The question that saved my company from bankruptcy - Sharon Price John

那个拯救我公司免于破产的问题——莎伦·普莱斯·约翰

You're listening to TED Talks Daily where we bring you new ideas to spark your curiosity every day. I'm your host Elise Hu. When Sharon Price John, the CEO of Build-A-Bear Workshop, first took over the organization, it was nearing bankruptcy. In her talk, she shares how rediscovering the company's true purpose, not for products or profits, but adding a little more heart to life, became the unlikely engine for a major global turnaround. She asks: In our own organizations and lives, are we willing to, quote, "look past the stuffing and find the purpose that makes everything come alive?"

欢迎收听TED每日演讲，我们每天为您带来激发好奇的新想法。我是主持人艾丽斯·胡。当Build-A-Bear Workshop的首席执行官莎伦·普莱斯·约翰最初接管这家公司时，它正濒临破产。在她的演讲中，她分享了如何重新发现公司真正的目标——无关产品或利润，而是为生活增添更多心意——这成为一个出人意料的引擎，推动了全球性的重大转型。她问道：在我们自己的组织与生活中，我们是否愿意“越过表象，找到让一切焕发生机的目标”？

Do you know your organization's true purpose? Many people say it's shareholder value, the products you make or the services you provide. But it's much, much more than that. It's like what really makes your company's heartbeat. Well, in today's complex world, shouldn't we all be thinking about that? I know I had to when I became the CEO of Build-A-Bear Workshop.

你知道你组织的真正目标吗？许多人会说那是股东价值、制造的产品或提供的服务。但它远不止于此。它就像真正让你公司心跳的东西。在当今复杂的世界里，我们不是都应该思考这个问题吗？我知道当我成为Build-A-Bear Workshop的CEO时，我必须这样做。

Back in 2013, I was asked to take the helm of this mall-based "make your own stuffed animal" retail company for kids from the beloved founder. 2012 had been the worst year in the company's history, having lost $50 million. 20% of the stores were not turning a profit. The team had struggled for eight years in the wake of the recession, mall traffic declines, the rise of the digital economy. Well, bankruptcy was a real threat.

早在2013年，我应深受爱戴的创始人之邀，接手领导这家以商场为基础、面向儿童的“自制毛绒玩具”零售公司。2012年是公司历史上最糟糕的一年，亏损了5000万美元。20%的门店没有盈利。在经济衰退、商场客流量下降和数字经济兴起的冲击下，团队已苦苦挣扎了八年。破产是实实在在的威胁。

So shortly after I got there, I brought the whole organization together to share my textbook turnaround plans, that of course included cost cutting, store closures and maybe some layoffs. But I was met with skeptical stares in silence. Wow, don't they get it? I mean, the world had changed a lot since 1997 when Build-A-Bear was started. But it was almost like they were afraid to change. But why?

因此，我到任后不久，便将整个组织召集起来，分享我教科书式的转型计划，其中当然包括削减成本、关闭门店，或许还有一些裁员。但我面对的是沉默中怀疑的目光。他们难道不明白吗？我是说，自1997年Build-A-Bear创立以来，世界已经发生了巨大变化。但他们似乎害怕改变。为什么？

Frustrated, I turned to the crowd and I said, "Does it matter if Build-A-Bear exists?" Now, before you answer that question, you might need to know just a little bit more. Build-A-Bear was a pioneer in experiential retail, so when you go to a store, you go through a process. That process includes first picking out an unstuffed furry friend, but then, with the help of a Bear Builder, you're able to go through a personalized stuffing experience.

沮丧之下，我转向众人说道：“Build-A-Bear的存在是否重要？”在回答这个问题之前，你可能需要了解更多一点。Build-A-Bear是体验式零售的先驱，因此当你走进一家门店，你会经历一个过程。这个过程首先包括挑选一个未填充的毛绒朋友，然后，在“造熊师”的帮助下，你可以体验个性化的填充过程。

So that stuffing experience also includes a very special heart ceremony. With this heart, you bring your teddy bear to life. And you go through an informal but very fun experience of placing some attributes on your bear, like maybe making him stronger or making him smarter, maybe always have your back or in your heart. But then there's a very emotional process that's very memorable and you put a wish on the heart that ends with a kiss and it goes inside your bear often, along with a personalized recorded message. Then you get to dress it, name it and get your birth certificate.

