评论
打印
Business advice books don’t agree on much, but they’re practically unanimous on this bit of advice to senior managers: focus on the big things, and leave the details to your team.
能够让商业忠告类图书一致认同的观点并不多，但它们几乎都会给高管提供这样一条忠告：专注于大的事情，将细节交给团队。
I’ve spent my career doing the opposite. And I believe it is largely responsible for the success I’ve had so far.
但我在整个职业生涯都采取了截然相反的做法。而且我相信，我到目前取得的成功，很大程度上要归功于这种管理方法。
These days, when I work with young chief executives, I urge them to try my “sweat the small stuff” management method. It may seem counterintuitive, as though I am urging CEOs to act like that most dreaded creature, the micromanager. But this approach can deliver the opposite effect. In fact, I have found it builds employee trust, brings the best out of the best employees, and, most importantly, builds high-performance teams.
最近在与一些年轻CEO们合作时，我强烈建议他们尝试一下我“关注小事”的管理方法。虽然这似乎有违常识，好像我在诱惑这些CEO变成最可怕的怪物——微观管理者。但实际上这种方法会带来相反的效果。事实上，我发现这种管理方法能够建立起员工的信任，让最优秀的员工有最好的表现，并且最重要的是，它有助于建立一支高效的团队。
Chief executives, especially founders, often find themselves torn between two contradictory impulses. On one hand, they aspire to hire “A+” employees who will take the company to new heights with their awesomeness. On the other hand, many CEOs have a clear vision for every aspect of how their companies should be run and a wicked perfectionist streak. This means they often succumb to the temptation to get involved in every detail of the company’s operations, instead of empowering the extraordinary people they’ve just spent a great deal of energy hiring.
首席执行官，尤其是公司创始人，往往发现自己在两种相互矛盾的冲动之间左右为难。一方面，他们渴望找到“A+”员工，凭借他们的非凡魅力将公司带到新高度。另一方面，许多CEO对于公司各个方面如何运营有清晰的愿景，带有一种邪恶的完美主义倾向。这意味着，他们往往会忍不住诱惑，参与到公司运营的每一个细节，而不是向他们花大力气聘用的人放权。
In other words, CEOs micromanage. This inevitably leads to a frustrated, demoralized, and even paralyzed organization. Here’s where a “sweat the small stuff” approach can work well.
换言之，CEO在进行微观管理。而这将不可避免地导致公司上下滋生沮丧情绪，士气低落，甚至陷入瘫痪。那么，“关注小事”的管理方法，如何实施才能奏效？
As my first startup began to grow quickly, I found myself wanting to follow my perfectionist impulses without undermining my teams’ ability to get things done using their own—usually more informed—judgment. My ideas had merit, and they avoided the pitfalls of “design by committee,” which often leads to uninspiring and watered-down solutions. But they were often interpreted by my team as religious edicts and caused people to either blindly follow instead of lead or just get annoyed. So, I set up a verbal contract with all of my leaders, which spelled out the decisions I deferred to them (most of them) and a list of details that I specifically cared about (just a few).
在我创办的第一家公司开始迅速发展之际，我希望在不削弱员工独立判断能力的前提下，遵从自己内心的完美主义冲动。团队成员的确可以利用自己的独立判断（往往也更加明智）来完成工作。我的想法有其优点，可以避免“委员会设计”的陷阱——“委员会设计”通常只会产生令人沮丧的、打折扣的解决方案。但我的团队总是把我的想法理解成“宗教法令”，他们要么放弃工作自主权，盲目遵从，要么感到愤怒。因此，我与所有管理者达成了口头约定，详细说明了我会听从他们的哪些决定（大多数），以及我会特别关注哪些细节（只有少数）。
In the case of a major website redesign, for example, I gave the design and marketing teams the authority to determine the site’s organization, layout, and page flow. After all, I hired them because they were experts at this stuff; I wanted them to feel they had the autonomy they needed to do their jobs well.
例如，重新设计网站时，我会授予设计与营销团队决定网站结构、布局和页面流程的权限。毕竟，我之所以聘用他们，就是因为他们是这方面的专家；我希望他们感觉自己拥有把工作做好所需要的自主权。
But I reserved veto power over the color scheme, graphical style, and fonts—yes, I have a small design obsession. They included me on those decisions up front. This also gave me a periodic glimpse into the status of the project overall without nagging my team. If things were off track, I would know.
