In the era of Internet+, many people with ideas—both ordinary people who were originally unknown and people who were already somewhat well-known—are very aware of the value of 'popularity,' because 'popularity' can be realized in many ways.
So they use every means possible to create all kinds of topics in order to attract public attention to themselves.
After a period of operation, many ordinary people have successfully become 'internet celebrities'. Some have subsequently married wealthy men and become rich wives, while many have opened online shops and become shop owners. It is said that the most successful ones can earn eight-digit incomes a year.
Some others, whether they have positive or negative popularity, can make money faster just by relying on their 'famous' appearance.
For example, 'Guo XX', who single-handedly and easily put a century-old store out of business, can get the income that most people can't earn in a year after just one encounter.
As for those who were already somewhat well-known, they also have all kinds of scandals, all kinds of bundling, all kinds of following the crowd, all kinds of imitations, whether netizens praise or curse them. In short, they often make the headlines of search engines, and have successfully progressed from a second- or third-tier position domestically to being able to boost their reputation internationally.
Amidst the netizens' one-sided jeers, the person being laughed at has already accepted various endorsements until his hands are tired.
What is happening in front of him makes Feng Yiping feel that he has really wasted some years.
It turns out that the tactics he later witnessed were long since played out by people nowadays. It turns out that many people have already realised the importance of "popularity" and have long since been "bundled" in various ways.
In the provincial capital, Feng Yuxuan is in a particularly bad mood today. No one dares to enter her office, and she doesn't answer the phone even when it's ringing. She slams a newspaper down on the table and yells, 'Bullshit!'
There are also several other newspapers lying around on the floor.
In the capital city, a strong sense of indignation fills the office today. In the pantry, a number of employees are discussing the matter angrily.
Jin Ling brought a stack of newspapers to Feng Yiping's desk and said, 'Have a look.'
Feng Yiping flipped through the papers, reading only the headlines, and understood what was going on. "Luckily, my parents are in the village and can't read all these newspapers. Otherwise, with their temperaments, especially my mother's, I'm afraid they would have cursed a lot by now.'
'Aren't you angry at all?" Jin Ling was puzzled. Some of the articles made her quite angry too.
'Angry? That would be playing right into their hands!'
The thing is quite simple. After more and more newspapers reported on Feng Yiping's book, which had already built up a lot of awareness for the Blue Ocean Strategy, some newspapers followed suit with a lot of critical and opposing articles.
To put it bluntly, these were people who were not willing to be left out, determined to seize on this currently popular topic and stir up some awareness for themselves.
The first to fire the salvo was a certain newspaper in the south, which published an article by an 'expert' surnamed Wu. The headline was quite catchy: 'Is it a management monograph or a management novel?'
The article says that the path that Chinese enterprises have taken over the years has confirmed one thing: for most enterprises, the establishment of competitiveness and advantages within the industry is the right path for Chinese enterprises.
Trying to find strategies in areas without competitive confrontation may be suitable for individual 'geniuses' who become famous at a young age without knowing how, but for most enterprises, avoiding competition within the industry is tantamount to suicide. If you cannot establish a competitive advantage in the 'Red Sea', can you believe it can swim in the 'Blue Ocean'?
The author of this monograph is said to have written a novel before, and when writing about the 'Blue Ocean' strategy, he may have written it in the same way as a novel. Therefore, his so-called 'strategy' still remains in the dreams of literary management writers, which is quite similar to searching for the secret manual of peerless martial arts in martial arts novels.
However, corporate strategy and management are not surrealistic. Assuming that our company hires that Feng student for consultation, then his biggest conclusion may be: 'You should quit this job and find an industry with no competitors that can create high value and high profits.'
If a company doesn't want to compete and wants to find a blue ocean, it is just as unrealistic as those people looking for a job with 'high status and low responsibility, lots of money, little work, and close to home.'
The reason why 'Blue Ocean Strategy' is so popular essentially reflects not an enterprising entrepreneurial spirit, but rather a speculative and lazy mindset that seeks to simplify and popularise corporate strategies. It seems to have become a justifiable demand of managers, but I would say that these people should be ashamed of their ignorance.
As for the author, I don't want to say anything, forget it, he is still a child who cannot distinguish between fiction and reality. It is best not to tell him such cruel truths as there is no Santa Claus in the world!
...
