How to train employees to have difficult conversations | Tamekia MizLadi Smith

翻译人员: janice zhu 校对人员: Ruilai Xue

We live in a world where the collection of data

数据收集无时无刻不在我们生活的世界里发生

is happening 24 hours a day, seven days a week,

一天24小时、一周7天、

365 days a year.

一年365天从不不断。

This data is usually collected by what we call a front-desk specialist now.

这些数据通常由 现在所谓的“前台专员”收集。

These are the retail clerks at your favorite department stores,

他们中有你最爱光顾的 百货公司的零售店员、

the cashiers at the grocery stores,

杂货店的收银员、

the registration specialists at the hospital

医院的登记专员，

and even the person that sold you your last movie ticket.

甚至还有 卖给你上一张电影票的售票员。

They ask discreet questions, like: "May I please have your zip code?"

他们问一些简单的问题，像是： “请问您的邮编是多少？“

Or, "Would you like to use your savings card today?"

或是， “您今天要用储蓄卡吗？”

All of which gives us data.

这些问题都会为我们提供数据。

However, the conversation becomes a little bit more complex

但是，当需要问更难的问题时，

when the more difficult questions need to be asked.

这类谈话也会变得稍复杂些。

Let me tell you a story, see.

让我给你们讲个故事。

Once upon a time, there was a woman named Miss Margaret.

从前，有一位女士， 名叫玛格丽特小姐。

Miss Margaret had been a front-desk specialist

玛格丽特小姐当前台专员

for almost 20 years.

已经快有20年了。

And in all that time, she has never, and I do mean never,

她工作时从不，我是说从不，

had to ask a patient their gender, race or ethnicity.

需要问患者性别、人种或民族。

Because, see, now Miss Margaret has the ability to just look at you.

因为，玛格丽特小姐有 “一眼辨人”的能力。

Uh-huh.

啊哈。

And she can tell if you are a boy or a girl,

只要看你一眼， 就知道你是男孩还是女孩，

black or white, American or non-American.

黑人还是白人， 美国人还是非美国人。

And in her mind, those were the only categories.

她头脑中的分类只有这些。

So imagine that grave day,

所以想象下那个沉重的日子，

when her sassy supervisor invited her to this "change everything" meeting

那天她的粗鲁主管 请她参加一个“改变一切”会议，

and told her that would have to ask each and every last one of her patients

并告诉她以后必须要求每个患者

to self-identify.

进行自我分类识别。

She gave her six genders, eight races and over 100 ethnicities.

主管给她6种性别、8种人种、 超过100种种族的分类。

Well, now, Miss Margaret was appalled.

好吧， 这下玛格丽特小姐目瞪口呆。

I mean, highly offended.

我是说，她火冒三丈，

So much so that she marched down to that human-resource department

气得她一头冲进人力资源部

to see if she was eligible for an early retirement.

询问自己是否有资格早点退休。

And she ended her rant by saying

她叫嚷着抱怨着， 最后，她说了一句，

that her sassy supervisor invited her to this "change everything" meeting

她的粗鲁主管邀请她参加 这个“改变一切”会议，

and didn't, didn't, even, even

却、却没、没有

bring, bring food, food, food, food.

带、带食、食物。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

(Applause) (Cheers)

（鼓掌）（欢呼）

You know you've got to bring food to these meetings.

你们知道，这些会议能不带食物嘛。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Anyway.

不管怎么说都得带。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Now, that was an example of a healthcare setting,

刚说的是一个医疗背景下的例子，

but of course, all businesses collect some form of data.

不过很显然，所有行业 都会收集一些类型的数据。

True story: I was going to wire some money.

一次真实经历：我曾经想汇些钱。

And the customer service representative asked me

然后客服代表就问我

if I was born in the United States.

是否在美国出生。

Now, I hesitated to answer her question,

我正犹豫着要不要回答，

and before she even realized why I hesitated,

在她甚至还没搞懂我为何犹豫之前，

she began to throw the company she worked for under the bus.

她又开始拉自己的公司来背黑锅。

She said, "Girl, I know it's stupid, but they makin' us ask this question."

