2023年经济学人 如何让人规模化成长

 

Business

商业版块

Bartleby

巴托比专栏

Textbook writing

教科书之作

“Scaling People” is not like every other management book -- thank God.

《如何让人规模化成长》和任何其他的管理学书籍都不同，真是谢天谢地。

Too many management books rest on a vague idea that has been stretched to breaking point.

太多的管理学书籍依赖于一个模糊的概念，而这个概念已经被扩充到了接近崩溃的地步。

You can tell from the depth of the margins¹ just how hard an author has had to work to draw the thesis out.

你可以从大片的页边空白看出，作者为了填充论述的篇幅而付出了多大的努力。

Their covers are bright and zingy.

这些书的封面明亮活泼。

Their titles either contain action-packed words like “strive” and “ignite” or give birth to some ghastly new portmanteau like “stressilience” or “charismility”.

书的标题要么包含像“奋力”和“点燃”这样动感十足的词语，要么生造出一些可怕的新复合词，比如“抗压韧性”或“谦逊魅力”。

They are determined² to take lessons for bosses from anywhere but an actual business: termites³, hunter-gatherers, Novak Djokovic, salad dressing⁴.

它们决心从实际企业之外的任何地方让老板学到东西：白蚁、狩猎采集者、诺瓦克·德约科维奇、沙拉调料。

The unspoken rule of most management titles, it seems, is to avoid the actual practice of management.

大多数管理书籍的标题似乎都有一个潜规则，就是避免提及真正的管理实践。

What a relief, then, to read a book that breaks the mould.

因此，能读到一本打破这一模式的书是多么令人欣慰。

It lands with an intimidating⁵ thud.

它的出现有一种威严的派头。

It looks and feels like a textbook.

它看起来和感觉上都像一本教科书。

It is full of exercises and templates.

里面充满了练习题和模板。

And it is unapologetically practical in its focus.

而且它的关注点也是坚持实用性。

“Scaling People” is written by Claire Hughes Johnson, a tech-industry veteran who spent more than a decade at Google before joining Stripe, a digital-payments unicorn⁶, as its chief operating officer in 2014.

《如何让人规模化成长》的作者是科技行业资深从业者克莱尔·休斯·约翰逊，她曾在谷歌工作了十多年，然后在2014年加入数字支付独角兽公司Stripe，担任首席运营官。

By the time she left that role in 2021, the firm had gone from 160 employees to over 7,000.

到2021年她离开这一职位时，公司的员工人数已经从160人增加到7000多人。

In a world of coders, creators and visionaries, her work was to make things work.

在一个由程序员、创造者和愿景提出者组成的世界里，她的工作就是让事情运转起来。

Much of the book is a manual for creating what Ms Hughes Johnson calls an operating system—the set of documents, metrics and processes that produces a consistent framework for making decisions and improving performance.

这本书的大部分内容是关于如何创建休斯·约翰逊所说的运营系统--为决策和提高绩效而打造的前后连贯的框架，这一框架由整套文件、指标和流程构成。

There is a section on planning, with advice on setting good goals and deciding on the cadence⁷ of meetings and reviews that sets the right drumbeat for a company.

书中有一节是关于规划的，并提出了一些建议，即如何设定好的目标以及如何确定会议和述评节奏，从而为公司定下合适的行进鼓点。

There is another on hiring people, from building a recruitment pipeline⁸ to the interview process and the task of bringing new employees on board.

还有一节是关于招聘的，从建立招聘渠道到面试流程，再到让新员工加入公司。

There are chapters on improving team performance and on giving feedback.

还有几章是关于提高团队绩效和提供反馈的内容。

“Scaling People” is a product of Silicon⁹ Valley.

《如何让人规模化成长》是硅谷的产物。

It grapples with the problems of very fast growth; its context is one of founders¹⁰, developers and product teams.

它努力应对的问题是快速增长，语境是由创始人、开发人员和产品团队组成的。

For incumbents¹¹ in highly regulated industries or employees in public-sector bureaucracies, the problems of scaling up may seem very remote.