但在配色方案、图形风格和字体方面，我保留了一票否决权——没错，我对设计有一点热衷。他们会提前把决定告诉我。这让我有机会定期了解项目进度，但又不会打扰到团队的工作。如果项目偏离了方向，我会提前知道。
Over time, I developed an important addition to this “contractual relationship” with my managers. For any detail which I requested involvement, I promised to respond with my feedback promptly (usually 48 hours, even including weekends). If I didn’t respond in time, I forfeited my right to override their decision later.
随着时间的推移，我在与管理者达成的“契约关系”中增加了一条重要的补充条约。对于任何我要求参与的细节，我承诺及时做出反馈（通常是48小时，甚至包括周末）。如果我没有按时反馈，意味着我放弃了以后推翻他们的决定的权利。
My managers loved this addition. It showed that I respected their time and authority, and also led them to put serious thought into the details I had veto power over. What if I didn’t respond in time? Then they were on the hook for those decisions as well. And I could hold them to aggressive timelines without being a bottleneck. I’m astonished by how often employees at other companies are forced to sit idly, almost as hostages, because they are waiting for the boss to make the decisions. Everyone suffers from those situations.
我的管理层非常喜欢这个补充条款。这表明我尊重他们的时间和权威，也让他们对我有权一票否决的细节进行认真思考。如果我没有及时反馈，那便由他们自行决策。并且，因为我不会成为团队的阻碍，他们可以保持更高效的进度。在其他公司，员工就像人质一样，往往不得不无所事事地坐等老板来拍板，这让我很吃惊。每个人都要忍受这种情况的折磨。
I can think of several examples in my career where this “sweat the small stuff” approach worked well. I remember the case of a launch party for a big product release during the dot-com era—the sort of event that would normally be planned by HR or the social committee. Someone came up with the notion that we should throw a blowout party in a luxury suite at the San Francisco Giants’ ballpark. But the idea felt wrong to me. We were a scrappy startup, not in need of the frivolous pampering that more financially successful (and boring) firms would choose. Plus, a box could only hold a few dozen people, meaning it would be an exclusive event instead of the big “friends and family” event I wanted.
在我的职业生涯中，我能列出许多例子来证明“关注小事”的方法是有效的。其中一个例子是在互联网时代，公司计划为一次大规模产品发布会举行新品发布派对，正常情况下，这种活动应该由人力资源部或社交委员会组织。有人提出，我们可以在旧金山巨人队（San Francisco Giants）棒球场的豪华套房举办一场盛大的派对。但我不认同这样的想法。我们是一家生气勃勃的初创公司，不需要这种无聊的暴饮暴食，这是那些在经济上更加成功（也更无聊）的公司才会选择的方式。此外，一间套房只能容纳几十个人，这也意味着派对将是一场独家活动，而不是我想要的那种盛大的“朋友和家人”活动。
I decided to be closely involved with the planning. We ended up buying over 100 bleacher tickets, and renting an In-N-Out Burger truck for an impromptu party in the parking lot. Great burgers, cold beer, terrific energy, and way cheaper: the party was a success that set the tenor for all of our future company events. From that point, I decided to make the details of our company parties and retreats something I cared about.
因此，我决定密切参与活动策划。最后，我们买了100多张露天看台球票，租了一辆In-N-Out 汉堡卡车，在停车场举办了一场即兴的派对。美味的汉堡，冰凉的啤酒，活力四射，而且成本更低：派对非常成功，甚至成为公司未来举办活动的典范。之后，我决定将公司派对和培训，纳入我需要关注的细节之列。
Giving my employees lots of rope on the big stuff, but getting involved in the details of a few smaller items, lets me safely indulge my obsession for doing the little things right while still allowing the star performers to do great work. I admit it’s somewhat paradoxical to gain control by giving it up, but give it a try. You might find it works for you as well as it has for me. Speaking of which, let’s hope this article is no exception… hey, this is not the font that I wanted!
在大事情上给员工足够的自主权，但在一些小事情上参与细节的管理，这既能让我纵情于做好小事情的痴迷，又能使明星员工有出色的表现。我承认，通过放权来获得控制权，听起来有一些矛盾，但不妨尝试一下。你会发现，它对你同样有效。说到这里，希望这篇文章也不例外……嘿，这可不是我想要的字体！
Justin Kitch is the CEO and founder ofCurious.com, a marketplace for lifelong learning. He is the former CEO and founder of Homestead Technologies.
本文作者贾斯丁o基齐为在线视频教育平台Curious.com的CEO和创始人，该网站致力于推广终生学习。他也曾是网络主机服务商Homestead Technologies的CEO和创始人。
