What baby boomers can learn from millennials at work -- and vice versa | Chip Conley

翻译人员: jacks peng 校对人员: Yolanda Zhang

It was my third day on the job at a hot Silicon Valley start-up

这是2013年初，我在 硅谷一家热门创业公司

in early 2013.

工作的第三天。

I was twice the age of the dozen engineers in the room.

我的年龄是那个房间中 十几个工程师年龄的两倍。

I'd been brought in to the company

我进到这个公司

是因为我在自己的领域是资深专家，

because I was a seasoned expert in my field,

but in this particular room,

但在这个特定的房间中，

I felt like a newbie amongst the tech geniuses.

我感觉自己就像一群科技天才中的菜鸟。

I was listening to them talk

我听着他们交谈，

and thinking that the best thing I could do was be invisible.

觉得我最应该做的事儿就是隐身。

And then suddenly, the 25-year-old wizard leading the meeting stared at me

突然，一位 25 岁主持会议的奇才盯着我

and asked, "If you shipped a feature and no one used it,

问：“如果你发布了一个功能，但没人用，

did it really ship?"

它真的算是发布了吗？”

(Laughter)

（笑声）

"Ship a feature"?

“发布一个功能？”

In that moment, Chip knew he was in deep ship.

在那一刻，我开始意识到 自己正处于水深火热之中。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

I had no idea what he was talking about.

我压根儿听不懂他在说什么。

I just sat there awkwardly,

我只能尴尬地坐在那里，

and mercifully, he moved on to someone else.

不过好在他直接转向了另一个人。

我浑身瘫软地坐在椅子上，

I slid down in my chair,

迫不及待地等待会议结束。

and I couldn't wait for that meeting to end.

That was my introduction to Airbnb.

这就是我在Airbnb（爱彼迎） 初来乍到的表现。

I was asked and invited by the three millennial cofounders

我被三位千禧一代的联合创始人

to join their company

邀请加入他们的公司，

to help them take their fast-growing tech start-up

帮助他们快速成长的科技公司

and turn it into a global hospitality brand,

成为全球知名的住宿品牌，

as well as to be the in-house mentor for CEO Brian Chesky.

同时我也成了首席执行官 布莱恩 · 切斯基的内部导师。

Now, I'd spent from age 26 to 52 being a boutique hotel entrepreneur,

我在26到52岁期间是一位经营着 一家精品酒店的企业家，

and so I guess I'd learned a few things along the way

我猜我在这一路上多少学到和

and accumulated some hospitality knowledge.

积累了一些酒店业的知识。

But after my first week,

但在我加入爱彼迎的一周后，

I realized that the brave new home-sharing world

我意识到这个全新的民宿共享世界

didn't need much of my old-school bricks-and-mortar hotel insights.

并不需要借鉴太多 传统实体酒店行业的经验。

A stark reality rocked me:

一个严酷的事实震撼了我：

What do I have to offer?

我能提供什么价值？

I'd never been in a tech company before.

我以前从没在科技公司呆过。

Five and a half years ago, I had never heard of the "sharing economy,"

5年半前，我都还从没听过“共享经济”，

nor did I have an Uber or Lyft app on my phone.

手机上也没有Uber（优步） 或 Lyft 打车软件。

This was not my natural habitat.

我感到有些水土不服。

So, I decided at that moment that I could either run for the hills,

于是，我在那一刻决定， 要不就趁早溜之大吉，

or cast judgment on these young geniuses,

或者对这些年轻天才进行评判，

or instead, turn the judgment into curiosity

亦或者反过来，把评判变成好奇，

and actually see if I could match my wise eyes with their fresh eyes.

看看能不能用他们的新眼光 来匹配我的智慧和经验。

I fancied myself a modern Margaret Mead amongst the millennials,

我把自己想象成这群 千禧一代中的玛格丽特 · 米德，

and I quickly learned that I had as much to offer them

很快就发现我能提供给他们很多东西，

as they did to me.

就像他们刷新了我的认知一样。

The more I've seen and learned about our respective generations,

我对我们这两代人了解和学习得越多，

the more I realize that we often don't trust each other enough

我就越意识到我们彼此常常不够信任，

to actually share our respective wisdom.

无法分享彼此的睿智。

We may share a border,

我们能够共享一个边界，

but we don't necessarily trust each other enough

但我们并不一定互相信任到

to share that respective wisdom.

