Some time ago, the Italian "luxury" brand dolce & gabbana (Dolce &; The founder and designer of Gabbana publicly made insulting remarks about China, and threatened that "we can live well without the China market", which set off a wave of unanimous resistance from Chinese people. But in fact, dolce & gabbana is just an Italian fashion brand founded in 1985, with a development history of only 33 years, which naturally lacks some historical precipitation and brand connotation. And some real century-old top luxury brands, such as Hermes, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Prada and so on. , attaches great importance to the China market and the increasingly affluent consumer groups in China. Take Chanel, which was founded in Paris with 19 10 as an example. In 20 15, Chanel began to implement the strategy of "global coordinated pricing", mainly targeting at China, a big luxury consumption country. By reducing the price in China and increasing the price in the European market, the sales price of Chanel in China is the same as that in Europe, and the satisfaction of consumers in China is improved. The main promoter of this strategy is Maureen, the author of the new book "Deep Thinking" that I want to recommend to you today-the former global CEO of Chanel, an American woman known as the "new generation of Chanel Queen". hickey

Maureen? Born in America, Hickey started her career in L 'Oré al France after graduating from Yale University. 1988 joined Gap company in the United States, worked in Gap company for 15 years, and finally became the president of GAP high-end brand "banana Republic". Then, after more than a year of interviews, in 2003, Maureen? Kathy was invited to join Chanel, the world's top luxury goods company, and finally became the global CEO of Chanel in 2007. This resume that shines in the fashion world makes Maureen? Hickey has won many honors: Fortune magazine's "50 Most Influential Women in Business", Forbes magazine's "100 Most Influential Women", Wall Street Journal's "50 Most Noteworthy Women" and so on.

Technically, maureen. Hickey's new book Deep Thinking is not a vocational training course, nor does it teach the so-called deep thinking model or mechanism. This book is completely interwoven with stories, impressions and inspirations. As the author said in the preface of this book, this book is written for those who want to break through themselves. How to break through ourselves, or how to break the labels imposed on us by ourselves or others, is a problem worthy of in-depth consideration. This book can be summarized from 1 tag and 2 keywords.

The first label is "introverted".

In girlhood, Maureen? Kathy was labeled as "introverted", and she was called "shy good child" by the teacher. Because she lives alone in her own world, her classmates once thought that she was "fierce" and "indifferent". She doesn't like group competition and is always immersed in her favorite books, movies and TV. In the 1970s when she lived, most people thought that introversion was not a good thing, and children should correct this negative character in time, just like correcting buck teeth and myopia.

While working in Gap company, Gap is eager to train a new generation of * * * to become the president of its brand. Maureen? Hickey is fortunate to be one of the candidates with great potential. According to the requirements of Gap, every candidate should be equipped with an executive coach to help the candidate evaluate what qualities he needs to be a president. Executive coach vs Maureen? In a series of tests and evaluations made by Hickey, she was once again defined as "a very introverted person". This is of course not surprising, because Maureen? For many years, Kathy has been trying to overcome her shyness. She has been constantly participating in various scenes, allowing herself to stand up bravely when necessary. But the executive coach inspired her in a completely different way and made her re-examine this so-called "weakness". In fact, the executive coach told Maureen? Hickey, introversion is not a bad thing. Many successful people, such as Einstein and Bill? Both Gates and Buffett belong to this type of personality. Introversion just means that our energy comes more from individual solitude or group cooperation. Does this help Maureen? Hickey broke the psychological burden of "introversion equals personality defect" and realized that introversion is actually a powerful force, which can help people stay focused and spend more time thinking without interference, just like a person with a strong heart and a firm will talking to himself. The depth and breadth of thinking are beyond ordinary people, and introverts have more keen insight and firm execution.

Similarly, introverts are generally quiet and don't like chatting, but they know how to listen best and are more empathetic. This leads to two key words I want to talk about today: "listening" and "empathy".

Keywords 1: Listen.

"Listen" is this Maureen? Hickey has repeatedly emphasized an excellent quality in this book. She received this rigorous training when she first entered the workplace and became an L 'Oré al intern. L 'Oré al's marketing staff, no matter how highly educated, excellent in study and prominent in family background, must receive such training as long as they join L 'Oré al. L 'Oré al needs to ensure that marketers listen modestly enough, so that they can understand the importance of understanding the business from the grassroots level and understand the real needs of customers through listening.

Maureen? In an interview with the media, Kathy once said such a thing: In that year, she was appointed as the marketing manager of the most important women's jeans department of Gap Company. Because she is arrogant and thinks that she has grasped the fashion trend to a certain height, she ventured to purchase a large number of trendy jeans with the latest fabric and tried to replace them with another product with the company's sales decline. This "secret weapon" was denied as soon as it was presented to CEO Mickey. Unwilling Maureen? Hickey began to defend his purchase motives from all angles, but all he got was a harsher reprimand from the CEO. Let's reproduce this scene with sound:

At that moment, Maureen? Hickey really understands that if you want to succeed in your career and life, you must practice your listening skills. This experience made Maureen? Kathy benefited a lot. Since then, she has not only learned to listen to the boss's speech, but also learned to listen to the voices of the team, customers and everyone around her all the time.

