職場祕訣 如何做個少幹活的好領導

Most managers are familiar with the idea that no matter how busy they are, they could do more. There's always another project to take on, another meeting to attend, another email to answer.

大多數管理者想必都有這樣一個觀念：不管已經忙成什麼樣子，總還能抽出時間做更多的事。他們總有另一個項目要啓動、總有另一個會議要參加、也總有另一封電郵要回復。

Well, now there's a new school of thought about how managers are supposed to get more done -- and done better.

不過，如今針對管理者應該做得更多、做得更好的問題出現了一派新的觀點。

They should just do less.

他們應該少幹活。

'Everybody says their days are too short,' says J. Keith Murnighan, a professor at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management and author of 'Do Nothing! How to Stop Overmanaging and Become a Great Leader.' The key to unlocking greater productivity, Dr. Murnighan says, is to just say no: to switch off the email pings, decline meeting invitations and get home in time for dinner.

西北大學(Northwestern University)凱洛格商學院(Kellogg School of Management)教授、《什麼都別做！如何不再過度管理成爲偉大領導者》(Do Nothing! How to Stop Overmanaging and Become a Great Leader)一書作者J・凱斯・莫尼根(J. Keith Murnighan)說：“每個人都說他們的時間不夠用。”莫尼根博士指出，釋放更高生產率的關鍵就是說“不”：關閉電子郵件提醒、拒絕會議邀請、準時回家吃晚飯。

In fact, dozens of studies all say the same thing: Doing less, and doing it without interruptions, can be the key to being a more productive manager and entrepreneur. A 2008 study by researchers at University of California, Irvine, and Humboldt University in Berlin, for instance, found that constant interruptions cause work to suffer and 'people to change not only work rhythms but also strategies and mental states.'

事實上，幾十項研究都得出了相同的結論：少做事、做的時候全心投入不受外界干擾，是成爲更高效管理者和企業家的關鍵。比如加州大學歐文分校(University of California, Irvine)和柏林洪堡大學(Humboldt University)的研究人員在2008年開展的一項研究發現，持續的干擾會影響工作的完成，也會導致人不僅要改變工作節奏，還得調整工作計劃和精神狀態。

According to study co-author Gloria Mark, a professor at Irvine, 'Stress went up significantly when being interrupted.' The cause of the stress, she says: 'having to keep shifting your attention.'

該研究報告的共同作者之一、加州大學歐文分校教授格洛麗亞・馬克(Gloria Mark)說：“受到干擾的時候，人的壓力會顯著增加。”她說，產生壓力的根源“勢必會不斷轉移你的注意力”。

But while executives may understand intellectually that busy days at the office don't equal productivity, putting laziness into practice is more difficult than it sounds. Reorganizations that allow executives to focus less on day-to-day tasks are crucial but can take months or years, says Stephan Liozu, a corporate consultant and adjunct professor at Case Western Reserve University. Other helpful steps, he says, can be enforcing interruption-free vacations and requiring detailed job descriptions that free up senior managers from work that can be easily delegated to others.

然而，雖然管理者們心裏可能很清楚在辦公室不停的忙碌並不等同於有效率，但真要放手不幹卻是說得容易做起來難。企業顧問、凱斯西儲大學(Case Western Reserve University)兼職教授斯蒂芬・里奧祖(Stephan Liozu)說，重新進行組織規劃、以便讓管理者們少花精力在日常事務上這一步非常重要，但也許要經歷數月或數年才能完成。他說，其他有用的方法還有：強迫休假同時避免任何干擾；制定詳細的職務說明、把高管們從那些可以輕鬆交由他人代辦的工作中釋放出來。

Even when companies say they want to make a change, Mr. Liozu says, most don't act on it. 'They are stuck,' he says. He adds that he often asks executives to stop sending emails on weekends to make it clear to others that they are off the clock. But many executives don't know how to slow down and meet more reasonable deadlines.

里奧祖說，即便有的企業口口聲聲說想要改變，絕大多數也不會真正採取行動。他說：“它們無法擺脫現狀。”里奧祖又表示，他常常讓高管們不要再在週末發送電子郵件，好讓其他人清楚地知道他們在休息。但是許多高管不知道如何慢下來、按更合理的時間表安排工作。

'Being busy and acting busy can be addictive,' Mr. Liozu says.

里奧祖說：“忙碌的狀態和忙碌的工作會讓人上癮。”

Despite such general skepticism, there are executives and managers who follow the do-more-by-doing-less principle and find that it works for them. Kyle McDowell, a Tampa-based vice president at UnitedHealth Group Inc., says he keeps his morning calendar clear to assess strategic goals. And when looking at job candidates, he ranks passion for the work above having the exact skills needed. He feels confident delegating even the most challenging projects to his enthusiastic reports, he says, because they are more willing to take chances. 'A lot of folks confuse output and effort,' says Mr. McDowell.

