Boundaryless

無界限

 

 

Boundaryless: One of Welch’s signature concepts and the one term most closely associated with the GE leader. To spark productivity and break down the walls that he felt were killing the company, Welch sought to topple every barrier: internal barriers, such as those between functions (sales and manufacturing), and external barriers, such as anything that got between GE and its customers and suppliers. Any wall was a bad one, insisted Welch. In a boundaryless organization, information flows easily. There is nothing to impede the seamless transfer of decisions, ideas, people, etc. Boundaryless behavior helped GE to rid itself of its century-old bad habits of rigid hierarchy and bloated bureaucracy. Anything that limited the free flow of ideas and learning was destructive, Welch said, and he spent two decades taking aim at GE’s bureaucratic ways.

無界限：這是韋爾奇的標志性概念之一，也是與他這位通用電氣公司領(lǐng)導(dǎo)關(guān)聯(lián)最緊密的一個詞語。為了刺激生產(chǎn)率，并摧垮他覺得正在戕殺公司的種種界限，韋爾奇便致力于推翻每一道壁壘：內(nèi)部壁壘，比如那些職能之間的壁壘（銷售與生產(chǎn)）；外部壁壘，比如擋在通用電氣公司及其客戶和供應(yīng)商之間的壁壘。韋爾奇堅持認為，任何界限都是壞事。在無界限的組織中信息才能暢通無阻，才不會有什么事情妨礙決策、創(chuàng)意、人員等等的無縫流通。無界限的行為幫助通用電氣公司擺脫了它百年之久的壞習(xí)慣：僵化的等級制度和臃腫的官僚制度。韋爾奇說，任何事物只要限制創(chuàng)意與學(xué)習(xí)的自由流通，都是具有破壞性的。他花了二十多年的時間來對準通用電氣公司的官僚習(xí)氣開火。

 

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF BOUNDARYLESS

Boundarylessness may be the best way to describe Welch’s contribution to the field of leadership. Welch said that boundarylessness led to an “obsession for finding a better way—a better idea—be its source a colleague, another GE business, or another company across the street or on the other side of the globe that will share its best ideas and practices with us.” Boundaryless became Welch’s signature program for several reasons. He not only coined the term (which he admitted was an odd word), he invented a new model for running a large organization. Once he created the new model, he fashioned a new language to give voice to his new creation.

 “無界限”概念的意義

或許“無界限”也是對韋爾奇在領(lǐng)導(dǎo)工作領(lǐng)域中所作貢獻的最好描述。韋爾奇說，“無界限”使人“癡迷于尋找更好的方式、更好的創(chuàng)意，無論它來自于某位同事、通用電氣公司的另一家下屬企業(yè)，還是來自街對面的、或是另一個半球上的另一家公司，只要它們愿意與我們分享它最好的創(chuàng)意和做法。”從好幾種理由來看，“無界限”都是典型的韋式計劃。他不僅杜撰了這個詞（他自己承認這是個古怪的字眼），而且還發(fā)明了一種執(zhí)掌大型組織的新模式。一旦他創(chuàng)造出了這種新模式，他便用了一種戛戛獨造的語言來表達他的新作。

 

BOUNDARYLESSNESS AND NIH

Boundaryless thinking represented a huge departure for GE. Welch inherited a typical command structure, consisting of 350 businesses organized into 43 strategic business units (SBUs). He felt that boundaryless thinking would be the major weapon with which he would fight decades of hierarchy and bureaucracy. One of the key benefits of boundarylessness was the eradication of Not Invented Here (NIH), which was the notion that if it wasn’t invented at GE, the company wasn’t interested. NIH is the antithesis of a boundaryless organization, and, by the 1990s, Welch had praised GE for inculcating new ideas and “Best Practices” of other companies into the GE fabric. Companies that Welch credited included Wal-Mart, Toshiba, Chrysler, and Hewlett-Packard.