对于现处于受到严格监管的行业的人，或公共部门、官僚体制的员工来说，扩大规模的问题似乎非常遥远。

Stripe’s early decision to run a programming competition called “Capture the Flag”, for instance, helped build its reputation as a place for talented developers to go to.

例如，Stripe之前决定举办一场名为“夺旗”的编程竞赛，就帮助它树立了一种声誉，即这是有才华的开发人员应该去的公司。

Established firms need to work less hard to create awareness¹² among potential candidates but may have a tougher time building a name for innovation.

老牌公司不需要花这么多力气在潜在职位候选人中打造知名度，但可能在打造创新型形象方面会有更多困难。

But the insights on which such practices are founded—in this instance, getting candidates to do actual work as part of an application process and filling a hiring pipeline rather than waiting for jobs to open up—are transferable.

但这些做法所依据的深刻见解--在这个例子中，就是让候选人在申请过程中做些实际工作，以及要填充招聘渠道，而不是等到出现职位空缺再开始招聘--是可以迁移的。

And most of the book is devoted¹³ to problems that bedevil all industries and companies.

这本书的大部分内容都关注那些困扰所有行业和公司的问题。

Among other things, Ms Hughes Johnson gives tips on how to run an effective meeting; these include having a round of “check-ins” at the start (getting everyone to say what they want from the meeting, for instance) so that people are focused and so that the quietest members of the group participate early.

除了其他方面，休斯·约翰逊还就如何举办有效的会议提出了建议，其中包括在会议开始时进行一轮“签到”(例如，让每个人都说出他们想从会议中得到什么)，这样人们就能集中注意力，小组中最安静的成员也能早早参与进来。

She offers advice on how to do performance reviews, which decisions you can and should delegate to other people, and how to save high-performing employees from burnout.

她还提供了一些建议，包括如何进行绩效评估、哪些决策你可以而且应该下放给其他人，以及如何让能力强的员工避免工作倦怠。

It is all refreshingly¹⁴ pragmatic.

这些都务实得让人耳目一新。

Behind the tactics lies a clear philosophy, which is to make the implicit¹⁵ explicit¹⁶.

所有这些策略的背后是一种清晰的哲学，那就是让隐含的东西显化。

That means being clear about how specific decisions are going to get taken: is this a consensual process or an autocratic one?

这意味着明确地描述具体的决定将怎样被做出来：是双方都同意还是一个人说了算？

It means writing things down: by articulating Stripe’s culture, the startup can be clear to prospective¹⁷ joiners what the company’s norms are.

这意味着要把事情写下来：通过清晰地阐述Stripe的文化，这家初创公司可以让有望加入的人清楚地知道公司的规范是什么。

It means saying things that other people are not saying, especially if those things are causing dysfunction.

这意味着把其他人没有说的事情给说出来，特别是当这些事情会导致运行故障的时候。

It also means being aware of your own behaviour and preferences.

这还意味着要意识到自己的行为和偏好。

Ms Hughes Johnson has long kept a “Working with Claire” document that spells out to new members of her team what they can expect: how she likes to take decisions, how quickly she will respond to messages, what she wants from them in a one-to-one meeting.

长期以来，休斯·约翰逊一直保存着一份“与克莱尔一起工作”的文件，这份文件向她的团队新成员阐明了和她工作是什么样的：她喜欢如何做出决定，她多久之后会回复信息，她在一对一谈话中希望从他们那里得到什么。

Her advice will not suit everyone.

她的建议并非适合每个人。

There will be too much emphasis on process for some corporate¹⁸ cultures.

对于一些企业文化而言，她的做法过于强调流程。

But there is something thought-provoking for every boss.

但对于每一位老板来说，其中都有一些很有启发的东西。

Your bedside table may groan¹⁹ with books on what Mr Djokovic can teach you about leadership or the lessons to be learned from mayonnaise.

你的床头柜上可能堆满了德约科维奇能教给你什么领导力，或者从蛋黄酱中能学到什么教训的书籍。

This book is trying to do something far more original and useful: turn you into a better manager.

