A High Aim Wins the Game

As the saying goes,“Ambitious goals just produce average results,while mediocre goals yield unsatisfactory results.” In running an enterprise,you need to set the bar high to make it more successful.

I’ve earned a reputation for being a tough and demanding boss—anyone in my team may be criticized or even sacked for poor performance.I’ve run three successful start-up companies,but at first,many people loathed me for being so strict at work,and some even said that I was a layman who always set unrealistic goals.

Let me give one example: we once purchased a four-star hotel owned by two French brothers on Zhongshan West Road in Shanghai.It had been run pretty well by the younger brother.When we took it over,the rate of gross operating profit (GOP)was around 30%,and my team proposed to raise it to 40%.However,I set the target of 70%,which meant that we had to make a gross profit of 70 yuan,instead of the previous 30 yuan,out of every 100 yuan.They all thought it was a crazy idea.

At that time,the general manager of the High-end Business Department,who had been transferred from a stateowned key enterprise recently,said,“Mr.Ji,you sound like an amateur.The target is way too high for our line of business.” But I refused to give in,“No! You don’t have to worry about the target I set.You should focus on how to achieve it instead.”

Surely,I was not a handsoff boss,and I worked with my colleagues to make it happen.For instance,there used to be a monitor room in the hotel,with three work shifts each day.Each shift needed at least two security guards,so six guards were recruited altogether.However,I noticed that the six elderly security guards on duty did nothing but drink tea and read newspapers,and as labor got more and more expensive,I came up with an idea: to move all the monitor screens to the front desk,and record all security cameras.Originally,the security camera footage was stored for a week,and now it can be stored for a month,and we can extend it for three months if necessary.Anyway,the hard disks are comparatively cheaper than labor costs.Furthermore,the fire alarm system was also relocated to the front desk where the fire siren could be heard immediately,with no old man staring at it all day long.The modification took a mere few thousand dollars,but it saved the labor costs of six guards in total,thus saving hundreds of thousands of dollars annually.

“取法乎上，仅得其中；取法乎中，仅得其下。”只有高标准、严要求，才能带领一个企业越来越强。

我带团队要求高是出了名的，如果觉得不行，会批评，会淘汰。我做了三家创业公司，起初很多人都不待见我的严苛，甚至说我不懂行，总提不切实际的要求。

举一个例子，我们在上海的中山西路收了一家四星级酒店，是一对法国兄弟的，那家酒店由弟弟管理，管得非常好。我们接手的时候，这家店的GOP 率（经营毛利润率）大概是30%左右。我们团队接手后，提出将GOP 率提升到40%左右，而我给他们的目标却是70%的GOP 率：原来我们收100 块钱，经营毛利润是30 块钱，现在我收100 块钱要赚70 块钱。他们觉得这几乎是不可能的。

当时有一个央企出来的同志刚来我这里做高端事业部总经理，他对我说，老季啊，你不懂行，我们这行没有这么高的GOP 率。我说，不行，你不要考虑我给的目标对不对，应该考虑如何达到。

当然，我提高了要求，也会和他们一起分析如何达成70%的GOP 率。比如说，酒店原来有个监控房，24 小时三班倒轮流值班。我一看，基本上这些大爷就跷个脚在那儿喝茶看报纸。三班倒，一班至少2 个人，那就是6 个人，而现在人工越来越贵。那么很简单，把监控屏幕移到前台，并对所有的监控频道录像，原来录像只存一周，现在可以存一个月，一个月不够存三个月，反正硬盘很便宜。消防警报系统放到前台来——消防警报系统是非常响的，警报一响，前台马上能听到，不需要盯着它看。整体改造几万元就搞定了，却一下子减少了6 个人的人工，每年省下的人工费就是几十万。

The front desk had three work shifts before,with four or five receptionists in each shift,yet there were a bunch of “leaders”and very few “doers” among them.Therefore,I adopted a selfcheck-in system,which meant that the guests could select a room and pay the bill on the way to the hotel,and upon arrival,they could fetch the room key right after photocopying and uploading their ID cards.This effective self-check-in system successfully helped us cut stafffrom more than a dozen to less than ten at the front desk.After the makeover,the GOP rate of the hotel surpassed the target I set.

I majored in mechanics at Shanghai Jiaotong University and I was good at mathematics,so I excelled at mathematical modeling and numbers.The number 70% was arrived at through careful calculation.Based on the hotel’s current business model,its GOP rate could reach 75% or even 80%—so actually,I had given it some leeway.I set the bar high to push my team to make a breakthrough.If you tell me“that’s just the way it is,” or “that’s the only solution,” then I will ask,“Why can’t you figure something out?” If you’re fettered by old conventions,it is impossible for you to think outside the box and surpass your predecessors,let alone achieve excellence.

Many companies retreat when facing difficulties,or give up when the problem is simply too tough.They can’t grow bigger or stronger this way.Setting the aim high is the only way for an enterprise to win the game.

(FromFounder’s Notes,Hunan People’s Publishing House.Translation: Zhu Yaguang)

前台原来也是三班倒，每班四五个人，一堆领导，干活的很少。我全部改成自助登记入住。客人在来酒店的路上，就可以选好房间，并且把房费付掉。到了酒店，复印上传身份证就可以拿到房卡了。一个很好的自动登记入住系统，把前台的工作人员从10 个变成几个。如此这般一番改造，今天这个酒店的GOP 率，已经超过了我提出的70%。

我在上海交大是学力学的，数学不错，对建模、数字很敏感。70%这个数字是我估算出来的，不是随口胡说。以这个酒店的商业模式，GOP 率其实是能够做到75%甚至80%的，所以我还是留了余地的。我对团队有高要求，他们才有可能突破过去的框架。如果你告诉我事情本来就是这样的，就只有这个方案，那我会问：为什么只能是这样呢？如果约定俗成、按部就班、因循守旧，就没有可能突破原有框架，进而超越前辈，成为后来居上的卓越者。

很多企业往往碰到困难就退，碰到问题就缩，这样很难做大做强。只有取法乎上，才能让企业茁壮成长。

（摘自《创始人手记》湖南人民出版社）