最好的老板更会减负(下)

管理学泰斗彼得·德鲁克倡导"有计划地放弃"，从而将在边际活动中被占用的资源释放出来，用于更能获利的地方。

双语精读

Peter Drucker, the doyen of management theorists, was an advocate of "planned abandonment", so that resources that are tied up in marginal activities are freed for more profitable use.

管理学泰斗彼得·德鲁克倡导"有计划地放弃"，从而将在边际活动中被占用的资源释放出来，用于更能获利的地方。

Executives should, he advised, routinely ask the same question of every aspect of the business: "If we did not do this already, would we go into it now knowing what we now know?"

他建议高管们定期对各方面的业务提出同一问题："如果我们还没开始做这项业务，在我们了解目前的情况后，还会再继续吗？"

In "The Case for Good Jobs", a new book, Zeynep Ton of MIT Sloan School of Management argues that doing less can often make commercial sense.

麻省理工学院斯隆管理学院的泽内普·唐在其新作《为好工作辩护》中指出，通常来说做些减法是符合商业逻辑的。

Costco, a well-regarded American retailer that believes in the "intelligent loss of sales", has a deliberately limited product range. That means it can focus its buying power more effectively, forecast demand more accurately and use its employees' time more productively.

美国高口碑零售商Costco信奉"明智的销售损失"原则，刻意限制了产品种类。这意味着它可以更有效地集中购买力，更准确地预测需求，同时更高效地利用员工的时间。

Less may not sound like a great outcome for customers, but at some point choice is deeply wearying. When you have spent more time trying to decide what to watch on a streaming service than it takes to go to the cinema and watch "Oppenheimer" twice, scarcity seems pretty attractive.

对于客户来说，选择变少听起来可能不是件好事，但有时候做出选择也让人劳神费力。当你花在影视平台上选片子的时间比去电影院看两遍《奥本海默》的时间还要久，有限的选择看起来就很有吸引力了。

Doing and offering less goes against the grain in many ways. One is how humans are wired.

从多方面来看，"少做事少产出"这一理念有违常理，其中一个方面就是人类的天性。

Professor Ton cites a study, published in Nature in 2021 by Gabrielle Adams of the University of Virginia and her co-authors, in which people were asked to think of ways to improve something (like the design of a miniature-golf hole) or solve a problem (such as making the pattern on a grid symmetrical).

唐教授引用了由弗吉尼亚大学的加布里埃尔·亚当斯和她的合著者在2021年发表在《自然》杂志上的一项研究，这项研究要求人们想方设法改进一些东西（比如微型高尔夫球洞的设计）或者解决问题（比如让网格上的图案变得对称）。

The researchers found that, without an explicit prompt to think about subtraction, participants systematically defaulted to adding features rather than taking them away. There are plenty of other hurdles to embracing the minus mindset.

研究人员发现，由于没有明确提示人们可以做减法，参与者普遍默认需要查漏补缺，而不是删繁就简。要接受减法思维，还需要克服很多其他障碍。

The "sunk-cost fallacy" means that managers find it hard to abandon projects that have already soaked up money. Firms are often scared to give up optionality: what if this tiddly new venture turns into the next big thing?

"沉没成本谬误"意味着管理者很难放弃已经消耗了大量资金的项目。公司往往不敢放弃期权性风险：万一哪天这个小小的新项目就做大做强了呢？

Sending emails and filling the calendar is a way to feel busy even if not much of value is getting done. Recruitment processes and performance reviews reinforce the importance of additive activity; it is unusual for a job candidate to brag about the things they didn't achieve.

虽然发送邮件和写日程表并不会创造多少实际价值，但是也会让人感受到忙碌的充实。招聘过程和绩效评估让附加活动显得更加重要，如果求职者吹嘘自己没有完成的事情那才是不正常的。

But getting rid of work ought to be a vital part of the managers' toolkit. Add value. Do less.

