge, and modern natural science is also the product of reductionism. Research methods of natural sciences: put forward theoretical hypotheses, test them with experiments, deduce them rigorously with logic, mathematics is a tool for accurate analysis, and constantly improve and apply them by inductive and deductive methods. The great success of modern science has made Westerners respect it and rise to the basic world view**.
However, there is a problem with Western reductionism, its premise is to assume that 1+1=2, in fact, 1+1 may be "2", or it may be <2, and it cannot be mechanically considered that the system is a simple combination of elements. As a result, two phenomena appeared: 1. Modern science is a discipline of science, which is advancing in the direction of continuous differentiation, forming a huge system with many branches, and also causing a situation where different branches are isolated from each other and difficult to communicate. 2. Science has also recognized this, so that there are many interdisciplinary disciplines, so that the already huge scientific system has become even larger, and it has reached the point where ordinary people are unattainable.
So in the 70s of the last century, systems theory came into being, adapting to the process of reunification of scientific needs. Dialectics holds that the world is a unity composed of countless interdependent, interconnected, mutually restrictive, and interacting things and processes, that is, "universal connections", which is precisely the idea of systems. This idea has been around for more than 200 years, but why has systematic system science only been around for a few decades? It is because there is an urgent social need. Modern society is becoming larger and larger, and there is a big industry, big agriculture, big economy, and big politics, and the solution of any complex problem cannot be done by a certain discipline alone, and the gains and losses are too great, and this is the driving force.
Ancient holism was based on intuition and did not pursue a detailed understanding of the system, as is the case in traditional Chinese medicine. However, without a fine understanding of the interior, the grasp of the whole is bound to be rough and superficial, and the conclusions cannot be standardized and reliably grasped. Objectively speaking, holism and reductionism, looking down from a higher level, each has its own advantages and the other's disadvantages, so we cannot be complacent about our own advantages and not see our own disadvantages. Neither method alone can accomplish the task of understanding the world and transforming the world. Reductionism was originally intended to understand the whole, but it could not understand the phenomenon of new characteristics after combining into a whole, and as a result, it was far away from the whole. Nor can we rely solely on holism, otherwise it will be difficult to penetrate into the subsystems within the system and achieve a more thorough understanding. So as long as holism or as long as reductionism does not work, the two should be combined, which is system theory.
Systems science has brought both holism and reductionism off the altar of solipsism, but the purpose of pulling them down is not to deny them, but to put them in their rightful place. Qian Xuesen's point of view: "It's not okay not to understand the details, it's not okay to only understand the details, it's not okay not to talk about the whole, it's not okay to only talk about the whole." "Systems theory is the dialectical unity of holistic thinking and reductionist thinking, overcoming their respective deficiencies and one-sidedness.
The knowledge of business management is also a system, such as "learning eight skills in ten minutes", which are all "techniques". Each one of them alone may be wonderful. But the pearls and jades can't be strung together, they can't be connected. Fragmented knowledge is all skin, and it can't build bones. True knowledge must have a vein system, just like leaves. An enterprise is also a system, and the context system advocated in this article is natural science. Every element of management is a system, and let's feel it from the perspective of systems theory.
62] The systematic view of the product.
When Chinese make products, the general concept is that it is cheaper than others in the first place, which is a local concept, not a systematic concept. The main contradiction of the product in different stages of development is not the same, and it is not cheap that is the most important.
Stage 1: When a product has just come out, the main contradiction is the availability of basic features. You may ask, why is the product on the market before it is ready? The product is not put into the market after it is done well in the laboratory, but it can be the best in the interaction with the market, especially for start-up products, what is most needed is not to have no shortcomings, but to get feedback from the market.
The main contradiction in the second phase is the expansion of functionality. For example, mobile phones integrate a variety of rich functions.
In the third stage, a large number of competitors come in, and the main contradiction at this time is cheap and beautiful. The leading companies that perform well in the market, such as Wal-Mart's global leading capabilities, Procter & Gamble's deep understanding of consumers, and Apple's ability to realize customer value, know that behind it is not the problem of low prices, but the problem of whether the company's basic skills are solid.
In the fourth stage, if there can be new innovations, then it is to return to the first stage; If there is no revolutionary innovation, then it is in a period of decline. From a system point of view, it is not possible to continue to live cheaper and more beautiful at this time. In the face of the dimensionality reduction attack of the second cycle, no matter how cheap the previous generation of products is, it is useless. The second cycle of improvement and innovation of mobile phones is from feature phones to smartphones. Almost all mobile phone companies in the first cycle declined, and almost all of the companies entering the second innovation cycle were new companies. Therefore, after the current products enter the mature period of cheap and beautiful, enterprises must begin to lay out the second cycle of improvement and innovation, otherwise they will soon fall into trouble. That is, the last P4 in the first chapter P, looking at the long term.
