Feng Chunpei, the master of Alibaba: three stages of growth

On December 22, 2009, the first TechDay of the Alipay Technology Department was held at the Howard Johnson Oriental Hotel. Technical students from B2B, Taobao, and Alibaba Cloud and more than 400 Alipay technicians gathered together , participated in 4 sharing sessions on ***16 topics.

In the "Alipay Technician" topic at the main venue in the morning, Master Feng gave a speech titled "Trust" and shared about how to build trust in yourself, colleagues, and The in-depth thinking on the true trust between supervisors and teams is vivid and thought-provoking, and solves the various confusions encountered by Alipay technicians in terms of personal growth, teamwork and initiative.

When Wei Yan (Sun Zerui) introduced Lu Su (Cheng Li), he said that Lu Su is like a computer that is constantly running and correcting itself. It's really a pretty good state.

In fact, whether you are engaged in technology or other majors, the core and essential things are the same.

Whether it is architecture or development, SA or network, all engineers have similar experiences on the road to growth. I summarize it into three stages of growth:

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01

The first stage: keep learning and apply what you have learned

In our field of work, everything we need to learn and use has traces of our predecessors, so we can learn quickly. This is a stage of applying what we have learned.

I joined Alibaba in March 2004 and entered the cycle of learning and application.

This process has accompanied Alibaba’s growth: the website PV has exceeded 100 million from 10 million, and the number of employees has grown from 1,000 to tens of thousands.

In the changing environment, we need to continuously improve ourselves. My learning phase lasted until 2007.

02

The second stage: Take responsibility with courage and achieve self-breakthrough

Often grow At a certain stage, we will find that in the department, or even in this field, we cannot see learning objects around us, maybe at the P7, P8, P9, or P10 stage.

Because there are no role models in front of us, we tend to be hesitant and confused. Then we start to get into a repetitive phase day after day, year after year.

Every month or two, I think about what I have been doing recently, what I was doing before, and what I did last year.

If the work or ideas I did a year or six months ago did not change much, I would be very scared:

Could it be that I have entered a straight line and will not rise?

At this time, I will think of ways to make some breakthroughs.

Those "ceilings" that could only be "YY" in the past?

We often say that as much ability as there is space, How big.

When facing some projects in the past, we would think, these are all done by large foreign companies, where is our turn to do them?

But in 2007 and 2008, we tried hard to do some things that we could only "YY" before. We gained a lot, made mistakes, and gained experience.

It is precisely because we did not set a ceiling for ourselves that we achieved breakthroughs.

Last week Guo Jing (Shao Xiaofeng) talked about Alipay’s strategy for the next two years:

We expect to have 1 100 million deep active members, with 1 trillion transactions. This speed is similar to that of previous years.

But in the face of increasing scale, complex systems and huge teams, the challenges we face are greater than before, and we need to grow more.

Therefore, we must have the courage to break through ourselves and have the courage to shoulder this responsibility.

Recently, we found in some small department meetings that everyone felt that other people’s department development ideas were very clear.

But the people in that ministry couldn’t see their own way clearly, and instead came to ask us outsiders. So we need to jump out and look at the problem.

03

The third stage: Influence others and promote team growth

Our current technology The fields are all comprehensive and intersecting, and they are becoming more and more complex and broad.

One or two people are not enough to complete important technical research. Many things need to be done by a group of people.

Therefore, when we break through ourselves, we must influence the people around us and let them move forward with us.

When a group of people break through themselves, it creates an atmosphere and enters a virtuous cycle.

Breaking through is not a process of self-correction, but a process of self-promotion and a virtuous cycle, a process of constantly moving forward.

1 There is no time for crisis, this is the realm we should pursue!

We often find that in times of crisis, There is always someone to turn the tide. So, we give praise to such people.

However, we also need to reflect. If we always need someone to turn the tide in difficult situations, does that mean we are not doing a good job?

Our system supports the business and should be stable and able to meet the frequent changes and rapid growth of the business.

There is no critical moment, this is the realm we should pursue.