但管理者理应把"减负"作为一个重要的管理工具。既要增加价值，也要减少工作。

词汇预习

• profitable [高考]

  美[ˈprɑːfɪtəbl] | 英[ˈprɒfɪtəbl]

  adj. 有益的；有利可图的

• effectively [高考]

  美[ɪˈfektɪvli] | 英[ɪˈfektɪvli]

  adv. 事实上；有效地

• accurately [高考]

  美['ækjərətlɪ] | 英['ækjərətlɪ]

  adv. 准确地；精确地

• venture [高考]

  美[ˈventʃər] | 英[ˈventʃə(r)]

  n. 冒险(事业)；风险；投机；企业 v. 冒险；敢于；冒昧地说

• reinforce [高考]

  美[ˌriːɪnˈfɔːrs] | 英[ˌriːɪnˈfɔːs]

  vt. 加固；加强；增强；使更具说服力 vi. 得到加强

• demand [高考]

  美[dɪˈmænd] | 英[dɪˈmɑːnd]

  n. 要求；需求 v. 要求；查问；需要

• range [高考]

  美[reɪndʒ] | 英[reɪndʒ]

  n.范围; 射程; 类别; （山脉，房屋等的）排列 vi.搜索; 变化; 延伸; 漫游 vt.排列; （按一定位置或顺序）排序; 把…分类; 徘徊 adj.牧场的，放牧区的

• loss [高考]

  美[lɔːs] | 英[lɒs]

  n. 遗失；丧失；损失；失败；失落；死亡

• aspect [高考]

  美[ˈæspekt] | 英[ˈæspekt]

  n. 方面；方位；外观；外貌

• abandon [高考]

  美[əˈbændən] | 英[əˈbændən]

  v. 放弃；抛弃；放纵 n. 放纵

• commercial [高考]

  美[kəˈmɜːrʃl] | 英[kəˈmɜːʃl]

  adj. 商业的 n. 商业广告

• vital [高考]

  美[ˈvaɪtl] | 英[ˈvaɪtl]

  adj. 至关重要的；有活力的；生死攸关的

• outcome [高考]

  美[ˈaʊtkʌm] | 英[ˈaʊtkʌm]

  n. 结果，成果，效果，结局

• candidate [高考]

  美[ˈkændɪdət] | 英[ˈkændɪdət]

  n. 候选人；应试者

• advocate [高考]

  美[ ˈædvəkeɪt] | 英[ ˈadvəkeɪt]

  v. 提倡；主张 n. 拥护者；提倡者；律师；辩护者

• ought [高考]

  美[ˈɔːt] | 英[ˈɔːt]

  aux. 应该；应当；本该 vi. 应该，应当；大概

• golf [高考]

  美[ɡɑːlf] | 英[ɡɒlf]

  n. 高尔夫球 vi. 打高尔夫球

• deliberately [高考]

  美[dɪˈlɪbərətli] | 英[dɪˈlɪbərətli]

  adv. 故意地；不慌不忙地

• explicit [高考]

  美[ɪkˈsplɪsɪt] | 英[ɪkˈsplɪsɪt]

  adj. 明确的；清晰的；清楚的；露骨的

• minus [高考]

  美[ˈmaɪnəs] | 英[ˈmaɪnəs]

  adj. 负的；减的 n. 减号；负数；缺点 prep. 减去

• what if [高考]

  美[hwɑt ɪf] | 英[hwɔt if]

  如果 ... 将会怎么样

• means [高考]

  美[miːnz] | 英[miːnz]

  n. 方法；手段；收入；财产 v. 意思是，意味（动词mean的第三人称单数）

• limited [高考]

  美[ˈlɪmɪtɪd] | 英[ˈlɪmɪtɪd]

  adj. 有限的；被限制的

• ought to [高考]

  美[ˈɔːt tə] | 英[ˈɔːt tə]

  应该；应当

• miniature [高考]

  美[ˈmɪnətʃər , ˈmɪnətʃʊr] | 英[ˈmɪnətʃə(r)]

  adj. 小型的；小规模的 n. 缩图；小画像；小模型

• would [高考]