能够分享彼此的智慧。

I believe, looking at the modern workplace,

看着现代的工作场所，我不禁相信，

that the trade agreement of our time

我们这个时代的商业协定

is opening up these intergenerational pipelines of wisdom

打通了这些代间智慧的管道，

so that we can all learn from each other.

于是我们都可以彼此学习。

Almost 40 percent of us in the United States

大约40%的美国人

have a boss that's younger than us,

有一位比我们年轻的老板，

and that number is growing quickly.

而且这个数字还在快速增长。

Power is cascading to the young like never before

权力向年轻人转移的速度前所未有，

because of our increasing reliance on DQ:

因为我们越来越依赖DQ：

digital intelligence.

数字智能（digital intelligence）。

We're seeing young founders of companies in their early 20s

我们看到公司的创始人在 20岁左右创立公司，

scale them up to global giants by the time they get to 30,

在30岁时将公司规模做到了全球巨头，

and yet, we expect these young digital leaders

然而，我们期待这些年轻的数字领袖

to somehow miraculously embody the relationship wisdoms

能够奇迹般地拥有我们年长工人

we older workers have had decades to learn.

在几十年中学到的关系智慧。

It's hard to microwave your emotional intelligence.

把你的情商像微波加热那样 快速提升是很难的。

There's ample evidence that gender- and ethnically diverse companies

有充分的证据表明， 性别和种族多样化的公司

are more effective.

效率要更高。

But what about age?

那么年龄呢？

This is a very important question, because for the first time ever,

这是一个非常重要的问题，因为我们在

we have five generations in the workplace at the same time, unintentionally.

不经意间，破天荒的同时有 五代人在一个场所工作。

Maybe it's time we got a little more intentional

也许是时候让我们更有目的性的

about how we work collectively.

对待我们的合作方式了。

There have been a number of European studies

欧洲有很多研究表明，

that have shown that age-diverse teams are more effective and successful.

年龄多样化的团队要更高效，更成功。

So why is that only eight percent of the companies

那么为什么只有8%

that have a diversity and inclusion program

拥有多元化和包容性项目的公司

have actually expanded that strategy

扩展了这个策略，

to include age as just as important of a demographic as gender or race?

把年龄跟性别或种族等重要 人口属性一样包括进去了呢？

Maybe they didn't get the memo:

也许他们没能得到这份备忘录：

the world is getting older!

世界正在老龄化！

One of the paradoxes of our time

我们这个时代的一个悖论是，

is that baby boomers are more vibrant and healthy longer into life,

婴儿潮时期出生的人更有活力，更健康，

we're actually working later into life,

我们实际上会工作到更晚年的时候，

and yet we're feeling less and less relevant.

却感觉越来越不重要。

Some of us feel like a carton of milk -- an old carton of milk --

我们有些人感觉自己就像 一盒牛奶——一盒旧牛奶——

with an expiration date stamped on our wrinkled foreheads.

皱纹遍布的额头上印着过期日期。

For many of us in midlife, this isn't just a feeling,

对于很多人到中年的人来说， 这不仅仅是一种感受，

it is a harsh reality, when we suddenly lose our job and the phone stops ringing.

这是一个残酷的现实——当我们 突然失去工作，电话不再响了。

For many of us, justifiably, we worry that people see our experience

对我们当中的许多人来说， 我们担心人们把我们的经历

as a liability, not an asset.

看作是一种负债，而不是一种资产。

You've heard of the old phrase -- or maybe the relatively new phrase --

你可能听说过这个古老的短语—— 或者可能是一个相对新的短语——

"Sixty is the new forty, physically."

“60岁的人有新时代40岁人的体魄。”

Right?

对吗？

When it comes to power in the workplace today,

当谈到今天的工作场所的权力时，

30 is the new 50.

30岁则是新的50岁。

All right, well, this is all pretty exciting, right?

好了，这很令人兴奋，对吧？

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Truthfully, power is moving 10 years younger.

事实上，权力在向年轻10岁的人转移。

We're all going to live 10 years longer.

我们都会活多10年。

Do the math.

算算吧。

Society has created a new 20-year irrelevancy gap.

社会创造了新的“20年不相关鸿沟”。

Midlife used to be 45 to 65,

中年在过去是指45-65岁的人，

but I would suggest it now stretches into a midlife marathon 40 years long,

但我觉得现在它延伸到 40年的中年马拉松了，

from 35 to 75.