但这本书想做一些更独特、更有用的事情：那就是把你变成一位更好的经理。

1 margins   

边( margin的名词复数 )； 利润； 页边空白； 差数

参考例句：

• They have always had to make do with relatively small profit margins. 他们不得不经常设法应付较少的利润额。
• To create more space between the navigation items, add left and right margins to the links. 在每个项目间留更多的空隙，加左或者右的margins来定义链接。

2 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

3 termites   

n.白蚁( termite的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Termites are principally tropical in distribution. 白蚁主要分布在热带地区。 来自辞典例句
• This spray will exterminate the termites. 这种喷剂能消灭白蚁。 来自辞典例句

4 dressing   

n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料

参考例句：

• Don't spend such a lot of time in dressing yourself.别花那么多时间来打扮自己。
• The children enjoy dressing up in mother's old clothes.孩子们喜欢穿上妈妈旧时的衣服玩。

5 intimidating   

vt.恐吓，威胁( intimidate的现在分词)

参考例句：

• They were accused of intimidating people into voting for them. 他们被控胁迫选民投他们的票。
• This kind of questioning can be very intimidating to children. 这种问话的方式可能让孩子们非常害怕。

6 unicorn   

n.(传说中的)独角兽

参考例句：

• The unicorn is an imaginary beast.独角兽是幻想出来的动物。
• I believe unicorn was once living in the world.我相信独角兽曾经生活在这个世界。

7 cadence   

n.（说话声调的）抑扬顿挫

参考例句：

• He delivered his words in slow,measured cadences.他讲话缓慢而抑扬顿挫、把握有度。
• He liked the relaxed cadence of his retired life.他喜欢退休生活的悠闲的节奏。

8 pipeline   

n.管道，管线

参考例句：

• The pipeline supplies Jordan with 15 per cent of its crude oil.该管道供给约旦15%的原油。
• A single pipeline serves all the houses with water.一条单管路给所有的房子供水。

9 silicon   

n.硅(旧名矽)

参考例句：

• This company pioneered the use of silicon chip.这家公司开创了使用硅片的方法。
• A chip is a piece of silicon about the size of a postage stamp.芯片就是一枚邮票大小的硅片。

10 founders   

n.创始人( founder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He was one of the founders of the university's medical faculty. 他是该大学医学院的创建人之一。 来自辞典例句
• The founders of our religion made this a cornerstone of morality. 我们宗教的创始人把这看作是道德的基石。 来自辞典例句

11 incumbents   

教区牧师( incumbent的名词复数 )； 教会中的任职者

参考例句：

• In general, incumbents have a 94 percent chance of being reelected. 通常现任官员有94%的几率会再次当选。
• This arangement yields a wonderful gain to incumbents. 这种安排为在职人员提供了意外的得益。

12 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

13 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

14 refreshingly   

adv.清爽地，有精神地

参考例句：

• Hers is less workmanlike than the other books and refreshingly unideological. 她的书不像其它书那般精巧，并且不涉及意识形态也让人耳目一新。 来自互联网
• Skin is left refreshingly clean with no pore-clogging residue. 皮肤留下清爽干净，没有孔隙堵塞残留。 来自互联网

15 implicit   

a.暗示的，含蓄的，不明晰的，绝对的

参考例句：

• A soldier must give implicit obedience to his officers. 士兵必须绝对服从他的长官。
• Her silence gave implicit consent. 她的沉默表示默许。

16 explicit   

adj.详述的，明确的；坦率的；显然的

参考例句：

• She was quite explicit about why she left.她对自己离去的原因直言不讳。
• He avoids the explicit answer to us.他避免给我们明确的回答。

17 prospective   

adj.预期的，未来的，前瞻性的

参考例句：

• The story should act as a warning to other prospective buyers.这篇报道应该对其他潜在的购买者起到警示作用。
• They have all these great activities for prospective freshmen.这会举办各种各样的活动来招待未来的新人。

18 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

19 groan   

vi./n.呻吟，抱怨；(发出)呻吟般的声音

参考例句：

• The wounded man uttered a groan.那个受伤的人发出呻吟。
• The people groan under the burden of taxes.人民在重税下痛苦呻吟。