This sentence comes from Andy Grove, the founder of Intel, whose autobiography Only Paranoia Can Survive. Throughout the entrepreneurial history of world-famous entrepreneurs, we can often see the shadow of "paranoia" in them.
Run hundreds of factories for a part; Fighting for a design for dozens of nights; Hold hundreds of meetings for a technical idea.
In the eyes of ordinary people, this is simply "hopeless."
Everyone has a different process of success, but the same thing is that they all have the qualities needed for success.
Persistence, determination, diligence and indefatigability ......
This is incredible to China people who advocate the "golden mean".
Why are these entrepreneurs so paranoid? What can they get after paranoia?
Edgar Shane gave a good answer in organizational psychology. He said that enterprises have two attitudes towards the external environment. One is compliance, that is, I will supply whatever the market needs; The other is change. I don't follow the business requirements on the surface.
The former is the same kind of enterprises in the market, while the latter is often those enterprises that have lasted for a long time on the historical stage, which is what Edgar Sha called "Prometheus-style technological enterprises".
In the past, Prometheus stole the flame and offended Zeus in order to give mankind fire, warmth and light, and endured the weather and vultures pecking on the Caucasus Mountain day after day. Why did Prometheus do this? In the final analysis, it is his sense of justice and responsibility.
And many technology-based enterprises just bear that sense of justice and mission.
Prometheus is eager to improve the living conditions of human beings and push them forward. Technology companies don't care much about how much money they can make. On the contrary, they always have a little idealism, always thinking about whether they can change the world and really promote the development of the whole industry.
Moreover, they firmly believe that people can change the environment, not be shaped by it. "I shouldn't follow this world. If I follow this world, my life will be meaningless and I will become a slave. "
Just like Sony, its mission is to change the world's attitude towards Japanese products and use technology to benefit mankind; Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple, took "To live is to change the world" as his motto.
Mazda is also a maverick advocate in the automobile circle. It is famous for its technology and paranoia, and it also likes to run counter to the world.
Epicycloidal engine
But then again, if there were no paranoia, there would be no Mazda today.
Mazda's predecessor was Toyo Industrial Company founded in 1920. It was not until 193 1 that Mazda began to produce three-wheeled trucks and formally set foot in the automobile manufacturing industry.
1960, the Japanese government issued a policy and decided to merge 10 automobile enterprises into three automobile enterprises. Mazda without core technology will face an acquisition crisis; On the other hand, the rotary engine has attracted people's attention because of its small size and high horsepower. Mazda tried to use it as the core technology, but it was expensive.
On the one hand, it was acquired, and on the other hand, it invested heavily in developing rotary engines. Only these two roads can lead to Mazda.
Mazda didn't want to be acquired, so it chose the road of buying rotary engine technology in despair.
However, even if we buy a rotary engine and avoid the risk of being acquired, Mazda still faces many challenges.
In order to gain valuable experience, Mazda must sign a patent "unequal treaty" with NSU, the owner of rotary engine, and pay a contract fee of up to 280 million yen.
On the other hand, although the advantages of rotary engine are obvious, its disadvantages can not be ignored. After a period of use, there will be wear marks in the cylinder, and the service life is only ten hours.
Mazda almost went all out to solve this problem. It set up the "Rotor Research Department" internally and appointed Kenichi Yamamoto to lead 46 engineers to solve this problem, so these 47 people are also called "Rotor 47 Strong Men".
Then, with the help of Japan Carbon Company, Mazda made "Apex" from composite materials of aluminum and carbon. "Sealing" has solved the wear problem of the inner wall of rotary engine, and the technology of rotary engine has made a breakthrough.
1on may 30th, 967, the first sports car Cosmo with rotary engine? Exercise is ok.
Since then, Mazda has become the only automobile company in the world to mass-produce rotary engines, and has been recorded in history.
Phoenix immortal bird project
65438-0967 Japan is in a period of rapid economic development, and the automobile market situation is excellent. Based on this, Mazda is determined to launch the second model Familia? Rotary? Coupe and position it as a global strategic model to enter overseas markets.
However, due to the emission problem, Mazda hit a wall on the way to enter the American market first.
Nitrogen oxides in rotary engine emissions? Less (nitrogen oxides) emissions, HC? The emissions (hydrocarbons) are relatively large, which is not in line with the emission restriction policy of the United States at that time.
In order to solve this problem, Mazda adopted the "thermal reactor" mode, adding air to HC to make it burn again, thus greatly reducing HC emissions.
