Confessions of a recovering micromanager | Chieh Huang

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Yanyan Hong

What I'm really here to do today is talk to you about micromanagement

今天我來這裡， 是要和大家談微觀管理，

and what I learned about micromanagement

以及我在過去幾年 身為一名微觀管理者，

by being a micromanager over the last few years of my life.

從微觀管理中學到的事。

But first off, what is micromanagement?

但首先，微觀管理是什麼？

How do we really define it?

我們要如何定義它？

Well, I posit that it's actually taking great, wonderful, imaginative people --

我認為，微觀管理就是把很不簡單、

有想像力的人—— 比如在座的各位——

like all of you --

bringing them in into an organization

將他們帶入一個組織中， 接著壓碎他們的靈魂

and then crushing their souls --

(Laughter)

（笑聲）告訴他們要用多大的字體。

by telling them what font size to use.

In the history of mankind,

在人類史上，

has anyone ever said this?

有沒有人說過這句話？

"John, we were never going to close that deal with Times New Roman,

「約翰，用 Times New Roman 字體我們是不可能成交的，

but because you insisted on Helvetica --

但因為你堅持用 Helvetica 字體——

bam!

砰！虛線——

Dotted line --

millions of dollars started to flow.

數百萬美金就開始流動。 我們缺的就是這個！」

That was the missing piece!"

No one's ever said that, right?

沒人說過這種話吧？

當我們正受微觀管理時，

There's actually physical manifestations that we probably see in ourselves

我們可能會在自己身上 看到具體化的呈現。

by being micromanaged.

Think about the most tired you've ever been in your life, right?

想想看你人生中最累的時刻。

It probably wasn't when you stayed the latest at work,

可能不是你工作加班 成為最後一個離開的人，

or it wasn't when you came home from a road trip,

可能不是你完成了一趟 道路旅行回到家的時候，

it was probably when you had someone looking over your shoulder,

而是有人一直盯著你，

watching your each and every move.

看著你做每一個動作。

Kind of like my mother-in-law when she's over right?

有點像我岳母來拜訪的時候。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

I'm like, "I got this," you know?

我心裡嘀咕：「我可以好不好。」

And so there's actually data to support this.

這背後其實有資料佐證。

There was a recent study in the UK.

最近英國有一項研究。

They took 100 hospital employees,

他們找了一百位醫院員工，

put an activity tracker on them

在他們身上裝活動追蹤器，

and then let them go about their next 12-hour shift all alone,

接著讓他們在接下來的 十二小時獨自執班，

just a regular 12-hour shift.

只是一般的十二小時排班。

At the end of the shift, they asked them, "Do you feel fatigued?"

在執班結束之後，他們問員工： 「你們覺得疲勞嗎？」

And what they found was actually really interesting.

他們的發現十分有趣，

不見得是移動最多的人 會覺得最疲勞，

It wasn't necessarily the people who moved the most

that felt the most fatigued,

but it was the folks that didn't have control over their jobs.

反而是無法控制自己工作的那些人。

So if we know that micromanagement isn't really effective,

所以，如果我們知道 微觀管理不是很有效，

why do we do it?

為什麼我們還要用它？

Is it that the definition is wrong?

是定義有錯嗎？

I posited that micromanagement

我認為，微觀管理

is just bringing in great, wonderful, imaginative people

只是把很不簡單、 有想像力的人帶進來，

and then crushing their souls,

接著壓碎他們的靈魂，

so is it that we actually want to hire --

所以我們是否其實是想要僱用——

deep down inside of us --

內心深處的想法——

dull and unimaginative people?

無聊又沒想像力的人？

It's one of those questions you probably don't even need to ask.

這種問題是不用問也知道答案的。

就像：「你希望你的行李 在機場被偷嗎？」

It's like, "Do you want to get your luggage stolen at the airport?"

可能不想，但從來沒被問過吧？

Probably not, but I've never been asked, right?

So has anyone asked you, as a manager,

若你是管理者， 是否有任何人問過你：

"Do you want to hire dull and unimaginative people?"

「你是否想要僱用無聊 又沒想像力的人？」

So, I don't know, this is TED, we better back it up with data.

我不知道，這裡是 TED， 我們最好用資料來佐證。

We actually asked hundreds of people around the country --

我們真的去問了全國各地的數百人——

hundreds of managers across the country --

全國各地的數百名管理者——

do you want to hire dull and unimaginative people?

你是否想要僱用無聊 且沒有想像力的人？

Alright, it's an interesting question.

好，這是個有趣的問題。

Well, interesting results as well.

