Being towards death

Original Text:#

Alibaba's Mission and Vision#

Alibaba's mission is to make it easy to do business anywhere, and Alibaba's vision is to become a good company that lasts for 102 years. I came here inspired by this mission, hoping to spend a long time together, because Alibaba is a great company.

When I first joined the company, in the entrepreneurship building, I would go out for lunch nearby at noon, and everyone wore their employee badges. Besides the discounts offered by nearby shops, we enjoyed the respect and gratitude we received. At that time, respect was not because Alibaba employees earned high incomes, but because they were kind and our products helped many people. People around us felt that Alibaba was solving various problems, and the respect we received from society came from the recognition of our character and values.

At that time, a popular joke was that mothers-in-law in Hangzhou liked to find sons-in-law from Alibaba because Alibaba had already screened for good character, and Alibaba employees were reliable.

I can no longer remember when it became difficult to wear the employee badge. In recent years, various terrible events and setbacks, external social opinions, and internal employee attitudes have undergone tremendous changes. Perhaps mothers-in-law still like to find sons-in-law from Alibaba because of the high income. After fifteen years, to speak objectively, it is not just a change in external evaluations; we have really changed ourselves. We have lost the dream of bringing positive change to society. We talk about KPIs, salaries, stocks, and houses. We treat customers and users as traffic and data. We discuss how to operate data and how to harvest customers, and our competition consumes us internally.

To be honest, seeing the core values of Alibaba slowly deteriorate worries me about how long we can uphold our mission and whether we can still achieve our vision.

Let me clarify that my performance is still acceptable, and I have no dissatisfaction with my current department or supervisor. I am also planning to resign on my own, not to receive a severance package. Therefore, this post is not aimed at any department or individual; I am speaking about any department or individual that fits the situations I describe below. This is a summary based on my feelings over the past fifteen years and discussions with friends from various business units, more so as feedback for the company as a whole and its leadership. I hope to offer some final suggestions to the company, hoping it can improve. If you think the company is doing well now, you can skip this article.

I won't say much more; I will mainly discuss the existing problems. If there are issues, they should be corrected; if not, then I encourage improvement. If I have written something incorrect, I welcome correction. Once again, I want to clarify that the following issues do not refer to all departments, nor do they imply that everyone in corresponding roles or levels behaves this way; they are common but not universal. If anyone feels offended, I apologize in advance.

I. Once Glorious#

Let me first talk about why Alibaba was good. Everyone has their own explanation, and I summarize it into four points:

1. Trends of the Times: Reform and opening up and globalization have ushered in an explosion of productivity. GDP in US dollars grew from 1 trillion in 1999 to 11 trillion in 2010, and is projected to reach 18 trillion by 2024. This enormous economic growth is the wind that blows everything forward. The number of internet users grew from 8.9 million in 1999 to nearly 1 billion in 2020, and the popularity of smartphones led to mobile internet users exploding from nearly zero in 2005 to 986 million in 2020. The vigorous development of PCs and wireless technology has nurtured a large number of applications and scenarios.
2. Jack Ma's Vision: Jack Ma's vision and determination seized opportunities. B2B, Taobao, Alipay, Alibaba Cloud... time and again, strategic decisions captured the first mover advantage. Coupled with resource integration, Alibaba was built step by step around e-commerce. Of course, it also relied on strong determination, especially in the construction of Alibaba Cloud, which persisted despite external skepticism and internal misunderstanding, and underperformance at the time; that required significant perseverance from senior colleagues.
3. Value-Based Selection and Unique Team Formation: With strategy and determination in place, the next step was to have a capable team to execute the strategy, which is the unique culture of Alibaba. It allowed us to find a group of like-minded companions, uniting everyone to fight for a common goal. We referred to each other as classmates, helped each other, and learned from one another; we called each other by nicknames, as it was egalitarian, not hierarchical. We wanted to make the world a better place and solve various problems. It cannot be said that everyone who came in was the same, but before 2015, the vibe of Alibaba employees felt relatively similar.
4. Good Institutional Guarantees for Team Combat Effectiveness: The first value is: customers first, employees second, shareholders third. The corresponding institutional design allows employees to fight for both the company and themselves. A free culture allows everyone to speak freely and think openly; the stock option system enables employees to treat the company as their own, working together; the role of HR as a political commissar allows employees to seek help when encountering problems and to have a channel for complaints when facing injustice.

