发起“安静商业”的渊源（The Origins of Quiet Business）

2025年的春日，回到魔都的旅程里，陆续和很多创见伙伴们见面，很多感触，很多新的思考，也常常和“知行”（我的AI助理）聊这些感想。清明假期将至，天天才蒙蒙亮，我起身坐在金山新家的飘窗前，打开电脑梳理脑海里浮现的很多很多。那时，“安静商业（Quiet Business）”这个构念浮现而出。它并非一时的灵感爆发，而是我二十年来的生活经验、创业旅程，学术探索、咨询陪伴与社群构建，在那个春日的晨曦静静蒸馏出的答案。

注册quietbusiness.org这个“安静商业”倡导平台已经一月有余，这个5.20，我终于静下心来，梳理与发布这份《安静商业》的创业渊源：关于“Why this?””Why me?””Why now?”。

为什么是“安静商业”(Quiet Business)？

我们正身处一个被剧烈变动撕裂的时代。

一边是AI技术日新月异、全球化退潮、经济冷热无常、地缘冲突频发； 一边是代际断裂愈演愈烈，新生代在“内卷”与“躺平”之间疲惫穿梭，意义感的缺席成为时代的沉默背景。

曾经主流的成功范式——高速增长、爆发流量、杠杆套利——在短时间内制造了幻象与奇迹，却也留下了深重的精神透支与人心漂浮。

而今，无论在中国还是世界的更多角落，越来越多的行动者陷入集体困境：

他们不愿割韭菜、不愿贩卖焦虑、不愿操弄人心， 但也不想躺平，不愿放弃内在的创造本能与价值渴望。

他们渴望的是：

• 一种不违背初心、却能真实生存的事业方式；

• 一种能稳住节奏、不被流量裹挟的工作状态；

• 一种可以同时滋养自己与服务世界的生命路径。

他们，就是安静商业所希望回应与支持的那一类人。

你可能也是他们中的一位：

• 一个拥有专业技能，却不屑于靠低价竞争和焦虑营销维持生计的自由职业者；

• 一个正在从事咨询、教练、内容服务，希望将专业价值转化为稳定关系的个体工作者；

• 一个不愿被平台与流量算法牵着走，渴望与同路人长期互助陪伴的社群主理人；

• 一个以理想为引、以真实为径，正在寻找“不违心的活法”的独立创业者；

• 一个非营利组织或公益项目的发起人，既在意社会影响力，也在意经营的可持续性。

于是，一个问题浮现：有没有一种事业方式，不靠日更、不卷流量、不喊口号、不内耗，也能持续服务客户，养活自己，还能保留热情与灵魂？

我相信有，我把它叫作：安静商业（Quiet Business）。

“安静商业”不是一种商业模式，也不是某种组织结构，它是一种对生活、工作的选择，一种节奏，一种有温度、有尊严、有韧性的事业之道。

它回应的是那些：

• 有理想但不违心的事业路径；

• 有收入也不疲惫的生活节奏；

• 有客户信任也能自我成长的工作状态；

• 有人情味、有深度、有尊严地“站着把钱挣了”。

它可以是盈利公司，也可以是非营利组织、一人事业、社群网络、合作社或社会企业……它跨越形态的事业态度。安静商业是一种融合个人理想、社会价值与商业思维的人生事业实践方式。它不以扩张和效率为唯一目标，而是通过可持续的节奏、真实的价值创造与柔韧的组织行为，实现商业、生活与社会的整合。它是人生理想的承载器，社会意义的参与者，也是商业世界的温和实践者。安静商业的践行者，可能是意义导向型的独立经营者，也可能是价值导向型的组织创业者。他们用商业作为载体，以合适的节奏，创造出对自己与社会都具深远意义的成果。

“安静商业”是一种以个人理想为内核、以社会价值为牵引、以可持续创造为路径、以温和务实行动为风格的人生事业实践方式。

安静商业的践行者，是在人生道路上，带着清晰、韧性与关怀前行的人——他们将内心的信念，转化为每日的行动；将理想，化为真实而持久的创造。

《安静商业宣言》

真正的创新，不是躁动的喧嚣，而是静水流深。真正的领导力，不是控制，而是在复杂中持续前行。我们以心力为根，以意义为核，以匠造为形，以精静为魂，去创造真实价值，过可承担的人生。