她说，“姑娘，我知道这问题很傻， 但是他们非叫我们问。“

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Because of the way she presented it to me,

正因为她的反应，

I was like, "Girl, why?

于是我反问她， “姑娘，为什么？

Why they makin' you ask this question?

为什么他们让你问这个问题？

Is they deportin' people?"

他们要赶人出境吗？“

(Laughter)

（笑声）

But then I had to turn on the other side of me,

但是接下来我得表现出 自己的另一面，

the more professional speaker-poet side of me.

更专业的演说家-诗人的一面。

The one that understood that there were little Miss Margarets all over the place.

我知道哪里都有玛格丽特小姐。

People who were good people, maybe even good employees,

他们是好人，甚至也可能是好员工，

but lacked the ability to ask their questions properly

但是不会得体地向别人 提问自己的问题，

and unfortunately, that made her look bad,

不幸的是， 那让她看起来很不专业，

but the worst, that made the business look even worse

最坏的是， 那让她的公司看起来

比她的“不专业”还糟糕。

than how she was looking.

Because she had no idea who I was.

因为她不知道我是谁。

I mean, I literally could have been a woman who was scheduled to do a TED Talk

我的意思是， 我可能是一个被指定做TED演讲、

and would use her as an example.

并且会拿她当例子的女人。

Imagine that.

想象一下。

(Applause)

（鼓掌）

And unfortunately,

不幸的是，

what happens is people would decline to answer the questions,

人们可能会拒绝回答这些问题，

because they feel like you would use the information

因为他们觉得你会利用这些信息

to discriminate against them,

歧视他们，

都是因为你表达信息的方式不当。

all because of how you presented the information.

And at that point, we get bad data.

在那一点上，我们得到了坏数据。

And everybody knows what bad data does.

人人都知道坏数据有哪些危害。

Bad data costs you time, it costs you money

坏数据浪费你的时间、金钱，

and it costs you resources.

浪费你的资源。

Unfortunately, when you have bad data,

不幸的是，如果你有坏数据，

it also costs you a lot more,

你还会因此损失更多。

because we have health disparities,

因为我们有健康差距、

and we have social determinants of health,

健康的社会决定因素、

and we have the infant mortality,

婴儿死亡率，

all of which depends on the data that we collect,

所有这些都取决于我们收集的数据，

and if we have bad data, than we have those issues still.

如果我们有坏数据， 那么这些问题仍会存在。

And we have underprivileged populations

那些弱势群体

that remain unfortunate and underprivileged,

仍然在不幸和贫困中挣扎。

because the data that we're using is either outdated,

因为我们正在用的数据 要么就是过时，

or is not good at all or we don't have anything at all.

要么就是不够优质， 要么就是手头没有任何数据。

Now, wouldn't it be amazing if people like Miss Margaret

现在，如果那些像玛格丽特小姐

and the customer-service representative at the wiring place

或者电汇处的客服代表一样的人

were graced to collect data with compassionate care?

能带着爱心得体的收据数据， 这样不是很棒吗？

Can I explain to you what I mean by "graced?"

请允许我给大家解释下 什么叫“得体” （graced）。

I wrote an acrostic poem.

我写了一首藏头诗。

G: Getting the front desk specialist involved and letting them know

G：让前台专员参与并知晓

R: the Relevance of their role as they become

R：他们扮演的角色的重要性

A: Accountable for the accuracy of data while implementing

A: 为数据的准确性负责

C: Compassionate care within all encounters by becoming

C: 每次与人接触都施以爱心

E: Equipped with the education needed to inform people

E: 具备所需知识以告知人们

of why data collection is so important.

D: 为何数据收集如此重要。

(Applause)

（鼓掌）

Now, I'm an artist.

我是一名艺术家。

And so what happens with me

所以在我身上发生的

is that when I create something artistically,

就是当我进行艺术创作时，

the trainer in me is awakened as well.

内心中隐藏的培训师也被唤醒。

So what I did was, I began to develop that acrostic poem into a full training

所以我做的就是， 把藏头诗发展为一项全面的培训，

entitled "I'm G.R.A.C.E.D."

