口译时事：决策力并非与生俱来

2013-04-02 00:00:00来源：金融时报

　　We all tend to do more of what we think people like us to do, whether good or bad. In some instances, it makes perfect sense to follow the lead of others we trust and respect. But experiments have revealed the worrying truth that even the slightest perceived similarity, regardless of its relevance, can influence how we act. If we learn that someone shares our birth month or our name, we are more likely to follow their lead. Forging common ground, however shaky, is a trick every good salesman knows.

　　对于我们认为其他人希望我们会做的事情，我们总是倾向于做得更多，不论是好事还是坏事。在某些情况下，模仿我们所信任和尊敬的人完全合理。但实验所揭示出的令人担忧的事实是，即使我们发现自己与他人之间仅仅存在极小的相似性，且不论与我们当前的决策是否相关，都会影响到我们的行为方式。如果我们发现某人的出生月份或者名字与我们相同，我们模仿此人行为的概率都会上升。挖掘共同点，不论多么牵强，是每个优秀推销员都知道的小技巧。

　　Prof Gino’s solution to not getting sidetracked is, like the Heaths’, to depersonalise and objectify decision making. We need to keep our emotions in check and constantly adjust our perspective by taking advice, expanding our options and taking the other party’s point of view. We need to question the sources of our information and psychological biases. And we must always ask if a decision can be reframed to achieve what we want.

　　与希思兄弟类似，吉诺教授针对决策偏差提出的解决方案是——淡化个人色彩，使决策过程客观化。我们必须注意控制自己的情绪，通过不断采纳他人建议来调整我们看问题的视角，丰富我们的选择空间，并且从当事另一方的角度看问题。我们需要探寻自己信息偏倚和心理偏见的根源。我们还必须不断思考一个决策是否能被重构以实现我们的目标。

　　She cites the example of Theodore Roosevelt’s campaign manager in 1912. The campaign had just printed 3m brochures featuring a photograph of Roosevelt for which it hadn’t obtained permission. Rather than putting himself at the mercy of the photographer, the manager sent him a telegram saying: “We are planning to distribute millions of pamphlets with Roosevelt’s picture on the cover. It will be great publicity for the studio whose photograph we use. How much will you pay us to use yours? Respond immediately.” The delighted photographer replied offering $250. Problem reframed, happy outcome achieved.

　　吉诺教授举了1912年西奥多罗斯福(Theodore Roosevelt)竞选团队负责人的例子。当时竞选团队印制了300万份附有一张罗斯福照片的手册，但这张照片本身却未获得摄影师授权。负责人没有把自己放在听凭摄影师摆布的地位，而是给对方发去了一封电报，声称：“我们计划发放几百万份封面印有罗斯福照片的小册子。对于入选图片的工作室而言，这将是一个提高知名度的大好机会。如果我们选择你所拍摄的照片，你愿意付给我们多少钱?请尽快回复。”兴高采烈的摄影师回电表示愿意支付250美元。问题经过了重构，并得到了圆满的结果。

　　Dennis Bakke, co-founder of Imagine Schools and former CEO of the power company AES, sees the devolution of decision making as a powerful managerial tool. All too often executives hog decision making because they feel it is what justifies their status and salaries. But in his new business novel The Decision Maker, he argues for letting more people up and down the company make decisions.

　　丹尼斯巴基(Dennis Bakke)是Imagine Schools的联合创始人以及美国爱依斯电力公司(AES)的前任首席执行官。巴基认为，决策权的下放是一种很有力的管理方法。绝大多数时候管理层都把决策权牢牢攥在手中，因为他们觉得这样才与自己的地位和薪酬水平相符。但在他最新的商业小说《决策者》(The Decision Maker)中，他指出应让公司上下更多的人参与到决策过程中来。

　　The setting for his book is an old school manufacturing company. The business is staggering along, its workers joylessly going about their work. When the new managers install a pinball machine to boost morale, the employees snigger.

　　巴基将小说的背景设在一家老式制造企业。公司的经营状况仅够勉强维持，工人们对自己的工作感到毫无乐趣。当新任管理层安装了一台弹珠游戏机以提升士气时，雇员们纷纷暗中偷笑。

　　The managers then decide on a radical solution: to give up their decision making power and introduce what Mr Bakke calls the “decision maker process”. First, the leader of an organisation must decide who is to make a decision. The decision maker must be someone close to the issue and aware of the context. If it is to do with a manufacturing process, it should be someone who handles that process every day, not some lofty executive who never visits the factory floor.

　　新任管理层随后决定采取一项大胆举措：放弃自身的决策权，并引入被巴基称为是“决策者流程”的机制。按照该流程，当一个问题出现时，一家机构的领导人必须首先决定将由谁来做出决策。所选的“决策者”必须是熟悉该问题并且了解其背景的人。如果问题与某个制造环节有关，那么决策者就应是每天与该环节打交道的人，而非某位从不下到生产车间的高高在上的经理。

　　The decision maker must then ask for advice in order to ensure that the decision is supported by evidence and multiple perspectives. In the end, the decision maker must make the call.

　　接下来，被选中的决策者必须征求其他人意见，以确保所作决策能够得到事实证据以及多种视角的支持。最终，决策者必须做出决定。

　　As Mr Bakke describes it, implementing this process can be hair-raising . Executives tremble at the idea of losing control. Employees develop vertigo at being suddenly endowed with so much responsibility. But, over time, it leads to a greater feeling of ownership among employees, more sharing of knowledge and thus ultimately to better decisions.

　　按照巴基的描述，这套流程的实施过程可以说得上是惊心动魄。经理们一想到将要失去控制权就感到害怕。而突然被赋予了如此重大的责任则让员工们感到头晕目眩。但随着时间的推移，这一机制使员工形成了更强的主人翁意识，更愿意与人分享知识，并最终提高了决策的质量。

　　All three authors reach the same point: we all have central priorities in our lives and work, and it is through our decision making that we either achieve them or fall short. The good news is that improving the process is something any of us can do.

　　以上三位作者都提到了共同的一点：在我们的生活和工作中都有需要优先完成的核心事务，我们所做的决策决定了我们是将实现目标还是失败。好消息是，改进决策流程是我们每一个人都能做到的事。

　　参加口译考试的同学们在平时要积累大量素材，尤其是像上文这样的双语时事内容。帮助同学们练习。

本文关键字: 决策流程