Sam set out to improve efficiency at the shirt factory but, as we find out later in this unit, his plans turned out not quite as he had expected.
萨姆着手提高衬衫厂的效率了,但正如我们将在本单元后半部分发现的,他的计划实施结果跟他原先预料的并不完全一样。
Sam Adams, Industrial Engineer
工业管理工程师萨姆·亚当斯
If you ask my mother how I happened to become an industrial engineer, she'll tell you that I have always been one.
如果你问我母亲,我怎么偏偏会成为一名工业管理工程师的,她就会告诉你,我一直就是这样一个人。
She means that I have always wanted everything to be well organized and neat. When I was still in elementary school, I liked to keep my socks in the upper left-hand drawer of my bureau, my underwear in the upper right drawer, shirts in the middle drawer, and pants, neatly folded, in the bottom drawer.
她的意思是说,我一贯希望把样样东西都安排得井井有条,整整齐齐。还在上小学时,我就喜欢把袜子放在衣柜左上方的抽屉里,内衣放在右上方的抽屉里,衬衫放在当中的抽屉里,折得齐齐整整的裤子放在最下面的抽屉里。
In fact, I was the efficiency expert for the whole family. I used to organize my father's tools, my mother's kitchen utensils, my sister's boyfriends.
事实上,我那时一直是全家人的效率专家。父亲的工具、母亲的厨房用具以及姐姐的男朋友全由我统一安排。
I needed to be efficient. I wanted to be well organized. For me, there was a place for everything and everything was always in its place. These qualities gave me a good foundation for a career in industrial engineering.
我需要讲究效率。我希望有条不紊。对我来说,样样东西都有个固定的地方,样样东西总是放在适当的地方。这些素质为我日后从事工业管理打下了良好的基础。
Unfortunately, I was also a bit bossy and I wasn't a very good listener. You'll see what I mean when I tell you about the first project I ever did after I finished my bachelor's degree at the university.
遗憾的是,我这个人也有一点专横,不太善于听取别人的意见。等我把在大学取得学士学位后承办第一项工程的情况告诉你以后,你就会明白我这话是什么意思了。