I’m a big fan ofsimplicity, whether it’s about strategy and innovation or personal productivity. In acomplex world, there’s no use making things more difficult than they need to be.

我十分崇尚简约，无论是在战略和创新领域还是个人生产率方面都是如此。在原本就纷繁复杂的世界中，进一步增加事情的难度只能适得其反。

It’s just so easy tocomplicate things —even I am guilty. But in reality, there are three questions I’ve used inconsulting with executives that have much wider applicability to all sorts ofproblems people encounter in business and in life.

我们只要一不留神就会把简单的事情搞复杂——就连我本人也难免会犯这样的错误。但在现实生活中，我会使用三个问题来帮助企业高管应对各种状况。这不仅适用于商场，也可以用来解决个人生活中碰到的难题。

At the risk of severe hyperbole, I believethese three questions can help solve any problem. Don’t take my word for it.Try it yourself. Think of any problemyou are dealing with right now — a difficult colleague, changes to your businesswrought by the digital revolution, or even, say, the struggle to get intobetter physical shape —and honestly ask yourself these three questions:

尽管很多人可能认为有些言过其实，但我的确认为这三个问题可以帮助我们应对所有的状况。不要光听我说，应该自己尝试一下。现在就来设想你所遇到的任何一个问题——比如一个难打交道的同事、数字革命给企业带来的变革压力，或者为了塑造更好的体型而遭遇的困惑——然后真诚地回答下面三个问题：

Are you really willing to change what you’ve beendoing?

你真的愿意改变现状吗？

Nothing gets done until you say “YES”to thisquestion. Otherwise, it’s all just talk.

在给予肯定的回答之前，你不会有任何实质性的进展，一切都是纸上谈兵。

Think about it. Companies that struggle toadapt to changing business conditions are held back almost entirely by theirown unwillingness to change. It’s not that companies cannot change, it’s thatthey’re unwilling to do so. Taxi companies the world over have been unwillingto provide better service at a lower price to customers, and so Uber and othershave emerged to take their business away.

试想：很多企业之所以难以适应不断变化的商业环境，完全都是因为他们自己不愿做出改变。并不是因为不能改变，而是因为不愿改变。世界各地的出租车公司都不愿以更低的价格提供更好的服务，给了Uber和其他公司以可乘之机，抢走了他们的生意。

It might take a lot of work, but if you’re notwilling to do it, then stop complaining.

可能要花费很大力气，但如果你不愿着手去做，那就别再抱怨了。

How about your own life? That colleague whois congenitally uncooperative? He’ll keep doing it until he has a reason notto. Are you prepared to take him on? If he works for you, are you prepared toreassign him, or fire him if necessary? It might take a lot of work, but if you’re notwilling to do it, then stop complaining.

你自己的生活又是怎样？那个天生就不愿与人合作的同事呢？他会一直这样下去，直到他找到改变自己的理由。你是否准备与他较量一番？如果他是你的手下，你是否准备重新给他分配工作，或者在必要时炒他鱿鱼？可能要花费很大力气，但如果你不愿着手去做，那就别再抱怨了。

The company trapped in an analogue worldwhen everything is now digital? Consider Facebook: the social giant was willingto shift from desktop application to mobile, and is now generating as much as80% of its revenue from mobile. There are lots of reasons companies don’t change inthe face of massive challenge, but I’d put theirunwillingness to do so at the top of the list.

在当今这个数字化时代里，那些受困于模拟世界的公司又当如何是好？想想Facebook 吧：这家社交网络巨头当初主动从桌面应用向移动平台转移，它如今的营收有80%都来自移动端。面对巨大的挑战，企业有很多不主动求变的理由，但在我看来，最主要的原因还是没有变革的意愿。

By this point, you should be able toconnect the dots on the third example: improving your physical health. And deepdown I bet most of us know it, too. Despite all the excuses we come up with —too busy, we don’t really have a problem, I’ll get to it later —the reasonwe choose not to go to the gym or select a healthier diet is because we don’t reallywant to.

到此时，你应该可以把第三个例子中的各个要点串联起来：怎样才能改善身体健康水平？我打赌多数人的内心都知道原因。尽管我们总会找到各种理由——工作太忙、身体还没有出现什么异样、以后再说——但我们之所以不去健身房，或者没有选择更健康的饮食，真正的原因是我们并非真想这么做。

All of us — individuals and companies alike— could be well on our way to better personal and corporate health if we werewilling to recognise that things could be better and have the guts to dosomething about it. There is no replacement for the courage to say yes.

无论是个人还是公司，只要我们承认情况可以好转，而且有勇气做些事情，便可改善个人和公司的健康状况。想要做到这一点，必须要鼓足勇气给出肯定的回答，除此之外别无选择。