怎麼培養寶寶 好父母的管理之道大綱

No textbook can prepare you for being in charge of people for the first time. All the plans you made in the glow of promotion to manager collapse in those early days with the realisation that people do not always do what you tell them to do.

沒有哪本教科書能讓初爲管理者的你做好準備。你在升任經理的欣喜中制定的所有計劃都會在最初的幾天轟然倒塌，因爲你意識到，人們不會總是照辦你的指令。

There are two accepted ways to deal with this. You can try to enforce your will or you can accept that your team know their jobs and allow them to get on with it.

處理這種情況有兩種公認的方法。你可以嘗試強制執行你的意志，或者你可以接受這一點：團隊成員懂自己的工作，不如讓他們放手去做。

Douglas McGregor called these approaches Theory X and Theory Y. You may not have heard of McGregor or his book The Human Side of Enterprise. But whether you have heard of him or not, you probably manage, or are managed, according to one of his two theories.

道格拉斯•麥格雷戈(Douglas McGregor)把這兩種方法稱爲X理論和Y理論。你可能沒有聽說過麥格雷戈或者他的著作《企業的人性面》(The Human Side of Enterprise)。但不管你聽過還是沒聽過，你管理他人或者被管理的方式，很可能正是基於他的兩種理論的其中之一。

What are Theory X and Theory Y? Theory X assumes people do not particularly want to work and need to be “coerced, controlled, directed, and threatened with punishment”.

什麼是X理論和Y理論？X理論假設人們不特別想工作，所以需要對他們進行“強迫、控制、指示，並用懲罰措施威脅。”

Theory Y assumes people want to do a good job. There is no need to order them about. They are naturally inventive and look for the best ways to get work done.

Y理論假設人們想要做好工作。沒有必要對他們發號施令。人們自然而然地富於創造性，會尋找完成工作的最佳方法。

McGregor favoured Theory Y. His book appeared in 1960, at the beginning of a period of western belief in greater freedom and equality, and it found an eager audience.

麥格雷戈更青睞Y理論。他的著作出版於20世紀60年代，正是西方對更大的自由和平等抱有信心的一段時期的開端，因此招來了一批熱忱的受衆。

“Our biggest asset is our people” was a Theory Y-influenced slogan. But many employees saw through it. While many managers talked Theory Y, they practised Theory X.

“我們最大的資產是我們的員工”就是受到Y理論影響而提出的口號。但許多僱員看透了這樣的口號。儘管許多經理嘴上說着Y理論，他們實際做的卻是X理論。

There have always been exceptional workplaces – some, but not all, in the professional services or technology sectors – where managers gave their staff the freedom to set their own hours, work from home or find the best ways of serving customers.

始終有一些例外的優秀工作場所（有一些，但不是全部，在專業服務業或者科技業），經理允許員工自由設定工作時間、在家工作或者找到服務客戶的最佳方法。

But there are many more companies where managers claim to believe in their people but micromanage, noting who leaves when, and insisting things be done their way.

但是，另一類企業要多得多，這些企業的經理聲稱相信員工，但在實踐中事無鉅細，什麼都要管，留意誰在什麼時候離開崗位，並且堅持要按他們的方式完成工作。

Why has it happened? McGregor did his research in the US from the mid-1930s to the mid-1950s, a period that culminated in a great rise in prosperity and work opportunities. People expected to have long careers with just one or two companies, as a 2003 paper entitled “A Kind Word for Theory X” pointed out.

爲什麼情況會是這樣？麥格雷戈的研究是在20世紀30年代中期到50年代中期的美國完成的。在這個時期，美國的繁榮程度和工作機會都大幅增長。一篇發表於2003年、標題爲“爲X理論說句好話”的論文指出，當時的人們期望在一家或者兩家公司裏度過漫長的職業生涯。

Michael Bobic and William Eric Davis, the writers, accept that McGregor’s writings “revolutionised the field of management theory”, but argue that benign Theory Y management fell victim to today’s insecure working world, where companies offer their staff no loyalty and receive little in return.

這篇論文的作者邁克爾•博比克(Michael Bobic)和威廉•埃裏克•戴維斯(William Eric Davis)承認，麥格雷戈的著作“徹底改變了管理學理論領域”，但他們認爲，在當今這種缺乏安全感的工作環境下，企業和員工彼此都談不上忠誠，良性的Y理論管理模式缺乏合適的舞臺。

But there are other reasons things have not gone McGregor’s way. Many easy-going, creative workplaces rely on outsourced data processing and call centres. Like clothing sweatshops, these are not full of managers eager to let their employees decide their own working practices.

事情沒有按照麥格雷戈期盼的方式發展，還有其他原因。許多寬鬆和富有創意的工作環境依賴外包的數據處理和電話服務中心。就像製衣業的血汗工廠那樣，這兩類工作場所沒有多少熱切希望員工自己決定工作方式的經理。

Even in the most go-ahead offices, the human resources and legal departments increasingly insist on the dismal completion of online forms for the most routine activities. Managers who want to run grown-up departments are ground down. We need a different type of thinking about management. If we want to find an effective way of treating our staff like adults, perhaps we should turn to an expert in dealing with children.

即使在最自由的企業裏，人力資源和法務部門也越來越堅持員工對大多數日常任務填寫令人厭煩的在線表格。想要以成年人的方式經營所在部門的經理受到壓制。我們需要採取不同的管理思路。如果我們想找到一個把員工當做成年人看待的有效方法，或許我們應該向兒童專家求助。

Diana Baumrind is a US psychologist known for her research on good parenting. Unlike McGregor’s two management styles, Ms Baumrind came up with three ways of dealing with children: permissive, authoritarian and authoritative.

美國心理學家戴安娜•鮑姆林德(Diana Baumrind)因其對好的育兒方式的研究而聞名。不像麥格雷戈的兩種管理風格，她提出了3種對待兒童的方式：寬容型、專制型和權威型。

“The permissive parent attempts to behave in a non-punitive, acceptant, and affirmative manner,” she wrote. This is like McGregor’s Theory Y.

“寬容型父母試圖表現出不懲罰、接納和肯定的樣子，”她寫道。這與麥格雷戈的Y理論類似。

The authoritarian parent tries “to shape, control, and evaluate . . . She values obedience as a virtue.” This is the parenting version of Theory X.

專制型父母試圖“塑造、控制和評估……她認爲服從是一種美德。”這是X理論的育兒版。

Then there is the authoritative parent, who “attempts to direct the child’s activities in a rational, issue-oriented manner”. This is the parent who “encourages verbal give and take”. She exerts control only at points of real divergence “but does not hem the child in with restrictions”.

還有權威型的父母，他們“試圖以一種理性、問題導向型的方式引導孩子的行爲。”這種父母“鼓勵言語上的公平交換。”她只在真正的分歧點施加控制，“但不會用各種限制來束縛孩子”。

There are differences between parenting and management. Children cannot resign. But the authoritative parent, who sets clear parameters yet allows freedom within them, who reasons rather than rules (and makes the numbers), strikes me both as an excellent model for managers and a realistic middle route between Theories X and Y.

育兒和管理存在差異。孩子可沒法辭職。但權威型的父母設定了清晰的界限，在界限之內允許自由，他們講道理，而不是發號施令（以達到預期數字）；對我來說，這既是經理們的好榜樣，也是X理論和Y理論之間一條切合實際的中間路線。