2023年经济学人 权力的光明面和阴暗面

（单词翻译）

Business

商业版块

Bartleby

巴托比专栏

Mighty¹ and high

高高在上

Power does odd things to people, but not all of them are bad.

权力会对人们产生奇怪的影响，但并非所有都是坏影响。

Power is a fact of corporate² life.

权力是企业生活中的一个事实。

It also affects behaviour.

它还会影响人们的行为。

Research suggests power makes people less likely to take the advice of others, even if those others are experts in their fields.

研究表明，权力使人们不太可能接受别人的建议，即使这些人是他们所在领域的专家。

It makes them more likely to gratify their physical needs.

权力使人们更有可能满足自己的生理需求。

In a test conducted by Ana Guinote of University College London, powerful people were likelier than less powerful folk to choose tempting³ food, like chocolate, and ignore worthier⁴ snacks like radishes.

伦敦大学学院的安娜·吉诺特曾进行了一项测试，在测试中，有权力的人比不那么有权力的人更有可能选择诱人的食物，如巧克力，而忽略更有价值的食物，如萝卜。

In conversations, the powerful are bewitched by themselves: they rate their own stories as more inspiring than interlocutors’.

在对话中，有权力的人会被自己迷住：他们认为自己的故事比对话者的故事更鼓舞人心。

They struggle to see things from the perspective of others.

他们很难从别人的角度看问题。

In one famous experiment, some people were asked to recall a time they held power over someone else and others a time when another person was in a more powerful position than them; both groups were then asked to draw a capital “E” on their own foreheads.

在一个著名的实验中，一些人被要求回忆他们拥有掌管他人的权力的时候，其他人被要求回忆他人比他们自己更有权力的时候，然后两组人都被要求在自己的额头上画一个大写的E。

Subjects primed to think of themselves as powerful were three times more likely to draw the “E” as though they were looking at it themselves, making it appear backwards⁵ to anyone else.

那些因回忆而认为自己有权力的受试者有三倍的可能性会画出他们自己眼中的E，从而让E在其他人眼中是左右相反的。

Power even makes people think they are taller.

权力甚至会让人们认为自己个子更高。

In another experiment, those coaxed⁶ to think of themselves as powerful were more likely to overestimate⁷ their own height relative to a pole, and to pick a loftier avatar to represent them in a game, than less potent⁸ counterparts.

在另一项实验中，那些被劝说后认为自己有权力的人比起较弱势的人，更有可能高估自己相对于一根杆子的身高，并会选择一个更崇高的头像在游戏中代表他们。

Cause and effect are hard to unravel⁹ here: the dominant¹⁰ types who snaffle the chocolate and leave the radishes may also be more likely to climb the ladder.

这里的因果关系很难阐明：那些抢走巧克力、留下萝卜的主导型人格也更有可能爬上权力阶梯。

But possessing power seems itself to put a thumb on the scales, towards more entitled and self-serving behaviour.

但拥有权力似乎本身就会影响人的行为，让人们认为自己享有更多特权，做出更多利己行为。

Power also affects those lower down the pecking order.

权力也会影响那些地位较低的人。

In a study published in 2016, Christopher Oveis of the University of California, San Diego, and his co-authors looked at how status affects laughter.

在2016年发表的一项研究中，加州大学圣地亚哥分校的克里斯托弗·奥维斯和他的合著者研究了地位如何影响笑声。

The researchers recorded members of a fraternity house in an American university, some new joiners and some old hands, teasing each other.

研究人员记录了美国一所大学兄弟会的成员的情况，一些新人和一些老成员互相取笑。

Higher-status participants laughed more loudly and with less inhibition than lower-status ones—primates, not mates.

地位较高的参与者比地位较低的参与者笑得更大声、更少收敛自己--这是灵长类动物，而非好兄弟的表现。

Power is out of sync with the times.

权力已与时代脱节。

High-performing teams depend on collaboration¹¹ and candour, not cringing¹² and compliance¹³.

高绩效团队依赖于协作和坦率，而不是畏缩和服从。

Humility¹⁴ is increasingly prized as an attribute of senior executives.