嗯，結果也很有趣。

So, 94% said no --

94% 的人說不（笑聲）——

(Laughter)

我們不想要僱用無聊 且沒有想像力的人。

we don't want to hire dull and unimaginative people.

Six percent probably didn't understand the question --

6% 可能是不了解問題——

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

but, bless their hearts,

但，好傢伙，

maybe they do just want to hire dull and unimaginative people.

也許他們真的想要僱用 無聊且沒想像力的人。

但 94% 說他們不想，

But 94 percent said they did not, and so why do we do this still then?

所以為什麼我們仍然這麼做？

Well, I posit that it's something really, really simple

我認為答案非常非常簡單，

that all of us deep down inside know and have actually felt.

是我們所有人的內心深處 都知道且感覺得到的。

So when we get hired into an organization --

當我們被僱用進入一個組織——

it could be a club, it could be a law firm,

可能是俱樂部，可能是法律事務所，

it could be a school organization, it could be anything --

可能是學校組織，什麼都有可能——

no one ever jumps to the top of the totem pole, right?

沒有人會直接跳到最上級，對吧？

You start at the very bottom.

你要從最基層做起。

Doing what?

做什麼？

Doing work.

做工作。

You actually do the work, right?

你真的要做工作，對吧？

And if you're really good at doing the work,

如果你真的很擅長做工作， 你會得到什麼獎賞？

what do you get rewarded with?

更多的工作，對吧？

More work, right?

Yeah, that's right, you guys are all great micromanagers.

是的，你們這些人全都是 很棒的微觀管理者。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）你要做更多工作，

You do more work,

and then pretty soon, if you're really good at it,

接著，很快的， 如果你真的很擅長它，

you do a little bit of work still,

你仍然要做一點工作，

but actually, you start to manage people doing the work.

但，其實，你會開始 管理做工作的人。

And if you're really good at that, what happens after that?

如果你很擅長管理， 之後會發生什麼事？

You start managing the people who manage the people doing the work,

你開始要管理那些 管理做工作的人的人，

and it's at that point in time,

就在那個時間點，

you start to lose control over the output of your job.

你會開始無法控制你工作的產出。

I've actually witnessed this firsthand.

我真的親自目賭過。

So, I started a company called Boxed in our garage,

我在我們的車庫創立了 一間公司，叫做 Boxed，

and this was it -- I know it doesn't seem like much --

就是它——我知道 它看起來不怎麼樣——

you know, there's a pressure washer in the back --

後面其實有一台壓力清洗裝置——

this is "living the dream."

這是「活在夢想中」。

And my wife was really proud of me when we started this,

我們剛創立時， 我太太對我感到很驕傲，

or that's what she said, she was really proud of me --

或是至少她說 她對我感到很驕傲——

and so she would give me a hug, and I'm pretty sure she had her phone up

她會給我一個擁抱， 我很確定她還拿著手機，

and she was thinking, "Oh, is John from Harvard still single?"

且她在想：「喔， 哈佛的約翰還單身嗎？」

It was kind of like a lemonade stand gone wrong in the beginning,

這有點像是檸檬水攤子 一開始就出了差錯，

但我們卻跑出來說 行動商務將會變得很大，

but we actually went up and said mobile commerce is going to be big,

and actually consumer packaged goods were going to change over time,

且快速消費品將會隨著時間改變，

so let's take these big, bulky packs that you don't want to lug home --

所以，我們把這些你其實 不想吃力搬回家的龐大包裝——

不是兩件裝的奧利奧， 是 24 件裝的，

so not the two-pack of Oreo cookies but the 24-pack

and not the 24-pack of toilet paper but the 48-pack --

不是 24 件裝的廁所衛生紙， 而是 48 件裝的——

and let's ship it to you much like a warehouse club would do

我們把它寄給你， 就像倉儲會員店會做的那樣，

except they wouldn't ship it to you.

除了它們不會把它寄給你。

So that's what we basically did.

基本上，那就是我們做的。 我們有台很慢的印表機，

We had a really slow printer

and what we did was actually say, "OK, this printer is taking forever, man.

我們做的是說：「這台印表機 要一輩子才會印出東西來。

Let's scribble something that would delight the customer

我們在這些發票的背後隨便寫些 能討好消費者的東西吧。」

on the back of these invoices."

所以，我們會說： 「嘿，保持微笑。」

So we'd say, "Hey, keep smiling," you know?

"Hey, you're awesome,"

「嘿，你很棒。」

or, "Hey, enjoy the Doritos,"

或「嘿，好好享用多力多滋。」 或「我們也愛開特力。」

or, "We love Gatorade, too."

