乔布斯传 第634期:50岁的雄狮(6)

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The key venue¹ for freewheeling discourse² was the Monday morning executive team gathering³,

自由发表意见的重要场所是每周一上午的管理团队会议，

which started at 9 and went for three or four hours.

上午9点开始，持续三四个小时。

The focus was always on the future: What should each product do next? What new things should be developed?

讨论的重点常常着眼于未来：每款产品接下来该怎么做，应该开发哪些新东西？

Jobs used the meeting to enforce a sense of shared mission at Apple.

乔布斯会利用这个会议加强苹果公司的共同使命意识。

This served to centralize control, which made the company seem as tightly integrated as a good Apple product,

这种集中式控制，使得苹果公司犹如一个完好的苹果产品那样紧密整合在一起，

and prevented the struggles between divisions that plagued decentralized companies.

并且防止了部门之间的斗争，这种斗争令分散式管理的企业陷于窘境。

Jobs also used the meetings to enforce focus.

乔布斯还利用这个机会强调公司的焦点所在。

At Robert Friedland's farm, his job had been to prune⁴ the apple trees so that they would stay strong,

当年在罗伯特·弗里德兰的农场，他的工作是给苹果树剪枝，以让它们茁壮成长，

and that became a metaphor⁵ for his pruning⁶ at Apple.

这一举动后来成为了他精简苹果公司的隐喻。

Instead of encouraging each group to let product lines proliferate⁷ based on marketing⁸ considerations,

乔布斯不鼓励每个团队出于营销的考虑增加产品线，

or permitting a thousand ideas to bloom, Jobs insisted that Apple focus on just two or three priorities at a time.

也不允许主意满天飞，他坚持苹果公司一次只着重于两三个优先项目。

"There is no one better at turning off the noise that is going on around him," Cook said.

“在无视身边噪音这方面，没有人比乔布斯做得更好。”库克说道。

"That allows him to focus on a few things and say no to many things. Few people are really good at that."

“这样，他就能够集中精力于几件事情上，拒绝其他许多事情。很少有人擅长于这一点。”

In order to institutionalize the lessons that he and his team were learning,

为了使他和他的团队学到的东西制度化，

Jobs started an in-house center called Apple University.

乔布斯创办了一个内部中心，叫做苹果大学。

He hired Joel Podolny, who was dean of the Yale School of Management,

他聘请了耶鲁大学管理学院院长乔尔·波多尔尼，

to compile a series of case studies analyzing⁹ important decisions the company had made,

编写一系列案例研究分析公司的重要决策，

including the switch to the Intel microprocessor¹⁰ and the decision to open the Apple Stores.

包括改用英特尔微处理器以及决定开设苹果商店。

Top executives spent time teaching the cases to new employees,

高管们花时间向新员工讲授这些案例，

so that the Apple style of decision making would be embedded¹¹ in the culture.

这样苹果公司的决策风格就会根植于公司文化中。

1 venue   

n.犯罪地点，审判地，管辖地，发生地点，集合地点

参考例句：

• The hall provided a venue for weddings and other functions.大厅给婚礼和其他社会活动提供了场所。
• The chosen venue caused great controversy among the people.人们就审判地点的问题产生了极大的争议。

2 discourse   

n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述

参考例句：

• We'll discourse on the subject tonight.我们今晚要谈论这个问题。
• He fell into discourse with the customers who were drinking at the counter.他和站在柜台旁的酒客谈了起来。

3 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

4 prune   

n.酶干；vt.修剪，砍掉，削减；vi.删除

参考例句：

• Will you prune away the unnecessary adjectives in the passage?把这段文字中不必要的形容词删去好吗？
• It is our job to prune the side branches of these trees.我们的工作就是修剪这些树的侧枝。

5 metaphor   

n.隐喻，暗喻

参考例句：

• Using metaphor,we say that computers have senses and a memory.打个比方，我们可以说计算机有感觉和记忆力。
• In poetry the rose is often a metaphor for love.玫瑰在诗中通常作为爱的象征。

6 pruning   

n.修枝，剪枝，修剪v.修剪（树木等）( prune的现在分词 )；精简某事物，除去某事物多余的部分

参考例句：

• In writing an essay one must do a lot of pruning. 写文章要下一番剪裁的工夫。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• A sapling needs pruning, a child discipline. 小树要砍，小孩要管。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 proliferate   

vi.激增，(迅速)繁殖，增生

参考例句：

• We must not proliferate nuclear arms.我们决不能扩散核武器。
• Rabbits proliferate when they have plenty of food.兔子有充足的食物就会繁衍得很快。

8 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。

9 analyzing   

v.分析；分析( analyze的现在分词 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析n.分析

参考例句：

• Analyzing the date of some socialist countries presents even greater problem s. 分析某些社会主义国家的统计数据，暴露出的问题甚至更大。 来自辞典例句
• He undoubtedly was not far off the mark in analyzing its predictions. 当然，他对其预测所作的分析倒也八九不离十。 来自辞典例句

10 microprocessor   

n.微信息处理机

参考例句：

• I've got a typerwriter with a microprocessor.我有一台装有微处理机的打字机。
• I decided to write a program for a microprocessor.我决定为微处理机编制一套程序。

11 embedded   

a.扎牢的

参考例句：

• an operation to remove glass that was embedded in his leg 取出扎入他腿部玻璃的手术
• He has embedded his name in the minds of millions of people. 他的名字铭刻在数百万人民心中。