2019年经济学人 巴托比职场专栏--企业可以从艺术中学到什么(2)（在线收听）

It is hardly surprising that art-based programmes are popular. They provide a welcome diversion from the stodgy content that marks out most MBA courses. But are they really helpful? Intriguingly, there are signs that successful businesses are incorporating the arts into their training. AQR, a fund-management group best known for its number-crunching skills, has started a professional and personal growth programme called the Quanta academy; one component is a book club where members have read “Destined for War”, a book about American-Chinese relations by Graham Allison.

以艺术为基础的节目大受欢迎也就不足为奇了。它们提供了一种受人欢迎的方式，让人们从大多数MBA课程的乏味内容中解脱出来。但它们真的有用吗？有趣的是，有迹象表明，成功的企业正在把艺术融入到他们的培训中。AQR是一个基金管理集团，以其处理数字的能力而闻名，它已经启动了一个专业的个人成长项目，叫做量子学院；其中一个组成部分是一个读书会，会员们都读过格雷厄姆·艾利森写的关于美中关系的书《注定一战》。

Rather than turn the pages, some business people tread the boards. The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) has trained many great thespians, such as Sir Anthony Hopkins, Alan Rickman and Phoebe Waller-Bridge. It also offers training courses for executives, ranging from half a day to six days.

有些商人不翻书，而是选择了上舞台。皇家戏剧艺术学院培养了许多伟大的演员，如安东尼·霍普金斯爵士、艾伦·瑞克曼和菲比·沃勒-布里奇。它还为高管提供培训课程，从半天到六天不等。

“Acting is about finding the truth in the character and in yourself,” says Charlie Walker-Wise, one of rada’s tutors. “We help people to become more aware of their habits; what they do without realising it. How people manage their physicality—their breath, their voice. Not many people are aware of how they come across.”

“表演是在角色和你自己身上找到真相，”皇家戏剧艺术学院的一位导师查理·沃克·怀斯说。“我们帮助人们更加了解他们的习惯；他们在没有意识到的情况下做了什么。人们如何管理他们的身体——他们的呼吸，他们的声音。没有多少人知道他们给人的印象如何。”

It might seem odd to link running a business with a profession that ranges from Laurence Olivier proclaiming Hamlet’s soliloquy to Robert de Niro training as a boxer to play the lead in “Raging Bull”. But Mr Walker-Wise says that middle managers are often delivering speeches that are not their own (because they were devised by head office) or trying to inspire staff to meet an objective that was set by someone else. “The lesson from acting is how do I connect to this message without betraying my own personality,” he argues.

将经营企业与艺术联系起来似乎有些奇怪，艺术这种专业包括从劳伦斯?奥利弗的哈姆雷特的独白，到罗伯特?德尼罗在《愤怒的公牛》中扮演主角的拳击手训练。但沃克·怀斯表示，中层管理人员经常发表非自己的演讲(因为这些演讲是由总部设计的)，或者试图激励员工实现他人设定的目标。“表演课程给我的启示是，我如何在不暴露自己个性的情况下表达信息，”他说。

Being a manager involves a lot more than just setting targets and entering numbers into a spreadsheet. It requires empathy and an understanding of human nature. It makes sense that an education in the arts might help develop those qualities. Above all, the students on Mr Harrison’s course at the Sa?d school were experiencing something Bartleby never expected to see in those attending an MBA lecture: they were having fun.

作为一名经理，不仅仅是设定目标和在电子表格中输入数字。它需要同理心和对人性的理解。艺术教育有助于培养这些品质是有道理的。最重要的是，在萨伊德商学院，哈里森先生这门课上的学生体验到了巴托比在MBA课堂上从未预料到的东西：他们玩得很开心。