在这个被增长焦虑与短期评估主导的时代，我们选择另一种存在方式：不追逐流量，不依赖炒作，不把人变成工具，不把理想简化为简单的KPI。

我们相信，商业不必喧哗，也能创造改变。安静不是软弱，而是一种深刻的力量。

我们是一群务实的理想主义者：我们相信长期主义，相信人性中的善，我们愿意用真实的产品、清醒的判断、温和的行动，去回应一个复杂的世界。

我们创造的组织，不以规模论成败，而以影响衡量价值；不以扩张为目标，而以可持续为原则。我们在利与义之间，在理想与现实之间，在个体独立与服务他者之间，探索第三种可能。

我们坚持慢慢走，走得远；用我们的节奏，过我们相信的生活，做我们愿意负责的事业。我们称之为：安静商业。

“安静商业”所相信的是：

• 以人为本：尊重个体的成长、情感与尊严。

• 价值引领：优先考虑真实的社会价值，而非短期的市场利益。

• 可持续性：不以消耗自己或团队为代价来达成目标。

• 温和而坚定：不卷、不炒作，但始终稳步向前。

• 长期主义：相信深耕细作，胜过一夜爆红。

我们相信，商业可以不喧哗，也能改变世界。

“安静商业”所践行的是：

• 不靠喧哗博取关注，而以信任生长关系

  我们不依赖刷屏与话术，而是用真实陪伴与自然口碑，让人主动靠近。

• 不以爆火评估成功，而以长期一致性衡量价值

  我们更在意关系是否持续、客户是否成长，而不是“是否一夜成名”。

• 不打造完美人设，而是活出真实的样子

  我们相信：“你活成你说的样子”，才是最有力的证明。

• 把赚钱视为价值的回响，而非自我证明的标签

  我们不羞于谈钱，也不被钱控制——金钱是价值被看见后的回应，而不是衡量人的标准。

为什么是我？Why me？

我这一生，并不是为了做个“成功创业者”而来。我走的，是一条更缓慢但更固执的路——在理想与现实之间、在精神与物质之间，寻找一条既不妥协，也不自我感动的路径。

这些年，我拥有许多身份：经理人、创业者、学术研究者、社群发起人、领导力教练、心理咨询师、组织变革与成长的陪伴者……但最核心的身份，是一个不断追问的生命实践者：有没有一种方式，可以既真实地活着，又不丢掉灵魂？有没有一种生意，可以做得不焦虑、不压榨、不操控，也依然可持续？有没有一种节奏，可以不追逐、不讨好，也能让价值自然生长、被温暖看见？

我没有一开始就拥有这些问题的答案。我曾沉潜、挣扎，也曾质疑自己是否太理想？但一路走来，我发现：我所陪伴的那一群人，他们也都在问着同样的问题。他们是创业者、社群主理人、自由职业者、非营利发起者，是与我一起“创见”的伙伴们。他们一边背负使命感，一边扛着财务压力；一边希望遵从初心和理想去创造美好，一边又怕被世俗的评判所裹挟；一边渴望努力达成自我实现与超越，一边也渴望多一点时间陪伴家人，回馈社区……而他们的路，也正是我走过的路。我们之间，不只是“彼此看见”，更是“共同修行”——是一段段长情陪伴、深刻共鸣的温暖岁月。

所以我提出“安静商业”，不是因为我想“创造一个概念”。我没有设计它，而是一直在活成它。直到某一天，我终于明白：Quiet Business 是我走了二十年的那条路，只是我终于愿意为它命名。

这二十年来，我从事过最前沿的营销，也投身过创业浪潮；我研究社会企业与社会创新，也陪伴过许多公益项目的诞生与挣扎；我做过商业与创业顾问，也是一位心理成长的咨询师；我发起了“创见”社群，见证一群生活思想家在精神荒漠中彼此取暖；我也生活在多元文化交织的环境中，再次跨界进入新的专业领域，重构身份与对话。

