美国文化脱口秀 第249期:披露亚马逊企业文化

 　　最近《纽约时报》一篇披露亚马逊企业文化的文章引起轩然大波。亚马逊被指以高压政策管理员工、鼓励员工间激烈的竞争甚至斗争、企业文化冷酷无情。那么在亚马逊工作究竟是什么样子呢？这样的管理方式和企业文化在美国是主流吗？今天我们就节选了这篇《纽约时报》原文的精华段落，为你朗读和解释。

　　披露亚马逊企业文化

　　Inside Amazon: Wrestling Big Ideas in a Bruising¹ Workplace

　　The company is conducting an experiment in how far it can push

　　white-collar workers to get them to achieve its ever-expanding ambition.

　　They are told to forget the "poor habits" they learned at previous jobs, one employee recalled. When they "hit the wall" from the unrelenting pace, there is only one solution: "Climb the wall," others reported. To be the best Amazonians they can be, they should be guided by the leadership principles, 14 rules inscribed² on handy laminated cards. When quizzed days later, those with perfect scores earn a virtual award proclaiming, "I'm Peculiar³" — the company's proud phrase for overturning workplace conventions.

　　关键词

　　To wrestle⁴: 角力、奋斗

　　Bruising: 让人伤痕累累、惨烈的

　　Tough: 竞争激烈的

　　Excerpt⁵: 节选、精华

　　Unrelenting: 冷酷无情的

　　Leadership principles: 管理原则

　　Peculiar: 特立独行的

　　At Amazon, workers are encouraged to tear apart one another's ideas in meetings, toil⁶ long and late (emails arrive past midnight, followed by text messages asking why they were not answered), and held to standards that the company boasts are "unreasonably⁷ high." The internal phone directory instructs colleagues on how to send secret feedback to one another's bosses. Employees say it is frequently used to sabotage⁸ others. (The tool offers sample texts, including this: "I felt concerned about his inflexibility⁹ and openly complaining about minor¹⁰ tasks.")

　　关键词

　　Fresh recruit: 新入职的员工

　　Aggressive: 激烈的、强势的

　　Tear apart: 摧毁、撕裂

　　Toil long and late: 幸苦地长时间劳作

　　Survival of the fittest: 适者生存

　　Unreasonably high standards: 不近人情的高标准

　　Tattletale: 背后告密、说别人坏话

　　Sabotage: 蓄意破坏、斗争

　　Ruthless: 冷酷的

　　Extreme: 极端的

　　Highly competitive: 竞争激烈的

　　Ultra aggressive/uber aggressive: 超级激烈的

　　最后再选一段节目中没有读到的文章内容，以亚马逊创始人Jeff Bezos的角度来解读亚马逊的企业文化：

　　Mr. Rossman, the former executive, said that Mr. Bezos was addressing a meeting in 2003 when he turned in the direction of Microsoft, across the water from Seattle, and said he didn't want Amazon to become "a country club." If Amazon becomes like Microsoft, "we would die," Mr. Bezos added.

　　In a recent recruiting video, one young woman warns: "You either fit here or you don't. You love it or you don't. There is no middle ground."

1 bruising   

adj.殊死的；十分激烈的v.擦伤(bruise的现在分词形式)

参考例句：

• He suffered cracked ribs and bruising. 他断了肋骨还有挫伤。
• He slipped and fell, badly bruising an elbow. 他滑倒了，一只胳膊肘严重擦伤。 来自辞典例句

2 inscribed   

v.写，刻( inscribe的过去式和过去分词 )；内接

参考例句：

• His name was inscribed on the trophy. 他的名字刻在奖杯上。
• The names of the dead were inscribed on the wall. 死者的名字被刻在墙上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 peculiar   

adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的

参考例句：

• He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
• He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。

4 wrestle   

vi.摔跤，角力；搏斗；全力对付

参考例句：

• He taught his little brother how to wrestle.他教他小弟弟如何摔跤。
• We have to wrestle with difficulties.我们必须同困难作斗争。

5 excerpt   

n.摘录，选录，节录

参考例句：

• This is an excerpt from a novel.这是一部小说的摘录。
• Can you excerpt something from the newspaper? 你能从报纸上选录些东西吗？

6 toil   

vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事

参考例句：

• The wealth comes from the toil of the masses.财富来自大众的辛勤劳动。
• Every single grain is the result of toil.每一粒粮食都来之不易。

7 unreasonably   

adv. 不合理地

参考例句：

• He was also petty, unreasonably querulous, and mean. 他还是个气量狭窄，无事生非，平庸刻薄的人。
• Food in that restaurant is unreasonably priced. 那家饭店价格不公道。

8 sabotage   

n.怠工，破坏活动，破坏；v.从事破坏活动，妨害，破坏

参考例句：

• They tried to sabotage my birthday party.他们企图破坏我的生日晚会。
• The fire at the factory was caused by sabotage.那家工厂的火灾是有人蓄意破坏引起的。

9 inflexibility   

n.不屈性，顽固，不变性；不可弯曲；非挠性；刚性

参考例句：

• One basic advantage of organization planning is avoidance of organizational inflexibility. 组织规划的一个基本优点就是可避免组织缺乏弹性。 来自辞典例句
• Allenda was brought down by his own incompetence and inflexibility. 阿连德之所以倒台，是由于他自己的无能和固执。 来自辞典例句

10 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。