????我們旅行了大概4萬多英里，采訪了幾十位企業(yè)高管。我們既訪問了一些擁有豐富的成功經(jīng)驗、實干的文化、以及持續(xù)頂線增長歷史的企業(yè)，也訪問了那些正面臨一定的困難、正處在增長曲線不同節(jié)點上的企業(yè)。我們的訪問對象既包括IBM和聯(lián)合利華（Unilever）這樣的大企業(yè)，也包括Method 和Innocent這樣名不見經(jīng)傳的小公司【后者是可口可樂（Coco-Cola）旗下的一家飲料公司】。我們花很多時間研究了路易斯威爾—斯拉格（Louisville Slugger，美國棒球裝備品牌——譯注）、汽車網(wǎng)站Edmunds.com和日本網(wǎng)購巨頭樂天集團(tuán)（Rakuten）的成功秘訣，另外也訪問了像探索通信公司（Discovery Communications）、財捷（Intuit）和摩托羅拉解決方案（Motorola Solutions）等創(chuàng)新型公司。在接下來的幾周里，我們將分享我們探索到的經(jīng)驗，把它根據(jù)不同的主題奉獻(xiàn)給大家。

????We traveled roughly 40,000 miles interviewing dozens of senior leaders. We visited companies that have growth heritages and can-do cultures and consistent track records of top-line success. But we also sought out companies that are facing headwinds and are at different points on the growth curve. We met with established giants like IBM (IBM) and Unilever (UL) and upstarts like Method and Innocent, a drinks business now part of Coca-Cola (KO). We spent time inside mighty market leaders like Louisville Slugger, Edmunds.com and online shopping giant Rakuten. We also visited innovative stalwarts like Discovery Communications (DISCA), Intuit (INTU), and Motorola Solutions (MSI).

????In the weeks ahead, we'll share what we discovered, and we'll organize the lessons by several themes or topics.

????我們實地研究訪問得出的一條經(jīng)驗是，永遠(yuǎn)不要忽視最基本的東西。比如，Method作為一家非常注重環(huán)保的清潔產(chǎn)品公司就非常清楚這個道理。這家企業(yè)的管理也同樣基于理念，它把自己的第一個生產(chǎn)車間放在了芝加哥的南邊，而且它有一個225英尺高的風(fēng)能廣告牌，在打廣告的同時還為工廠提供了電力。

????我們還注意到，將一個公司的理念提取后，編成朗朗上口的故事講給顧客和員工也是很重要的。比如路易斯威爾—斯拉格的口號是“成就球員”，汽車網(wǎng)站Edmunds.com擅長的是“讓生活中的重大決定變簡單”，這些都是擅于講故事的例子。成功從摩托羅拉的困局中脫圍的數(shù)碼通訊和電信設(shè)備公司摩托羅拉解決方案也是一樣，它的口號和它講的每個故事的核心就是“我們幫人們在重要的時刻完美表現(xiàn)”。

????我們認(rèn)為在《財富》上刊登的系列文章能進(jìn)一步幫助企業(yè)領(lǐng)導(dǎo)們了解增長的藝術(shù)，真正幫助他們加快頂線增長。

????從2008年開始，吉姆?斯登格在寶潔公司擔(dān)任了7年全球營銷總監(jiān)，他在寶潔管理著80億美元的營銷預(yù)算和7000名員工。現(xiàn)在他管理著一家名叫吉姆斯登格公司（Jim Stengel Company）的咨詢公司/智庫。他也是《增長力：如何打造世界頂級品牌》一書的作者。這本書根據(jù)一項長達(dá)十年的研究寫成，研究涉及的有關(guān)品牌多達(dá)5萬個，向我們展示了在最優(yōu)秀的企業(yè)里，財務(wù)業(yè)績是如何與基本的人的因素、價值和更高級的目標(biāo)聯(lián)系在一起的。今年58歲的斯登格也是加州大學(xué)洛杉磯分校安德森管理學(xué)院的客座教授，而且也是美國在線（AOL）的董事會成員。目前他與辛辛那提大學(xué)營銷學(xué)教授克里斯?亞倫共同主筆《財富》雜志的系列專欄文章。（財富中文網(wǎng)）

????譯者：樸成奎

????Some of our road-trip learning is about never losing sight of the basics. Method, the environmentally progressive cleaning-products company, totally gets that. And management is building on its ideals, literally, by putting its first manufacturing on the south side of Chicago -- with a 225-foot-tall whirling billboard that doubles as a wind turbine and powers the factory.

????We also realized the importance of distilling a company's ideals into stories that can be readily told and shared with customers and employees. Louisville Slugger, which promises "to make players great," and car-buying service Edmunds.com, which professes to be about "simplifying life's big decisions," are masters of storytelling. So is Motorola Solutions, the data communications and telecom equipment company that successfully transformed out of old struggling Motorola. "We help people be their best in the moments that matter" is Motorola Solutions' promise and the core of every story it tells.

????We think this Fortune series will be a step forward in helping leaders practice what they're preaching about how to grow -- and yes, actually help them accelerate top-line growth.

????For seven years until 2008, Jim Stengel was the chief global marketing officer at Procter & Gamble (PG), where he oversaw an $8 billion advertising budget and 7,000 employees. Now heading a consulting firm/think tank aptly called The Jim Stengel Company, he advises companies on how to grow globally by driving ideals. He's the author of Grow: How Ideals Power Growth and Profit at the World's Greatest Companies, which uses a 10-year study involving 50,000 brands to show how at the best companies, financial performance relates to an ability to connect with fundamental human emotions, values and greater purposes. Stengel, 58, is also an adjunct professor at the UCLA Anderson School of Management and on the board of directors of AOL (AOL). He's writing this series for Fortune.com with Chris Allen, the Arthur Beerman Professor of Marketing at the University of Cincinnati.