我一直没有明确的答案，直到我为这个群体写下这份《安静商业宣言》。这并不是某一天的灵感爆发，而是我终于愿意承认：我这一生，都在寻找这样一种方式。

安静商业不是一个选择，而是我生命必然抵达的地方。它不是我的产品，而是我愿意承担的使命。它不是一套方法，而是我内在信念与真实经验的总和。

所以，为什么是我？因为我不是发明者，而是那条路的践行者、见证者、命名者。

Quiet Business，不是我想出来的，而是我终于把它说出来了。

这不是一个商业模式，也不是某种组织结构，它是一种选择，一种节奏，一种我们对自己的生命、对这个世界，所做出的——独特而温暖的交代方式。

未来，我希望与更多这样的人同行。也许我们不大声，不主流，但我们彼此知道：我们正走在这条叫“安静商业”的路上。

为什么是现在？Why now？

提出“安静商业”，不是为了赶某个风口，而是因为——现在，刚刚好。这是一个恰逢其时的节点。我内在的节奏、所积累的生命经验，与这个时代的集体呼唤，正在此刻交汇。

一、时代呼唤：外部环境已然剧变

我们正身处一场时代剧变中，外部秩序与内在信仰正在同步裂变：技术在重塑世界，情感在寻找新栖居。

• AI快速演化，职业身份被重构，越来越多人陷入“未来无感”的集体迷茫；

• 疫情之后，焦虑与孤独蔓延，人们开始重新审视生活节奏、关系方式与工作的意义；

• 全球商业叙事正在从“扩张与支配”转向“连接与重构”；

• 在中国，越来越多年轻人不再相信“成功学”式的高压路径，转而发出更本质的追问：“我真正想要的生活，是什么？”

曾经主导一切的“快”、“爆”、“卷”，正在退潮；而“慢”、“深”、“静”，正在成为这个时代最稀缺的力量。

Quiet Business , 不是逃离社会化，不是拒绝商业思维，而是重新发问：如何可持续地经营一份自洽、有意义、有幸福感的事业，而不背叛我们的理想、热诚与初心？

二、十年沉淀：我与“创见”刚好走到这里

从 2014年9月10日“创见”诞生，到2025年4月3日那天晨曦我写下“安静商业”，一共经历了3858天——整整十年零六个月又二十八天。在“幸福”这一主题下，我们刚刚为“创见”庆祝了十周年。十年来，我们见证了许多理念的萌芽，也陪伴了无数实践者的挣扎、成长与蜕变。“创见”从一个思想社群，成长为一群人真实行动的起点。

而今，是“创见”迈入下一个十年的门槛。Quiet Business，就是我愿意为新的十年写下的起点，也是新的承诺。我相信——Quiet Business 不是我一个人的路。它是许多“创见伙伴们”正在努力活出的人生事业样貌。是一群人早已默默实践，却苦于没有语言、没有系统、没有彼此连结的共同经验。

我提出它，不是为了定义答案，而是为了召唤那些已经在做、正在找、尚未说出口的务实的理想主义者们。我们需要新的聚合方式，新的表达语言，也需要彼此照面与照亮。

在喧哗之后，总有人为“安静”赋予力量。而此刻，就是重新定义这一切的开始。

三、一封写给务实理想主义者的信💌

Quiet Business 一封写给务实理想主义者的信。这封信发出的那一刻，我知道，它不会被所有人看见。但它会被“那一些人”看到——那些在心里早已知道，世界还有另一条“少有人走的路”，那一群拥有“独立的人格，自由的灵魂，奔放的思想”的行动派。那些愿意认真活着、认真做事的人。那些渴望内外一致地活出自己人生意义的人。

欢迎你走进 Quiet Business， 让我们彼此携手，

慢慢走，走更远。

—— 「安静商业 Quiet Business」理念及所有文字、结构、图像与工具设计，均由小花（Daisy Zhang）最初提出，并于2025年5月20日在加拿大与中国同步公开发布。

The Origins of Quiet Business

In the spring of 2025, I returned to Shanghai and reconnected with many of my long-time C-Sight (创见) companions. Those conversations stirred something in me. During the Qingming holiday, before dawn, I sat by the bay window in my new home in Jinshan, opened my laptop, and began to distill the thoughts that had been quietly accumulating. It was in that still morning that the concept of “Quiet Business” emerged—not a burst of inspiration, but the quiet crystallization of twenty years of life experience, entrepreneurial practice, academic research, client work, and community building.

It’s been over a month since I registered quietbusiness.org as a platform to advocate for this idea. And on this May 20th, I finally sat down to write and release this founding manifesto: answering three core questions—Why this? Why me? Why now?

Why this (Quiet Business)?

We live in a time torn apart by accelerating disruptions.

On one side, AI evolves rapidly, globalization retracts, the economy fluctuates between hot and cold, and geopolitical tensions escalate. On the other, generational rifts deepen, and the younger generation drifts between burnout and apathy. A sense of meaning quietly disappears beneath the noise.

For years, the dominant success narrative—hypergrowth, viral traffic, leveraged capital—produced impressive illusions and instant fame, but left behind mental exhaustion, anxiety, and spiritual emptiness.

Now, from China to many corners of the world, more and more people find themselves trapped in the same dilemma:

They refuse to exploit others, sell fear, or manipulate minds. But they also don’t want to surrender. They still long to create, to live with integrity, to serve something beyond themselves.

They yearn for:

• A way to build a livelihood without betraying their values;

• A work rhythm that’s sustainable and not driven by algorithms and trends;

• A path where one can grow personally while making a genuine impact.

