经济学人精读笔记8：企业应该倾听员工的声音

经济学人精读笔记8：企业应该倾听员工的声音

标签（空格分隔）： 经济学人

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Part 1

In praise of dissenters

It pays companies to encourage a variety
of opinions

The story of the emperor’s new clothes is one of Hans Christian Andersen’s best-known fables. Conmen fool the monarch into believing they have made him a fabulous suit that the unworthy will be unable to see. Courtiers dare not say that the emperor is naked; it takes a child to point out the obvious.

赞扬那些持不同意见的人
鼓励员工发出不同的声音有利于公司的发展
《皇帝的新装》是安徒生最著名的寓言之一。骗子欺骗国王，让国王相信他们为其做了一件愚人看不见的精美的服装。大臣们不敢说国王是赤裸着身体的；只有一个小孩说出了显而易见的事实。

• dissenter n.持异议者，持不同意见者
  来自于dissent v.n. 不同意见，异议political/religious dissent政治观点 / 宗教信仰上的分歧
  【记忆方法】可以和反义词assent联合记忆
  assent v.n.同意；赞成 The director has given her assent to the proposals.负责人已表示同意提案。

• fables n. 寓言

• Conmen 骗子

• courtier n. [ˈkɔ:tiə(r)]（尤指旧时的）侍臣，侍从，廷臣

fool sb. into doing sth. 骗某人做某事
Don't be fooled into thinking they're going to change anything. 别上当受骗，以为他们打算作出任何改变。

• fabulous adj.ˈfæbjələs extremely good 极好的；绝妙的
  a fabulous performance精彩的表演

unworthy本义是形容词“不值得的；配不上的”前面加了the,就指的是一类人，“不配看见的人”意译为“愚人”。

the+形容词表示一类人 the poor 穷人 the old 老人 the sick 病人

• the monarch君主；帝王 ，和前文的the emperor作同义替换

Part 2

The moral is that people are often too hidebound by social convention to state their views. How many companies have ploughed ahead with expensive projects that were favoured by the chief executive, even when other managers have had doubts?

In his new book “Rebel Ideas: The Power of Diverse Thinking”, Matthew Syed, a sportsman-turned-journalist, argues that the key to dealing with this problem is “cognitive diversity”. In other words, assembling a team of people with different perspectives and intellectual backgrounds.

这则寓言的寓意是，人们往往过于墨守成规，而不愿意说出自己的观点。有多少公司会奋力推行首席执行官所青睐的成本高昂的项目，即使有其他管理者对该项目表示怀疑？
运动员出身的记者马修·施雅德在其新书《反叛思想：多元化思维的力量》中认为，解决这一问题的关键在于“认知多样性”。换言之就是组建一支有着不同观点和知识背景的团队。

• moral adj. 道德的；精神上的；品性端正的
  n. 道德；寓意

• hidebound adj. having old-fashioned ideas, rather than accepting new ways of thinking 守旧的；迂腐的=narrow-minded
  be hidebound by social convention墨守成规

• convention n. (某一职业、政党等的人士召开的)大会;习俗, 惯例;协议, 协定

• plough on (with sth) to continue doing sth that is difficult or boring 坚持做，继续进行（艰难或乏味的事）；苦撑
  No one was listening to her, but she ploughed on regardless.没有人在听她讲话，但她仍不加理会，喋喋不休。

• cognitive adj. 认知的, 认识能力的

• diversity n. 多样化;(人在种族、民族、宗教等方面的)多样性

• perspective [pə'spektɪv] 义为“角度，观点，想法”

from a … perspective 从一个…角度来看
Try to see the issue from a different perspective. 试以不同的角度看待这件事。

类似的表达还有in a …light，比如金融时报一篇关于《我不是药神》的文章谈到：It is rare for Chinese censors to approve films presenting lawbreaking in a positive light, suggesting that officials intended its release to send a message to the industry. 中国审查机构极少批准从正面视角展示违法行为的电影，似乎表明官方希望通过这部电影的上映向业界传递一个信息。[写作推荐]

• assemble vt. 集合，聚集；装配；收集

• intellectual adj. 智力的; 理智的, 善于思维的
  n. 知识分子

Part 3

People from different backgrounds approach problems from different angles—that much should be blindingly obvious. It is not just about selecting people for teams from both sexes and various ethnicities (though that, too).

Hire only Cambridge politics graduates (or Harvard MBAs or Stanford software engineers) and they will have studied under the same professors and absorbed similar world views, regardless of their gender or skin colour.

来自不同背景的人会从不同的角度看待问题，这应该是显而易见的。当然，不仅仅是根据不同性别和不同种族来挑选团队成员（尽管实际如此）。
如果一家公司只聘用剑桥大学政治系毕业生（或哈佛大学工商管理硕士、或斯坦福大学软件工程师），虽然他们有着不同的性别和肤色，但他们将在相同的教授的指导下学习，并将有着相似的世界观。

• angles n. 角度
• ethnic adj.connected with or belonging to a nation, race or people that shares a cultural tradition 民族的；种族的
  ethnic tensions 种族关系紧张

ethnic作名词也指“少数民族”，比如：the rights of ethnic minorities 少数民族的权利 minority languages 少数民族语言

【类似表达】minority 也指少数派；少数民族；少数群体 the rights of ethnic / racial minorities 少数民族 / 族裔的权利 minority languages 少数民族语言

• be blindingly obvious 显而易见的

• absorb [əb'zɔ:b]

在文中表示“吸收”，再补充两个absorb的地道用法：
1.表示吸引全部注意力，即“使全神贯注；使专心”(to interest someone so much that they do not pay attention to other things), 由此短语be absorbed in sth义为“专心致志，沉迷于”She seemed totally absorbed in her book. 她好像完全被这本书迷住了。

2.表示吸走金钱，时间等，即“耗费，耗去”(to use up a large supply of sth, especially money or time)，

如Defence spending absorbs almost 20% of the country's wealth.国防开支消耗了这个国家差不多 20% 的财富。[写作推荐]

• Hire vt. 雇用

• regardless of 不管, 不顾

Part 4

In the modern world, with all its complexity, co-operation is essential if breakthroughs are to be made. In science and engineering, 90% of papers are now written by teams rather than individuals. Analysis of American patent filings since 1975 showed teams dominate in every one of the 36 defined categories.

