????他是研究商業戰略的首席教授。她是大放異彩的都會奇幻小說作家，讀者是十幾歲的青少年。他們在一起組成了一對不可思議的父女檔。

????69歲的理查德?魯梅爾特是父親，他從1976年起就任教于加州大學洛杉磯分校的安德森管理學院（UCLA Anderson School of Management）。他的新書《戰略優劣談》（Good Strategy/Bad Strategy）入選了《金融時報》（Financial Times）與高盛年度最佳商業圖書獎的決勝名單。39歲的卡珊德拉?克萊爾（原名：朱迪斯?魯梅爾特）自從2004年來一直在創作系列小說《凡人圣物》（Mortal Instruments）。之前的10年，她為娛樂雜志和小報撰稿，有時也在網上發表同人小說。這套系列小說以紐約為背景，講述勇斗惡魔的Nephilim（又稱暗影獵人）的冒險故事。克萊爾已經賣出超過1,000萬本書，最近還簽下價值1,000萬美元的兩個出版協議。根據系列改編的第一部電影《凡人圣物：白骨之城》（City of Bones）正在多倫多拍攝，明年夏天將由索尼影視公司（Sony Pictures）推出。

????今年夏天，魯梅爾特和克萊爾在《財富》雜志（Fortune）的辦公室接受了戴維?A.卡普蘭的采訪，傾談創造、營銷和父母影響。下面是對話的剪輯版本。

????理查德，您是知名學者，您的著作銷量數以萬計。卡珊德拉，你在通俗讀物的某個細分市場也是名聲顯赫，銷量更大。這兩個職業選擇之間存在什么聯系嗎？

????魯梅爾特：都是遺傳（大笑）。她是我的驕傲。她太優秀了。

????克萊爾：我父親只相信自然選擇，不相信后天培養。

????他在你13歲的時候也這么想嗎？

????魯梅爾特：她13歲的時候，我覺得遺傳不起作用，至少從我這邊沒起作用。

????克萊爾：我覺得父親對我的職業有巨大影響。作為藝術家，不管是同行、經紀人、出版商，還是社會，大家都鼓勵你不要去考慮金錢、戰略，不要去想著如何規劃職業，如何樹立自己的品牌，而是認為我們就應該專注于藝術本身。

????于是，你的父親讓你把自己當作一個公司來經營？

????克萊爾：對！我成長的過程中一直在聽他探討戰略和管理。當然我也讀過他寫的書。他一再跟我強調，有戰略的人必然勝過沒有戰略的人。所以不管遇到什么情況，我的第一反應就是問：“那么，有什么戰略嗎？”對一個作家而言，這很不尋常。

????魯梅爾特：有一種典型的失敗戰略，就是有野心但沒計劃。朱迪讀了那本書稿的某個章節。幾周之后，她告訴我：“有次我的出版商說，‘我們對你的下一本書充滿期望’。”她接茬說：“那么你們有什么打算……？”

????克萊爾：我們在董事會議室談話。出版商【西蒙舒斯特（Simon & Schuster）】說：“我們計劃提高你的知名度，增加銷量。”我就問：“你們有什么具體的計劃來實現這一點嗎？”他們回答：“呃，我們會讓這本書得到更多關注，多賣幾本。”

????他們沒有計劃少賣幾本？

????魯梅爾特：他們只提出目標，而不是行動計劃。她對此分得很清楚。

????He's a leading professor of business strategy. She's a wildly successful author of urban fantasy novels for teenagers. Together, they're one of the more unusual father-daughter pairings.

????Richard Rumelt, 69, is the dad. He's been at the UCLA Anderson School of Management since 1976. His Good Strategy/Bad Strategy was shortlisted for the 2011 Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year. Cassandra Clare (born: Judith Rumelt), 39, has been writing the Mortal Instruments series since 2004—following a decade of writing for entertainment magazines and tabloids, and occasional posting of fan fiction online. Set in modern New York City, the series centers on the adventures of the demon-fighting Nephilim (also called Shadowhunters). Clare has sold more than 10 million books and recently signed two multi-book deals for $10 million. The first Mortal Instruments movie, City of Bones, is shooting in Toronto and will be out next summer from Sony Pictures (SNE).

????Rumelt and Clare talked to David A. Kaplan at Fortune's offices this summer about creativity, marketing, and parental influence. Below is an edited transcript of their conversation.

????Richard, you're a well-known academic and have sold tens of thousands of books. Cassandra, you're a well-known author for a certain segment of the mass market—and have sold even more books. Is there a connection between the two careers?

????RUMELT: It's all genetics [laughter]. I'm very proud of her. She's blossomed fantastically.

????CLARE: My father is a big believer in nature over nurture.

????Did he think that way when you were 13?

????RUMELT: When she was 13, I thought it wasn't genetics—or at least not my side of the family.

????CLARE: I think that there's an enormous amount that my father has influenced in my career. We as artists are actively encouraged—by other authors, your agent, publisher, and society—not to think about money, strategy, how to manage your career, how to create a brand, because we're supposed to focus on the art.

????So, your father helped you to think of yourself as, well, a corporation?

????CLARE: Yes! I grew up listening to him talk about strategy and management. I've read his book obviously. And he's always pressed upon me that the person who had a strategy is going to win out over the person who doesn't. So when I come into a situation, my immediate question is, "Well, what's the strategy?" And I think that's unusual for a writer.

????RUMELT: One kind of bad strategy is where people have aspirations, but no plans. And Judy read one of my chapters on that in draft form. A couple weeks later, she told me, "Well, my publisher said, 'We have high hopes for your next book.'" And she said, "And you're going to – ?"

????CLARE: We were in the boardroom. The publisher [Simon & Schuster] said, "Our plan is to raise the profile and increase the sales." And I said, "What are your concrete plans to achieve that?" They said, "Well, we're going to get the book more attention and sell more copies."

????As opposed to a plan to sell fewer copies?

????RUMELT: They were naming goals instead of actions. She gets that sensibility of distinguishing between the two.