外刊听读| 经济学人 世界杯冠军的启示

复习笔记

词汇

 

Para 1

Qatar  n.卡塔尔

trophy  n.奖品，奖杯

rituals n.习惯，老规矩

unfold v.展示，透露

wall charts  n.挂图

pundit n.专家，权威

tournament n.锦标赛，联赛

clog  v.阻塞，堵塞

lean  v.倾斜

horn   n.（汽车）喇叭；（还有角，号（乐器）的意思）

drivel  n.蠢话，废话

Para 2

hang around 闲逛

whistle n.哨子

cut-out-and-keep 剪切保存

narrative n.讲故事，叙述

Para 3

instill v.逐步培养，灌输

bond n.纽带，联系，关系

unwavering  adj.不动摇的，始终如一的，坚定的

underperform v.表现不好

oxytocin  n.催产素

scarlet  adj.鲜红的

utter adj.完全的，彻底的

contempt n.蔑视

suppress v.抑制，忍住

 

Para 4

obsessive  adj. 着迷的

immerse  v. 沉浸在

build-up n.准备期

your opposite number  对手

Netflix 网飞，流媒体公司

short  n.短裤

pitch n.场地，球场

rigorous adj.谨慎的，细致的

gut n.直觉，本能

 

Para 5

purpose  n.意志，毅力，决心

venue  n.活动场地

mired adj.陷入困境

controversy  n.（公开的）争论，争议，论战

swirl v.起旋涡，打旋

wristband n.腕带

incredibly  adv. 极端地，极其

astute adj.精明的，狡猾的

cretin n.傻瓜，白痴

 

Para 6

eschew  v.避开

come first 首要；第一

 

Para 7

spherical  adj.球形的

diversity  v.增加…品种；从事多种经营；扩大业务范围

hand gestures 手势

split-second adj. 一瞬间作出的；做的非常精确的

20-somethings 二十多岁的人

Para 8

dubious   adj.怀疑的

premise   n.前提；假定

entity n.实体

halo effect 晕轮效应，人在知觉中形成的以点概面或以偏概全的主观印象

high-flying adj.十分成功的

world-beating adj.天下无双的

world-beater  n.天下无双的人

Para9

pool  n.备用人员

Bartleby

巴特尔比

Management balls

足球管理

What you can/cannot learn from the success of football’s next World Cup winners

你可以或不可以从这届世界杯冠军的成功中学到什么

 

1 ON DECEMBER 18TH the winners of the football World Cup in Qatar will lift the famous golden trophy. Several rituals will then unfold. The final entry will be made on fans’ wall charts. Pundits will share their lists of players of the tournament. In the victors’ home country, cars will clog the streets and drivers will lean on their horns. And in the days that follow, leadership coaches will post drivel about the secrets to be learned from the successful manager.

 

12月18日，卡塔尔世界杯冠军将举起著名的金色奖杯，几个传统也将随之展开。球迷的挂图上将会有最后的入场记录，专家们将分享他们的比赛球员名单，在胜利者的家乡，汽车将街道堵得水泄不通，司机不停地按下喇叭。在随后的日子里，领导球队的教练将发表关于成功秘诀的废话，这些秘诀都是从成功的经理人身上学来的。

 

2 But why wait till the end of the World Cup to find out how Hansi Flick of Germany, Didier Deschamps of France or whoever actually wins did it? Why even hang around for the start of the tournament on November 20th? Before a whistle has been blown and a ball has been kicked, here is your cut-out-and-keep guide to what bosses everywhere can learn from the winning manager (WM). All you have to do is delete anything that doesn’t quite fit the narrative.

 

但是，为什么要等到世界杯结束后才知道德国队的汉斯·弗利克、法国队的迪迪埃-德尚或任何真正夺冠的人是如何做到的？甚至为什么要徘徊在11月20日比赛开始之前？在哨声响起和开球之前，后文是你需要剪裁和保存的指南，它说明各地的老板可以从冠军教练（WM）那里学到一些。你所要做的就是删除任何不完全符合叙述的内容。

 

3 Team spirit. The WM instilled a tight bond among the team by showing them unwavering support/creating an atmosphere of fear. He was known for putting his arms around the shoulders/hands around the necks of underperforming players. His oxytocin-releasing bearhugs/scarlet-faced rages ensured that a group of elite performers relaxed/did not relax. “He showed us love/utter contempt and we all responded to that,” said a man in shorts from the winning team. The power of empathy/barely suppressed terror will surely not be lost on managers in the workplace.

 

团队精神。冠军教练通过向团队展示坚定不移的支持或者创造一种恐惧的氛围，在团队中铸造了一种紧密的联系。他以搂着表现不佳的球员的肩膀或者把手放在他们脖子上而闻名。他以释放催产素的熊抱或者满脸通红的怒火确保了一群精英球员的放松或不放松。"他向我们展示了爱或者彻底的蔑视。“我们都对此做出了回应。"来自获胜球队的一名短裤男子说。同理心或者仅仅是压制的恐怖力量肯定不会被工作场所的管理人员所忽视。

 

4 Data. The WM obsessively immerses himself in data/does not know how to turn on a computer. In the build-up to each game he took each player through a detailed analysis of his opposite number/encouraged everyone to play table tennis. After the matches were over he watched videos of each game/Netflix. “He planned everything in minute detail/told us to just go out there and have fun,” said another happy man in shorts. In the office, as on the pitch, rigorous analysis/gut instinct is often the difference between success and failure.

