By now all Xiaomi fans know who Lei Jun is, but how many know what Xiaomi is? Here we will present an interview with the magnate on the 13 last September and published on Tencent Tech, in which he will explain what he has in store for Xiaomi and for all the staff. You will only understand at the end what it refers to when it says "question of life or death".
The crucial issue is precisely the future: it has presented a colossal plan of long-term re-elaboration that will allow young talents to enter the company's workforce.
Interviews
This article is an adapted translation of this interview to Lei Jun published on Tencent Tech.
Interviewer: When did you start thinking about this restructuring plan? Was it before the IPO?
Lei Jun: Actually it was much earlier. When I personally supervised the smartphone business in the 2016, I did some tests with the promotion of younger employees in management, and as a result of this our sales and service departments had very positive results. It could be said that these changes were a key factor in our positive turnaround in the 2017. During this process, the idea of a larger restructuring gradually took shape. At the end of last year I started talking to Liu De (co-founder and vice president) and Wang Chuan (co-founder), and after the IPO we had more serious discussions and we outlined this systematic adjustment plan.
The structure looks very clear now and you will have more young people who will report directly to you; does this increase your duties and increase the pressure on you?
In reality, just the opposite. The idea behind this restructuring is to strengthen the functions of our headquarters and to send partners to strategic groups in which they will meet younger people. The staff department that Liu De and Wang Chuan will lead, will help me to organize the work and to formulate development strategies, to direct all the service departments and strategic implementations, as well as to follow the training and management of the basic talents. My thought is that if Xiaomi wants to become a company with revenues of one trillion RMB (the Chinese currency that we know as yuan), we must strengthen our "brain" and gather experts at the headquarters so that the "brain" does not it's just me. When the brain is strong, you must also keep your muscles strong. So we need to donate our basic services to young people and let them reach their goals in the manner of a young start-up that attracts young and enthusiastic talents. We need constant fresh blood to keep a talented and effective team that lasts.
I have read the description of your restructuring announcement. If you say so, does that mean that the organizational department and the personnel department will be strong departments?
Of course, very strong departments. If they are not strong, they will not be able to help me! Previously I was like a solitary commander at the headquarters, but now I want more departments to come in to help me share the burden. I'm sure you know that in the past I felt exhausted (probably refers to when, in the 2007, he resigned as CEO of Kingsoft for health reasons), but still willing to assume my responsibilities. But now the situation is that even if I had to work tirelessly, it's not enough. I need people and groups strong enough to help me.
So you'll be a little more relaxed in the future?
I should be, yes. In this way I will have more time to consider the strategic direction of some key groups. If you are not a little more relaxed after this, then it will be a sign that the staff department and the department of the organization are not doing their job well enough.
Will the reorganization of the organizational structure continue later?
Yes. This is an important start, but it is only the beginning. The company has 20.000 active people and this adjustment will fundamentally affect 4.700 people from the original four departments (MIUI, entertainment, ecosystems and TV). The smartphone, sales and service departments will only see some small changes but will not fit into the global plan.
So this is a long-term process?
Yes. In the next two years Xiaomi will certainly continue to restructure and optimize. I mean, when is it that you can get something perfect the first time and you do not need adjustments anymore? This is a gradual process and must be applied to every level of the organization. For example, last year our president Lin Bin moved Xiaomi Web to our mobile phone department and is still optimizing the internal structure of this department.
You started with 2.000 people and now you have 20.000. There is a big difference! Can you summarize the changes made?
In the early days, our strategy was similar to that of the guerrillas, or perhaps a special operative unit. We have done some miracles and strengthened some incredible leaders that we had and that have become the true value of this company. But today with revenues in the hundreds of millions of RMB and almost 20.000 employees, those guerrilla tactics simply will not work. You must be capable of a mobile war, you must be able to win prolonged struggles, and above all you must be capable of waging a large-scale war. We went from a gang of guerrillas to a large permanent army. So, what's next (step)? We have to keep fighting, so we study the war strategies that have existed for millennia and we need a system in which the guerrillas can create crearestrategies and have strong defenses. So we want to strengthen the "brain" and the location of the site. We want a young and vigorous core at the headquarters and the staff and organizational departments that join with the founders in charge and give me some assistance on basic services and on the front of the talents. Firstly, Xiaomi must maintain its enthusiasm, enthusiasm and capacity for innovation, we must begin to cultivate and promote a large number of young directors and create more dynamic and more enterprising front-line command teams.
More than 10 business leaders have been promoted to the level of general manager of the department: there really is no risk?
I tell you I'm very confident about these young guys. This group of young people is very good and most of them are from the 80 years. The team led by Xiaomi has achieved great results and has a rare loyalty to Xiaomi. Talents are really estimated; you do not believe it, if you do not allow it to try, you'll never know if you can not do it, you can not be a real talent if you do not try.
You thought about this a lot. Before I had the impression that you always thought about the product and the strategy, but it seems that at different stages of development, what you need to consider is always different.
We must seriously evaluate the question of organization. In the last eight years we have had incredible success, but to continue forward as the guerrillas will cause big problems. We have 20.000 people and the teams will continue to expand, so building a bad organizational system is a risk; if the future team continues to expand and build a bad organizational system means that the risk of losing the war is very high: it is a matter of life or death.
Personally, reading and translating this interview I understood one thing: there is really a difference between a "boss" and a "leader". What do you think about it? What does this "rejuvenation" of the workforce mean to you?
