And each one was looking for money.

每個都在找錢。

As a tech investor, my goal was to sort through everyone that I met and make a quick determination about which ones had the potential to make something really big.

身為技術行業的投資者，我的目標是將遇到的每個人分類，快速地判斷哪些人可能會做出大事業。

But what makes a great founder?

偉大的創業家有什麼特質？

This is a question I ask myself daily.

我每天自問這個問題。

Some venture capitalists place bets based on a founder's previous background.

一些風險投資家根據創始人之前的背景下注。

Did they go to an Ivy League school?

他們是常春藤盟的校友嗎？

Have they worked at a blue-chip company?

他們曾在藍籌公司工作過嗎？

Have they built out a big vision before?

他們曾否建立過偉大的願景？

Effectively, how smart is this person?

這個人實際上有多聰明？

Other VCs assess a founder's emotional quotient, or EQ.

其他風險投資家評估創始人的情商 (EQ)。

How well will this person build teams and build rapport across customers and clients?

這人如何建立團隊，如何在客戶間建立融洽的關係？

I have a different methodology to assess start-up founders, though, and it's not complicated.

我用不同的方法來評估初創公司的創始人，方法並不複雜。

I look for signs of one specific trait.

我尋找某個特定的特徵。

Not IQ, not EQ.

不是智商 (IQ) 也不是情商 (EQ)。

It's adaptability: how well a person reacts to the inevitability of change, and lots of it.

而是適應性：人對必然發生的很多變化如何應變。

That's the single most important determinant for me.

這對我來說是最重要的決定因素。

I subscribe to the belief that adaptability itself is a form of intelligence, and our adaptability quotient, or AQ, is something that can be measured, tested and improved.

我認為適應性本身就是一種智力形式，我們的適應性商 (AQ) 可被測量、測試和改進。

AQ isn't just useful for start-up founders, however.

然而， AQ 不僅對初創公司創始人有用。

I think it's increasingly important for all of us.

我認為它對每個人都越來越重要。

Because the world is speeding up.

原因是世界正在加速。

We know that the rate of technological change is accelerating, which is forcing our brains to react.

我們知道科技正在加速變革，迫使我們的大腦做出反應。

Whether you're navigating changing job conditions brought on by automation, shifting geopolitics in a more globalized world, or simply changing family dynamics and personal relationships.

無論是自動化所帶來的工作條件改變，或是劇變的泛全球化地緣政治，還是僅僅家庭動態和個人關係的改變。

Each of us, as individuals, groups, corporations and even governments are being forced to grapple with more change than ever before in human history.

每個人、團體、企業甚至政府，人人都被迫應對人類史上前所未有的變化。

So, how do we assess our adaptability?

那麼，如何評估適應性？

I use three tricks when meeting with founders.

在與創始人會面時，我使用了三個技巧。

Here's the first.

這是第一個。

Think back to your most recent job interview.

回想一下您最近的面試。

What kind of questions were you asked?

您被問了什麼問題？

Probably some variation of, "Tell me about a time when," right?

「告訴我某一回......」之類的，對吧？

Instead, to interview for adaptability, I like to ask "what if" questions.

來面試其適應性，然而，我喜歡問「如果」的問題。

What if your main revenue stream were to dry up overnight?

如果您的主要收入來源在一夜之間乾涸了，怎麼辦？

What if a heat wave prevented every single customer from being able to visit your store?

如果熱浪迫使得客戶都不能去您的商店，怎麼辦？

Asking "what if," instead of asking about the past, forces the brain to simulate, to picture multiple possible versions of the future.

詢問「如果」而不是詢問過去和想像未來的多個可能版本，迫使大腦模擬。

The strength of that vision, as well as how many distinct scenarios someone can conjure, tells me a lot.

這眼光的力量和那人能想出多少不同的情境，給我許多資訊。

Practicing simulations is a sort of safe testing ground for improving adaptability.

模擬是個安全地提高適應力的練習場。

Instead of testing how you take in and retain information, like an IQ test might, it tests how you manipulate information, given a constraint, in order to achieve a specific goal.

它不測試如何接收和保留訊息，那是 IQ 測驗做的，而是測試如何在既定限制的情況下操縱訊息，以實現特定目標。

The second trick that I use to assess adaptability in founders is to look for signs of unlearning.

我評估創始人適應性的第二個技巧是尋找「忘卻」 (unlearning) 的特徵。

Active unlearners seek to challenge what they presume to already know, and instead, override that data with new information.

積極的忘卻者挑戰已知，用新的訊息覆蓋這些已知。

Kind of like a computer running a disk cleanup.

有點像清理電腦的硬碟。

Take the example of Destin Sandlin, who programed his bicycle to turn left when he steered it right and vice versa.