II. Signs of Fatigue#

When did we start to feel weakened? There is no clear boundary or marked event; perhaps some would mention the Ant Group incident, but my own feeling is that it started around 2017, and Qin Yan had warned about it even earlier.

1. Overall Trend Gradually Cooling: After more than a decade of rapid growth, starting in 2017, the growth rate of internet and wireless users turned to single digits and began to decline. By 2024, it is expected to exceed 1.1 billion users, and the domestic population that can be penetrated has basically been completed, with growth essentially halted. The mainstream internet products had already established their footholds before 2017.
2. Most External Acquisitions Failed: Various sectors of the group were thriving and began making some strategic investments, but unfortunately, most acquisitions ended in failure. Here are a few examples:
   • Local Services: In 2006, we acquired Koubei, when O2O was still in its infancy. By 2010, Dianping was still a junior player, Meituan had just emerged, and after a series of operations in 2011, Koubei was shut down. It was restarted in 2015 with support from Alipay traffic but has remained lukewarm, eventually merging into the local services sector.
   • Food Delivery: In 2018, we acquired Ele.me, which at the time, combined with Baidu Waimai, held over 50% market share in the food delivery market, firmly in first place. Within two years, it was overtaken by Meituan.
   • Bike Sharing: In 2017, we invested in Ofo, which collapsed in 2018. We then invested in Hello Bike, which currently barely shares the market with Qingju and Meituan.
   • Payments: Since 2014, Alipay's offline payments have been continuously eroded by WeChat, and by 2017, it was struggling to find direction. Now, it is extremely painful to witness.
   • Music: In 2013, we acquired Xiami and TT Music, which had a market share of 21.9%, ranking first. By 2016, TT Music was out of the game, and in 2021, Xiami was shut down.
   • Video: In 2016, we acquired Youku Tudou, which had a market share of 35%, ranking first. Now it has fallen to third place, only half of Tencent Video and iQIYI.
   • E-commerce: In 2016, we acquired Lazada, which was the number one e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia at the time. Now it has been surpassed by Shopee, and TT has also taken a significant share of the market.
   • Additionally, there were the acquisitions of Intime and RT-Mart for hundreds of billions in 2017, which began to be gradually cleared out in 2024, resulting in significant losses. We did not bring about disruptive changes to these industries; traditional commerce remains traditional commerce.
3. Internal Innovation Rarely Succeeds: Since 2015, the group's innovative businesses have rarely succeeded. The steadfast investment and growth of Alibaba Cloud rely on the essential foundation of the e-commerce main business; Hema's momentum is dependent on the online user interconnectivity of e-commerce, and Xianyu is another incubation of Taobao's business. Apart from e-commerce-related derivative businesses, there seems to be only DingTalk that has emerged from a zero base, possibly with one more newcomer, Quark. The rest have either failed or are struggling. In recent years, many competitors have emerged externally, impacting the group's main business significantly. Market opportunities still exist, but we cannot seize them.

III. Accumulated Internal Issues#

In discussions with people from different departments about the various problems and their severity within the company, there has been a basic consensus since 2017. The consensus is that these issues are becoming more common and severe. What are they? I summarize various phenomena into three directions: people, finances, and operations. The following descriptions do not target any individual, nor do they imply that individuals who meet the described conditions will necessarily bring negative effects.