从35到75岁。

But wait -- there is a bright spot.

但等等——这里有一个亮点。

Why is it that we actually get smarter and wiser about our humanity as we age?

为什么随着年龄的增长，我们在 人际关系上会变得更聪明，更睿智？

Our physical peak may be our 20s,

我们的生理机能可能在20多岁达到顶峰，

our financial and salary peak may be age 50,

我们的财务和薪水高峰可能在50岁，

but our emotional peak is in midlife and beyond,

但我们的情感高峰在中年及之后，

because we have developed pattern recognition about ourselves and others.

因为我们已经形成了 对自己和他人的模式认知。

So how can we get companies to tap into that wisdom

那么我们怎样才能让公司充分利用

of the midlife folks,

中年人的智慧，

just as they nurture their digital young geniuses as well?

正如培养他们的 数字青年天才一样呢？

The most successful companies today and in the future

今天和将来最成功的公司

will actually learn how to create a powerful alchemy of the two.

将会是学到如何融合 这两种能力的公司。

Here's how the alchemy worked for me at Airbnb:

这是我在Airbnb工作时 发现的有效方式：

I was assigned a young, smart partner,

我被指派了一个年轻，聪明的搭档，

who helped me develop a hospitality department.

她帮助我开发了一个住宿公寓。

Early on, Laura Hughes could see that I was a little lost in this habitat,

早些时候，劳拉 · 休斯可能看到 我在这个“栖息地”有点迷失了，

so she often sat right next to me in meetings

于是她常常在会议时坐在我旁边，

so she could be my tech translator,

自愿做我的科技翻译，

and I could write her notes and she could tell me, "That's what that means."

我记下笔记给她看，她就能够 告诉我：“就是那个意思。”

Laura was 27 years old,

我认识劳拉时，她27岁，

she'd worked for Google for four years

她在谷歌工作了4年，

and then for a year and a half at Airbnb when I met her.

然后在Airbnb工作了一年半。

Like many of her millennial cohorts,

像很多千禧一代的同龄人一样，

she had actually grown into a managerial role

在得到任何正式的领导力培训前，

before she'd gotten any formal leadership training.

她实际上已经具备了管理者的能力。

I don't care if you're in the B-to-B world,

我不关心你是在B2B的世界，

the B-to-C world, the C-to-C world or the A-to-Z world,

B2C的世界，C2C的世界，还是A2Z的世界，

business is fundamentally H-to-H:

商业本质上是H2H的世界：

human to human.

人跟人的世界。

And yet, Laura's approach to leadership

然而，劳拉的领导方式

was really formed in the technocratic world,

实际上是在技术官僚世界中形成的，

and it was purely metric driven.

基本上是纯指标驱动的。

One of the things she said to me in the first few months was,

在起初几个月中，她告诉我的一件事是，

“我喜欢这个事实——你的领导方式

"I love the fact that your approach to leadership

is to create a compelling vision that becomes a North Star for us."

是创造一种引人注目的愿景， 为我们指引正确的方向。”

Now, my fact knowledge,

现在，我对现实的知识，

as in, how many rooms a maid cleans in an eight-hour shift,

比如，一个女佣在8小时的 轮班中打扫了多少房间，

might not be all that important in a home-sharing world.

在民宿共享世界中可能没那么重要。

My process knowledge of "How do you get things done?"

我的基于理解房间中 每个人的潜在动机，

based upon understanding the underlying motivations of everybody in the room,

关于“如何把事情完成”的过程性知识

was incredibly valuable,

才是有重要价值的，

in a company where most people didn't have a lot of organizational experience.

特别是在一家大部分人都 欠缺组织经验的公司。

As I spent more time at Airbnb,

随着我在Airbnb工作的时间越来越久，

I realized it's possible a new kind of elder was emerging

我意识到可能有一种新形态的长者

in the workplace.

在工作中出现了。

Not the elder of the past, who actually was regarded with reverence.

不是过去的长者，那种被尊重的人。

No, what is striking about the modern elder is their relevance,

不，现代长者的惊人之处 是他们的相关性，

their ability to use timeless wisdom and apply it to modern-day problems.

他们运用永恒智慧，并将其 应用于解决现代问题的能力。

Maybe it's time we actually valued wisdom as much as we do disruption.