These people are who Quiet Business is for.

You might be one of them:

• A skilled freelancer who refuses to compete through underpricing or fear-based marketing;

• A coach, counselor, or creator who wants to build long-term trust-based relationships;

• A community leader who resists platform-driven performance and seeks slow, genuine connection;

• A purpose-driven entrepreneur looking for an authentic way to live and work;

• A nonprofit founder who cares about both sustainability and impact.

So the question emerges: Is there a way of doing business that doesn’t rely on hype, hustle, or manipulation, and still lets you serve, survive, and stay soulful?

I believe there is. I call it Quiet Business.

Quiet Business is not a business model or an organizational form.It is a conscious choice of how to live and work — a rhythm, a way of practice with warmth, dignity, and resilience.

It speaks to those who seek:

• A path that honors ideals without compromising integrity;

• A pace of life that allows income without burnout;

• A working state that fosters both client trust and personal growth;

• A way to earn with dignity, depth, and human warmth.

Quiet Business can take many forms:A for-profit company, a nonprofit organization, a solo practice, a community network, a cooperative, or a social enterprise.It transcends form — it is an attitude toward one’s life entrepreneurship.

It is a way of integrating personal ideals, social values, and business thinking —not for the sake of expansion or pure efficiency,but to build a sustainable rhythm, create real value, and act with organizational grace. It is a vessel for life’s aspirations, a participant in social meaning,and a gentle force within the business world. Quiet Business practitioners may be purpose-driven independent creators or value-driven organizational entrepreneurs.They use business as a vehicle to create outcomes that hold lasting meaning — for themselves and for the world — at the right pace, in their own way.

Quiet Business is a way of practice:rooted in personal ideals, guided by social value, built through sustainable creation, and expressed through gentle and grounded action.

A Quiet Business practitioner is someone who walks this path with clarity, resilience, and care — turning inner convictions into everyday action, and ideals into meaningful, lasting creation.

The Quiet Business Manifesto

Authentic innovation is not frantic — it’s deep and quiet.True leadership isn’t about control. It’s about movement within complexity.We root ourselves in inner power, center on meaning, shape with craftsmanship, and stay grounded in steadiness —to create real value, and live lives we can stand by.

In this era of growth anxiety and short-term metrics, we choose another way of being.

We do not chase traffic or build on hype.We do not turn people into tools,or reduce ideals to mere KPIs.

We believe business can be quiet and still be transformative.Quiet is not weakness — it is depth. It is power. We are grounded idealists.We trust in long-term thinking and the goodness in people.With honest offerings, clear minds, and gentle actions, we respond to a complex world.

The organizations we build are not measured by size, but by meaning.Not driven by speed, but by sustainability.

We seek the third path —between profit and purpose, between ideals and reality, between solitude and service.

We walk slowly, so we can go far.We move in our own rhythm, do work we can live with, and build futures we can stand by.

We call this: Quiet Business.

What We Value Most

• Human-Centered: Respecting individual growth, emotion, and dignity.

• Value-Led: Prioritizing real social impact over short-term gains.

• Sustainable: Achieving results without burning ourselves or others out.

• Gentle but Resolute: Not performative or rushed, but persistent and grounded.

• Long-Termism: Believing in deep, deliberate cultivation over overnight success.

We believe business can be quiet and still change the world.

What We Practice

• Trust over noise: We grow through authentic relationships, not attention games.

• Consistency over explosions: We care about lasting value, not overnight virality.

• Authenticity over image: We don't craft perfect personas. We live truthfully.

• Earning as resonance, not proof: Money is not our measure of self-worth, but a reflection of seen and received value.

Why Me （Daisy)?

I didn’t come into this world with a dream of becoming a "successful entrepreneur." I’ve followed a slower, more intentional path—one that weaves between vision and reality, between the call of the soul and the weight of the world, in search of a way that neither compromises integrity nor glorifies struggle.

Over the years, I’ve taken on many roles: corporate manager, entrepreneur, researcher, community founder, leadership coach, counselor, and organizational growth facilitator. But at the core, I’ve always been one thing: A seeker of questions that truly matter:Is there a way to live truthfully without losing your soul? Is there a kind of business that doesn’t rely on fear, pressure, or manipulation—and still sustains you? Is there a rhythm where value is seen, relationships deepen, and life stays meaningful?

I didn’t have the answers from the start. I’ve taken wrong turns, gone quiet, questioned whether I was naïve. But as I walked alongside others, I found I wasn’t alone in my search.