Stuff like that.

諸如此類。

And so it started breaking up the monotony of the job as well

所以，工作的單調性也開始被打破，

because I was picking and packing all of the boxes,

因為我在撿貨和包裝所有的盒子，

and that's all you basically do for eight, nine, 10, 12 hours a day

基本上，你一天八小時、十小時、

十二小時都坐在車庫裡做這些。

when you're sitting in the garage.

And so an interesting thing happened.

於是，一件有趣的事發生了。

So we actually started to grow.

我們真的開始成長了。

And so, you know, over the last --

所以，在過去——

actually just even 36 months after that,

其實，即使是在那之後 36 個月，

we ended up selling hundreds of millions of dollars worth of stuff,

我們就銷售出數億美元的東西，

and we actually grew really, really quickly.

我們真的成長得很快。

But during that time, my role started to change, too.

但在那段時間， 我的角色也開始改變了。

So, yes, I was the CEO in the garage;

是的，我是車庫裡的執行長；

I was picking and packing, doing all the work,

我做撿貨和包裝等等所有的工作，

but then I graduated

但接著，我畢業了， 真的開始管理別人，

to actually managing the people who picked and packed,

讓他們來撿貨和包裝，

and then pretty soon I managed the people

接著，很快，我所管理的人

who managed the people picking and packing.

是在管理撿貨和包裝的人的人。

And even now, I manage the C-staff who manage the departments

即使現在，我管理的是最高層的人，

他們要管理部門，

who manage the people who manage the people picking and packing.

部門要管理那些 管理撿貨和包裝的人的人。

And it is at that point in time, I lost control.

所以，在那個時點，我失去了控制。

So I thought, OK, we were delighting all of these customers with these notes.

我心想，我們用這些字條 來讓客人感到很愉快。

They loved them, but I can't write these notes anymore,

他們很愛這些字條， 但我不能再寫字條了，

so you know what I'm going to do?

你們知道我打算怎麼做嗎？

I'm going to tell these folks how to write these notes.

我要告訴這些人如何寫字條。

What pen to use, what color to use, what you should write,

要用什麼筆、要用什麼顏色、 要寫什麼內容、

what font you should use,

要用什麼字體、

don't mess up the margins,

邊際留白很重要、

this has to be this big, this has to be that big.

這東西要這麼大、這東西要那麼大。

And pretty soon this goal of raising morale

很快，這個靠著打破 配送中心內的單調性

by breaking up the monotony in the fulfillment center

來提升士氣的目標，

就變成了微觀管理， 大家開始向人力資源處抱怨。

actually became micromanagement, and people started complaining to HR.

It's like, "Dude, this CEO guy has got to get out of my hair, OK?

比如：「老兄，這個執行長 能不能別再來煩我了？

I know how to write a damn note."

我知道要怎麼寫該死的字條。」

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

So it was at that point in time, we said, "OK, you know?

在那個時點，我們說： 「好，你知道嗎？

We hired these great, wonderful people,

既然我們僱用了這些很不簡單的人，

let's give them the mission that's 'delight the customer,'

我們就來分派

「讓客人愉快」的任務給他們，

let's give them the tool to do so, and that's these notes -- have at it."

我們提供他們必要的工具， 就是這些字條——來做吧。」

And so what we found was actually pretty startling.

我們的發現十分驚人。

Some folks actually took the notes

有些人真的拿了這些字條，

and actually started drawing these really ornate minimurals on them.

且開始在上面畫一些小小的裝飾。

When folks ordered diapers, you'd get really fun notes like this:

有人訂尿布時， 會收到像這樣的有趣字條：

"Say 'hi' to the baby for us!"

「替我們向寶寶說聲『嗨』！」

And you know, the next size up, if they bought a bigger size,

如果客人買了更大尺寸的尿布，

they'd write, "Growing up so fast."

他們會寫：「好快就長大了。」

And so people really, really took to it.

大家真的喜歡它。

But it was at that time that it also went off the rails a few times.

但在那時，真的發生了幾次狀況。

And so we had someone just writing, "Thx, thx," all the time,

我們有個人，永遠只會寫 「謝了，謝了」，

and it's like, "Alright, dude, my boss used to write that to me,"

就好像是：「老兄，我老闆 以前就只會寫那些給我。」

so, let's not write "Thx" anymore.

可不可以不要再寫「謝了」。

But you also had interesting things on the other side.

但另一方面也會有很有趣的事。

People got a little too creative.