谦逊作为高管的一种品质越来越受到重视。

In hiring processes some interviewers will look for use of the word “I” rather than “we” as a small marker of how egocentric people really are.

在招聘过程中，一些面试官会留意应聘人员使用“我”而不是“我们”的情况，以此作为衡量应聘人员有多么以自我为中心的小小标记。

Entire industries are feted for the way they try to counteract¹⁵ the effects of power.

有一些行业因为努力抵消权力的影响而受到称赞。

The aviation industry is celebrated¹⁶ for a training technique called “crew resource management” that is designed to encourage a less hierarchical set of interactions in the cockpit.

航空业因一种名为“机组人员资源管理”的培训技术而得到赞誉，该技术旨在鼓励驾驶舱内不那么等级森严的互动。

Similar kinds of thinking are visible in other workplaces that have especially clear chains of command, from the army to hospitals.

从军队到医院，其他指挥链特别清晰的工作场所也有类似的理念。

Still, power can also get a bad press.

尽管如此，权力也可能会受到负面报道。

Hierarchies¹⁷ emerge organically, and with good reason: precious little gets done when everyone is in charge.

等级制度是顺应自然而出现的，而且有很好的理由：当每个人都负责的时候，只能完成很少的事。

Research published this year by Ozgecan Kocak of Emory University and her colleagues found that flatter organisations are likelier to spend too much time exploring options than ones where someone is clearly in charge.

埃默里大学的奥兹克简·科贾克和她的同事今年发表的一项研究发现，与那些明显由某人负责的组织相比，扁平化的组织更有可能花太多时间探索各种选择。

It doesn’t particularly matter if the boss knows what they are talking about; the mere¹⁹ fact that authority is being wielded²⁰ means a team converges²¹ more quickly on a decision.

老板知不知道自己在说什么并不是特别重要，权力在被行使的这一事实就意味着团队能更快地向一个决策汇集。

Power is an instrument for achieving noble ends as well as selfish ones: it is no use having brilliant ideas without the means to put them into practice.

权力既是实现自私目的的工具，也是实现高尚目的的工具：只有绝妙的想法，没有办法将其付诸实践，这也无济于事。

One of the most popular classes at Stanford Graduate School of Business is a refreshingly²² functional²³ one called “Paths to Power”.

斯坦福大学商学研究生院最受欢迎的课程之一是一门令人耳目一新的实用课程，名为“通往权力之路”。

It is taught by Jeffrey Pfeffer, a charming man who preaches the value of rule-breaking, displays of anger, “strategic misrepresentation” (ie, lying) and many other countercultural qualities in order to get to the top.

这门课由杰弗里·普费弗教授，普费弗是一个充满魅力的人，他宣扬打破规则、表现愤怒、“战略性歪曲”(即撒谎)和其他许多反文化品质的价值，以此登上权力顶峰。

You don’t have to believe that to appreciate the importance of power.

即使你不相信这些，你也能意识到权力的重要性。

Companies like the idea of humility and teamwork but they are also feudal²⁴ structures that depend on ambition, impatience²⁵ and gallons of unwarranted self-confidence.

公司喜欢谦逊和团队合作的理念，但公司也是封建结构，依赖于野心、不耐烦和大量的毫无根据的自信。

The best managers are well aware of how their own power sends ripples²⁶ across the organisation¹⁸.

最好的管理者很清楚自己的权力如何在整个组织中激起涟漪。

They take care not to signal their opinions too early in meetings; they admit when they don’t know the answer to something.

他们注意不在会议上过早地表明自己的观点，当他们不知道某件事的答案时，他们会如实承认。

But they also know when to stop consulting and start commanding.

但他们也知道何时应该停止咨询，开始发号施令。

Up to a certain point, saying “I don’t know” sends a signal of low-ego inclusivity; beyond it, it is just a signal of not knowing.

在某种程度上，说“我不知道”是在发出低自我的包容信号，在这种程度之外，说这句话只是表明你不知道而已。