2010年3月31日 星期三

讀孫子兵法學英文/鴻門宴

【經濟日報╱朱文章】

a come to Jesus meeting

企管大師應邀知名公司演講,發現幹部答問都不得要領,而老闆對演講精髓和幹部提問的剖析回應,則無不精準。名師認為:該公司前途堪憂,因為老闆太強。

我向某企管顧問請教這個現象,獲告:許多老闆寧信顧問,也不信自家人意見。理由:這些人聽命於我,不正好說明其能力差?但這個答案,也產生另一個問題:什麼樣的老闆,讓員工肯說真話?

孫子「因形而措勝於眾,眾不能知」,屬垂直式的指揮鏈(vertical chain of command ),即運用之妙、存於指揮官一心,部下只要聽命辦事即可。

例:"Too many tasks at the company have a vertical chain of command. There is no broad teamwork effort going on and so everything takes longer and is unorganized."「公司大小事,上面說了算;沒有協調,當然沒有效率。」

"The poor sales performance forced new CEO to clean house and we are moving from a vertical chain of command to a more horizontal chain of collaboration."「業績壞到不行,新老闆大力整頓。橫向聯繫已改善,上頭也逐漸減少干預。」

有天縱英明的老闆,就會有應聲蟲(yes man)、馬屁精(brown noser)屬下。早年台灣尾牙宴,雞頭對準誰,那人工作就不保;這種鴻門宴,和英文 "a come to Jesus meeting" 同,都是強勢叫別人聽命、配合的作法。

例:"After four failures in a row, King does not want to hear excuses or promises or anything else. He believes there needs to be a come to Jesus meeting with the employees to convince them that one more goof and they are gone." 「連四敗之後,小金和幹部開會。會中宣布:再有任何閃失,刀下絕不留人。」

鴻門宴當前,屬下意見當然一面倒(toe the line),這是形勢比人強,明哲保身(keep your head down)才是硬道理。這或許是同樣聽演講,老闆意見特別靈光的道理:部下不敢(或不想)多言。

例:"When the boss asked for comments, everyone toed the line and told him what he wanted to hear."「老闆想聽大家的意見,只見眾人叫好聲不絕於耳。」

"The best we can do is to keep our heads down and hope that people will soon get used to the new boss."「 新老闆上任,大家認為明哲保身,才是相安無事的最佳策略。」

上有強勢老闆,老鳥員工知道,在外人面前,最好少開尊口。因為萬一不靈,變成放羊的孩子(crying wolf),會失去老闆青睞;萬一靈驗,醜事外揚,一時隨興的發言,反釀成悲慘下場(he is his own worst enemy),豈不更冤枉?

例:"Pay no attention. She's just crying wolf again. "「不必理她:她老是危言聳聽,這次一定也不例外。」

"Every time he speaks out he shows he is his own worst enemy"「他最喜歡放炮,亂講話的結果,卻讓自己受傷最深。」

(作者任教於陸軍官校,suntzu@suntzu4u.com.tw)

【2010/03/26 經濟日報】

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