1973, the rotary engine passed the musk test of the US Environmental Protection Agency. This also means that Mazda can successfully enter the American market.
After the emission problem was solved, Mazda ushered in the first oil crisis in the world in the second year, and the rotary engine with high fuel consumption was very unfavorable to this situation.
When everyone thought Mazda was going to give up, Mazda insisted that "the survival of rotary engines is a responsibility to society and a credibility problem to customers", and in the same year, it was determined that "Phoenix? The immortal bird project aims to improve the fuel consumption rate.
Mazda adopted the suggestion of a technician, and used the heat emitted by the thermal reactor to heat the air again, which successfully increased the fuel consumption rate by 30%. Coupled with the achievements made in the previous research and development process, Mazda finally achieved a 50% increase in fuel consumption.
1978, Mazda introduced Savanna, a mass-produced sports car dedicated to rotary engines. RX-7 pushes the rotary engine to another height.
Savanna? RX-7 has achieved good results in world rally, championship and endurance races for many times. Which one is in North America? Daytona? 24-hour car endurance race? GTU？ Win the championship in the horizontal competition.
Since then, Mazda 787B with four-rotor engine has successfully won the comprehensive champion of Le Mans 24 Hours Endurance Race. It is also the first and only Japanese racing car to win the championship in Le Mans history.
No car company has ever been so obsessed with technology research and development. At that time, although the rotary engine was very advanced, there were still many problems because the outside world did not pay attention to it. However, it is precisely because of Mazda's paranoia and addiction that rotary engines can be mass-produced and achieved results in many competitions.
Chuangchi blue sky technology
For Mazda, the research and development of rotor engine is forced by the situation, while Chuangchi Blue Sky Technology is completely self-persistent.
On 20 10, Mazda announced the plan to create blue sky. In short, it introduced a naturally aspirated engine with a compression ratio of 14: 1.
Mazda chose to run counter to the market when turbocharging technology became popular. This is very much like Mazda in the 1960s. Even though everyone was not optimistic about the rotary engine, they chose it firmly.
At that time, the compression ratio of the engine was generally between10:1-1:1,and Mazda directly announced that the compression ratio should reach 14: 1.
Even today in 2020, few car companies can achieve this ratio, let alone 10 years ago. But Mazda likes challenges. Impossible.
This persistence is valuable at any time, which is why it can stand out among many car companies.
Ultra-high compression ratio means the improvement of combustion efficiency, and the emission problem will be solved, and Mazda will no longer be rejected because of the emission problem.
On 20 1 1 year, the first generation engine of Chuangchi Blue Sky Technology was born and entered the list of the top ten engines in 20 1 1 year. Coupled with the brand-new "soul movement" design language, Mazda's cars have become the focus of the world.
Five years later, more car companies changed their engine technology from naturally aspirated to turbocharged, while Mazda still insisted on naturally aspirated and decided to develop the second generation technology.
The second generation Chuangchi Blue Sky Engine is named "SKYACTIV-X", which combines the advantages of gasoline and diesel engines and creates a brand-new ignition mode. The compression ignition controlled by spark plug ignition is named "SPCCI".
In short, the second generation of Chuangchi Blue Sky Technology has the power consistency and durability of gasoline engine, the economy and low torque of diesel engine, and the power output is smoother and more stable than the first generation.
Today, Mazda once again runs counter to the world. In the environment of energy saving and emission reduction, car companies have changed their 6-cylinder machines to 4-cylinder machines, and even changed their 4-cylinder machines to 3-cylinder machines, trying to cater to the changes in the market and environment.
However, Mazda is still very individual. Recently, it was announced that a brand-new in-line six-cylinder engine will be launched, which will be mounted on the next generation of brand-new front and rear drive mazda 6.
Paranoia, as always
Write it at the end
When people are pushed forward by mainstream values, lose themselves, feel confused and don't know how to treat themselves, Mazda tells us from personal experience that it doesn't matter if others say you are paranoid.
As Steve Jobs said in his speech at Stanford University:
"Your time is limited, don't waste it on repeating other people's lives. Don't be bound by dogma, blindly following dogma means living in the results of other people's thinking. Don't let other people's opinions drown out your voice. Above all, you must have the courage to listen to your intuition and heart. They know what kind of person you want to be to some extent, and everything else is secondary. "
But not all paranoia can succeed. Only by finding the right direction and making unremitting efforts can we succeed.
After all, genius and madman are often just a thought.
So, is paranoia wrong? Of course not.
This article comes from car home, the author of the car manufacturer, and does not represent car home's position.