飞鸟尽，良弓藏；狡兔死，走狗烹。
摘自《史记·越王勾践世家》
时光荏苒，转眼间，公司裁员的消息再次传遍了华人圈。这已经是第二次裁员，几个月前就有许多前同事陷入了这场裁员风波。其中，不乏搞自动化测试且身为领导的同事，也因此失去了工作。近日，我听闻我原先所在的组里又有一个领导和一个测试工程师被裁掉了，而这些只是裁员冰山一角。
对于工程师而言，做开发的在裁员中相对平均，但从测试工程师来看，能够幸存下来的基本上都是在核心部门从事手动测试的。那些做自动化测试的工程师，一旦把自动化脚本和持续集成/持续交付搞得稳定，就面临被淘汰的风险。目前，公司还在进行各个部门小组的人员精简，而接下来很有可能是小组之间以及部门之间的合并，表面上叫做“重组”，但实际上，核心部门很多人也将面临被裁掉的命运。
虽然之前跳槽的人早就预见到这样的结局，但是面对裁员的现实，心里仍然难受。这让我想起一句中国的古话：“飞鸟尽，良弓藏”。同时，也让我不禁思考，作为一家公司，不论是资本主义社会还是所谓的社会主义社会，当经济陷入困境时，往往会将原先为之奋斗的员工视为负担而进行裁员。而这与个人的工作努力无关，即便你之前再怎么拼命工作，把公司当作自己的家，只要高层认为你所在的部门不重要，那么你就注定会被裁掉。CEO也不例外，他们代表股东的利益，如果不能做到这一点，同样会被股东辞退，前任CEO的下台就是明证。
公司、股东、员工和顾客之间的利益常常存在冲突。公司的最本质目标是为了满足股东的利益，员工则是为公司创造价值。员工工作，公司支付工资，员工活好，公司奖励更多，同时满足员工和顾客的利益，会导致短期内股东的利益减少。因此，当经济形势不佳时，利益冲突变得尤为激烈，员工成为公司必须减少的负担。而在这种情况下，公司反而会利好顾客，降价来吸引更多的消费者。在公司强大时，它可能不会过多考虑顾客，而在公司衰退时，顾客则被视为上帝，这本质上是一种营销策略。
随着人们对传统公司制度的认知加深，许多员工意识到，当公司出现问题时，应该尽早寻找新的发展机会。个人也可以成为一个主权个体，在选择工作岗位时拥有更多的自主权，别说公司, 以后连国家都可能成为一种服务机构, 为个人提供保护和服务, 个人为自己获取的服务来支付税收。在未来社会，对个人的要求将极高，除了出色完成个人职责外，还需要具备审时度势的能力，就像运营一家主权公司一样。同时，顾客们也会希望一些不景气的公司早日倒闭，以获得更多的优惠和实惠, 所谓"乘你病,要你命"。现代社会，产品供给丰富，一个公司倒下，很快会有其他公司站起来提供类似的产品和服务。
随着科技的飞速发展和全球化的不断深化，传统公司体制所面临的挑战变得愈发严峻。随之而来的是，越来越多的人开始思考，是否有可能找到一种能够实现真正共赢的组织形态。在这方面，去中心化自治组织（DAO）引起了广泛关注。
DAO是一种基于区块链技术的新型组织形式，其核心理念是实现去中心化和自治。在DAO中，权力不再集中于少数高层管理者手中，而是分散给所有参与者，每个人都可以参与组织的治理和决策。这种开放的治理结构使得员工和顾客的利益更加平等地得到尊重和保护。因为没有中心化的权力机构，也没有垄断资源的股东，DAO能够更好地平衡各方利益，避免了“飞鸟尽，良弓藏”的困境。
DAO的另一个亮点是透明和公开的运作机制。由于所有的交易和决策都记录在区块链上，任何人都可以查阅，确保了信息的透明性。这种透明性不仅有助于建立信任，还使得公司的运营更加高效和负责。员工和顾客能够更加了解公司的决策过程，对组织的发展方向有更多的发言权。这不仅有利于员工的发展，也让顾客更加放心地选择与公司合作。
虽然DAO在一定程度上解决了传统公司体制中的利益冲突问题，但也并非完美无缺。由于其相对年轻且复杂的技术性质，DAO还在不断探索和完善的过程中。在实践中，需要解决一些潜在的问题，比如如何确保社区成员的参与度和积极性，以及如何平衡集体决策和个人自由的关系等等。然而，随着技术的不断进步和社会对新型组织形式的需求不断增长，相信这些问题都将逐渐得到解决。
在未来，随着全球经济和社会的深刻变革，我们将看到越来越多的企业和组织探索DAO这种新型组织形式。对于员工而言，他们将有更多的选择权，可以加入那些真正关心员工福祉和发展的组织。对于顾客而言，他们将更容易找到真正满足需求的产品和服务。对于社会而言，DAO的发展将推动经济和社会体制的创新，实现更加稳健和可持续的发展。
综上所述，传统公司体制的红利或许已经逐渐衰退，而去中心化自治组织（DAO）则提供了一种新的可能性。通过实现真正的共赢，平衡员工、顾客和股东的利益，DAO成为了未来新型组织形态的有力候选者。虽然在实践中还存在一些挑战，但随着技术和社会的不断进步，相信DAO将在未来发挥越来越重要的作用，为经济和社会的可持续发展注入新的活力。
Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, news of company layoffs has once again spread through the Chinese community. This is already the second round of layoffs, and just a few months ago, many former colleagues were caught in this wave of job cuts. Among them, there were no shortage of colleagues who specialized in automation testing and held leadership positions, and they too lost their jobs. Recently, I heard that in my former department, another leader and a testing engineer were laid off, but these are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the layoffs.