  美[wʊd , wəd] | 英[wʊd , wəd]

  aux. 将；可能；大概；总会；愿意；will的过去式

• prompt [四级]

  美[prɑːmpt] | 英[prɒmpt]

  v. 促使，导致；鼓励，提示（说话者）；（计算机上）提示；（给演员）提词，提白 adj. 迅速的，立刻的；（人）利索的，敏捷的；及时的，准时的；（商品）即期要送的，即期要付的 n.（给演员的）提词；（计算机屏幕上显示准备接受指令的）提示； 鼓励，催促；（付款通知单上的）付款期限 adv.准时地

• retailer [四级]

  美[ˈritelɚ] | 英[ˈri:teɪlə(r)]

  n. 零售商(店)

• grid [四级]

  美[ɡrɪd] | 英[ɡrɪd]

  n. 格子；栅栏；电网；网格；赛车起跑线

• routinely [四级]

  美[ruˈtinlɪ] | 英[ru:'ti:nlɪ]

  adv. 日常地；通常地；例行公事地

• scarcity [四级]

  美[ˈskersəti] | 英[ˈskeəsəti]

  n. 缺乏；不足；缺少

• additive [四级]

  美[ˈædɪtɪv] | 英[ˈædətɪv]

  n. 添加剂 adj. 加添的

• subtraction [四级]

  美[səb'trækʃən] | 英[səb'trækʃ(ə)n]

  n. 减法；减去

• fallacy [四级]

  美[ˈfæləsi] | 英[ˈfæləsi]

  n. 谬论；谬误的推理

• mindset [四级]

  美[ˈmaɪndset] | 英[ˈmaɪndset]

  n. 精神状态；心态；意向

• offering [四级]

  美[ˈɔːfərɪŋ] | 英[ˈɒfərɪŋ]

  n. 供品；作品；出售物

• marginal [六级]

  美[ˈmɑːrdʒɪnl] | 英[ˈmɑːdʒɪnl]

  adj. 边际的；末端的；仅以微弱多数获胜的；微小的

• systematically [六级]

  美[ˌsɪstəˈmætɪklɪ] | 英[ˌsɪstə'mætɪklɪ]

  adv. 有系统地；有条理地

• symmetrical [六级]

  美[sɪˈmɛtrɪkəl] | 英[sɪˈmetrɪkl]

  adj. 对称的

• brag [专四]

  美[bræɡ] | 英[bræɡ]

  v. 吹牛；自夸 n. 大话；吹牛的人；傲慢的态度 adj. 一流的；特别好的

• trying [专八]

  美[ˈtraɪɪŋ] | 英[ˈtraɪɪŋ]

  adj. 难受的；令人厌烦的

• abandonment [托福]

  美[əˈbændənmənt] | 英[əˈbændənmənt]

  n. 放弃；自暴自弃；放纵

重点讲解

Peter Drucker,**** the doyen of**** management**** theorists,**** was an**** advocate**** of**** "planned**** abandonment", so**** that**** resources that**** are tied**** up**** in**** marginal**** activities**** are freed for more**** profitable**** use.****

管理学泰斗彼得·德鲁克倡导"有计划地放弃"，从而将在边际活动中被占用的资源释放出来，用于更能获利的地方。

tie up

1. 把某人/某物绑起来

（英文释义：to make a person unable to move by tying a rope or something similar around their body or part of their body）

【例】The burglars had tied him up (to the bed).

绑匪把他绑在了床上。

2. 占用某人的时间

（英文释义：When someone is tied up, they are busy or prevented from doing something, such as speaking to someone or going somewhere, because of being involved in another event or activity）

【例】The meeting will tie up my schedule for the whole afternoon.

这个会议将占用我整个下午的时间。

3. 金钱、财物等被占用

（英文释义：to cause something, often money or possessions, not to be available for use）

【例】He tied up the printer all morning, printing out copies of his presentation.

