上星期二的《金融時報》主頁上登出了三個60多歲的白人男性在一起握手的照片。

On the front page of the FT last Tuesday was a photo of three white men in their 60s all shaking hands together.

    這本來沒有什么出奇之處，《金融時報》上到處都可以找到將要退休的白人男性圖片。但我說的這張三人照卻又有些不尋常的地方：這三個人看上去非常類似。左邊是波音公司即將卸任的首席執(zhí)行官菲爾•康迪特(Phil Condit), 右邊是他的接任者。

This was not terribly remarkable: every day the FT is full of pictures of white men approaching retirement age. What was odd about this trio was their extraordinary uniformity. On the left was Phil Condit, departing chief executive of Boeing, and on the right the man who is to take his place.

    這兩個人戴的眼鏡一模一樣；兩人都留著短短的褐色頭發(fā)，太陽穴處的發(fā)際都明顯后退；兩人都穿著海軍藍的運動夾克，夾克上面都是銅紐扣；兩人里面都穿著同樣的襯衫，襯衫最上面一顆紐扣都沒扣上，所以都不雅地露出脖子的同樣部位，而且兩人的脖子都顯得松弛。唯一的不同是離職的那位似乎吃過更多商務(wù)餐，看上去更強悍一些。

Both men had the same glasses, the same short brown hair receding sharply at the temples. They were in the same navy blazers with brass buttons and the same button-down shirts with the same top button ill-advisedly undone to reveal the same section of loose neck. The only difference was that the outgoing guy seemed to have eaten more business lunches and looked tougher.

    坐在二者中間的是劉易斯•普拉特(Lew Platt)，波音公司的新任董事長，他衣服顏色竟然和上述兩位不同，穿的是灰色而不是海軍藍。但是其它方面，如頭發(fā)、眼鏡、襯衫和脖子都和另外兩位一樣。

Between them sat Lew Platt, the new chairman, who had dared to be different by wearing grey instead of navy, but otherwise it was the same story with the hair, specs, shirt and neck.

    在我大約14歲的時候，我有一種強烈的趨同欲望。在那個年齡，我若是出門，就必定要和周圍人一樣穿上Biba體恤衫和懶漢褲。但是美國頂尖企業(yè)的求同特征卻遠超過了我30年前的經(jīng)歷。他們的服裝和發(fā)型都說明他們在內(nèi)心強烈求同。

I used to feel a similar urge to conform when I was about 14. At that age, if I did not have the identical Biba T-shirt and loon trousers everyone else had I was not prepared to leave the house. Yet this conformity thing at the top of US corporations goes well beyond what I went through 30 years ago. The clothes and the hairdo are a superficial sign of a deeper urge to be identical.

    上述觀點的證據(jù)，是我上周研究首席執(zhí)行官個人小傳時發(fā)現(xiàn)的。個人小傳是一種有趣的文件。它不完全是簡歷，而是五六段標準化文字，記錄某人到目前為止最得意的成就。個人小傳登在公司網(wǎng)站上，而且動不動就被發(fā)送出去。

My evidence for this comes from a study of CEO biographies, which I carried out last week. The biog is a curious document. Not quite a CV, it is a standard five to six paragraphs documenting the subject's proudest achievements to date. It is posted on the company's website and handed out at the slightest excuse.

    個人小傳的目的照說是將一個首席執(zhí)行官和其他首席執(zhí)行官區(qū)分開來。但是，看過24個美國商業(yè)領(lǐng)袖的個人小傳后，我斷定這些小傳的寫作風(fēng)格和形式都非常雷同。到最后，我根本記不得惠普的卡莉•菲奧莉娜（Carly Fiorina）和通用汽車的理查德•瓦格納（Richard Wagoner）以及IBM的塞繆爾•帕爾米薩諾（Samuel Palmisano）有哪些不同。

The purpose of the biography is presumably to distinguish one chief executive from another. Yet,shavingspored over the biogs of 24 US business leaders, I can confirm that they are identical in both style and form. The result is that I cannot recall a single fact that distinguishes Carly Fiorina of Hewlett-Packard from Richard Wagoner of General Motors or him from Samuel Palmisano of International Business Machines.

    首席執(zhí)行官個人小傳的典型寫法如下：開始，你要給出你上任所在公司首席執(zhí)行官的日期，你要把你所在公司說成是某某某領(lǐng)域的世界領(lǐng)頭羊。如果你擔(dān)任首席執(zhí)行官之后公司的利潤或收益上升，你要把這成績寫下來，歸功于自己。如果沒有上升（如今大多數(shù)公司的業(yè)績都沒有上升），那就閉嘴不談。

This is how to write the classic CEO biog. You start off by giving the date you became CEO of your company, which you must describe as world leader in something or other. If profits or revenues have risen since you became CEO, you should quote the results and attribute them to yourself. If they have not (as is mostly the case now), you keep quiet about them.

    我看到了摩托羅拉公司克里斯托弗•高爾文（Christopher Galvin）的個人小傳，刊登時間是1998年，當(dāng)時他擔(dān)任首席執(zhí)行官才一年時間。該個人小傳的一開始是說在他的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)下，公司收益如何上升。公司命運逆轉(zhuǎn)之后，這些小傳上就再也不提財務(wù)方面的問題了。

I have a biog from Christopher Galvin at Motorola dating from 1998, when he had been CEO for only a year. It starts by saying how, under his leadership, revenues have risen. This section was dropped from the biog once the company's fortunes dived and now no mention at all is made of financial results.