1. People Issues#

• Blind Faith in Outsiders: Often, when new industries or companies emerge, there is a blind faith that people from these companies are excellent, leading to high salaries and positions. In reality, many of them are just riding a wave, and their abilities may not be that impressive, or the real talents are the core founders of those companies. Back then, Alipay held WeChat and Uber personnel in high regard, bringing in a bunch of young high-P individuals who were unfamiliar with the business and wanted to achieve results in the short term, lacking historical attachment to the business, leading to various misguided directives that severely damaged the existing business. At that time, we often joked that these must be spies sent by the other side. These mid-level recruits often struggled to land effectively, forming their own factions, with goals primarily focused on vesting options, and their actions were often shortsighted. We need fresh blood, but we really need to be discerning and remove the filters.
• Newcomers Hiring Newcomers: I remember there used to be a rule that newcomers could not be hired unless they had been with the company for a certain period and had integrated into Alibaba's culture. I don't know when it became common for newcomers to hire newcomers, and I have even seen many probationary employees interviewing others. I have always been puzzled: is the business really that urgent? Can they meet the company's requirements? Can those who do not yet understand the Alibaba vibe attract others who do?
• Wild Dogs Prevailing: In the past, we categorized employees as cash cows, wild dogs, and white rabbits. We emphasized discovering cash cows, eliminating wild dogs, and improving white rabbits. However, in recent years, performance has taken precedence over everything else, leading to a culture where the focus is on investing less, achieving quick results, and maximizing outcomes, which has allowed wild dogs to thrive. They can be unscrupulous, exploit resources, and compete against each other. Gradually, wild dogs achieve performance, receive rewards and promotions, and others wanting to survive become assimilated or continuously enhance their defensive capabilities, resulting in increasing collaboration costs due to diminishing trust.
• Accumulation of White Rabbits: In recent years, there have been more and more small white rabbits and old white rabbits, some due to bottlenecks in business development, some choosing to lay flat due to a lack of hope and ineffective incentive systems, some due to the inability to eliminate white rabbits because of the company's poor reputation in previous years, and some nurtured by factional culture. In summary, the number of people who genuinely work hard is decreasing, while those who procrastinate and evade responsibility are increasing. Of course, there are also many who act like wild dogs in the process but achieve results like white rabbits.

2. Financial Issues#

• Level Inflation: Our levels have been inflating. On one hand, there is input inflation (due to insufficient salary levels, narrow or inflexible ranges, and the company's stock price decline in recent years, leading to a significant gap with rapidly expanding external companies, while still wanting to recruit external personnel, leading to a blind faith in outsiders). In this context, when reasonable levels cannot be matched with satisfactory salaries, the only option is to raise the P-levels. On the other hand, there is internal inflation (many people are promoted based on seniority, with fewer opportunities, but to retain talent, promotions must be granted). I have seen many such cases, and the negative impact is that: if this person can hold this level, why can't I? Such individuals may soon lead businesses and affect more people. Now our levels are also hidden; we can only say that these contradictions and problems have shifted from the surface to below.
• Unclear Rewards and Punishments: Performance scores are directly tied to salaries, but performance is not made public, leading to significant manipulation by supervisors. Although there are multiple levels of review and HR evaluations, the space for manipulation still exists, and there is often a discrepancy between public perception and actual results. This lack of transparency in the distribution system further promotes a culture of loyalty to the boss, prioritizing serving the boss. In 2014, the department I was in piloted a system where everyone reported their performance, and performance was made public, with all members participating in discussions. This effectively prevented common practices like taking credit for others' achievements, shifting blame, and manipulating metrics.
• Short-Termism: Contrary to long-termism, more people are now adopting short-termism. Previously, when everyone shared the same pot, motivation was low. Later, each BU issued stock options, but unfortunately, their attempts to break through were unsuccessful, and many bottom-level employees ended up with little to no benefits from buybacks, leading everyone to focus on the present. To be realistic, we used to treat the company as our home, creating more performance and saving costs, with every bit of extra value potentially multiplying in the future. Now, even if some colleagues have this mindset, it seems to have no practical effect, creating a vicious cycle. In conversations with some old colleagues, some lament: I love the company, but does the company love us?