大家變得太有創意。

And so, like I said before, we sell everything in bulk:

我之前說過，我們所有的東西 都是大型量販包：

the big packs of diapers, big packs of toilet paper,

大型量販包尿布、 大型量販包的廁所衛生紙、

the big packs of Doritos and Oreo cookies.

大型量販包的 多力多滋和奧利奧餅乾。

We also sell the big packs of contraception,

我們也賣大包的避孕用品，

and so --

所以——

this is getting a little hairy.

開始變得有點難搞。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

So we sell the 40-pack of condoms, right?

我們會賣四十包大包裝的保險套。

We're all adults in this room -- 40-pack of condoms.

這的都是成年人—— 四十包大包裝的保險套。

So, someone ordered four 40-packs of condoms --

有人訂購了四組四十包 大包裝的保險套——

(Laughter)

（笑聲）他們只訂購這些，沒別的，

And that's all they ordered,

so, 160 condoms,

所以，160 個保險套，

the packer was like, "I know how to delight the customer."

包裝者就說：「我知道 要如何讓客人愉快。」

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

"This guy ..."

「這個傢伙……」

This is what they wrote:

這是他們寫的：

[Everyone loves an optimist]

〔大家都愛樂觀的人。〕

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

(Applause)

（掌聲）

We didn't know whether to fire him or to promote him, but he's still there.

我們不知道該開除他 還是升遷他，但他還在那裡。

So, "Everyone loves an optimist."

所以，「大家都愛樂觀的人。」

But here is where it went a little bit off the rails

但就是在這次出了點差錯，

and I felt a little bit conflicted in all of this.

讓我覺得這一切有點矛盾。

And --

且——

oh, there's a really bad typo --

喔，有打錯字（CONFLIC"T"）——

so if there was only a red T-E-D on stage that I counted on being here,

如果我這裡的台上只有 紅色的 T-E-D 字樣，

it wouldn't be a typo, right?

就不會打錯字了，對吧？（笑聲）

(Laughter)

(Applause)

（掌聲）

I promised you I had a really bad sense of humor,

我向各位保證，我的幽默感很差，

and now I'm gratifying that.

現在我很滿足。

So I told you. But I really was conflicted, right?

但我真的感到很矛盾。

At this point in time, we started doing things

在這個時點，我們開始做一些

that actually weren't part of our core mission

其實不屬於我們核心任務的事，

and people started failing at it.

且大家開始做不好。

And so, I thought, should we let them fail?

所以，我心想，我們應該 要讓他們失敗嗎？

Should we continue to let them do this?

我們應該要讓他們持續做下去嗎？

I don't know --

我不知道——

I didn't know at that moment,

那時我不知道，

but I thought this:

但我這樣想：

Is failure really that bad?

失敗真的那麼不好嗎？

I'm not saying we should celebrate failure.

我的意思並不是我們要慶祝失敗。

There's a lot of talk in Silicon Valley that says, "Let's celebrate failure."

矽谷常常會聽見這種說法： 「我們來慶祝失敗吧。」

No, I don't know if we would go all the way there,

我不知道我們是否會做到那樣，

because like, in our board meetings,

因為，在我們的董事會議上，

our board members are never like, "Hey, Chieh, you failed last quarter,

董事們從來不會說： 「嘿，傑，你上一季失敗了，

keep doing that, buddy, OK?"

繼續保持下去，伙計。」

No one's ever said that.

從來沒有人這樣說。 如果你是那種組織的一員，

If you're part of an organization like that,

give me a call, I want to sit in on that meeting.

打通電話給我， 我想要參與那種會議。

In private, I don't think many people celebrate failure,

私底下，我不認為 有很多人會慶祝失敗，

but failure, I posit, is actually pretty necessary

但我認為，長期來看，

for the folks truly in the long-term,

失敗是必要的，

for the smart and imaginative people

這樣子，聰明、有想像力的人

truly trying to fulfill the mission that you give them at hand.

才會真正試著去完成 你給他們的任務。

And so failure can actually be seen as a milestone

所以，失敗可以被視為是里程碑，

along that mission towards success.

朝向成功完成任務 前進過程的里程碑。

And if the downside of not micromanaging

如果不做微觀管理的不利面

is potentially this perceived notion that you might fail more often,

是覺得你有可能會更常失敗，

and if it's really not that bad,

如果失敗真的沒有那麼不好，

what is the upside?

有利面是什麼？

Well, we saw the upside and it's pretty great.

我們看到了有利面，且它很棒。

We tasked our engineers and said,

我們給工程師任務並說：

"Hey, some of our fulfillment centers cost millions of dollars to build,

「我們的一些配送中心 建造的成本要數百萬美元，

there's miles and miles of conveyor,

有數英哩的傳輸裝置，

and so, can you do the same thing,

你們能否做到同樣的事，

can you make them efficient without spending millions of dollars?"

