乔布斯传 第112期:现实扭曲力场(5)

 The Mac team knew that.

Mac团队也深知这一点。

Every year, beginning in 1981, it gave out an award to the person who did the best job of standing¹ up to him.

从1981年开始，他们每年都会将一个奖项颁发给最能勇敢面对乔布斯的人。

The award was partly a joke, but also partly real, and Jobs knew about it and liked it.

这个奖在一定程度上是个玩笑，但也有认真的意思，乔布斯知道这个奖并且还很喜欢它。

Joanna Hoffman won the first year.

第一年，该奖被授予了乔安娜·霍夫曼。

From an Eastern European refugee family, she had a strong temper and will.

她来自一个东欧难民家庭，脾气和意志都很强硬。

One day, for example, she discovered that Jobs had changed her marketing² projections³ in a way she found totally reality-distorting.

比如，有一天，她发现乔布斯以一种完全扭曲事实的方式更改了她的市场规划。

Furious, she marched to his office.

她愤怒地冲向他的办公室。

"As I'm climbing the stairs, I told his assistant I am going to take a knife and stab it into his heart," she recounted.

她回忆说；“在我上楼梯的时候，我就告诉他的助理，我要拿把刀插进他的心脏。”

Al Eisenstat, the corporate⁴ counsel, came running out to restrain her.

公司的法律顾问阿尔·艾森施塔特跑过来制止了她。

"But Steve heard me out and backed down." Hoffman won the award again in 1982.

“但史蒂夫听我说完后作出了让步。”霍夫曼在1982年再一次赢得了这个奖项。

"I remember being envious⁵ of Joanna,

“我记得我当时很羡慕乔安娜，

because she would stand up to Steve and I didn't have the nerve yet,"

因为她敢于面对史蒂夫，而我却没那个胆子。”

said Debi Coleman, who joined the Mac team that year.

那一年加入Mac团队的黛比·科尔曼说，

"Then, in 1983, I got the award.

“然后，1983年，我赢得了那个奖项。

I had learned you had to stand up for what you believe, which Steve respected.

我认识到，我必须坚守自己的信念，乔布斯也很尊重这种做法。

I started getting promoted by him after that."

从那以后我开始得到晋升。”

Eventually she rose to become head of manufacturing.

最终，她成为了制造部门的负责人。

One day Jobs barged into the cubicle⁶ of one of Atkinson's engineers and uttered his usual "This is shit."

一天，乔布斯冲进了阿特金森手下一名工程师的小隔间，说出了自己常说的那句话：“这是狗屎。”

As Atkinson recalled, "The guy said,

阿特金森回忆说：“那个家伙回答：

'No it's not, it's actually the best way,' and he explained to Steve the engineering trade-offs he'd made."

‘不，这其实是最好的方法。’然后他向史蒂夫解释了自己在工程方面作的一些杈衡。”

Jobs backed down. Atkinson taught his team to put Jobs's words through a translator.

乔布斯败下阵来。阿特金森告诉他的团队，乔布斯的话不能照字面理解，需要转化一下。

"We learned to interpret 'This is shit' to actually be a question that means,

“我们把‘这是狗屎’解读为一个问句，它真实的意思是

'Tell me why this is the best way to do it.'"

‘告诉我，这为什么是最好的方法？’”

But the story had a coda, which Atkinson also found instructive.

但这个故事的结尾让阿特金森也觉得很有教育意义。

Eventually the engineer found an even better way to perform the function that Jobs had criticized.

最终，那名工程师找到了一个更好的方法，来实现乔布斯之前指责的那个功能。

"He did it better because Steve had challenged him," said Atkinson,

“正因为史蒂夫挑战了他，他才找到了更好的方法。”阿特金森说，

"which shows you can push back on him but should also listen, for he's usually right."

“这意味着，你可以反驳他的意见，但也应该认真听他说的话，因为他通常都是正确的。”

1 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

2 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

3 projections   

预测( projection的名词复数 )； 投影； 投掷； 突起物

参考例句：

• Their sales projections are a total thumbsuck. 他们的销售量预测纯属估计。
• The council has revised its projections of funding requirements upwards. 地方议会调高了对资金需求的预测。

4 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。

5 envious   

adj.嫉妒的，羡慕的

参考例句：

• I don't think I'm envious of your success.我想我并不嫉妒你的成功。
• She is envious of Jane's good looks and covetous of her car.她既忌妒简的美貌又垂涎她的汽车。

6 cubicle   

n.大房间中隔出的小室

参考例句：

• She studies in a cubicle in the school library.她在学校图书馆的小自习室里学习。
• A technical sergeant hunches in a cubicle.一位技术军士在一间小屋里弯腰坐着。