通用電氣、通用汽車和廣告公司DDB合起來已有大概299年歷史。然而，面對當下的數字革命，又身處“一不留神就要倒閉”的時代，這三家業界巨頭都有股不服老的精神。

不久前，對以上三家公司轉型起到關鍵作用的高管齊聚《財富》2016年最具影響力商界女性峰會，探討如何從公司的悠久歷史中汲取智慧，勇敢迎接行業巨變帶來的挑戰。以下是她們分享的殺手锏：

通用電氣副董事長貝絲·康斯托克：不能只添加新的創意和新業務，還必須擺脫舊的。

金融危機后，為專注于工業領域的業務，通用電氣的管理層級增加，也投入更多資源。但康斯托克指出，由于“加了新東西”，公司架構變得臃腫，行動太過遲緩。她補充說，接納好的新創意是一方面，必要的裁汰也不能忽視。

康斯托克說，要加快行動步伐，大企業就應該與客戶和初創公司聯手推進業務發展，而不是孤軍奮戰。她指出，大企業容易墜入“嫉妒初創公司”的陷阱，但“有些事在大公司確實做不了，最好是相互合作。”

DDB北美區首席執行官溫迪·克拉克：消除一切拖累步伐的阻礙

“速度現在是均衡器。”克拉克說。為了讓DDB迅速行動，這位今年1月走馬上任的領導者非常強調協作。她指出，過去人們常說，在廣告業工作“要小心翼翼地跟著不擅長團隊合作的人相處”。但其實投身廣告的人都是頗具創意的。克拉克解釋說：“如果太保護某些員工的自我，就跟不上市場的速度了。”

克拉克說，團隊合作等原則從來都在，但“近來企業界有些走偏。”她相信，之所以現在團隊合作精神有所回歸，是因為擔任領導的女性增加，而女性在職場比較擅長合作。通過與其他廣告公司合作，讓客戶參與自己的項目等方式，她努力在DDB打造團隊合作的文化。

克拉克還在實踐“將難討論之事拿上臺面。”她說，不該把棘手的問題留到會后，在洗手間或是過道里討論，應該開誠布公地商議。

主管都市出行項目Urban Mobility and Maven的通用汽車副總裁朱莉婭·斯泰尼：規劃新業務架構時要格外留心。

斯泰尼負責通用汽車的共享用車服務Maven。該項目正在讓這家傳統的汽車業巨頭從制造商變身為服務商。“汽車一直是自由的象征，如今我們要用全新方式展示自由的含義。”她說。

剛上任時，斯泰尼“對在一家大企業內部經營初創公司感到惶恐不安。”她希望能專注Maven的事務，同時充分利用通用汽車深厚的知識儲備。斯泰尼將重心放在尋求平衡上，“既要從大企業汲取養分，又要用不同的方式加以利用、確立核心并執行。”為了達到平衡，通用汽車后來將Maven改造成一家全資持有的子公司。（財富中文網）

譯者：Pessy

審校：夏林

Together, General Electric, General Motors, and advertising agency DDB have been around for a total of 299 years. But amid a digital revolution and an era of “fail fast,” all three are trying to defy their age.

Speaking at the Fortune Most Powerful Summit on Tuesday, executives key to each company’s transformation discussed how to benefit from a long legacy while still embracing disruption. Here are their top tips:

Beth Comstock, vice chair, General Electric : Don’t just add new ideas and businesses. You have to strip away the old, too.

After the financial crisis General Electric added more layers and resources as it focused intensely on the industrial parts of the business. But in “just putting on the new stuff” the company became too slow and cumbersome, said Comstock. As you take on shiny news ideas, don’t ignore what needs to be cut, she added.

Comstock said that companies should incubate businesses in tandem with customers and startups to move faster, rather than going it alone. It’s easy to fall into the trap of “startup envy” but “certain things are not going to work in our company, and it’s better to partner,” she noted.

Wendy Clark, CEO, DDB North America: Remove anything that slows you down.

“Speed is the equalizer now,” said Clark. To move fast at her ad agency, which she’s run since January, Clark is stressing collaboration. She noted that advertising used to have a reputation of “tiptoeing around people who cannot play well together.” They were given a pass as just being creative. “You can’t meet the speed of the marketplace if you’re trying to protect people’s egos,” she explained.

She said that these principles, such as working together, have been around forever but “business drifted away from that.” She believes that’s changing as women, who represent a collaborative way of working, take on more leadership roles. At DDB she’s trying to foster a team-oriented culture by working with different agencies and embedding clients in their own projects.

She also practices what she calls “discussing the un-discussable.” Tough issues shouldn’t be tackled in the bathroom or hallway after meetings but right at the table, she said.

Julia Steyn, vice president, General Motors Urban Mobility and Maven: Be intentional about how you structure new operations.

Steyn runs GM’s car sharing service Maven, which is turning the iconic automaker into a service provider rather than a manufacturer. “Cars used to mean freedom and now we need to reinvent what that really looks like,” she said.

Steyn had “trepidations on how to run a startup in a big company” when she took on the role. She wanted to be able to focus specifically on Maven—while still having access to GM’s enormous knowledge base. Steyn focused on walking the line between what “you take from the main organization and what you leverage and pivot and execute in different ways.” To strike that balance, General Motors ended up structuring Maven as a wholly owned subsidiary.