Heroes in times of crisis are valuable, and they have the courage to sacrifice themselves for others. But can we have the courage to shoulder this responsibility before crisis strikes?

Although the two are only different in time, their personal breakthroughs are essentially quite different.

The latter is not only a breakthrough in technical ability, but also a breakthrough in self and psychological barriers.

If we can step forward at this moment and complete the technical improvement, then the next road will go smoother and smoother, and our technical team and system will be slightly ahead. One step at a time in business development.

2 How does a small fish become a big fish?

From the perspective of company development, we have no essence for each other. Conflict of interest.

All technicians and supervisors should have the same direction.

If I do more things in a stable and mature company, I may cause others to do less things, which will create an existential crisis for others.

But we don’t have it now. We have a lot of room. The company provides each of us and every department with a very large space for development to do and grow.

Our staff size is still developing at a high speed. We need everyone to use their full strength to support the company in gaining a larger share of the market and handing over Better results.

But if we start waiting internally, do not take the initiative, or even bargain, it will seriously hinder the development of the company.

The company is like a big pond, and each department is like a small pond. How can we raise big fish if the pond does not get bigger? How do we grow?

Each of us hopes to grow from a small fish to a big fish, so we must work together, be honest with each other, strengthen trust, and move forward together.

Make your small pond bigger and grow from small fish to big fish.

3 If I do it, what should I do if I make a mistake?

If you don’t believe it or don’t dare, that’s a big problem for us. Disadvantages.

We will say: I will do it, what should I do if I make a mistake? What should I do if I mess up?

Do more and make more mistakes, do less and make fewer mistakes. Because if people who do operation and maintenance work less on the system, there will be fewer problems.

Even if there is a problem with the system, there is no responsibility, and there will not be a bunch of people pointing at you and saying, "Look, you must have done something wrong."

Whether we have the courage to do it in the face of other people’s accusations and how we view other people’s mistakes are very important.

In fact, we all grow up by making mistakes. We should encourage him and support him, "Brother, come on, if there is a problem, we will shoulder it together."

As our supervisors, we need to encourage our subordinates more. If you let go and do it, I will take the blame!

Because we have to If you shoulder the responsibility, you may "sacrifice" and problems may arise, but I will bear the "blame" for you, or I will bear it with you.

I will do it. If you can't do this, then go ahead bravely.

Don't worry about it. Don't think that if you stand forward, the people behind you will step back. .

4 The probability of success is directly proportional to "relationship"?

Someone once said to me who was not familiar with me at all:

"We feel that your requirement for all people to do everything is equality and treat everyone equally. It never depends on whether we are a small P or a big P. "

What he said touched me very much. Later I reflected on myself: What was I thinking, what was I saying, what was I doing, should I be more supportive because we have a good relationship?

If the relationship is average, there will be less support? Do I treat everyone the same? Am I doing things based on this principle? This is important.

Whether you can win the trust of others often depends on yourself.

Do you trust others? Do you treat everyone equally? Do you, as always, express one voice and one attitude to everyone?

This is really important. This is the prerequisite for you to win the respect of others.

Many times we complain that the possibility of success in doing something is directly proportional to our relationship with various departments in the company.

Not only Alipay, but also B2B, everyone has this voice. I think we all need to reflect on this issue.

I hope we will reflect on this issue and try to change it. It starts with each other so we can build trust in each other.

5 What’s going on? Does he not want to do it and wants me to do it?

When someone else puts forward an idea or publishes Such a situation may arise when a point of view requires me to do something.

I will wonder in my heart: "What's going on? Does he not want to do it and wants me to do it?"

But if A relationship of trust can be established between people. Even if the other party asks me to do something, based on trust, I will think that it is beneficial to the company and the department, and I should do it.

Then I will fully support him and we will get things done together.

I don’t need to wait, ponder, or pave the way, I just need to embrace and understand.

Are we really so fragile and have no real ability to distinguish? Isn’t there a way for us to build trusting relationships so that we are less in the way of each other?

With our dreams and mission for the company, we take a step forward for the company's ideals.

When partners take a step back, we should express frankly how to do something, how to cooperate with each other, and have a more objective and rational choice.