名叫 “我很得体”（G.R.A.C.E.D.）

Because I remember, being the front-desk specialist,

因为我还记得自己做前台专员时，

and when I went to the office of equity to start working,

当时我去一家股票公司开始上班。

I was like, "Is that why they asked us to ask that question?"

我心想，“那就是为什么 他们叫我们去问那个问题吗？”

It all became a bright light to me,

我忽然豁然开朗，

and I realized that I asked people and I told people about --

我意识到我询问客户、 我跟客户交谈时——

I called them by the wrong gender, I called them by the wrong race,

我弄错了他们的性别、人种，

I called them by the wrong ethnicity,

弄错了他们的民族，

and the environment became hostile,

于是谈话氛围变得不友好，

people was offended and I was frustrated because I was not graced.

客户被惹恼，而我也很沮丧， 因为我没有表现出得体。

I remember my computerized training,

我还记得我参加的电脑化培训，

and unfortunately, that training did not prepare me to deescalate a situation.

不幸的是， 那次培训并没教会我缓和紧张场面。

It did not prepare me to have teachable moments when I had questions

也没能在我对提问存在疑惑时，

about asking the questions.

提供我值得学习的内容。

I would look at the computer and say, "So, what do I do when this happens?"

我会对着电脑提问， “那么，这种情况下我怎么做？”

And the computer would say ...

电脑会……

nothing, because a computer cannot talk back to you.

沉默，因为电脑没法回你话。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

So that's the importance of having someone there

所以这是由某个受训过的人来教你、

who was trained to teach you and tell you what you do

告诉你在类似情况下该做什么的

in situations like that.

重要性所在。

So, when I created the "I'm G.R.A.C.E.D" training,

所以， 当我设计“我很得体”培训时，

I created it with that experience that I had in mind,

我结合了自己的经历，

but also that conviction that I had in mind.

也融入了自己的信念。

Because I wanted the instructional design of it

因为我希望它的教学设计

to be a safe space for open dialogue for people.

是创造一个 人们可以坦诚对话的安全场所。

I wanted to talk about biases,

我想谈一下偏见，

the unconscious ones and the conscious ones,

无意识的和有意识的偏见，

and what we do.

还想谈下我们所做的。

Because now I know that when you engage people in the why,

因为现在我知道， 当你问别人为什么时，

it challenges their perspective, and it changes their attitudes.

是在挑战他们的观点、态度。

Now I know that data that we have at the front desk

现在我知道， 前台收集到的数据

translates into research that eliminates disparities and finds cures.

会转变成研究数据， 用以消除差异、找到解决方法。

Now I know that teaching people transitional change

现在我知道， 教人循序渐进的改变，

instead of shocking them into change

而不是毫无征兆的 强迫他们突然改变

is always a better way of implementing change.

始终是实施变革的一种上策。

See, now I know people are more likely to share information

看吧，现在我知道， 人们更愿意分享信息

when they are treated with respect by knowledgeable staff members.

只要当他们受到尊重， 被训练有素的工作人员以礼相待

Now I know that you don't have to be a statistician

现在我知道， 你不必成为统计学家，

to understand the power and the purpose of data,

也能了解数据的力量和作用，

but you do have to treat people with respect and have compassionate care.

但是你得用尊重和爱心来对待他人。

Now I know that when you've been graced,

现在我知道， 如果你已经很得体，

it is your responsibility to empower somebody else.

你有责任去教会别人也这样得体。

But most importantly, now I know

但是最重要的是， 现在我知道，

that when teaching human beings

教导人与人之间

to communicate with other human beings,

互相沟通交流，

it should be delivered by a human being.

应该是由一个“人”来完成。

(Applause)

（鼓掌）

So when y'all go to work

所以如果你们去上班时，

and y'all schedule that "change everything" meeting --

也被安排了一个 “改变一切”会议——

(Laughter)

（笑声）

remember Miss Margaret.

别忘了玛格丽特小姐。

And don't forget the food, the food, the food, the food.

别忘了食物、食物、食物。

Thank you.

谢谢。

(Applause) (Cheers)

（鼓掌）（欢呼）

Thank you.

谢谢。

(Applause)

（鼓掌）