3. Operational Issues#

• Unclear Strategy: In recent years, the judgments and strategies for the future have not been clear and have gradually detached from users. The top-down communication is either too vague or simply a breakdown of numbers, with no exciting and effective means observed, leading to a disconnect in middle and upper management. Of course, returning to users, focusing on the internet, going all-in on AI, and clearing traditional commerce are strategies that finally show some signs of clarity and hope.
• Wanting Everything: We used to think that wanting everything was a source of pride, showcasing our capabilities. However, looking back now, the prevailing winds at that time were the foundation supporting so many "wants." When the winds stopped, the unreasonable demands behind these "wants" nurtured unreasonable working methods. As growth slows and competition intensifies, with bloated personnel, the focus shifts to investing less, achieving short-term goals, and setting high targets. Various phenomena that violate objective laws have emerged, and those responsible for these phenomena are either unprofessional, intentionally catering to the situation, or capable of exploiting resources.
• Operational Data: How can we achieve results with minimal investment in a short time? The answer is operations. Operations organize activities, and metrics soar; targeted data manipulation yields the best ROI; if growth stagnates, new metrics are defined. Various methods have been employed, but the long-term value brought by product development has been overshadowed, leading to long-term neglect. I have worked in operations for several years and achieved good performance; I do not oppose operations, as different stages of a product require different operational strategies to help it gain better market traction. However, now we treat operations as the primary means. Often, the false prosperity brought by operations masks the emptiness of the product, leading to either an inability to break the habit or a chaotic aftermath.
• Bureaucracy: Many individuals at levels 8, 9, and 10 do not engage deeply in the industry; once they reach higher levels, they tend to engage in empty talk, recounting their glorious experiences without providing actual effective help to the current business. Many achievements attained through favorable circumstances may not be replicable, yet they often believe it is due to their own talents. This is categorized as an issue because this bureaucracy directly affects decision-making and judgment, undermining professionalism, dismissing the advice of professionals, and setting unrealistic performance expectations, all while cloaked in slogans about boldness and productivity. The costs of collaboration are also extremely high: everyone must save face and maintain relationships; even meaningless collaborations must be maintained for reputation, leading to situations where individuals pretend to want A while actually pursuing B, causing colleagues to be dragged around aimlessly. Another phenomenon of bureaucracy is the excessive reporting, with layers of back-and-forth communication, consuming a lot of time to organize information and reports, yet when it comes to decision-making, there is often hesitation and indecision.

IV. Root Causes#

Alibaba's slogan is: a group of caring and righteous people coming together to do something valuable and meaningful. I wonder how many people have heard this phrase; it was one of the cultural elements that attracted me to Alibaba. Breaking this phrase down, it can fully articulate what a good company should do.

• Caring and Righteous People: Selecting and uniting like-minded companions based on values.
• Coming Together: This requires organizational systems for unity and assurance.
• Doing Something: This refers to having a clear strategic direction, with focus being one of the prerequisites for efficiency.
• Valuable and Meaningful: This means having a mission to make it easy to do business anywhere, putting customers first.

The various phenomena mentioned above stem from the gradual failure of this slogan. We have transitioned from institutional failure to loss of values, to unclear strategies, and now to a focus solely on KPIs without a sense of mission. We are still a large company, but we have become mediocre. Values cannot guarantee our success, but they are a powerful weapon that helps us weather difficulties together. Alibaba has experienced many hardships in recent years, and while we have gradually overcome them, the most regrettable aspect is that we have abandoned our values in the process. We did not come together in solidarity; rather, we relied on our substantial resources and resilience.

Values are the company's ethics, and company systems are the company's laws. Laws are the minimum standards of ethics, and self-restraint in ethics is far more effective than using laws for restraint. When culture is lost, people become chaotic; if people become corrupt, performance will also vanish.

1. Values Are Mere Formalities#

It feels like after 2020, values have gradually been weakened and have now become mere decorations. Although they are still included in the OKR, the previous detailed reviews are long gone, and evaluations have been condensed. How many newcomers remember our values? Do we still advocate for them? My favorite remains the old six values: customer first, teamwork, embrace change, integrity, passion, and dedication.

Now, these values have all deteriorated. Customer first has become less important than boss first: because the boss determines performance, bonuses, stock options, and promotion nominations, when there are no constraints on the boss or incomplete information about constraints, employees choose boss first as the best way to work and survive. If the boss also adheres to customer first, then boss first and customer first would not conflict. But many current bosses primarily focus on sharing immediate benefits, exchanging performance for stock options, and are more concerned with short-term results. Thus, performance and promotions have begun to transform into personal tools for the boss's rewards and punishments, evolving from company rewards for individuals into personal rewards from the boss to subordinates, further solidifying and strengthening the boss culture. In the context of distorted incentive mechanisms, loyalty to the company has transformed into loyalty to the boss.

Teamwork has turned into a winner-takes-all mentality: applauding the process while paying for the results, gradually evolving into a results-oriented approach. Thus, when the business flourished, teamwork could lead to win-win situations. When external growth opportunities are limited and resources are insufficient, occupying a favorable position in the distribution of existing value yields far more than creating long-term value. Consequently, the focus of competition has shifted from external to internal: during business booms, territory is seized, performance is stolen, and various unsavory practices emerge, which are inevitable phenomena in zero-sum games. Wild dogs have become the most profitable roles, leading to a gradual expulsion of good employees by bad ones within teams.

