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Embracing long-term thinking can transform your career and business.運(yùn)用長(zhǎng)期思維可改變你的職業(yè)和事業(yè)。

It’s human nature to want fast results.Couple that with the constant barrage of social media ()and navigating a global pandemic,and most of us haven’t exactly been in the mood to cultivate our long-term thinking.

追求速成是人的天性。再加上社交媒體持續(xù)不斷的狂轟濫炸（更多！更快！現(xiàn)在?。┮约耙獞?yīng)對(duì)全球疫情，我們大多數(shù)人根本沒有心情去培養(yǎng)長(zhǎng)期思維。

2 But for the past several years,that’s exactly what I’ve been researching,because resetting the way we think about time,and consciously embracing longterm thinking,can transform our businesses and careers in surprising ways.

2 但在過去幾年里，這正是我一直在研究的課題，因?yàn)閾Q種方式看待時(shí)間，并有意識(shí)地采用長(zhǎng)期思維，能讓我們的職業(yè)和事業(yè)發(fā)生驚人的改變。

3 In my new book,I share three unexpected reasons long-term thinking can be so powerful.Here’s how to leverage their value in your own life:

3 在我的新書《長(zhǎng)期游戲：如何在短效世界成為長(zhǎng)期思維者》中，我分享了長(zhǎng)期思維何以如此強(qiáng)大的三個(gè)意想不到的原因。下文將介紹如何在生活中發(fā)揮它們的價(jià)值。

Long-term thinking gives you courage

長(zhǎng)期思維給人勇氣

4 Plenty of well-known companies have stumbled on social issues in recent years,from climate change to race to marriage equality.But as my friend,branding expert Martin Lindstrom notes,“Through my career,I’ve come to know hundreds of CEOs,and not one of them—I mean,zero—has ever disagreed with the concept of equality.”These leaders’ flat-footedresponses are due to the fear of short-term consequences,whether it’s taking a hit to their share price or their annual bonus.

4 近年來(lái)，許多知名企業(yè)在氣候變化、種族、婚姻平等等社會(huì)問題上栽了跟頭。但正如我的朋友、品牌推廣專家馬丁·林德斯特倫所指出的，“在職業(yè)生涯中，我結(jié)識(shí)了數(shù)百名首席執(zhí)行官，其中沒有人——我是說一個(gè)也沒有——不認(rèn)同平等的觀念。”這些領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人手足無(wú)措的回應(yīng)是出于對(duì)短期后果的擔(dān)憂，無(wú)論這后果是股價(jià)受挫還是年終獎(jiǎng)受影響。

5 Re-orienting your point of view to the long-term ()enables you to resist pressure in the moment and make the right decisions based on values and ethics,not immediate gain or loss.

5 將視角調(diào)遠(yuǎn)（20年后，我會(huì)為自己的行為感到驕傲嗎？）可使人抵抗當(dāng)前壓力，并基于價(jià)值觀念和道德規(guī)范而非眼前得失做出正確決策。

A longer time frame lets you accomplish more meaningful goals

更長(zhǎng)的時(shí)間范圍有助于完成更有意義的目標(biāo)

6 My friend Jonathan Brill,an innovation expert who’s the author of the book,identifies one of the worst hidden risks for companies:“You hire smart people who know how to win,” he says,“and you tell them to win at the wrong thing.” If the incentives are focused on short-term revenue gains,that’s where all the attention goes—and as Jonathan says,“The result of that is that you can lose by winning.”

6 我的朋友喬納森·布里爾是一位創(chuàng)新專家，著有《瘋狗浪》。他指出了企業(yè)最嚴(yán)重的潛在風(fēng)險(xiǎn)之一?！澳愎陀昧酥廊绾稳ペA的聰明人，”他說，“而你讓他們?cè)阱e(cuò)誤的事情上去贏。”如果激勵(lì)機(jī)制關(guān)注的是短期回報(bào)，所有注意力都集中于此，那么，如喬納森所說，“其結(jié)果就是，你可能因贏而輸?！?/p>

7 Instead of focusing on transformative projects that can reshape your industry or revitalize your company,these very smart people focus on what’s known as “feature innovation”: small,somewhat meaningless changes like what color a button should be.The benefits (if any)are small,marginal,and ephemeral.

7 這些非常聰明的人沒有關(guān)注那些可以重塑產(chǎn)業(yè)或重振公司的變革性項(xiàng)目，卻專注于所謂的“特色創(chuàng)新”：微小而無(wú)甚意義的改變，比如某個(gè)按鈕該用什么顏色。這種改變的好處即使有，也是微乎其微，曇花一現(xiàn)。

8 The problem—and the reason so many companies,and leaders,are averse to taking on substantive projects—is that they simply take longer to ramp up.“It takes typically five or six years for a product or a business to get to scale,”says Jonathan.Even if the benefits would be substantial once the product or service is established,a lot of companies just don’t want to wait that long.“What you’re looking for is profit,”he says,“That happens on the decade scale.That doesn’t happen on the quarterly scale.”