Another person surnamed Ma, who claims to be of even greater pedigree, studied abroad for many years, is now the editor-in-chief of a publication, and is also a visiting professor at several universities in the country—not including Tsinghua—as well as a researcher at several institutes with lofty-sounding names.
He also published an article in the newspaper entitled 'Is it wine or poison?'
The title alone is enough to arouse curiosity!
After reading it, Feng Yiping felt that it was no match for the articles in his circle of friends.
'There is a book that has not yet been published in Chinese that has attracted attention from all walks of life. It is regarded by many as the bible of business. I have also spent some time reading it in general. After reading it, I was greatly disappointed. It really lives up to the saying that "great fame is hard to match".
He then went on to discuss three main points: that low profit is the essence of business, and high profit is just an exception; that an infinite blue ocean can never be created within a set period of time, and that it belongs only to a small number of enterprises; and that the blue ocean strategy is strategic opportunism and cowardice.
From this, he concluded that the main idea of the blue ocean strategy may seem like a rare and wonderful wine, but in fact it is just a poison. If it is really implemented universally, it will do infinite harm to Chinese enterprises.
Feng Yiping laughed as he lit the newspaper and said, 'This kind of evaluation really looks up to me. I originally thought that with my small stature, it would be difficult to do something that would cause endless harm.'
There are more than just these people who are not willing to be left out. There are also quite a few "experts" or "scholars" with big names but dubious status who want to step on Feng Yiping and increase their own popularity.
A self-help expert who has just moved to the mainland is just like Ye Liangchen, the Internet celebrity who came after him. This self-help expert, who always refers to himself as 'Teacher Cheng An' or 'Master Cheng', wrote an article saying, 'Blue Ocean Strategy is essentially about evasion. Whether it's being a person or doing business, success is actually very simple and depends on a strong motivation, sufficient reasons and firm beliefs. The power of the mind is infinite.
You are welcome to discuss the science of success with me. I will impart my experience of success to you without reservation. Just five days will equip you with all the qualities of a successful person."
Damn, he almost wrote his contact information at the end.
Another one, Master Qu, who boasts of being "well-versed in Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism," "a master of the application of Chinese studies," "a doctoral supervisor at the National University of the United States," and "a visiting professor at Tsinghua University," probably didn't show off his knowledge of Chinese studies either, for fear that people nowadays can't read classical Chinese.
In plain language in the newspaper, he explained in simple terms, 'This and that strategy, this and that method, all of them are superfluous. How to be a good person, how to be a successful person, how to get things done, how to achieve success, thousands of years ago, our ancestors already pointed it out clearly, which is what I have always advocated, that is, 'people should follow the laws of the earth, the earth should follow the laws of the heavens, the heavens should follow the laws of the Way, and the Way should follow the laws of nature.
Feng Yiping couldn't help spitting out the water in his mouth when he saw this. What the heck is this?
If the first two sayings have some kind of twisted logic, these two definitely weren't sent by a monkey to make fun of people, right? One seems to have supernatural powers, and the other is like a fortune teller sitting on a small stool on the street, telling fortunes!
Jin Ling looked at him and said sincerely, 'You have a big heart.'
When he was feeling a little down, Feng Yiping habitually played the rogue to take advantage of the situation and cheer himself up. He glanced at Jin Ling's chest and said, "Of course, tolerance is the key!'
Jin Ling didn't pick up on the meaning of Feng Yiping's words, so he said, "It's not the rogue that's scary, it's the educated rogue that's scary!'
"So we just let them do whatever they want?'
'Let them prance around for a while. After all, I am now internationally renowned, well-known, young and capable, and there are many more words, but omitted here, an expert! Wouldn't it be giving them too much credit to argue with them one by one? When the time is ripe, I'll just steamroll them all!'
Feng Yiping said these words with a smile the whole time. After he finished, he felt quite good about himself, 'Hey, did you notice, Jinling? I can even handle the heavy lifting with ease now. Amazing, isn't it?'
Looking at him, Jinling really did admire him a little. However, after hearing him brag like that, those feelings immediately disappeared without a trace. She didn't even bother to roll her eyes, and shook her head in frustration.
Meanwhile, in the provincial capital, at the headquarters of the provincial business, the retiring chairman, after reading the newspapers collected by his secretary, which had been reporting on Feng Yiping and his company in recent days, took off his reading glasses and let out a heavy sigh.
He looked again at some data on the computer, as if making up his mind, and pressed the intercom on his desk, 'Ask Vice President Wang to come here for a moment,'