Embracing change has masked unclear strategies: previously, there were numerous blue ocean markets, and the rapidly changing market dynamics prompted us to embrace change. In recent years, frequent personnel changes, unclear strategies, fluctuating policies, diverse metrics, and a plethora of short-term KPIs have resulted in a lack of continuity in actions, with no one able to adhere to long-termism. No one is willing to make sacrifices for future generations. For senior management, it seems that they have not faced penalties for their unclear strategies or ineffective command; they simply move on to another place. An incompetent general can exhaust the entire army. For grassroots employees, how can they achieve promotions and performance? Business innovation, outstanding performance, and supervisor trust are three points that cannot be guaranteed amidst constant changes; only the trust relationship with supervisors can be maintained, leading to an increasing emphasis on boss culture, where nicknames are no longer used, replaced by titles like boss, teacher, brother, sister, or manager. The chivalry of the past has now become dominated by bosses.

Integrity has become a scarce commodity: an atmosphere focused solely on results has normalized various forms of exploitation, theft, performance falsification, and misleading practices, giving an advantage to those who master these skills. The company has faced several incidents of dishonesty, yet we have responded lightly. Although the mooncake incident was an overcorrection, these penalties have swung to the opposite extreme, losing public support. The lack of bottom lines regarding integrity has diminished our courage and necessity to seek the truth, as uncovering the truth may offend people, and the truth may not be pleasant. Thus, some individuals, knowing something is false, begin to turn a blind eye. They boast before seizing resources, manipulate data during the process, and shift blame afterward, becoming adept at these three tactics. Now, discussions about integrity are merely represented by the flag of B2B performance falsification fluttering in the storm.

Passion has been overshadowed by institutional failures: predecessors have proven that contracting systems are better than collectivization. Passion exists within everyone; it is not created but released under clear property protections, reasonable benefit distributions, and good incentive systems. In recent years, as business opportunities have shrunk, personnel have expanded, and capital markets have turned unfavorable, the systems we once operated have failed. Since the all-in wireless strategy in 2014, everyone has started working 996. After experiencing multiple 996s in recent years, my conclusion based on what I have seen and felt is that 996 has no real value; it merely creates the appearance of busyness and increases working hours, but we are not manual laborers. We must believe that creativity is stimulated, not oppressed. As long as the incentive system is reasonable, whether it is the inner sense of achievement or material incentives, if the company ensures fairness in the process, everyone will work hard for themselves. After experiencing several teams and projects, spontaneous 9116s have emerged; some are due to interesting projects they want to work on, while others are due to clear goals and rewards, where heavy rewards naturally attract brave individuals. However, those who force overtime without necessity will engage in internal competition and performative behaviors.

Dedication, being earnest and honest, can lead to losses: dedication means treating work as one's own business, enduring loneliness, and being serious and hardworking. Sometimes it is like farming, cultivating and nurturing bit by bit, which is a farming civilization. But now, the nomadic civilization prevails, where many people rush into a business when it is valuable, and abandon it when it loses value, leaving honest individuals to pick up the pieces. Factions in power often consider relationships when doing business, imposing soft budget constraints on their own people, leading to many projects that lack value, which are poor yet persist.

2. HR Dereliction of Duty and Trust#

Why have values become mere formalities? The root cause lies in HR's dereliction of duty and trust. HR has two roles within this organization: teacher + police. The teacher guides students on the right path, while the police catch those who cause harm to the organization. HR is the guardian and transmitter of organizational culture.

Business leaders focus on results with their teams, while HR oversees the process concerning employees; leaders are responsible for business, and HR is responsible for culture. Previously, HR would accompany business meetings, focusing on personnel and morale, engaging with colleagues, and ensuring that the process of work aligned with the correct values, while also addressing employee issues and evaluating supervisor competence. Employees were generally willing to communicate and provide feedback to HR when encountering problems, promoting healthier organizational development, with HR acting as a supportive presence.

