向前一步:第117期 真实地表达自己的想法与情绪(13)

 　　With the other bureau chiefs, I initiated¹ conversation by asking what I could do to help them achieve their goals. 后来和其他部门负责人联系时，我都会问问自己要做些什么才可以帮助他们完成工作目标。

　　It's no surprise that they reacted more positively² and with far fewer expletives. 不出所料，他们的回应都比较积极，抱怨的话远比我想象的少了。

　　And after I employed my "What have I done for you lately?" approach, they were far more eager to return the favor. 我的方法就是问他们“最近我帮到你们了吗？”结果，他们都更愿意给我反馈。

　　As often as I try to persuade people to share their honest views, it is still a challenge to elicit³ them. 尽管我经常劝别人坦诚地分享自己的意见，但要让他们做到这一点还是比较困难的。

　　When I started building my team at Google, I interviewed every candidate before we made an offer. 当我开始组建谷歌的团队时，我面试了其中每一个候选人，

　　Even when the team had grown to about one hundred people, I still spoke⁴ with each finalist. 甚至在团队扩大到100人时，我也要与每一个进入最终面试的人交谈。

　　One day at a meeting of my direct reports, I offered to stop interviewing, 有一天，我在下属会议上提出不再参与面试，

　　fully⁵ expecting everyone to insist that my input⁶ was an essential part of the process. 并满心期待大家会一致认为我的意见对面试结果非常重要。

　　Instead, they applauded. 恰好相反，他们鼓起了掌，

　　They all jumped in to explain — in unison⁷ — that my insistence⁸ on speaking personally to every candidate had become a huge bottleneck⁹. 并解释道，我坚持要与每个面试者单独谈话已经成为了招聘中的瓶颈问题。

　　I had no idea that I had been holding the team back and was upset that no one had told me. 我完全不知道自己拖了整个团队的后腿，而且之前竟没人敢说出这点，这让我很沮丧。

　　I spent a few hours quietly fuming¹⁰, which, given that I have no poker¹¹ face, was probably obvious to everyone. 鉴于做不到面无表情，我索性臭着脸沉默了几个小时，谁都看得出来。

　　Then I realized that if my colleagues had kept this to themselves, I was clearly not communicating that I was open to their input. 然后我意识到，如果同事们之前不敢对我说明这个情况，无疑是因为我没有向大家明确地表示出我愿意接受他们的意见。

　　Miscommunication is always a two-way street. 失败的交流往往是双向的。

　　If I wanted more suggestions, I would have to take responsibility for making that clear. 如果我想要听到更多建议，就有责任明确地表达出这个意愿。

　　And more important, I told them that I wanted their input early and often. 更重要的是，我希望能够及时地听到他们的意见。

1 initiated   

n. 创始人 adj. 新加入的 vt. 开始，创始，启蒙，介绍加入

参考例句：

• He has not yet been thoroughly initiated into the mysteries of computers. 他对计算机的奥秘尚未入门。
• The artist initiated the girl into the art world in France. 这个艺术家介绍这个女孩加入巴黎艺术界。

2 positively   

adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实

参考例句：

• She was positively glowing with happiness.她满脸幸福。
• The weather was positively poisonous.这天气着实讨厌。

3 elicit   

v.引出,抽出,引起

参考例句：

• It was designed to elicit the best thinking within the government. 机构的设置是为了在政府内部集思广益。
• Don't try to elicit business secrets from me. I won't tell you anything. 你休想从我这里套问出我们的商业机密, 我什么都不会告诉你的。

4 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

5 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

6 input   

n.输入(物)；投入；vt.把(数据等)输入计算机

参考例句：

• I will forever be grateful for his considerable input.我将永远感激他的大量投入。
• All this information had to be input onto the computer.所有这些信息都必须输入计算机。

7 unison   

n.步调一致，行动一致

参考例句：

• The governments acted in unison to combat terrorism.这些国家的政府一致行动对付恐怖主义。
• My feelings are in unison with yours.我的感情与你的感情是一致的。

8 insistence   

n.坚持；强调；坚决主张

参考例句：

• They were united in their insistence that she should go to college.他们一致坚持她应上大学。
• His insistence upon strict obedience is correct.他坚持绝对服从是对的。

9 bottleneck   

n.瓶颈口，交通易阻的狭口；妨生产流程的一环

参考例句：

• The transportation bottleneck has blocked the movement of the cargo.运输的困难阻塞了货物的流通。
• China's strained railroads already become a bottleneck for the economy.中国紧张的铁路运输已经成为经济增长的瓶颈。

10 fuming   

愤怒( fume的现在分词 )； 大怒； 发怒； 冒烟

参考例句：

• She sat in the car, silently fuming at the traffic jam. 她坐在汽车里，心中对交通堵塞感到十分恼火。
• I was fuming at their inefficiency. 我正因为他们效率低而发火。

11 poker   

n.扑克；vt.烙制

参考例句：

• He was cleared out in the poker game.他打扑克牌，把钱都输光了。
• I'm old enough to play poker and do something with it.我打扑克是老手了，可以玩些花样。