他占了打印机一上午来打印他自己的报告。

Executives**** should****,**** he**** advised,**** routinely ask the same**** question**** of**** every aspect**** of**** the business****:**** "If we**** did not do**** this**** already,**** would we**** go**** into**** it**** now knowing what**** we**** now know****?"

他建议高管们定期对各方面的业务提出同一问题："如果我们还没开始做这项业务，在我们了解目前的情况后，还会再继续吗？"

In**** "The**** Case**** for Good**** Jobs****", a new book****,**** Zeynep**** Ton of**** MIT Sloan School**** of**** Management**** argues**** that**** doing less**** can often make**** commercial**** sense.****

麻省理工学院斯隆管理学院的泽内普·唐在其新作《为好工作辩护》中指出，通常来说做些减法是符合商业逻辑的。

Costco****,**** a well****-regarded**** American**** retailer**** that**** believes**** in**** the "intelligent**** loss**** of**** sales", has a deliberately**** limited product range.**** That**** means it**** can focus its buying**** power more**** effectively,**** forecast**** demand**** more**** accurately**** and use its employees'**** time**** more**** productively****.****

美国高口碑零售商Costco信奉"明智的销售损失"原则，刻意限制了产品种类。这意味着它可以更有效地集中购买力，更准确地预测需求，同时更高效地利用员工的时间。

Less may not sound like a great outcome for customers, but at some point choice is deeply wearying. When you have spent more time trying to decide what to watch on a streaming service than it takes to go to the cinema and watch "Oppenheimer" twice, scarcity seems pretty attractive.

对于客户来说，选择变少听起来可能不是件好事，但有时候做出选择也让人劳神费力。当你花在影视平台上选片子的时间比去电影院看两遍《奥本海默》的时间还要久，有限的选择看起来就很有吸引力了。

at some point   在某个时候

【例】I will visit Paris at some point in the future.

将来的某个时候我会去巴黎。

go against the grain   违背常规

（英文释义：If something goes against the grain, you would not usually do it because it would be unusual）

【例】It takes courage to go against the grain and stand up for what you believe in.

需要勇气去违背常规，坚持自己的信仰。

Doing and offering less goes against the grain in many ways. One is how humans are wired.

从多方面来看，"少做事少产出"这一理念有违常理，其中一个方面就是人类的天性。

at some point   在某个时候

【例】I will visit Paris at some point in the future.

将来的某个时候我会去巴黎。

go against the grain   违背常规

（英文释义：If something goes against the grain, you would not usually do it because it would be unusual）

【例】It takes courage to go against the grain and stand up for what you believe in.

需要勇气去违背常规，坚持自己的信仰。

Professor Ton cites a study, published in Nature in 2021 by Gabrielle Adams of the University of Virginia and her co-authors, in which people were asked to think of ways to improve something (like the design of a miniature-golf hole) or solve a problem (such as making the pattern on a grid symmetrical).

唐教授引用了由弗吉尼亚大学的加布里埃尔·亚当斯和她的合著者在2021年发表在《自然》杂志上的一项研究，这项研究要求人们想方设法改进一些东西（比如微型高尔夫球洞的设计）或者解决问题（比如让网格上的图案变得对称）。

prompt   v. & n. & adj. & adv

1. 作动词

（1）促使，导致

【例】His speech prompted an angry outburst from a man in the crowd. 

他的讲话激起了人群中一男子的愤怒。

（2）鼓励，提示，提醒（某人说话）

【例】She was too nervous to speak and had to be prompted. 

她紧张得说不出话来，只好听人提示。

2. 作名词，（给演员的）提词、提示

提词器：prompter 

3. 作形容词，立即，迅速的，及时的

【例】Prompt action was required as the fire spread. 

由于火势蔓延，须要立即采取行动。

4. 做副词，恰好，分秒不差

（英式英语，与指明的时间有关）

【例】The man set off at three-thirty prompt.

那人在三点半准时出发。

The researchers found that, without an explicit prompt to think about subtraction, participants systematically defaulted to adding features rather than taking them away. There are plenty of other hurdles to embracing the minus mindset.