“無界限”與“外來品”

對于通用電氣公司，“無界限”的思想是一種截然相反的新開端。韋爾奇接手的是一套典型的指揮結(jié)構(gòu)，其中包括劃分為43個戰(zhàn)略性業(yè)務(wù)部門（SBU）的350家下屬企業(yè)。他覺得“無界限”的思維能夠成為一件有力的武器，可以用來與盤踞數(shù)十年之久的等級制度和官僚主義作斗爭。“無界限”思想帶來的一種主要好處，是它根除了“外來品”這種觀念，這種觀念的意思是說，只要不是通用電氣公司內(nèi)部發(fā)明的，公司對它就沒興趣。“外來品”是“無界限”組織的對立面。到20世紀90年代，韋爾奇贊揚通用電氣公司已經(jīng)將其它企業(yè)的新創(chuàng)意和最佳做法融入了自己的構(gòu)造中。他所提到的這些公司中包括沃爾瑪、東芝、克萊斯勒和惠普。

 

In a boundaryless environment, the company becomes more productive as a result of its internal adoption of Best Practices. In 1995, Welch spoke of the effect of  boundaryless behavior within General Electric. With pride he described how different segments of the company had taught GE a Best Practice that had been widely adopted throughout the company. Welch cited several examples of such boundaryless behavior: productivity solutions from Lighting; “quick response” asset management from Appliances; transaction effectiveness from GE Capital; the application of “bullet-train” cost reduction techniques from Aircraft Engines; and global account management from Plastics. Boundaryless behavior, therefore, has many positive effects on the organization. By breaking down walls both inside GE and between GE and the outside world, Welch had created an environment in which Best Practices thrived. GE was free not only to learn from itself, but also to inculcate the best ideas and practices into everything it did. This was a vital step toward the learning culture and the self-actualization of GE.

在“無界限”的環(huán)境中，由于對內(nèi)采用最佳做法，公司就能提高生產(chǎn)率。1995年，韋爾奇談到通用電氣公司內(nèi)部“無界限”行為所產(chǎn)生的影響。他自豪地講述通用電氣公司的各個單位如何將最佳做法傳授給總公司、使它們在整個通用電氣公司范圍內(nèi)普遍推廣。韋爾奇例舉了多種“無界限”行為：照明分公司的生產(chǎn)率解決方案、家電公司的資產(chǎn)管理“快速響應(yīng)法”、通用電氣金融服務(wù)公司的交易有效性、飛機發(fā)動機分公司的“子彈頭列車”成本削減技術(shù)應(yīng)用，以及塑料制品分公司的全球大客戶管理。因而，“無界限”行為對組織有著許多積極的影響。通過摧垮通用電氣公司內(nèi)部之間、以及它與外部世界之間的壁壘，韋爾奇便創(chuàng)造了一個盛行“最佳做法”的環(huán)境。通用電氣公司不僅自由地向內(nèi)部學(xué)習(xí)，而且將最佳的創(chuàng)意與做法應(yīng)用到它所做的每一件事中。這是向通用電氣公司的學(xué)習(xí)文化和自我實現(xiàn)邁出的關(guān)鍵一步。

 

THE ROAD TO BOUNDARYLESSNESS

通向“無界限”的道路

 

Many of Welch’s actions and initiatives were specifically designed to remove bureaucracy, thus creating a more boundaryless organization. Here are three Welch initiatives that promoted boundaryless behavior:

韋爾奇的許多措施和倡導(dǎo)行動都是專門為清除官僚主義而推出的，從而幫助他減少了組織中的界限。韋爾奇促進“無界限”行為的有以下三種倡導(dǎo)行動：

 

1. Delayering and other hardware initiatives: By removing layers of management in the early 1980s, Welch paved the way for a more open organization. Fewer layers meant better communication, less rigidity, and a faster response mechanism (to markets, changes, etc.).

1、“精簡層級”和其它硬件倡導(dǎo)行動：韋爾奇于20世紀80年代精簡了管理層級，為建設(shè)更加開放的組織鋪平了道路。精簡層級能夠改善溝通交流、減少僵化刻板并加快機制的響應(yīng)速度（對市場、變革等等）。

 

2. Globalization: By the mid- to late 1980s, Welch decided that GE needed to expand beyond U.S. borders or risk being only a inor player on the world stage. By acquiring the French firm

Thomson-CGR in 1987, Welch sparked a global revolution that launched GE into the global marketplace. In doing so, he dismantled many of the geographic boundaries that separated GE

from the rest of the world.

2、全球化：20世紀80年代，韋爾奇斷定通用電氣公司需要走出美國，否則就有可能在全球舞臺上無足輕重。他于1987年購買了法國的湯姆森放射學(xué)公司，從而催生了一場全球化革命，使通用電氣公司躋身全球市場。在這個過程中，他拆除了將通用電氣公司與世界其它部分分隔開來的許多地理界限。

 

3. Work-Out: By implementing Work-Out in 1989, Welch ensured that the GEers closest to the products and processes would have a voice in running the business. Work-Out created trust and sowed the seeds for the boundaryless revolution of the early to mid-1990s.