    典型的個人小傳會接下來列出某人攀上頭把交椅之前所擔(dān)任的其它職位。連接詞一般是“以前……”、“在……之前”等等。這中間的規(guī)則是不要提出太乏味的職位。我們以莎拉李（Sara Lee）公司首席執(zhí)行官的個人小傳為反例。“1990年他開始負責(zé)莎拉李公司的包裝肉制品、烘品和飲食服務(wù)。1993年，他又開始在荷蘭的烏特列支任職，除上述業(yè)務(wù)外，又接管了咖啡、食品、家用品和身體護理產(chǎn)品……”等等等等。我就不贅述了。

The classic biog proceeds with a list of all the other positions held on the climb up the ladder to the top. These are linked with "previously" and "prior to". The rule here is that no postings are too dull to mention. Take this from the CEO of Sara Lee. "In 1990 he assumed responsibility for Sara Lee's Packaged Meats, Bakery and Foodservice businesses. In 1993 he added Coffee & Grocery and Household and & Body Care businesses, based in Utrecht, the Netherlands . . ." and on it goes. I shall spare you the rest.

    接下來是獲獎的部分。這些獎無論是大獎還是小獎，是最近獲得的，還是陳年往事，這都不重要，務(wù)必要很自負地去寫。

Then there is an awards section. The tone here should be uniformly vainglorious so that it is impossible to tell whether the award is prestigious or not. It does not matter if the award was received a while back.

    最重要的，是慈善部分。此處的用語應(yīng)該像這樣：“塞穆爾•迪佩薩（Samuel Dipiazza）在他的職業(yè)生涯中，一直積極參與社會事務(wù)”，然后列出他過去現(xiàn)在所擔(dān)任過的所有慈善公益性職務(wù)。此時數(shù)量很重要，越多越好。少于三個慈善性職位那可就不妙了。

More important still is the charitable stuff. The wording should be like this: "Samuel DiPiazza has always been very active in civic affairs throughout his career", followed by a list of all charitable positions past and present. Quantity is what counts here. Fewer than three charities does not cut it.

    最后，你要列出你的學(xué)位和教育成就。薩默納•雷斯通(Sumner Redstone)告訴我們說他60年前從高中畢業(yè)的時候，成績是全班第一，當(dāng)時這可能是件得意的事，但是六十年后，這一成就和維亞康姆公司的股東們有什么關(guān)系就很可疑了。

Finally you list your degrees and educational achievements. Sumner Redstone tells us that he graduated first in his class at high school some 60 years ago - which was probably gratifying for him at the time but, 60 years on, is of dubious relevance to Viacom's shareholders.

    有些個人小傳是這樣結(jié)尾的：“某某某和妻子謝拉（Sheila）現(xiàn)住在肯塔基州亞什蘭市。”但大多數(shù)個人小傳都把這部分省掉了，這很可惜。他們不厭其煩，把以前的職位都一一列舉出來，唯獨把他們一任任的前妻給漏掉了，這太可惜了。

A few end with something like "X resides with his wife Sheila near Ashland, Kentucky" but most of them skip this section, which is a shame. None takes the trouble to document previous wives in the same way they do previous jobs, which is even more of a shame.

    有兩家公司首席執(zhí)行官的個人小傳卓爾不群。第一個是微軟公司的斯蒂夫•鮑爾默。他用個人小傳展示他的激情，根本不去管小傳的目的。小傳中寫道：“多年來，鮑爾默用他特有的活力、紀律和精神澆灌著微軟公司，他的個人風(fēng)格可以用熱情、專注、有趣、熱情、執(zhí)著、活躍等不同方式來形容。”

Two CEO biogs stand out from the crowd. The first is Steve Ballmer's of Microsoft. He uses his biog as shop window for his passion and makes no attempt to stick to the objective. "Described variously as ebullient, focused, funny, passionate, sincere, hard charging and dynamic, Ballmer has infused Microsoft with his own brand of energetic discipline and spirit over the years," it says.

    這種寫法不合我的口味，但我還是寧愿讀這樣的個人小傳，至少它讓我們看到鮑爾默是怎樣看待自己的，這本身就很有趣。畢竟，傳記的目的是讓我們了解一個人。列出一長串標準化的事實，結(jié)果只是讓人一無所知。

This is not to my taste at all but I still prefer it to the rest as it gives us some idea about how he sees himself, which is interesting. After all, the point of a biography is that it tells us something about the person. A long list of standard facts tells us nothing.

    另一個極端是鮑爾默的對手、甲骨文公司首席執(zhí)行官的個人小傳。這小傳只有區(qū)區(qū)一段話。盡管這種簡略反映了拉瑞•埃里森（Larry Ellison）的自負，這自負卻正是他的真實風(fēng)格，而且看這么短的小傳不浪費時間。它是我最喜歡的個人小傳。他的個人小傳潛臺詞是：“我是拉瑞?#22467;里森。我是甲骨文公司的創(chuàng)辦人和管理者。這你應(yīng)該知道了。好了，滾吧。”

At the other end of the emotional register is Mr Ballmer's rival at Oracle, whose biog is one mean little paragraph. Although Larry Ellison's brevity is arrogant, it is true to the man and does not waste your time. This makes it my favourite biog. The clear subtext is: "I'm Larry Ellison. I founded and run Oracle. You should know that already. Now get lost."

    譯者/柏林