Team members and supervisors also need to trust each other, use emotions as a bond, and have more exchanges of views on things and people.

If we talk about things in all our work and on all occasions, and the relationship between us and our supervisor is based on things, then we will not be a whole, and it will be even more difficult to communicate. Use our collective fighting power.

6 These people are just messing around and thinking nonsense?

The most distressing thing about development is "working in vain".

In the past, it was a key project and a key product, but now it is no longer the key point. It has changed direction and purpose. This is the price paid in the growth process.

I will feel very sad if the things I worked so hard to create last year are finally abandoned.

In fact, implementation is the simplest and easiest. Making decisions is much harder than executing.

What kind of products to make and what goals to achieve are far more difficult than technology.

In the past, I was in the technical department, working with product designers and PD, and everyone put themselves in the shoes of others to think about this issue.

A few days ago I heard that people from the B2B product department invited people from the technology department to witness the product discussion process. The people in the technical department finally said: "The PD guys are quite good and capable."

But what did they think before? They said: "This gang Everyone is just messing around and thinking!” Because we don’t understand, and the prerequisite for not understanding is that we don’t understand each other, and there is asymmetric information between us.

7 The so-called strategy is the ability to quickly correct errors in the process of continuous trial and error!

When every company develops at a high speed, the path is It is tortuous and there must be no precedent to follow.

If a road is fixed, can be pursued, and can be followed in a pattern, then we ask, what else is needed for success? It should be people and funds.

As long as people and funds invest here and follow this path, can we succeed?

Impossible. There are thousands of startup companies, but only a few are successful.

When these companies succeed, we will say what model they have developed. We talk about the IBM model, Huawei model, and now there are people outside studying the Alibaba model.

However, has anyone been able to see this path clearly before? Can Jack Ma understand? I don’t understand it at all!

The so-called strategy is the ability to quickly correct errors in the process of continuous trial and error.

We must have the ability to constantly try and make mistakes, quickly correct mistakes, unite people, and move forward together.

For our group, we have the same beliefs and mission.

But can most of us really feel this mission personally? This is not necessarily the case.

But one thing is, we believe in the company and Jack Ma. If you believe him, just follow him. We will do whatever he says.

Even if we are wrong, Jack Ma will lead us to adjust to a good path. In the end, we have walked for ten years, and we will continue to follow this principle and move forward in the future.

8 Alipay is a tough battle

Alipay has many long-term ideals. To achieve such goals is like fighting a tough battle.

Let’s charge forward together. There may be traps on the ground and bullets in front of us. How can we charge? How to fight?

So we started to wait and see and bargain. This group waited for that group to rush forward. When the enemy had finished shooting and the comrades were exposed, we would follow up.

Everyone is afraid, waiting for others to go first, watching each step.

In fact, we wasted our time fighting, waiting for the enemy to destroy us.

Only when each of us and every team tries our best to rush forward, discovers deficiencies and flaws in the formation during the charge, adjusts on the ground, and bravely takes up positions.

Only in such an atmosphere can this war be won.

Similarly, although we feel that we account for more than half of the current payment market, this field is still in the early stages of rapid growth, and the future market is huge.

Even if we develop at a stable rate, what about the fast-growing market outside?

If we cannot capture it, others will definitely come in.

Therefore, the spirit of fighting against difficulties is the guarantee to support the rapid development of our Alipay business.

9 Apply what you learn, break through yourself and influence others

We technicians must apply what we learn and have the courage to take responsibility , to break through yourself you also need to influence others.

Every person and every field is such a process. Apply what you learn, break through yourself, and influence others.

I hope everyone can think about this issue seriously and think about what each of us should do, starting from me and starting from now.

Do what you want to do, and then communicate more with other people and collide with others more. Through this process, you can summarize, summarize, refine, and be sublimated.

So, I find some reasons for myself to talk about life and ideals. I hope to see how everyone thinks about the problem.

Each of us has our own standards, but others don’t recognize you so much? How can we break through this dilemma?

This is why I want to talk about trust. This is a problem we must solve. Only in this way can we support the company to move forward healthily.