以德斯坦．桑德林為例，他把自行車改裝成 把手向右時車會向左轉，反之亦然。

He called this his Backwards Brain Bike, and it took him nearly eight months just to learn how to ride it kind of, sort of normally.

他稱之「反向腳踏車」，花了將近八個月的時間來學習自在地騎它。

The fact that Destin was able to unlearn his regular bike in favor of a new one, though, signals something awesome about our adaptability.

德斯坦能夠忘卻常規的自行車，改騎新自行車的事實，表明我們有令人驚嘆的適應力。

It's not fixed.

適應力並非固定不變。

Instead, each of us has the capacity to improve it, through dedication and hard work.

而是我們每個人都能通過專注和努力來改善它。

On the last page of Gandhi's autobiography, he wrote, "I must reduce myself to zero."

甘地在自傳的最後一頁寫道：「我必須把自己減到零。」

At many points in his very full life, he was still seeking to return to a beginner's mindset, to zero.

他在充實非凡的一生中仍然處處尋求回歸初學者的心態，回歸到零。

To unlearn.

要忘卻。

In this way, I think it's pretty safe to say Gandhi had a high AQ score.

通過這種方式，我認為甘地的 AQ 得分一定很高。

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

The third and final trick that I use to assess a founder's adaptability is to look for people who infuse exploration into their life and their business.

我評估創始人適應性的第三個也是最後一個技巧是尋找那些把新探索 (exploration ) 注入生活和事業的人。

There's a sort of natural tension between exploration and exploitation.

在新探索和利用資源 (exploitation) 有一種自然緊繃的關係。

And collectively, all of us tend to overvalue exploitation.

總的來說，之間我們全都傾向於高估利用資源。

Here's what I mean.

我的意思如下。

In the year 2000, a man finagled his way into a meeting with John Antioco, the CEO of Blockbuster, and proposed a partnership to manage Blockbuster's fledgling online business.

一名男子在 2000 年與百視達首席執行長約翰．安迪科會面，他提議以一項合作夥伴的關係來管理百視達剛起步的線上業務。

The CEO John laughed him out of the room, saying, "I have millions of existing customers and thousands of successful retail stores. I really need to focus on the money."

執行長約翰趕他出去，嘲笑他說：「我現有數百萬客戶和數千家成功的零售店，我真得專注於賺錢。」

The other man in the meeting, however, turned out to be Reed Hastings, the CEO of Netflix.

而另名男子竟然是網飛的首席執行長里德．哈斯廷斯。

In 2018, Netflix brought in 15.8 billion dollars, while Blockbuster filed for bankruptcy in 2010, directly 10 years after that meeting.

網飛在 2018 年賺進 158 億美元，而百視達在 2010 年申請破產，正是該會議 10 年之後。

The Blockbuster CEO was too focused on exploiting his already successful business model, so much so that he couldn't see around the next corner.

百視達首席執行長太過專注於把資源用在已經成功的商業模式上，以至於看不見下一個轉角。

In that way, his previous success became the enemy of his adaptability potential.

因此，他之前的成功成為他適應的潛在敵人。

For the founders that I work with, I frame exploration as a state of constant seeking.

對於與我合作的創始人，我將新探索視為一種不斷尋求的狀態。

To never fall too far in love with your wins but rather continue to proactively seek out what might kill you next.

永遠不要太愛惜您的勝利，而是積極地繼續尋找接下來可能會取您而代之的東西。

When I first started exploring adaptability, the thing I found most exciting is that we can improve it.

剛開始探索適應性時，我發現最令人興奮的是能夠改進它。

Each of us has the capacity to become more adaptable.

我們每個人都能變得更能適應。

But think of it like a muscle: it's got to be exercised.

但是把它想像成一塊肌肉：必須鍛煉它。

And don't get discouraged if it takes a while.

如果需要一段時間鍛煉，不要氣餒。

Remember Destin Sandlin?

還記得德斯坦．桑德林嗎？

It took him eight months just to learn how to ride a bike.

花了八個月才學會騎那輛自行車。

Over time, using the tricks that I use on founders -- asking "what if" questions, actively unlearning and prioritizing exploration over exploitation can put you in the driver's seat -- so that the next time something big changes, you're already prepared.

隨著時間的推移，使用我在創始人身上使用的技巧——詢問「如果」問題，積極忘卻，和把新探索擺在利用資源的前面，可以讓您坐上駕駛座——那麼下次發生重大變化時，您已經準備好了。

We're entering a future where IQ and EQ both matter way less than how fast you're able to adapt.

我們正在進入一個 IQ 和 EQ 的重要性都遠遜於快速適應力的未來。

So I hope that these tools help you to raise your own AQ.

我希望這些工具可以幫助您 提高自己的 AQ。

Thank you.

謝謝。

(Applause)

(掌聲)