First, allow me to share a short story: A fisherman once rowed out to sea to fish. As he rowed, he carefully observed the bubbles on the water's surface, for his father had told him that many bubbles indicated a school of fish below. Suddenly, he spotted a patch of bubbles that looked just like the carp bubbles his father had often described. So, he picked up his net and prepared to cast it. But just as he was about to cast, he began to hesitate. He felt that he shouldn't cast his net recklessly before confirming whether there really were fish in the water. But how could he truly confirm whether there was a school of carp below? To find out, he decided to jump into the water to see for himself. When he dove to the bottom, he saw that there was indeed a large school of fish, so he immediately climbed back onto the boat and cast his net. Strangely, when he hauled the net in, it was empty—not even a single small fish. He was baffled, unable to understand how such a carefully cast net could catch nothing. I believe all of you smart readers have already figured out the mystery. In fact, while he was jumping into the water and climbing back onto the boat, the fish had already been startled and fled. This ridiculous fisherman didn't realize that casting his net would have immediately told him whether there were fish, but instead he had to jump in to see for himself. His tragedy lay in not knowing that in ambiguous situations, one must boldly rely on intuition to try, and the result of the attempt is precisely the best evidence to verify whether the initial intuition was correct. When you urge such people to act, they always reply, "Let's wait until we understand clearly" or "Let's wait until conditions are ripe." In their daily speech, the most common phrases are "You're right, but it's hard to do in practice" and "What you say is all true, but it depends on the conditions." They always use these seemingly reasonable and logical words as excuses for not acting immediately. As a result, they constantly miss good opportunities. They don't understand that although action depends on conditions, conditions are constantly changing and gradually maturing in the dynamic process. If you insist on waiting until conditions are fully ripe, then by the time everything is clear, you will have lost your chance. How many great figures in history have resolutely forged ahead when conditions were not yet ripe and prospects were not yet clear! If you wait until conditions are fully ripe, prospects are perfectly clear, and everyone can see it, then what's so special or great about that? Will you still have a chance? If you invite someone to partner with you, some people, after basically grasping the situation, will immediately join in with a good feeling. Such people can be said to have boldness and a promising future. Although they may not necessarily win, they know that in business, an opportunity with 100% certainty is no opportunity at all. So, they always invest bravely as long as there is a glimmer of hope. For these brave souls, their success is due less to their extraordinary ability than to their drive and momentum. When Ding Lei founded NetEase, did he already see everything clearly? Although they also try to grasp as much information as possible and hope for more favorable conditions, they know better than to wait for conditions to ripen. For the Autumn Harvest Uprising, the ideal condition would be that the enemy is completely unaware, and when the revolutionary forces charge to the enemy's front, they are still sound asleep. But is that possible? It's like a partnership: if you don't join when the situation is unclear, but wait until you're sure you'll make money before investing, is there such a good thing in the world? In fact, some conditions will never ripen if you don't actively act; only when you keep striving will they gradually mature and become favorable to you. So, the greatness of great people lies in their extraordinary insight, decisiveness, and execution. And the mediocrity of ordinary people lies in their habit of waiting until they understand clearly and until conditions are ripe before acting. To raise a child, parents must feed them countless meals and help them walk countless steps; similarly, for a company to grow and develop, people must do countless things! And some of these things absolutely cannot be postponed until the company grows; rather, they must be done first, and then the company will develop as a result. This is like a young man looking for a partner: can he wait until he has a partner before he starts paying attention to hygiene? But some people think the opposite, believing that advanced concepts only apply to large enterprises or famous brands; they don't understand that it's not because they are large enterprises or famous brands that they have these advanced concepts, but precisely because they applied these concepts that they gradually grew from unknown small enterprises into famous large ones. When Huawei was just founded, it is said that there were only seven people in total, and they all slept on the company floor together. Under such conditions, Ren Zhengfei still managed to accomplish one extraordinary thing after another. That is why Ren Zhengfei qualifies as a business superstar. What about Ningbo's Bird? Did Bird start with assets of hundreds of millions? Was Bird already a nationally renowned brand from the start? Didn't it develop step by step, from small to large? How many of the now-popular big brands and enterprises in China started from family workshops! They were able to leap to become tycoons because they dared to try, dared to lead, and dared to be first; while you are still stuck in the family workshop crowd and haven't gotten rich because you don't dare to take any risks, insisting on waiting until things are clear and conditions are ripe. In fact, any well-known brand is built up from many "firsts" accumulated over time. It's like a comprehensive exam: the more single-subject firsts you get, the greater your chance of getting the overall first. Similarly, a company can only gradually develop into a well-known large enterprise after creating many "firsts." For example, either be the first to invest, or the first to retreat; either have the best quality, or the best price; either have the most goods, or the most outlets; either be the top in production, or the top in sales; even just being the first in a single product category in a small region can make you a wealthy boss. And to strive for first place, you must take certain risks. The great leader Deng Xiaoping once said, we must boldly cross the river by feeling the stones. Because no one has ever crossed this river before; everyone is crossing for the first time, no one knows the depth, no one has experience, and the enemy is about to catch up, so we have to cross by feeling the stones. Crossing the river by feeling the stones certainly involves risks; if not done well, you might be wiped out like Shi Dakai. But can you wait until the river recedes, or until you've measured everything accurately, before crossing? Obviously, you can't wait. So, crossing the river by feeling the stones requires wisdom, and even more courage! The meaning of Deng Xiaoping's words was to encourage people to boldly try when the situation is unclear, the prospects are uncertain, and conditions are not yet ripe. The key points are the word "feel" and the word "cross." Whether you can feel, and feel accurately, is a technical issue; solving technical issues requires wisdom. But whether you dare to cross is a matter of courage! Of course, it doesn't mean that anything can be done successfully with courage alone, nor does it mean that you can act boldly at any time without waiting for conditions to ripen. If you act recklessly without regard for anything, that's not "crossing the river by feeling the stones," but "crossing the river with a stone in your arms." You must first grasp when to wait patiently and when to act boldly. How to master the balance? This requires drawing on our own past experience, and even the lessons of others, ancient and modern, Chinese and foreign. For anything that, based on the information we have and our rich experience and knowledge, feels like it should be acted on immediately, I advise you not to wait, not to hesitate, but to act immediately. Of course, as I said, acting immediately doesn't guarantee victory. But at least we'll have one more chance. Moreover, perhaps because of this one struggle, the situation will develop in a favorable direction! But if you keep waiting, you will find it hard to have opportunities for development. -END-