这个填充体验还包括一个非常特别的心愿仪式。通过这颗心，你赋予你的泰迪熊生命。你会经历一个非正式但非常有趣的环节，为你的熊赋予一些特质，比如让它更强壮或更聪明，也许让它永远支持你或在你心中。但随后是一个令人难忘的、充满情感的过程：你将一个心愿放在这颗心上，最后亲吻一下，通常这颗心会放入熊体内，同时伴有一份个性化的录音留言。然后你可以为它穿衣、取名并获取出生证明。

Now these experiences are woven into millions of childhood memories. And they're a part of multigenerational family lore for everything from birthday celebrations to graduations to wedding proposals and birth announcements. So Build-A-Bear is a lot more than a place. In fact, Build-A-Bear is often used for the Red Cross to provide teddy bears to people who need comfort in natural disasters, for parents who are grieving the loss of a child, and even for children who are suffering from illness.

如今，这些体验已融入数百万人的童年记忆。它们成为多代家庭传统的一部分，涉及从生日庆祝、毕业典礼、求婚到出生公告等一切。因此，Build-A-Bear远不止是一个场所。事实上，Build-A-Bear常被红十字会用于在自然灾害中为需要安慰的人们提供泰迪熊，也为痛失爱子的父母，甚至为患病儿童提供慰藉。

So, not only are we so much more than a place. We're a feeling. Build-A-Bear is a feeling based on memorable moments, and it's for people of all ages. So when I asked the team, "Does it matter if Build-A-Bear exists?" Of course they said yes, but it wasn't because of my textbook turnaround plans. It was because they already understood deeply what I just shared with you. And what I was telling them made them fearful that I was going to rip the heart out of the company they had created.

所以，我们远不止是一个场所。我们是一种感受。Build-A-Bear是一种基于难忘时刻的感受，它服务于所有年龄层的人。因此，当我问团队：“Build-A-Bear的存在是否重要？”他们当然说“是”，但原因并非我那教科书式的转型计划。而是因为他们早已深刻理解我刚刚分享的内容。而我告诉他们的计划让他们担心，我会将他们所创公司的“心”撕裂。

So that let me know that before they were going to go on this journey with me, they needed to know where my heart was and I needed to share plans that were based on our true purpose. And we need to find something that we could all believe in. As much as people believed in the wishes on these hearts.

这让我明白，在他们愿意与我同行这段旅程之前，他们需要知道我的心意所在，而我也需要分享基于我们真实目标的计划。我们需要找到我们都能相信的东西，就像人们相信这些熊心中的愿望一样。

Well, that led to a new and inspirational mission statement: "We add a little more heart to life." And, yes, missions should be big. And it created a strategy for us that was based on something that we had already organically become. Build-A-Bear was already more than its original vision. We just needed a business plan to profitably unlock that value.

于是，这引出了一个全新而鼓舞人心的使命宣言：“我们为生活增添更多心意。”是的，使命应当宏大。它为我们制定了一项战略，该战略基于我们已经自然形成的特质。Build-A-Bear早已超越了其最初的愿景。我们只需要一个能盈利地释放这种价值的商业计划。

So with that, the team was able to go through the tedious process of turnaround and return to some operational excellence because it was just a step in becoming something more. But with heart. So you're probably wondering, did it work? Well, we returned to profitability that very year.

因此，团队得以经历繁琐的转型过程并恢复卓越运营，因为这仅仅是迈向更高目标的一步，而且是带着“心意”的一步。你或许想知道，这成功了吗？就在那一年，我们恢复了盈利。

But more importantly, the new strategy helped us recognize that we were not trapped in the mall-based retail that had created us. So we opened in more places we understood, where people were now going for fun and entertainment like tourist locations, hospitality, everything from cruise ships to amusement parks to resorts. And now we're in over 30 countries around the world. With virtually all of our stores profitable, we embraced the digital economy.

但更重要的是，新战略帮助我们认识到，我们并未局限于最初孕育我们的商场零售模式。因此，我们在更多我们了解的地方开设门店，人们如今为了娱乐和休闲前往这些地方，如旅游景点、酒店业，从游轮、游乐园到度假村。如今我们的业务遍布全球30多个国家。在几乎所有门店都盈利的同时，我们拥抱了数字经济。

By opening a brand new website that was focused on more categories like gifting and collectibles, and that took our web business from less than five percent of total sales to somewhere between 15-20% of total sales. And that led us to recognize that we could target more people. That multigenerational aspect that I was sharing helped us to understand that teens and adults were a real target market for us. And we happened to figure that out right at the beginning of a trend called "kidulting" — yeah, that's a real thing.

通过推出一个专注于礼品和收藏品等更多品类的新网站，我们的线上业务从占总销售额不足5%提升至15-20%。这让我们认识到我们可以瞄准更多人群。我提到的多代同堂特性帮助我们理解了青少年和成年人是我们真正的目标市场。而我们恰好在一种名为“Kidulting”（成人童心化）的趋势开始时意识到了这一点——是的，这确实是一种趋势。

And so we doubled the teen and adult business. That is now 40% of our sales. I have to give the team a lot of credit because they gave this a lot of heart and it was 10 years of near bankruptcy, the retail apocalypse, activist investors, Brexit and a global pandemic where we had to shut down all of our stores around the globe in 48 hours and our stock price dropped to an all-time low.

