In fact, many problems are about rhythm and efficiency. Without rhythm and efficiency, no matter how good the method, how great the plan, or how strong the team, it is impossible to achieve good results.

In the past ten years, one of the most frustrating things for me is that many people feel very good about themselves, yet they do not value a sense of rhythm or efficiency. They will find all sorts of reasons for their slowness.

Ten years ago, when I was at a certain company, I discovered that the company had problems in this area. When I asked their employees to improve their rhythm and efficiency, I faced their opposition. At the same time, their boss also expressed disagreement, believing that this is not called slowness, but rather a sense of humanity. Their boss thought that even if they needed to speed up, there should be a process, and this process should respect the employees' will. Think about how this mindset can improve rhythm and efficiency.

Let’s not talk about anything else; let me give you a very simple example. What is it? It’s the warehouse manager. This warehouse manager limits the unloading rhythm of the entire team. For example, when a truckload of goods arrives, the warehouse manager has to handle each item personally. Therefore, in the long process of passing the goods through the team, the entire rhythm and efficiency are constrained by this last person.

This may seem like an unimportant phenomenon, but this seemingly unimportant phenomenon reflects the overall operational rhythm of the company. However, when I raised this issue, the boss was dismissive. He didn’t express it clearly, just a sense of indifference. He thought it was unimportant. If this is unimportant, let’s see how they handle other aspects of the business. In other operational areas, we also find that some things are delayed repeatedly.

For example, regarding employee rewards, a reward that should have been fulfilled this month, whether it is a cash reward or a physical reward, is postponed for various reasons. This reward was delayed for about four months. For instance, a bag reward was mentioned, and he said, "Oh, there’s a better bag; let’s find it and buy it." After searching, four months or half a year passed, and then he said, "Oh, here’s your bag." What kind of reward is this? It has no effect as a reward at all! So when such phenomena manifest in various aspects, the overall style, rhythm, and efficiency of the company are completely diminished. Think about your market competitors; they operate at a high rhythm and efficiency, while you are so slow. What use is your great plan?

After all these years, I have found that many companies have similar problems. They have endless meetings, but each meeting fails to solve the problem. A problem is divided into ten meetings, and after ten meetings are confirmed, implementation is postponed again. This delay pushes the implementation to a point where external conditions have changed, and at this time, it is found to be an ineffective plan. Thus, another ten meetings are held to decide on a plan, and then implementation is postponed again, and conditions change again, falling into this boring vicious cycle.

If endless meetings could solve problems, then companies wouldn’t need to operate; they could just hold meetings all day. In fact, meetings are just a way to pass the buck, to bring up some irrelevant issues, and to complicate problems that could be solved quickly. They continuously delay things that could be implemented immediately; meetings are a form of chronic self-sabotage for a company.

Of course, necessary meetings can still exist, but having three to five or even more high-frequency meetings a day is definitely abnormal because there are too few people doing the work and too many people in meetings. Who is going to do the work? Those who implement things at a fast rhythm and high efficiency are overlooked, while the slow-paced, sluggish working style is inherited. How can there be results? How can there be good results?

I once went back to my hometown to visit a fellow villager's company. After entering his company, I did not feel that fast rhythm, that efficiency, or the employees' love for the business. Can there be good performance in such a state? But my fellow villager often tells me that their performance is great. I can only say they are lucky.

Later, I went to a large health company in Guangzhou, which is a subsidiary of a very good enterprise. After entering their company, I also did not feel their fast rhythm, their high efficiency, or the sense of urgency they give off. Upon entering, I found that the overall feeling was one of relaxation. Think about it: in a relaxed atmosphere, can employees maintain a high rhythm and high efficiency? That’s a big question mark. Their business needs to explore the market, and what do we need to explore the market? We need rhythm and efficiency. If this rhythm and efficiency do not exist in the company, will they appear out of nowhere in the market? That’s a big question mark.

So if I enter such a company, I become the odd one out. When running the market, I may become very rhythmic and efficient, but to that group of people, they might say, "Oh, that’s not how you work; it’s not worth it. You’re just getting a dead salary." The market is like this; it’s about internal competition. If you work so hard, what’s the point? They say you’re running too fast, and many people will hold you back, pull you, and tell you not to go so fast. Why? Because the company doesn’t have that gene or culture.

Everyone says that now is an era of internal competition. Everyone says that everyone is competing with each other; platforms are competing, employees are competing, people in the workplace are competing, and even flexible workers are competing. When you say this, you should look at your own rhythm and efficiency, right? This is an era where big fish eat small fish and fast fish eat slow fish. If you keep saying there’s internal competition, it’s because you’re slow, so you feel the competition. You want others to adapt to your slow rhythm, to your dragging operational style, and to make the times stop. Is that possible?

In summary, if a company or an individual entrepreneur has hope, they must be fast-paced and efficient; otherwise, they will definitely be eliminated in the tide of internal competition.

For someone who does not complain, you should be grateful to live in this era. This is a peaceful era; you don’t have to worry about being in a war zone where life cannot be guaranteed.

You should be grateful that you have physical strength and skills. As long as you are not lazy, you can gain opportunities for survival in this society, and even opportunities for development.

You should be grateful for the many opportunities for security. As long as you have a grateful heart, enter the right track, and combine it with your fast rhythm and high efficiency, you will be an invincible presence!

Let’s applaud our today, marvel at our tomorrow, and cheer for those who work hard together!