研究人员发现，由于没有明确提示人们可以做减法，参与者普遍默认需要查漏补缺，而不是删繁就简。要接受减法思维，还需要克服很多其他障碍。

prompt   v. & n. & adj. & adv

1. 作动词

（1）促使，导致

【例】His speech prompted an angry outburst from a man in the crowd. 

他的讲话激起了人群中一男子的愤怒。

（2）鼓励，提示，提醒（某人说话）

【例】She was too nervous to speak and had to be prompted. 

她紧张得说不出话来，只好听人提示。

2. 作名词，（给演员的）提词、提示

提词器：prompter 

3. 作形容词，立即，迅速的，及时的

【例】Prompt action was required as the fire spread. 

由于火势蔓延，须要立即采取行动。

4. 做副词，恰好，分秒不差

（英式英语，与指明的时间有关）

【例】The man set off at three-thirty prompt.

那人在三点半准时出发。

The "sunk-cost fallacy" means that managers find it hard to abandon projects that have already soaked up money. Firms are often scared to give up optionality: what if this tiddly new venture turns into the next big thing?

"沉没成本谬误"意味着管理者很难放弃已经消耗了大量资金的项目。公司往往不敢放弃期权性风险：万一哪天这个小小的新项目就做大做强了呢？

soak up

1. 吸收（液体）

（英文释义：If a soft or dry material soaks up a liquid, the liquid goes into the substance.）

【例】 The cells will promptly start to soak up moisture.

 细胞会很快开始吸收水份。

2. 感受（气氛）

（英文释义：If you soak up the atmosphere in a place that you are visiting, you observe or get involved in the way of life there, because you enjoy it or are interested in it.）

【例】Keaton comes here once or twice a year to soak up the atmosphere.

 基顿每年来这里一两次，感受这里的氛围。

3. 耗费（钱或其他资源）

（英文释义：If something soaks up something such as money or other resources, it uses a great deal of money or other resources.）

【例】Defense soaks up 40 percent of the budget.

 国防开支要耗费40%的预算。

Sending emails and filling the calendar is a way to feel busy even if not much of value is getting done. Recruitment processes and performance reviews reinforce the importance of additive activity; it is unusual for a job candidate to brag about the things they didn't achieve.

虽然发送邮件和写日程表并不会创造多少实际价值，但是也会让人感受到忙碌的充实。招聘过程和绩效评估让附加活动显得更加重要，如果求职者吹嘘自己没有完成的事情那才是不正常的。

brag about   吹嘘，夸耀：过分或虚假地表达自己的成就或优点。

（英文释义：to speak with pride, often with too much pride, about something you have done or something you possess）

【例】She was bragging about her golf game.

她在吹嘘自己的高尔夫球技。

But getting rid of work ought to be a vital part of the managers' toolkit. Add value. Do less.

但管理者理应把"减负"作为一个重要的管理工具。既要增加价值，也要减少工作。

brag about   吹嘘，夸耀：过分或虚假地表达自己的成就或优点。

（英文释义：to speak with pride, often with too much pride, about something you have done or something you possess）

【例】She was bragging about her golf game.

她在吹嘘自己的高尔夫球技。

课后练习

• What is “planned abandonment” according to Peter Drucker?

  A. People should plan and organize their daily work.

  B. People should allocate resources to marginal activities.

  C. People should be fully informed about their work.

  D. People should give up unnecessary projects.

• The benefit of “intelligent loss of sales” is that ____.

  A. costs are reduced

  B. customer service is improved

  C. management becomes targeted

  D. customers have more choices

• Gabrielle Adams’s study shows that ____.

  A. people are more accustomed to addition than subtraction

  B. it is difficult to change people’s mindset

  C. subtraction is a better way to solve problems than addition

  D. a change of perspective can lead to unexpected results

• The hurdles to the minus mindset include ____.

  A. the reluctance to abandon unfinished projects

  B. the unpredictable business prospect

  C. the pressure of work and the lack of time

  D. the insignificance of additive activity