8 問題在于——以及這么多企業(yè)和領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人不愿承擔(dān)實(shí)質(zhì)性項(xiàng)目的原因在于——這類項(xiàng)目需要更長(zhǎng)時(shí)間才會(huì)有起色?！耙患a(chǎn)品或一項(xiàng)業(yè)務(wù)通常需要五六年才能形成規(guī)模?！眴碳{森表示。即使當(dāng)產(chǎn)品或業(yè)務(wù)建立起來(lái)時(shí)利潤(rùn)相當(dāng)可觀，許多公司也不愿等那么久。“你追求的是利潤(rùn)。”他說，“利潤(rùn)產(chǎn)生要以十年為尺度。十年時(shí)間會(huì)有利潤(rùn)產(chǎn)生，一個(gè)季度不會(huì)有?！?/p>

9 So if you buck the trendand embrace a long-term perspective,and if you’re willing to wait out those early days of getting established,you can enshrine a long-term competitive advantage (and their concomitantprofits),because very few of your competitors will even make the attempt.

9 所以，如果你逆勢(shì)而為，放遠(yuǎn)眼光，并且愿意等到創(chuàng)業(yè)初期結(jié)束，你就能獲得長(zhǎng)期競(jìng)爭(zhēng)優(yōu)勢(shì)（以及相應(yīng)的利潤(rùn)），因?yàn)闃O少有競(jìng)爭(zhēng)者會(huì)做此嘗試。

10 As Jeff Bezos observed,“If everything you do needs to work on a threeyear time horizon,then you’re competing against a lot of people.But if you’re willing to invest on a seven-year time horizon,you’re now competing against a fraction of those people,because very few companies are willing to do that.Just by lengthening the time horizon,you can engage in endeavors that you could never otherwise pursue.”

10 正如杰夫·貝索斯所說，“如果你做每件事都以三年為期，那么你的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手就會(huì)有很多；但如果你愿意以七年為期，你的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手就只有其中的一小部分，因?yàn)闃O少有公司愿意這么做。僅僅通過拉長(zhǎng)時(shí)間期限，你就可以致力于原本不可能做的事情?！?/p>

Long-term thinking helps you not be so hard on yourself

長(zhǎng)期思維使人不苛求自己

11 Almost everyone began the pandemic with lofty goals,from learning Italian to mastering sourdough to finishing that novel.(I took on the challenge of latte art.)And plenty of us failed.It’s like vowing to read 10 reports on a crosscountry flight,and discovering upon landing that all you’ve done is nap.It’s frustrating,but also: You needed a nap.

11 幾乎每個(gè)人在疫情隔離期開始時(shí)都抱有雄心壯志，立下的目標(biāo)從學(xué)習(xí)意大利語(yǔ)到學(xué)做發(fā)面面包，再到讀完那部小說，不一而足。（我立志攻克咖啡拉花藝術(shù)。）但我們中的很多人都以失敗告終。這好比信誓旦旦地要在跨國(guó)航班上閱讀十份報(bào)告，而飛機(jī)落地時(shí)卻發(fā)現(xiàn)自己除了打盹什么都沒做。這很令人沮喪，但也說明：你確實(shí)需要小睡一下。

12 With ever-changing responsibilities(figuring out work from home “office politics,” caregiving,homeschooling,etc.),not to mention overall stress levels refelcting the fact that we were in a global pandemic,many of us didn’t quite accomplish as much as we wanted to,or as much as we likely would have during a different 18-month period.And it’s okay.

12 由于不斷變化的職責(zé)（領(lǐng)略居家辦公的“職場(chǎng)政治”、照料家人、家中教學(xué)等等），更別提在全球疫情中掙扎所帶來(lái)的全部壓力，我們中的許多人未能如愿達(dá)成目標(biāo)，如果這18 個(gè)月沒有疫情，我們可能做得更好。但那沒關(guān)系。

13 It’s just not helpful to beat ourselves upabout what did,or didn’t,get done during COVID.The point is,you got through it.As I describe in,you have to think in waves:There are times to over indexon certain aspects of our lives (you probably want to spend more time focused on work when you start a new job,for instance)and certain times when you might need to refocus (you’ll likely pull back on discretionary professional development or networking activities if you’re caring for a sick relative).

13 因在疫情期間做了或沒做什么事而自責(zé)完全沒有幫助。重要的是，你挺過來(lái)了。正如我在《長(zhǎng)期游戲》一書中所述，你必須采用波段式思考模式：有時(shí)候我們需要就生活的某些方面多花精力（比如，當(dāng)你開始一項(xiàng)新工作時(shí)，你或許應(yīng)該花更多時(shí)間在工作上）；而有些時(shí)候，你可能需要轉(zhuǎn)變重心（如果有生病的親人要照顧，你可能要暫停自由職業(yè)發(fā)展或社交活動(dòng)）。

14 There are seasons,and we have to respect them.And with a long-term mindset,you don’t have to curse the“wasted” 18 months,but instead,you recognize: There’s plenty of time to shift your focus back to work,or whatever your key projects are,in the future.Rebalancing your portfolio is all part of long-term thinking.

14 凡事皆有定期，我們需予以尊重。有了長(zhǎng)期思維，你就不必抱怨“浪費(fèi)掉的”18 個(gè)月，而會(huì)認(rèn)識(shí)到：接下來(lái)，你有充足時(shí)間將注意力轉(zhuǎn)回到工作，或你的任何重要項(xiàng)目上來(lái)。重新平衡各事項(xiàng)就是長(zhǎng)期思維的一部分。

15 Long-term thinking isn’t just “nice to have.” When we embrace it,it’s a step toward becoming the kind of people we want to be.■

15 長(zhǎng)期思維不僅僅是“可有可無(wú)，有則更好”的東西。擁有這種思維，我們就向理想的自己邁近了一步。 □