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Companies that try to turn happiness into a management tool are overstepping the mark
企业以快乐为管理手段，过犹不及
LORD Percy of Newcastle, Britain’s minister of education in 1924-29, was no fan of the fad for happy-clappy “progressive” education that spread among the country’s schools on his watch. He declared that it was all nonsense: “a child ought to be brought up to expect unhappiness.” This columnist feels the same suspicion of the fashion for happy-clappy progressive management theory that is rushing through the world’s companies and even some governments.

1924年至1929年间任英国教育大臣的纽卡斯尔勋爵珀西（Lord Percy of Newcastle）并不支持在其辖下学校蔓延的那股“新式”快乐教育风。他宣称那全是胡说八道：“应该在小孩成长过程中让他们学会懂得不快乐。” 同样，本专栏的作者对于如今风行全球企业甚至某些政府的那套快乐管理新论调也心存质疑。

fad n.一时流行（popular for a short time)
- She is interested in the latest fads.
happy-clappy 快乐教育学
progressive adj.先进的
nonsense n.一派胡言
ought to 应该
columnist n.专栏作家
suspicion n.怀疑
The leading miscreant is Zappos, an online shoe shop. The firm expects its staff to be in a state of barely controlled delirium when they sell shoes. Pret A Manger, a British food chain, specialises in bubbly good humour as well as sandwiches. Air stewards are trained to sound mellifluous but those at Virgin Atlantic seem on the verge of breaking out into a song-and-dance routine. Google until recently had an in-house “jolly good fellow” to spread mindfulness and empathy.
这类异端之首当数网络鞋店Zappos。该公司希望员工在一种近乎欣喜若狂的状态下卖鞋。英国连锁快餐店Pret A Manger在专精三明治之外还擅长活泼幽默的待客之道。空乘人员受专门训练，为求言语悦耳，但维珍的空乘追求悦耳动听过了头，简直要唱唱跳跳起来了。谷歌之前还在内部设有专职的“快乐好伙伴”，传播正念和关怀，最近才撤销。
miscreant n.坏人
delirium n.极度兴奋，神志不清
- Shoppers running around in a delirium the day before Christmas.
bubbly adj.高兴的
air steward 空乘 （flight attendant）
mellifluous adj.悦耳的
jolly adj.高兴的
mindfulness n.留意
- mindful adj.留意的，体贴的
- She is mindful of the needs of others.
empathy n.共鸣 （share someone else's feelings)
- She felt great empahty with the poor.
A weird assortment of gurus and consultancies is pushing the cult of happiness. Shawn Achor, who has taught at Harvard University, now makes a living teaching big companies around the world how to turn contentment into a source of competitive advantage. One of his rules is to create “happiness hygiene”. Just as we brush our teeth every day, goes his theory, we should think positive thoughts and write positive e-mails.
这一“快乐教派”的背后推手是一群古怪的大师和顾问。曾任教于哈佛大学的肖恩•阿克尔（Shawn Achor）如今正在世界各地大企业兜售如何化知足之心为竞争优势。他主张的原则之一是要构建“快乐心理卫生”。他的理论认为，就像每天要刷牙一样，我们应该正向思考，写正面积极的电子邮件。
assortment n.混合
guru n.领袖
- fashion guru
cult n. （邪教）群体
contentment n.满意
- I believe that people can find peace and contentment in living simply.
hygiene n.卫生
positive adj.正能量的

Zappos is so happy with its work on joy that it has spun off a consultancy called Delivering Happiness. It has a chief happiness officer (CHO), a global happiness navigator, a happiness hustler, a happiness alchemist and, for philosophically minded customers, a happiness owl. Plasticity Labs, a technology firm which grew out of an earlier startup called the Smile Epidemic, says it is committed to supporting a billion people on their path to happiness in both their personal and professional lives.
Zappos对于自己营造快乐氛围的工作甚为得意，甚至单独成立了一家名为“传递快乐”（Delivering Happiness）的咨询公司。它设有首席快乐官（CHO）、全球快乐领航人、快乐骗子、快乐炼金术士，还有为富有哲学头脑的客户而设的“幸福猫头鹰”。前身为创业公司“流行微笑”（Smile Epidemic）的科技公司“可塑性实验室”（Plasticity Labs）表示，公司致力帮助十亿人在个人生活和职业生涯上走上幸福快乐之路。
spin off 创造（新公司/子公司）
navigator n.领航者
hustler n.骗子
- hustle v.着急，骗钱（ to obtain money by fraud or deception）
alchemist n.炼金术师
owl n.猫头鹰
epidemic n.流行病