For engineers, those involved in development were relatively evenly affected by the layoffs, but from the perspective of testing engineers, those who managed to survive were mostly engaged in manual testing in core departments. Engineers who worked on automation testing faced the risk of being eliminated once they stabilized automation scripts and continuous integration/continuous delivery. Currently, the company is still streamlining personnel in various departmental teams, and it is highly likely that there will be mergers between teams and departments, called "restructuring" on the surface, but in reality, many employees in core departments will also face layoffs.
Although those who changed jobs earlier had already anticipated this outcome, facing the reality of layoffs still made them feel uncomfortable. This reminded me of an ancient Chinese saying: "As the birds fly away, the good bow is put away." At the same time, it made me ponder that as a company, whether it is in a capitalist society or a so-called socialist society, when the economy faces difficulties, it often regards the employees who have worked hard for it as burdens and conducts layoffs. This has nothing to do with an individual's work ethic. No matter how hard you worked before, treating the company as your own family, as long as the higher-ups consider your department unimportant, you are destined to be laid off. CEOs are no exception, as they represent the interests of shareholders, and if they fail to do so, they will also be dismissed by the shareholders. The ousting of the former CEO of the company is evidence of this.
The interests of the company, shareholders, employees, and customers often clash with each other. The fundamental purpose of a company is to satisfy the interests of shareholders, while employees work to create value for the company. When employees work well, the company rewards them accordingly. However, meeting the interests of both employees and customers may lead to a decrease in short-term profits for shareholders. Therefore, when the economic situation is unfavorable, the conflicts of interest intensify, and employees become a burden that the company must reduce. In this situation, the company may favor customers by offering discounts to attract more consumers. When the company is strong, it may not pay much attention to customers, but when it faces decline, customers are treated like gods. This is essentially a marketing strategy.
As people's understanding of the traditional corporate system deepens, many employees realize that when a company encounters problems, they should actively seek new development opportunities. Individuals can also become sovereign entities with more autonomy in choosing their work positions. Moreover, even countries may become service organizations in the future, providing protection and services for individuals, and individuals will pay taxes for the services they receive. In the future society, individuals will be held to high standards, not only in performing their duties but also in having the ability to gauge the situation, just like operating a sovereign company. At the same time, customers will hope for the early closure of struggling companies to obtain more discounts and benefits, adhering to the principle of "taking advantage of your illness and wanting your life." In the modern society, with abundant product supply, when one company falls, countless others rise to provide similar products and services.
With the rapid development of technology and deepening globalization, the challenges faced by traditional corporate structures have become increasingly severe. Consequently, more and more people have begun to ponder whether it is possible to find an organizational structure that can achieve genuine win-win situations. In this regard, decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) have attracted widespread attention.
DAO is a new organizational form based on blockchain technology, and its core concept is decentralization and autonomy. In a DAO, power is no longer concentrated in the hands of a few top-level managers but is distributed among all participants, allowing everyone to participate in the governance and decision-making of the organization. This open governance structure ensures that the interests of employees and customers are equally respected and protected. With no centralised authority or shareholders monopolising resources, DAOs can better balance the interests of all parties, avoiding the dilemma of "when birds fly high, a good bow is put away."
Another highlight of DAO is its transparent and open operational mechanism. As all transactions and decisions are recorded on the blockchain and accessible to anyone, information transparency is ensured. This transparency not only helps build trust but also makes the company's operations more efficient and accountable. Employees and customers can gain a better understanding of the company's decision-making process and have more say in the direction of the organisation. This not only benefits the development of employees but also allows customers to choose to cooperate with the company with greater confidence.
Although DAOs partially address the issue of conflicting interests in traditional corporate structures, they are not without flaws. Due to its relatively young and complex technological nature, DAOs are still in the process of continuous exploration and improvement. In practice, some potential issues need to be addressed, such as how to ensure the participation and enthusiasm of community members and how to balance collective decision-making with individual freedom, among others. However, with ongoing technological advancements and growing societal demand for new organisational forms, it is believed that these problems will gradually be resolved.
In the future, with profound changes in the global economy and society, we will see more and more companies and organisations exploring DAOs as a new organisational form. For employees, they will have more choice and can join organisations that genuinely care about their well-being and development. For customers, they will find it easier to discover products and services that truly meet their needs. For society, the development of DAOs will drive innovation in economic and social systems, achieving more robust and sustainable development.
In conclusion, the era of reaping dividends from traditional corporate structures may be gradually fading, while decentralised autonomous organisations (DAOs) offer a new possibility. By achieving genuine win-win situations and balancing the interests of employees, customers, and shareholders, DAOs have emerged as strong contenders for the future of organisational forms. Although some challenges remain in practice, with advancing technology and society's continuous progress, DAOs are believed to play an increasingly vital role in injecting new vitality into the economic and social sustainability.