There are two elements to selecting a good team. First, assemble people with diverse viewpoints. Second, ensure that those viewpoints are heard and respected. That may not happen if those in charge are overbearing.

在这个复杂的现代世界，如果想要取得突破，合作是必不可少的。在科学和工程领域，90%的论文是由团队而非个人完成的。对1975年以来美国专利申请的分析显示，在36个已被定义的类别中，团队申请的专利在每个类别中都占据着主导地位。
选择一个好的团队有两点要素。首先，召集有着不同观点的人。其次，确保这些观点能够得到倾听和尊重。如果负责人专横跋扈，这一点或许就无法实现。

• complexity n. 复杂性,错综复杂的状态

• breakthrough [ˈbrekˌθru] n.an important development that may lead to an agreement or achievement 重大进展The breakthrough came hours before a UN deadline. 在联合国的最后期限到来前数小时取得了重大突破。

breakthrough是一个复合词，复合词是由两个或两个以上的简单词构成的词。
A.复合名词
1.名词 +名词 story-book故事书
2. 形容词 +名词 best seller畅销货 shorthand速记
3. 动名词 +名词 waiting-room 候车室 sleeping-pill安眠药
4. 动词+ 名词 shopkeeper 店主，零售商 pickpocket扒手 breakwater防水堤
5. 名词 +动名词 handwriting 书法
6. 名词 +动词 sunrise日出 sunset日落
7. 动词 +副词 get-together联欢会 breakthrough突破

B. 复合形容词：

1. 形容词+ 现在分词 good-looking好看的 fine-sounding动听的
2. 副词 +现在分词 hard-working勤劳的 far-reaching深远的
3. 副词 +过去分词 well-known著名的
4. 形容词 +过去分词 kind-hearted好心的

• patent [ˈpeɪtənt] n.[C] ~ on / for sth a special document that gives you the right to make or sell a new invention or product that no one else is allowed to copy 专利证书

• overbearing adj.(disapproving) trying to control other people in an unpleasant way 专横的；飞扬跋扈的=domineering
  an overbearing manner专断的作风

Part 5

A study of over 300 projects by the Rotterdam School of Management found that those led by junior managers were more likely to succeed than those led by senior managers—maybe because other team members were less intimidated about pointing out potential pitfalls to someone lower down the pecking order.

The ability to speak up within an organisation, without fear of sanction, is known as “psychological safety” and was described by Amy Edmondson of the Harvard Business School in a book on the issue. Mr Syed cites a study of teams at Google, which found that self-reported psychological safety was by far the most important factor behind successful teamwork at the technology giant.

鹿特丹管理学院对300多个项目开展的一项研究发现，由初级管理人员领导的项目比由高级管理人员领导的项目更有可能成功，这也许是因为团队其他成员不会那么害怕向地位较低的人指出潜在的问题。
在哈佛商学院的艾米·埃德蒙森的一本谈到了该问题的书中，他将一个组织内部的成员能够畅所欲言、而不用担心受到制裁的状态称为“心理安全”。施雅德引用了一项关于谷歌团队的研究，该研究发现，员工自述的心理安全是这家科技巨头团队合作得以成功的最重要的因素。

• senior [ˈsi:niə(r)] n.级别（或地位）较高者；上级；上司

junior [ˈdʒu:niə(r)] n. 职位较低者；低层次工作人员Junior and middle-ranking civil servants have pledged to join the indefinite strike. 基层和中层公务员已承诺要加入到无限期罢工中来。

【记忆方式】可将senior和junior 结合来记忆
sen老+ior较…的→adj.年长的;地位较高的 n.[大学]四年级学生
jun年轻+ior较…的→adj.&n.年少的/者,三年级的/学生,下级[的]

【类似表达】上级下属还有其他的表达方式
inferior [ɪnˈfɪəriə(r)] n.下属、晚辈
superior [su:ˈpɪəriə(r)] n. 级别（或地位、职位）更高的人；上级；上司
He's my immediate superior (= the person directly above me) .他是我的顶头上司。
【记忆方式】可将inferior与superior结合来记忆
infer在…下面+ior较…的→adj.下等的,下级的;劣等的,差的 n.下级,晚辈
super在…上面+ior较…的→adj.优良的,卓越的;上级的 n.上级;长者;高手

• intimidated vt. 恐吓,威胁； adj.害怕的；受到威胁的；

• pitfall ['pɪtfɔ:l] n. a danger or difficulty, especially six that is hidden or not obvious at first 危险；困难；（尤指）陷阱，隐患the potential pitfalls of buying a house 购买房屋可能遇到的圈套

• a/the pecking order (informal,often humorous) the order of importance in relation to one another among the members of a group 等级排序=hierarchy
  New Zealand is at the top of the pecking order of rugby nations.新西兰在橄榄球国家中首屈一指。

• speak up 畅所欲言
  Don't be afraid of speaking up... 别怕，大胆地说。

• sanction n.an official order that limits trade, contact, etc. with a particular country, in order to make it do sth, such as obeying international law 制裁
  Trade sanctions were imposed against any country that refused to sign the agreement. 凡拒签该协议的国家均受到贸易制裁。

• cite vt. 引用；传讯；想起；表彰