你們能否做到更有效率， 且不用花數百萬美元？」

So, they got to work:

他們就去努力了：

they actually did this -- this is not photoshopped,

他們真的做了這個—— 這不是用軟體修圖過的，

the guy is really grinding.

這個傢伙真的在磨東西。

They built an autonomous guided vehicle.

他們建造了一台自動引導的車子。

We didn't tell them what to build, what format it needed to be.

我並沒有告訴他們要做什麼， 要是什麼形式。

他們花了九十天做出了原型機：

In 90 days they produced the first prototype:

powered off Tesla batteries, stereoscopic cameras, lidar systems.

用特斯拉的電池供電， 有實體鏡攝影機，光達系統。

It basically replicates the efficiency of a conveyor belt

基本上，它複製了輸送帶的效率，

without the actual capex of a conveyor belt.

但不用真的投入資金打造輸送帶。

So it doesn't actually just stop with engineers.

並不只有工程師這麼做。

Our marketing department --

我們告訴行銷部門：

we told them, "Hey, get the word out; do the right thing."

「嘿，把話傳出去；做對的事。」

We have this wonderful lady, Nitasha, on the marketing team.

我們的行銷團隊有位 很棒的女士，妮塔莎。

She stopped me in the morning,

早上，她攔住我，說：「傑， 『粉紅稅』要怎麼辦？」

she's like, "Chieh, what are we doing about the pink tax?"

我繼續去弄我的咖啡，然後坐下，

I went and got my coffee, I sat down,

我說：「好，妮塔莎， 粉紅稅是什麼？」

I said, "OK, Nitasha, what is this pink tax?"

她就告訴了我，這很有趣。

And so she told me, it's really interesting.

有些人可能知道，在美國 32 州，

So, some of you might know that in 32 states across America,

we actually charge a luxury goods tax on women's products

我們會針對女性產品收取奢侈品稅，

like feminine care products,

比如女性照護產品，

so tampons and pads are taxed like luxury goods items.

所以，衛生棉條和衛生棉 會被當作是奢侈品來收稅。

So I would never dare call my wife --

我絕對不敢打電話給我太太—— 或是她打給我，說：

or if she called me and said, "Hey, hon, bring some pads on the way home,"

「嘿，親愛的， 回家時買些衛生棉。」

而我說：「寶貝，你知道嗎， 現在有貿易戰爭，經濟狀況不好，

and I said, "Babe, you know, there's a trade war going on,

the economy's not that good,

所以這個月不能買奢侈品， 但我保證下個月——

so no luxury goods this month but next month I promise --

(Laughter)

我會看看狀況。」

I'll take a look at it."

我很快就會變單身，對吧？

I'd be single pretty quickly, right?

But what's super interesting is now --

但，超有趣的是，現在——

we didn't tell them what to do --

我們沒告訴他們怎麼做——但現在，

but now, working with finance, they rebate the tax

他們和財務合作做折現，

back to customers all around the country that we unfairly have to collect.

把我們不公平取得的稅款 退回給全國各地的客人。

And so at this point in time, you might be thinking,

所以，在這個時點，你們可能在想：

"OK, what is the real, real upside of not micromanaging?"

「所以不做微觀管理的 真正有利面是什麼？」

and it's this:

它就是：

I didn't do any of these projects.

這些計畫都不是我做的。 我沒有做自動引導的車子。

I didn't make the AGV.

I didn't do the "Rethink the Pink Tax" campaign.

我沒有做「重新思考粉紅稅」活動。

I didn't do any of this,

都不是我做的，

but I'm standing here on a TED stage taking all the credit for it.

但我在這裡，站在 TED 舞台上，

搶了所有的功勞。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

"This guy does nothing and takes all the credit for it.

「這個傢伙什麼都不用做， 功勞都是他的。

He's a real CEO, this guy. He's really got it down."

這個傢伙是真正的執行長。 他真的做到了。」

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

But the reality is this.

但，現實是：

I don't have the CEO thing down 100 percent pat,

我並沒有完全精通執行長的工作，

but I've actually learned the most fundamentally challenging lesson

但我真的學到了我所學過在根本上

I've ever had to learn,

最有挑戰性的一課，

and that's this.

這一課就是：

There is only one solution to micromanagement ...

微觀管理只有一種解決方案……

and that's to trust.

那就是信任。

Thank you.

謝謝。

(Applause)

（掌聲）