Why Successful CompaniesPass the ‘Grandma Test’为何成功企业要通过“奶奶测试”

CEO Andrew Schaap argues that thinking carefully about spending choices is the key to growing a viable business and keeping investors happy.

首席执行官安德鲁·沙普认为，仔细考量支出决策是企业健康发展和令投资者满意的关键。

When encouraging its portfolio companies to be fiscally responsible， an investment firm uses a unique guiding principle they call the “grandma test.” For every spending decision， it asks leaders to imagine that a 90-year-old grandmother is a shareholder and then consider the following： Is this good for the business—and does it help Grandma eat and pay her rent？

某投资公司在鼓励旗下的投资组合公司履行财务责任时，采用了一种独特的指导原则，他们称之为“奶奶测试”。对于每一项支出决策，都要求领导者想象股东是一位90岁的老奶奶，并考虑以下问题：此决策是否对公司有利——又是否能让股东老奶奶有吃有住？

Being fiscally responsible doesn’t mean being a tightwad， but it does mean thinking carefully about spending choices that impact the bottom line. Contrary to what has become accepted wisdom in recent years， a company can scale without burning through cash. In fact， as a CEO in a highly capital-intensive industry， I’d argue that prudent spending is the key to building a solid foundation for growth. Here’s how entrepreneurs， leaders， and executives can employ the grandma test to make smart financial decisions.

履行财务责任并不意味着做守财奴，但确实意味着要仔细考量关乎盈利状况的支出决策。与近年广受认可的观念相反，一家公司可以在不烧钱的前提下扩大规模。事实上，作为资本高度密集行业某公司的首席执行官，本人认为稳健的支出决策是夯实增长基础的关键。下面我们来看看企业家、领导者和高管们如何利用奶奶测试来做出明智的财务决策。

Why spending wisely matters for every business

为何明智支出对每个企业都至关重要

I believe keeping a lid on spending is important for two reasons：

我认为，控制支出十分重要，原因有二：

Fiscal responsibility is crucial for the health of the business. Too many companies run into trouble by blowing money on things they don’t need.

财务责任对企业健康发展至关重要。太多公司因把钱花在不需要的东西上而陷入困境。

Companies have a fiduciary responsibility to shareholders. Investors entrust leaders with finding ways to be thoughtful about expenses， while still growing the business and their potential returns.

公司对股东负有信托责任。公司领导者是受投资者所托，要在谨慎支出的同时设法实现业务增长和潜在回报上升。

To address both of these factors， leaders must determine what’s essential and what’s not. Being fiscally irresponsible can spread through an organization like a hidden virus. The result： a lack of intellectual rigor around spending decisions.

针对上述这两点，领导者必须明确哪些是必要的、哪些是非必要的。对财务不负责任会像隐形病毒一样在组织中传播扩散。其结果是，支出决策缺乏严谨的思考。

However， there is also such a thing as being too fiscally responsible. When a company is skittish about spending on what really matters， it can also fail in its fiduciary duty. To avoid that conflict， a leader must understand the details of the business and ensure that it’s nimble—knowing when to pursue growth opportunities but also when to pull back. The payoff？ Research shows that balancing growth and sensible spending can deliver substantially higher shareholder returns.

然而，还有一种情形，即对履行财务责任过于谨慎。当一家公司对真正重要的支出也犹豫不决时，它可能也无法履行其信托责任。为避免这种冲突，领导者必须了解具体业务的细节，并确保它灵活可变——知道何时应抓住增长机会、何时又该抽身观望。由此得到的回报是什么？研究表明，平衡增长和合理支出可大大增加股东回报。

Baking fiscal responsibility into a business is easier said than done， but it’s well worth the effort. Here are a few things to consider.

在企业经营中仔细考量财务责任是言易行难之事，但很值得付出努力。以下几点可资斟酌。

Make scarcity a feature， not a bug

让短缺成为特点而非缺陷

It may sound counterintuitive， but I believe scarcity can boost productivity. If a company adopts a frugal mindset， I have found that people often rise to the occasion and find ways to do more with less.

这听起来可能违反常理，但我认为短缺能提高生产力。当一家公司奉行节俭的思维模式时，我发现人们往往会随机应变，找到花更少钱做更多事的办法。

Making managers relatively scarce is part of the deal. Too often， middle managers push paper from one desk to another， creating red tape for everyone else. Being thoughtful about how you structure teams can help all workers do their most productive work.

让管理人员相对短缺是途径之一。中层管理者常常就是把文件从一张桌子推到另一张，人浮于事，给其他人造成层层阻碍。慎重组织团队能帮助所有员工达到最高的工作效率。

Want more proof that scarcity can be a good thing？ Look at all the successful companies that launched during an economic crisis—half of the Fortune 500. For businesses looking to learn from those inauspicious starts， the secret may lie in capturing the cost-conscious spirit of a downturn before you’re actually in one. Amazon， Costco， and Ikea are notoriously frugal companies whose eye on the bottom line helped propel them to enormous growth.