I’ve worked with entrepreneurs, community builders, freelancers, and nonprofit leaders. Many were part of the C-Sight (创见) community that I founded. Like me, they carry a deep sense of mission, while shouldering real financial pressure. They long to stay true to their ideals and create something meaningful, yet fear being judged or pulled by societal expectations. They strive for growth and self-transcendence, while also yearning for more time — to be with their families and give back to their communities. Their questions were my questions. Their roads, my road. We weren’t just seeing each other—we were practicing together, refining a way of life in long-term companionship and shared reflection.

So when I put the name “Quiet Business” to paper, it wasn’t to coin a new concept. I didn’t design it. I lived it. Quiet Business is the path I’ve walked for twenty years—I just finally gave it a name.

In those years, I’ve worked in cutting-edge marketing and joined the waves of entrepreneurship. I’ve researched social innovation and supported nonprofit founders. I’ve consulted in business and coached personal growth. I created C-Sight, where “life philosophers” warmed each other in a cultural and spiritual desert. I’ve supported multicultural organizations and rebuilt my professional identity as a newcomer, starting from a place where no one knew my name.

I never had one clear answer. Until I began writing this manifesto. It didn’t come in a flash of inspiration, but in the quiet willingness to admit: My entire life has been a search for this kind of path. A path that lets you live truthfully without betraying your ideals. A way to serve others without losing yourself. A rhythm that lets your value be seen without the need to shout.

Quiet Business is not a strategy I chose. It’s where my life has inevitably led.

It’s not a product. It’s a responsibility I choose to carry. It’s not a toolkit. It’s the integration of my beliefs, my lived experiences, and my life’s purpose.

So why me? Because I’m not the inventor—I am the practitioner, the witness, the one who finally gave it a voice.

Quiet Business isn’t something I thought up. It’s something I finally said aloud. It isn’t a model or a structure. It’s a choice. A rhythm. A warm and radical way to account for our lives and our world.

And I hope, in the years ahead, to walk alongside more people like us. We may not be loud. We may not be mainstream. But we know each other when we meet. We are walking this road called Quiet Business.

Why Now (2025)?

I didn’t launch Quiet Business to catch a trend. I wrote it down now because the time finally feels right. My internal rhythm, my life’s experience, and the world’s calling have met at this point.

1. The World is Changing

We are living through an era of profound transformation. External structures are breaking apart, and inner beliefs are being redefined. Technology is reshaping the world, while our emotions search for a new place to rest.

• AI is reshaping how we work. Many feel unmoored and numb toward the future.

• Post-pandemic, anxiety and loneliness surge. People are questioning the meaning of work, time, and connection.

• Global business is shifting from dominance and extraction toward interconnection and repair.

• In China, more young people are rejecting toxic hustle culture and asking: “What kind of life do I actually want?”

The feverish “heat” of the past is receding. Slowness, depth, and discernment are emerging as the new scarce assets.

Quiet Business is not an escape from structure or a rejection of business thinking. It is a renewed inquiry: How can I build a meaningful and sustainable business—aligned with my ideals and passions, while still being whole?

2. The C-Sight Journey Has Reached a Threshold

From September 10, 2014, when CreateSight was born, to April 3, 2025, when Quiet Business was written, exactly 3,858 days have passed—10 years, 6 months, and 28 days.

We marked CreateSight’s 10th birthday with the theme of Flourishing. Over a decade, we’ve witnessed ideas spark, people struggle, grow, transform. What started as a philosophical community has become a real-life movement.

Now, as we enter the next decade of CreateSight, Quiet Business is my offering: a new starting point, a new commitment.

I believe this is not just my path. Many CreateSight companions are already living this way. They’ve been quietly practicing for years—without language, without systems, without a sense of collective belonging.

Quiet Business is for them too. It’s a gathering call—for those already building, already searching, already sensing the shape of this path. We need new ways to connect, new language, new mirrors for each other.

After the noise fades, someone has to define what quiet means. And that time is now.

3. Quiet Business Is a Letter

It’s a letter to the Grounded Idealists. The moment this letter is sent, I know: it won’t be seen by everyone.But it will find those few —those who have always known, deep down， that there is another path, less traveled, but more true. The ones with independent character, free souls, and bold, untamed thoughts.The ones who choose to live with care, and work with sincerity.The ones who long to live in alignment —where who they are and what they do truly belong together.

Welcome to Quiet Business. Let’s walk side by side.

Slowly — so we can go further.

— The “Quiet Business” philosophy — including all written content, structural frameworks, visual elements, and tool designs — was originally developed by Daisy Zhang (小花) and officially launched on May 20, 2025, simultaneously in Canada and China.All rights reserved.