The creation of a new cycle for the fourth stage, based on the creation of customer value, the awareness of the future, and the preparation for change, are all strategic capabilities. The vast majority of enterprises seek to solve current problems, which is a management effort rather than a business effort. Spread sales channels, improve management efficiency, reduce operating costs, play human resources, etc. is to improve the internal as the starting point of thinking, is the management philosophy rather than the business philosophy, but the value of the enterprise is not realized internally, but externally, regardless of the internal standardization, if the products and services are not recognized by customers, the enterprise is the same as the bankruptcy, this point please pay attention to the functional departments within the enterprise.
l Example: Samsung's reversal in the TV industry.
Since the 80s, China has relied on high quality and low prices to spread all over the world. In 1995, Samsung realized that if the home appliances were positioned in good quality, then Samsung could not compete with China, so Samsung began a ten-year change. In the past ten years, domestic home appliance companies have continued to compete in homogeneity, even if these products are still of high quality and low price, they still begin to have a surplus. In 2012, Samsung switched from flat-panel LCD TVs to LED light source display technology, while Chinese home appliance companies are still struggling in the game of scale, cost and channels, and continue to work the best and cost has not brought sustained competitiveness, but has fallen into the dilemma of low added value. The scale advantage of Nokia and Motorola, such as the mobile phone industry, will not save them from the death of the second stage.
l Counter-example: The reversal of the Vietnamese motorcycle market.
With a mountainous terrain, a population of about 100 million and 45 million motorcycles, Vietnam is the world's largest motorcycle market. Originally, Japanese brands were the dominant players in the Vietnamese market, but in 1999, Chinese motorcycles began to enter Vietnam, and soon defeated Japan with low prices, reaching the first market share. However, in the end, the war is getting lower and lower, the quality of the products is getting worse and worse, and customers will not buy the second time if they buy it for the first time. Just four years later, in 2003, Japanese motorcycles returned to the top of the market. At present, Honda alone has a market share of 80%, and other brands such as Yamaha and Suzuki have a combined market share of 98%, and China has ceded the Vietnamese market.
Vietnam** is now promoting more environmentally friendly electric vehicles, which will be a good opportunity for many Chinese electric vehicle brands to show their strengths, and look forward to a second big reversal in the future.
63] A systematic view of cognition.
In business, you will encounter all kinds of biased arguments. Some people emphasize that "channel is king", channel place is only 1p in 4p, and there are other 3, product product, price, promotion and promotion. Every role is different, and every company needs to strengthen differently. In the mass market, channel building is very important, because enterprises need large coverage. However, more than 95% of China's enterprises are ordinary small and medium-sized enterprises, which are not suitable for the mainstream market. The channels of many niche products are very limited, and the phrase channel is king has boundary conditions. One of the tasks in the process of improving cognition is to constantly fight against these biased cognitions and establish correct cognitions.
Just like Nokia, doesn't he know that smart phones instead of feature phones are the trend of the future? Even if you don't know it at first, you should know it a year later. At that time, Sony elected a new president, and the person in charge of the game business with the best performance was not selected, and the person in charge of the TV business of Sunset River was selected. The successful experience of enterprises in the past will be summarized and carried forward, leading enterprises to continue to look for similar opportunities, which is called "path dependence". The more bureaucratic the company, the more the department becomes a natural place for the division of power and interests among the stakeholders. If the company wants to have new development, it must conflict with the original successful experience, and the original pattern must be adjusted. The mobile phone touch screen was the first to be developed by Nokia, and the evaluation submitted to the board of directors was good, but the result was rejected because many of the production equipment in his 19 factories around the world had to be scrapped. When we were in middle school, we all learned "Cao Di's Polemic" that "meat eaters are despicable and fail to plan far", and at that time we didn't understand why meat eaters who make decisions are short-sighted? It is because interests have blinded the foresight. This is the reason why strategic transformation and change are so difficult, so small and medium-sized companies are more likely to become the trendsetters of the next era.
If a person has the cognition of global thinking, everything can be considered from the perspective of the company as a whole, not limited to the interests of the department itself, you don't know how appreciative and happy the company will be to find such talents! Compared to many people who only speak and do things from the perspective of their own department, such a talent is rare, and your high level of knowledge can make you stand out from the crowd and stand out. The biggest distress and bottleneck of the company's development is not money, not technology, not the market, or talent, and the company's development really needs such talents! It's not just talent, this is the leader of the future!