也许是时候，我们应该 像重视颠覆行为一样重视智慧了。

And maybe it's time -- not just maybe, it is time --

也许是时候——不仅也许，的确是时候——

for us to definitely reclaim the word "elder"

让我们去重申“长者”这个词，

and give it a modern twist.

并给它来个现代版的转变。

The modern elder is as much an intern as they are a mentor,

现代的长者既是实习生，又是导师，

because they realize, in a world that is changing so quickly,

因为他们意识到，在快速改变的世界中，

their beginners' mind and their catalytic curiosity is a life-affirming elixir,

他们的初学者思维和催化的好奇心 是生命的灵丹妙药，

not just for themselves but for everyone around them.

不仅对他们自己， 对他们周边的人也是如此。

Intergenerational improv has been known in music and the arts:

代间合作的表演在音乐和艺术中并不罕见：

think Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga

想想托尼 · 班尼特和Lady Gaga，

or Wynton Marsalis and the Young Stars of Jazz.

或者是温顿 · 马萨利斯 和年轻的爵士明星们。

This kind of riffing in the business world is often called "mutual mentorship":

商业世界里的这种行为 通常被称为“相互指导”：

millennial DQ for Gen X and boomer EQ.

千禧一代的数字智能搭配X一代 （20世纪60-70年代生人）和婴儿潮一代的情商。

I got to experience that kind of intergenerational reciprocity with Laura

我和劳拉以及出色的数据科学团队

and our stellar data science team

就经历了这种代间互惠，

when we were actually remaking and evolving

在改造和发展Airbnb的

the Airbnb peer-to-peer review system,

点对点评价系统时，

using Laura's analytical mind and my human-centered intuition.

使用了劳拉的分析头脑和 我那以人为中心的直觉。

With that perfect alchemy of algorithm and people wisdom,

通过算法和人类智慧的完美结合，

we were able to create and instantaneous feedback loop

我们能够创建瞬时反馈回路

that helped our hosts better understand the needs of our guests.

帮助我们的房主更好理解客人的需求。

High tech meets high touch.

高新科技遇上高级体验。

At Airbnb, I also learned as a modern elder

在Airbnb，我也学到作为现代的长者，

that my role was to intern publicly and mentor privately.

我的角色是在公共场合做实习生， 而私下则扮演着导师的角色。

Search engines are brilliant at giving you an answer,

搜索引擎十分擅长为你找到答案，

but a wise, sage guide can offer you just the right question.

但一个睿智，贤明的向导 可以给你正确的问题。

Google does not understand, at least not yet,

谷歌还无法理解，至少现在不行，

nuance like a finely attuned human heart and mind.

像人类心灵和思想这样的细微差别。

Over time,

一段时间后，

to my surprise,

让我惊讶的是，

dozens and dozens of young employees at Airbnb sought me out

在Airbnb有数十名年轻员工开始

for private mentoring sessions.

向我群求私人辅导。

But in reality, we were often just mentoring each other.

但在现实中，我们通常相互辅导。

In sum, CEO Brian Chesky brought me in for my industry knowledge,

总而言之，CEO布莱恩 · 切斯基 因为我的行业知识找到我，

but what I really offered was my well-earned wisdom.

但我真正提供的是丰富的智慧。

Maybe it's time we retire the term "knowledge worker"

也许是时候让“知识员工”这个词退休了，

and replaced it with "wisdom worker."

并用“智慧员工”取代之。

We have five generations in the workplace today,

今天我们在工作场所五代同堂，

and we can operate like separate isolationist countries,

我们可以像割裂的 孤立主义国家那样运作，

or we can actually start to find a way to bridge these generational borders.

或者，可以开始寻找 跨越这些代间鸿沟的方法。

And it's time for us to actually look at how to change up the physics of wisdom

现在是时候让我们来看看 如何改变智慧的工作方式，

so it actually flows in both directions,

让它真正实现双向流动，

from old to young and from young to old.

从年长者到年轻人，从年轻人到年长者。

How can you apply this in your own life?

你如何在自己的生活中应用这些呢？

Personally, who can you reach out to

就个人而言，你能找到谁

to create a mutual mentorship relationship?

来建立一种相互的指导关系？

And organizationally, how can you create the conditions

在组织方面，你如何创造条件

to foster an intergenerational flow of wisdom?

去培育智慧在代间的流动？

This is the new sharing economy.

这才是新的共享经济。

Thank you.

谢谢。

(Applause)

（鼓掌）