儘管有這麼多的懷疑，但那些遵照“少做就是多做”原則的高管和管理者們發現這一招對他們很管用。聯合健康集團(UnitedHealth Group Inc.)駐坦帕市(Tampa)的副總裁凱爾・麥克道爾(Kyle McDowell)說，他會把早上的時間空出來評估戰略目標。在考量應聘者的時候，他會把工作熱情排在專業技能之上。他說，對於那些滿懷工作熱情的下屬，即便把最難的項目交給他們他也會很放心，因爲這樣的員工更願意做各種嘗試。麥克道爾說：“許多人把結果和努力混爲一談。”

Jeff Zwelling, a founder of five tech companies, recently spoke to a group of potential investors about his latest company, Convertro, a media measurement firm based in Santa Monica, Calif. Mr. Zwelling, chief executive and co-founder of the company, says he told the group that he personally follows an eight-hour workday -- a rarity in the startup world known for 90-hour weeks.

創立了五家科技公司的傑夫・韋林(Jeff Zwelling)近日向一批潛在投資者介紹他最近在加州 塔莫尼卡(Santa Monica)成立的媒體評估公司Convertro。作爲公司首席執行長、聯合創始人，韋林告訴這些投資者，他個人遵守工作日八小時的工作時間――這在以每週工作90個小時而著稱的初創企業圈中實屬罕見。

'I may go to Pilates at 3 p.m. and don't want you to think I'm a crappy CEO because of that,' Mr. Zwelling says he told the group. 'You're buying into someone who has a track record of success,' he says he assured them. Success, he adds, comes from 'not overwhelming myself with everyday tasks.'

韋林說他這樣對那羣投資者說道：“我下午三點會去上普拉提課，我不想你們因此就認爲我是一個糟糕的CEO。”他說他向那些投資者保證，“你們即將跟進的是一個有着成功經歷的人”。他補充說，成功來自於“自己不被每天的工作所淹沒”。

Mr. Zwelling says he prefers hiring employees who have serious hobbies outside of work. It makes them more effective on the job, he says, because they want to have time left over for their other interests. He also leads by example, he says, explaining to each new hire that he works hard while at the office, which means not wasting time on social media or surfing the Web.

韋林說他喜歡僱傭那些在工作之外有嚴肅愛好的人。他說，這會讓他們在工作中更有效率，因爲他們希望留出時間來做其他自己感興趣的事情。他說，他自己也以身作則，他會向每個新員工解釋他會在辦公室專心努力工作，而不是把時間浪費在社交媒體和上網上。

At office-furniture-maker Steelcase Inc., Donna Flynn, director of workspace futures, works at her own pace and lets her staff of behavioral researchers do the same. 'There are a lot of benefits to walking away from a problem you are fixated on solving and letting your subconscious do its work underneath the surface,' says Ms. Flynn, whose office is on her 20-acre ranch in Nederland, Colo., while the company's headquarters are in Grand Rapids, Mich.

辦公傢俱生產商Steelcase Inc.的研究團隊“未來辦公空間”(WorkSpace Futures)的主管唐娜・弗林(Donna Flynn)按照自己的步調工作，而且也讓她那些做行爲研究的下屬這樣做。弗林說：“暫時拋開你苦苦尋找解決辦法的那個問題、讓你的潛意識在下面工作，這樣做有很多的益處。”她的辦公室位於她在科羅拉多州尼德蘭(Nederland)佔地20英畝的農場裏，而公司總部設在密歇根州的大急流城(Grand Rapids)。

Ms. Flynn's team is based all over the world. Rather than scheduling video conferences and calls to stay in daily contact, the researchers work on long-term projects on their own time and meet in person only two weeks a year.

弗林的團隊成員遍佈世界各地，這些研究人員不是每天都通過視頻會議和電話來溝通，而是根據各自的時間一起完成長期的項目，每年只有兩週的時間會碰面開會。

Not keeping in constant contact, Ms. Flynn says, allows everyone to work more effectively. 'It's about having higher-quality work time, because you spend more time nourishing your well-being,' she says.

弗林說，沒有了頻繁的聯絡每個人就可以更高效地工作。她說：“這意味着更高質量的工作時間，因爲你可以把更多的時間花在提高生活質量上。”

To be sure, not every personality is cut out for the kinds of behavioral adjustment that doing less on a daily basis can require. According to Dr. Murnighan, many executives feel the need to keep up appearances and find it tough to fight the natural inclination to stay busy.

當然，也並非每個人都適合此類爲每日減量工作而必須進行的行爲調整。莫尼根博士說，許多高管覺得凡事一定要事必躬親，很難改變自己喜歡忙碌的天性。

'A lot of people are Type A,' he says. 'Our ancestors wouldn't have survived if they weren't proactive.'

他說：“許多人是A型行爲者，我們的祖先要不是主動行動者的話也無法生存下來。”