想知道更多证明短缺可能是件好事的例子吗？看看那些在经济危机期间成立并取得成功的公司吧——《财富》世界500强中半数如此。如果企业想从这些刚开始时运不济的公司身上汲取经验，秘诀可能是在经济真正陷入衰退前牢牢把握节约成本的原则。亚马逊、开市客和宜家都是出了名的节俭型企业，其对利润的关注推动它们实现了巨大的增长。

But remember： Scarcity is a two-way street. A leader must also know when being frugal hurts productivity or growth， adjusting spending as needed to keep the business healthy and capitalize on opportunities.

但请记住：短缺是一条双向道。当节俭损害生产力或阻碍发展时，领导者必须同样予以重视，根据需求调整开支，从而保证公司健康发展并充分利用机遇。

Hire thoughtfully

谨慎招聘

Fiscal responsibility is much more than reining in travel expenses and saving on paper clips. For most organizations， the biggest cost is people. If a team member is too busy， the impulse is to bring on another employee. But that new person might have little to do because they’re only picking up the 15% or 20% overflow from someone else.

财务责任远不止是控制差旅费和节约回形针之类的办公用品。对大多数组织而言，人力成本是最大的支出项目。如果一个团队成员太忙了，组织就会本能地想要再招一个员工。然而新人可能没有什么事做，因为他们只能分担其他员工溢出的15%或20%的工作。

This kind of hiring can be a bad investment and can breed resentment among teams. When the rest of an organization sees colleagues with a lighter workload， productivity can drop.

这样的聘用可能并不划算，还可能使团队中滋生不满情绪。当组织中的其他成员发现同事工作量较轻时，工作效率可能随之下降。

Rather than thoughtlessly hiring， keep in mind that not getting everything done each day isn’t a reason for anyone to panic. To the contrary： It sharpens people’s minds on the highest and best use of their time and on the things that really move the needle.

与其草率雇人，不如牢记：任何人都不必为当日事无法当日毕而恐慌。恰恰相反：这会使人头脑更敏锐，知道如何利用时间最有效，着眼真正能取得成效的事。

When a company absolutely must hire， it should do its homework and aim to bring on the best talent. Mediocre employees drag down the exceptional ones. When you hire second-rate team members， costs rise， productivity falls， and then you face a larger systemic challenge.

当公司确有必要招募员工时，一定要做好功课，旨在聘到最佳人才。平庸的员工会拖累优秀的员工。招进水准不高的员工会导致成本增加，生产效率下降，然后使公司面临更大的系统性挑战。

Do a productivity audit

进行生产力审核

Spending wisely means making productive use of time and resources. Here are three ways for companies to maximize the return on those investments.

明智开支意味着对时间和资源的高效利用。以下是使企业投资回报最大化的三种方式。

· Look at outputs： Whether it’s a piece of hardware or some marketing collateral， is a particular group producing something of value？ If not， it may be time to rethink the projects they’re focused on.

· 关注产出：无论是具体产品还是营销材料，某个团队是否在产出有价值的东西？如果没有，那么也许是时候重新考虑他们专注的项目了。

· Make the most of meetings by shrinking them： Even today， many companies have a bloated meeting culture straight out of Mad Men. The default one-hour meeting in Outlook encourages people to mistake activity for productivity. That is why I set all of my meetings to 30 minutes. In this case， time literally is money. Shopify estimates that a half-hour meeting with a handful of employees and an executive can cost upwards of $2，000.

· 通过缩短会议来提高会议效率：即使今天，仍有许多公司存在照搬自《广告狂人》的那种膨胀会议文化。微软Outlook软件默认的1小时会议会使人误把忙碌当作产能。这就是我把自己的所有会议时间都设定为30分钟的原因。在这种情况下，时间真的就是金钱。根据加拿大电商软件开发商Shopify的估算，一名高管和数名员工开会半小时，就可能造成2000多美元的损失。

· Hold team leaders accountable： In my company， the heads of individual teams own their group’s productivity， regardless of the links between business units. I have found that when leaders have independence， they are more likely to be accountable.

· 让团队领导者负责：在我的公司里，不论业务单元之间是否相互关联，单个团队的工作效率都由该团队领导者负责。我发现，领导者如果具备自主性，会更可能有责任心。

Don’t be afraid to say no （or not yet）

别害怕说“不”（或“现在不行”）

I’ve regularly turned down spending requests from my people—while still leaving the door open. When a team member recently came to me with an ask that wasn’t fully baked， I said I looked forward to seeing the business case， business use， and return on capital. From my perspective， if someone wants money， it’s on them to convince me by showing that they grasp the numbers and understand the costs.

我经常拒绝来自员工的经费申请——但同时仍给他们保留了机会。最近有个团队成员向我提出申请，但理由不够充分，我当时回复说，我期待了解商业案例、商业用途和资本收益等方面内容。在我看来，如果有人需要资金，那就得通过他们所掌握的数据和计算的成本来说服我。

The business landscape is littered with the wreckage of companies that got ahead of themselves. Leaders and their teams should be realistic about what they can accomplish. Without skimping on ambition， pursue a growth trajectory that’s built on smart financial choices. And for goodness’ sake， don’t forget Grandma.

因好高骛远而战死商场的企业比比皆是。领导者及其团队应该对自身完成任务的能力有符合实际的认知。寻求建立在明智财务决策基础上的发展之道，同时不失雄心。还有，看在上帝的份上，别忘了股东老奶奶。

（译者为“《英语世界》杯”翻译大赛获奖者）