The second keyword: empathy.

Empathy is a psychological concept, and popular translation can be "putting yourself in the other's shoes", "moving with emotion", "empathy" and "empathy". Generally refers to psychological transposition and empathy. There is a significant difference between this word and "sympathy"-not to sympathize with others from the perspective of self, but to put yourself in the position of others and understand and think from the perspective of empathy.

14 years working in Gap company, Maureen? Kathy received a call from a famous headhunting company looking for an executive, telling her that she was a suitable candidate for a "French private luxury company", but the company name was kept secret. So, Maureen? Kathy began to accept a series of interviews, evaluations and tests that lasted for more than a year. Whether he has empathy is also an important assessment content.

We can learn more about empathy from another CEO. Microsoft's current CEO Satya? Nadella told a story about her first interview with Microsoft. His interviewer asked him a question about empathy: "If you see an unattended child crying in the street in winter, how will you react?" "Call 9 1 1!" Satya? Nadella gave her answer without hesitation. Although he passed the interview, when he recalled the question again many years later, he found that what he blurted out was not a satisfactory answer.

The correct answer often comes from real life.

Satya? Nadella's first child was born prematurely. Due to accidental intrauterine asphyxia, the child was told to be permanently disabled. At that time, Nadella was making great achievements in Microsoft, and he had all the beautiful dreams in life. For the first time, he felt extremely depressed and even sprouted this unfair mood.

Nadella's wife noticed his mood. She said, "What we should pay attention to is not how our lives are affected. This is not our pain, but the pain of this child. This is a hard life that he has to endure. What we can do is to help him better and accompany him. " Nadella was awakened by his wife's words, and the sense of mission brought by this empathy gave him more powerful and sustained strength. Now, do you remember the interviewer who asked Nadella questions? "If you see an unattended child crying in the street in winter, how will you react?" The interviewer's answer is: "You should pick up the child first and comfort him."

Maureen? Hickey has been interviewed by Chanel for more than a year, and the final test is to see an enterprise psychologist for a final evaluation. The five-hour test also shows that multinational companies attach importance to the mental health of executives.

Now, we have spent a lot of time introducing the importance of learning to listen and empathize, so what does this have to do with the book Deep Thinking that we share today?

We must be clear that if we want to think deeply, we must first understand what kind of thinking is really deep thinking. Let's take a common example at work: the sales volume of a product of the company dropped, and the sales manager immediately took measures to reverse this situation. His plan includes increasing product publicity, increasing training for sales staff, and applying for greater discounts to carry out price reduction promotion activities ... However, these methods failed to stop the downward trend of sales. We can't say that the sales manager didn't think of it, but in fact what he did was to take the most routine approach in this situation. So what is the correct method? The first thing to do is market research to find out the real reason for the decline in sales, which requires listening to the voice of the market and understanding what changes have taken place in the market environment; Listen to the voice of customers and understand what changes have taken place in their needs; Listening to the voice of end consumers and thinking about the deep-seated reasons from the standpoint of consumers are the deep thinking we admire. It can be said that people with listening ability and empathy ability are more suitable for deep thinking, because listening is a process of sorting out problems, and empathy itself is a kind of empathy.

Deep thinking is to keep approaching the essence of the problem. This requires us to face problems with a more positive attitude, rather than doing things as they come, and rarely thinking about why? How? And what kind of results you want to get after doing it. Most of us have been taught to listen to teachers and parents since childhood. After entering the workplace, you must obey the arrangements of leaders at all levels. Either we have no time to think, or we are asked not to think. Over time, we have become an executive tool without thinking, let alone deep thinking, and even thinking has become a luxury ornament.

To think deeply, besides learning listening skills and cultivating empathy, Maureen? In the book, Hickey also emphasized another valuable quality, that is, to remain curious. Because curiosity is a catalyst for deep thinking, it can stimulate our imagination, challenge stereotypes and create new things, while keeping our brains alive!

At the moment of fragmented information explosion, in the high-level field of competitive torrent, the key to winning is not the amount of knowledge, nor the degree of diligence, but more the ability to think deeply. Maureen, the author of this book and former global CEO of Chanel? Looking back at his advanced road from ordinary staff to senior management in the workplace, Kathy unveiled the common secret of success in all fields for us:

When you encounter complex problems, you should analyze them layer by layer like peeling onions;

From passive acceptance to active learning, from low growth area to high growth area;

After calming yourself down, it is easier to see the essence of the problem;

Tactical diligence and strategic optimization advance simultaneously;

Deliberately practice the ability of deep thinking and make it a habit;

……

Connecting everything with deep thinking is the most valuable cognitive upgrading and self-improvement mode in the future 10, and it is the most competitive advantage. Keep enthusiasm and curiosity about the world, learn to stop and listen, try to think from multiple dimensions with empathy, and master the ability to approach the essence of the problem.