3、“群策群力”：1989年，韋爾奇實施了“群策群力”計劃，從而確保通用電氣公司最熟悉產(chǎn)品和過程的員工能夠表達企業(yè)經(jīng)營方面的意見。“群策群力”計劃產(chǎn)生了信任，并為20世紀90年代初期到中期的“無界限”革命播下了種子。

 

A BOUNDARYLESS ENGINE: GE’S OPERATING SYSTEM

“無界限”的發(fā)動機：通用電氣公司的運作系統(tǒng)

 

Welch knew that given GE’s vast portfolio of businesses, it would be easy for each of GE’s separate companies to have its own culture and ideas. That was the last thing he wanted. After all, throughout the 1980s he bristled when journalists (or anyone else) called GE a conglomerate. In order to create a unified organization that adhered to a single value system, Welch created what he called GE’s operating system: the process by which GE drives its collective knowledge throughout every corner of the company. It includes meetings, reviews, and training (see Crotonville), as well as Welch’s signature initiatives such as Six Sigma and the e-Initiative. The GE operating system was a major factor in making GE a more open, more boundaryless organization (see Operating System).

韋爾奇明白，鑒于通用電氣公司業(yè)務(wù)種類的繁多，它下屬的各個企業(yè)很容易建立起自己的文化與理念。這是他最不希望發(fā)生的事。整個20世紀80年代，他一聽到記者們（或是其他任何人）把通用電氣公司叫做聯(lián)合大企業(yè)便怒發(fā)沖冠。為了構(gòu)建一家奉行單獨一套價值體系的統(tǒng)一組織，韋爾奇便創(chuàng)建了他所稱的“通用電氣公司運作系統(tǒng)”，這是一套程序，它使通用電氣公司能夠?qū)⑺闹R集合推送到公司的每一個角落。這套程序中包括會議、評審和培訓(xùn)（見 “克羅頓維爾”），也包括韋爾奇的標志性倡導(dǎo)行動，比如“六西格瑪”和“電子商務(wù)倡議”。通用電氣公司的運作系統(tǒng)為公司成為更加開放、界限更少的組織發(fā)揮了主要的作用（見 “運作系統(tǒng)”）。

 

Boundaryless lessons

關(guān)于“無界限”的經(jīng)驗教訓(xùn)

 

1. To create a boundaryless enterprise, listen to the people closest to the customers: Welch started Work-Out to make sure that those who did the work got a say in how the business could run better.

1、為了建設(shè)無界限的企業(yè)，需要向最熟悉客戶的人員聽取意見：韋爾奇啟動了“群策群力”計劃來確保實際執(zhí)行工作的人能夠就企業(yè)如何能夠更好經(jīng)營而發(fā)表意見。

 

2. Take aim at all four boundaries—Vertical (hierarchical), Horizontal (between functions), External (customers and suppliers), and Geographic (different countries). Welch felt strongly that every boundary was a bad one and worked tirelessly

to knock down all debilitating boundaries.

2、對準所有四種界限開火——縱向壁壘（層級）、橫向壁壘（職能之間）、外部壁壘（客戶與供應(yīng)商）以及地理壁壘（不同國家之間）。韋爾奇強烈地感到，任何界限都是壞事，因而他不知疲倦地致力于摧垮所有的人為界限。

 

3. Eliminate “NIH” (Not Invented Here): Welch hated the insular attitude of the organization he inherited. One of the keys to a boundaryless organization is recognizing that all the answers do not reside within the company walls.

3、消滅“外來品”觀念：韋爾奇厭恨他所接手的這家組織那種夜郎自大的態(tài)度。構(gòu)建無界限組織的關(guān)鍵之一，是認識到所有的答案并不是全都存在于公司內(nèi)部。

 

4. Move Best Practices around the company: Implementing the best ideas, regardless of their origin, is one of the hallmarks of an effective learning organization. In executive meetings, make sure that everyone recounts or shares Best Practices.

4、在全公司推行最佳做法：推行最佳做法，而不要管它們源于何處，這是有效的學(xué)習(xí)型組織的一個標志。要在行政會議上務(wù)必保證每個人都講述或是分享最佳做法。