因此，我们将青少年和成人业务翻了一番，目前占我们销售额的40%。我必须高度赞扬团队，因为他们倾注了极大心血。我们经历了十年濒临破产、“零售业末日”、激进投资者、英国脱欧以及一场全球疫情——我们不得不在48小时内关闭全球所有门店，股价跌至历史最低点。

Now, I'm happy to tell you, 250 million furry friends later, and a whole lot of heart ceremonies, we have had four years of record results. And recently, a stock price appreciation of over 2000%. So yeah, a teddy bear company outpacing tech giants like Nvidia, Microsoft. You got to ask, how is that possible? Is there a strategy smart enough to make that happen?

现在，我很高兴地告诉大家，在诞生了2.5亿个毛绒朋友和无数心愿仪式之后，我们已连续四年取得创纪录的业绩。最近，股价涨幅超过2000%。是的，一家泰迪熊公司超越了英伟达、微软这样的科技巨头。你一定会问，这怎么可能？是否有足够聪明的策略来实现这一切？

Well, actually, I have to believe that it all came down to getting in touch with our real purpose, who we really were. And that had to start with heart. Am I seeing skeptical stares and maybe some silence? I know what you're thinking. You're thinking all that heart stuff works for companies like Build-A-Bear. But there's no way starting with heart can be more important than just being smart when it comes to turnarounds in business.

事实上，我相信这一切都归结于触及我们真正的目标，我们真正的本质。而这必须从“心”开始。我是否看到了怀疑的目光，或许还有沉默？我知道你在想什么。你在想所有这些“用心”的东西对像Build-A-Bear这样的公司有效。但在商业转型中，以“心”开始怎么可能比仅仅依靠聪明才智更重要？

Okay. I'll give you that, but I'm going to submit a quote to you widely attributed to Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th President of the United States: "Nobody cares how much you know, until they know how much you care." Really, no matter how brilliant you are, what your big ideas, your financial acumen. If nobody's going to put their heart into your concepts, it doesn't really matter, does it?

好吧。我承认这点，但我想引用一句广为流传、出自美国第26任总统西奥多·罗斯福的话：“没人在意你知道多少，直到他们知道你有多在乎。”真的，无论你多么才华横溢，你的想法多么宏大，你的财务头脑多么敏锐。如果没有人愿意将心投入你的理念，那都无关紧要了，不是吗？

I'll tell you something else. Your heart is the most consistent and the strongest organ in your body. It's also the first to develop, not your brain. So guess what? It really does all start with heart. I'll end with this. Not only can starting with heart change your organization, it can change your life.

我还要告诉你：心脏是你身体中最持久、最强壮的器官。它也是最先发育的器官，而不是大脑。所以你知道吗？一切真的都始于“心”。我以此作为结束：以“心”开始不仅能改变你的组织，也能改变你的生活。

These days, even after I gather all the data and ask everybody and we figure it out — "What's the next big, smart thing we can do?" — I always look in my heart before we make the final decision. I found, personally, that a heart-centric approach to life can unlock remarkable power, immense joy. And in fact, provide clarity and resilience to focus on what is possible, while others are petrified by what is probable.

如今，即使在我收集了所有数据、咨询了所有人并找出“我们接下来能做的最重要、最明智的事情是什么”之后，在做出最终决定前，我总是审视自己的内心。我个人发现，以心为中心的生活方式能释放非凡的力量和巨大的喜悦。事实上，它能在他人被可能发生的事情吓呆时，提供专注于可能之事的清晰度和韧性。

It provides journeys unfolding in amazing ways with extraordinary outcomes, including me being right here today on a TED stage, sharing this story with you. Do you believe your organization can be more? Do you believe you can be more? Well, you're going to have to get to where your power lies. And that's going to require some courage — courage to look inside, maybe past the stuffing, past a few prerecorded voices, find your true purpose.

它让旅程以惊人的方式展开，带来非凡的结果，包括我今天能站在TED讲台上与大家分享这个故事。你相信你的组织可以变得更强大吗？你相信自己可以变得更强大吗？那么，你必须抵达你力量所在之处。而这需要一些勇气——审视内心的勇气，或许要越过表象，越过一些预设的声音，找到你真正的目标。

But that will only come when you're willing to find your own heart. Thank you.

但这只有在你愿意找到自己内心的那一刻才会实现。谢谢。

That was Sharon Price John at TED@BCG in Dubai in 2025.

以上是莎伦·普莱斯·约翰于2025年在迪拜TED@BCG大会上的演讲。