 

数据。冠军教练痴迷地沉浸在数据中或者压根不知道如何打开电脑。在每场比赛的准备阶段，他带着每个球员对他的对手进行详细的分析或者干脆鼓励大家去打乒乓球。比赛结束后，他观看了每场比赛的视频或者在看Netflix。"他把一切都计划得很详细或者告诉我们只要出去放松玩耍就可以了，"另一个穿着短裤的快乐男人说。办公室就像球场一样，严格的分析或者凭借直觉往往是成功和失败的区别。

 

5 Purpose. The choice of Qatar as a venue for the World Cup was mired in controversy from the start; questions have swirled about corruption, human rights and worker safety. The WM turned these concerns to his advantage/seemed totally unaware of them. He made it clear that the team were ambassadors for the sport/only there to win. His decision to always wear a rainbow-coloured wristband/refuse to answer any questions about the host country was incredibly astute. “He gave us a much-needed sense of purpose,” recalled one of his players. “Only an absolute cretin would have wondered what we were in Qatar to do,” said another.

 

决心。选择卡塔尔作为世界杯的举办地，从一开始就陷入了争议；关于腐败、人权和工人安全的问题不断涌现。世界杯主席将这些问题转化为他的优势或者似乎完全没有意识到。他明确表示，球队是这项运动的大使或者只是为了赢得比赛。他决定一直戴着彩虹色的腕带或者拒绝回答任何关于东道国的问题，这一点非常精明。"他给了我们一种非常可贵的意义，"一名球员回忆说。"只有一个纯粹的白痴才会想知道我们来卡塔尔做什么，"另一位说。

 

6 Stars. The WM built his whole team around/eschewed the very idea of a star player. “A superstar like Neymar/Harry Maguire/someone else has to be given freedom to express himself/realise that the team comes first,” he said afterwards. Every organisation will have its own outstanding performers. The clear message from this World Cup is that they should sometimes/never be given special treatment.

 

球星。冠军教练将他的整个团队围绕或者避免明星球员建立。"像内马尔或哈里-马奎尔还是其他这样的超级球星都必须有自由来表达自己或者意识到团队是第一位的，"经理事后说。每个组织都会有表现杰出的人。本届世界杯传递出的明确信息是，他们有时或者永远不应该被特殊对待。

 

7 There is an alternative way of thinking about the lessons for corporate managers from an event like the World Cup: there are none. First, the jobs are wholly different. Football managers don’t need to change strategy because the market is shifting (“we will use our excellence in the field of spherical objects to diversify into basketball”). Corporate bosses do not tend to get customer feedback from people making hand gestures in a crowd. Nor do their career prospects usually rely on the split-second decision-making of a bunch of talented 20-somethings.

 

关于企业经理人可以从世界杯这样的赛事中得到的教训，有另一种说法：压根没有。首先，这些工作完全不同。足球经理们不需要根据市场变化而改变策略（“我们将利用自己在足球领域的优势，在篮球领域拓展业务”）。企业老板不倾向于从人群中打手势的人那里获得客户反馈。他们的职业前景通常也不依赖于一群才华横溢的20多岁年轻人的瞬间决策。

 

8 Second, all leadership writing depends on the dubious premise that an entity was successful because a person was in charge, rather than while they were in charge. The “halo effect” is the name given to the tendency for a positive impression in one area to lead to a positive impression in another. But just as a high-flying firm does not necessarily signal a world-beating CEO, so a World Cup winners’ medal does not mean the manager was a genius.

 

第二，所有关于领导力文章都取决于一个可疑的前提，即一个实体的成功是因为一个人在负责，而不是一群人在负责。“晕轮效应"是指在一个领域的积极形象容易延伸到另一个领域。但是，正如一家高歌猛进的公司不一定预示着有一位举世无双的CEO一样，世界杯冠军奖杯也不意味着球队经理是个天才。

 

9 Just one, Vittorio Pozzo of Italy, has ever successfully defended the World Cup title; only eight countries have ever lifted the trophy in the history of the tournament. Whoever ends up celebrating on December 18th, the pool of people available for selection, the role of luck and the quality of the competition will have mattered at least as much as the person at the top. That is one management lesson worth learning.

 

只有一个人，即意大利的维托里奥·波佐，曾经成功卫冕过世界杯冠军；在世界杯历史上，只有八个国家曾经举起过奖杯。无论哪支队伍最终夺得冠军，人员储备、运气作用和比赛质量都至少与管理层一样重要。这才是一个值得学习的管理学课程。