In any organization, anyone can potentially do bad things. Employees are relatively vulnerable compared to supervisors, and HR serves as a neutral role outside of employees and supervisors, representing the company. However, it seems that HR now only cares about performance results, with little concern for people, and has seemingly forgotten the importance of values. How many people currently have in-depth conversations with their HR? How many have met them a few times? Does HR genuinely help employees solve problems? Do employees view HR as a supportive presence or as enforcers? How many are willing to speak the truth to HR?

HR's dereliction of duty leads to a lack of checks and balances in business processes, while HR's loss of trust leaves employees feeling anxious and unable to see the light of day. What is the fundamental reason for HR's dereliction? I believe it is the higher-ups' greater emphasis on performance pursuit, which has shifted HR's focus. However, if an organization's system begins to decay and its culture starts to decline, how much creativity can the people within it still possess?

3. Middle and Upper Management is Overstaffed#

In the beginning, I mentioned the overall trend; those who previously thrived were relatively outstanding among their peers, and they were fortunate to seize opportunities to rise. In the new situation, there are new talents, but unfortunately, opportunities have become scarce, and positions are saturated. With no business development, promotions cannot be halted, leading to increasingly bloated middle and upper management, with a growing proportion of incompetence and makeshift teams everywhere.

As a result, strategic breakdowns occur, execution becomes difficult, decision-making is delegated, and responsibility is shifted downwards, focusing solely on results without regard for means. It is unclear who is a leader and who is a supervisor.

V. Healing the Wounds#

I am about to lose access, and saying all this is not a complaint. It may offend many people, and it takes courage, but I sincerely hope the company can face the problems and gradually improve. We need to restore our core values and enhance team combat effectiveness to truly move towards 102 years.

Alibaba is an extraordinary company; we have done many things that bring positive changes to society, and we have driven social progress. Please continue to create beautiful things.

In the past, many departing colleagues wrote suggestions for the company, some of which were really well-written. Years have passed, and I have seen no changes. Someone once said on the internal network: sweeping dust under the bed does not make the dust disappear. How sad and ridiculous a description, yet how accurate.

I hope we can face and truly change these issues. The internal network should allow everyone to speak freely; suppressing thoughts is suppressing innovation.

1. Restore Values: Reestablish our value assessments, translating the current formal scoring into collective evaluations against each item, prompting collective reflection and eliminating those with differing values. Once the team is clean, many messy issues will naturally disappear.
2. Reorganize the HR System: HR should return to serving employees, reducing the emphasis on performance to become a good balance within the organization. HR must uphold values and act as guardians of culture. 360 evaluations should not only apply to supervisors but also include evaluations of HR, rebuilding HR's credibility.
3. Reform the Management System: Eliminate boss culture and encourage freer movement. Free movement provides employees with more options, accelerating the dissolution of bad teams and businesses. In a situation where strategies and tactics are clear, top-down communication and leadership are more effective; if not, it is essential to create and encourage a bottom-up innovative atmosphere.
4. Public and Unified Job Levels: Eliminate the current hidden job levels, allowing everyone to withstand collective evaluations, making it easier to identify those who are not competent.
5. Publicize Performance and Promotions: It is not about what is said but about what is done. Performance, results, and promotions are the most tangible actions; what we encourage and oppose is reflected here. These must be transparent and publicized, allowing everyone to judge. Avoiding opaque practices, reliance on relationships, and performance theft (this does not mean salaries should be public).
6. Reduce Redundancies and Halt Unnecessary Businesses: Having been in many departments, my feeling is that cutting 1/3 of the personnel will not fundamentally change the business. Cutting 1/3 of the business will also have no impact; many things do not need to be done; they are just busywork. With more people and fewer tasks, unnecessary matters have increased. Conduct proper evaluations, and assess wild dogs and white rabbits; those who need to be let go should be released.
7. Weakening Operations to Seek the Truth: I have worked in operations for several years and achieved good performance; I do not target operations, but I believe we need to weaken operations. We must courageously face the harsh truths stripped of operational packaging to seriously develop products and build foundations.

AI has arrived; let us embrace this era.

I hope the company can once again have a blue sky, solid ground, and transparent air. I have said a lot, just one perspective, and I will conclude with the title written by Qin Yan: "Written Before Resignation, Hoping Someone Will Read It." Accompanying you for 15 years, I wish you a century of success. Go Alibaba!