喬布斯不是輕易煉成的

Steve Jobs’ acolytes say Becoming Steve Jobs paints a more fitting picture of the Apple founder than Walter Isaacson’s “authorised” 2011 life. Most neutral readers who plough through another 435 pages of Jobsiana, will neither know nor care. But the battle of the bios will have been worth it if it sounds the death-knell for the worst of all management memes: the leadership lesson listicle.

史蒂夫•喬布斯(Steve Jobs)的擁躉稱，《成為史蒂夫•喬布斯》(Becoming Steve Jobs)塑造的這位蘋果(Apple)創始人的形象，比2011年沃爾特•艾薩克森(Walter Isaacson)的那本“授權版”喬布斯傳記要貼切得多。而絕大多數埋頭苦讀又一本關於喬布斯軼事長達435頁書籍的中立讀者，可能既也不會知道也不會在乎這一點。不過，如果能夠為一種最糟糕的管理學謎米(meme)——領導力經驗清單體(Listicle)——敲響喪鐘的話，這場喬布斯傳記之爭也就值得了。

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In the short term, the new book, by Brent Schlender and Rick Tetzeli, has reinvigorated the habit. You do not have to look far to find Five Surprising Insights About Steve Jobs’ Management Style (Fast Company), Six Leadership Lessons (Mashable), and Eight Lessons You Can Learn From Watching Young Steve Jobs Run a Meeting (Time), all culled from the new book.

短期來看，這本由布倫特•施倫德(Brent Schlender)和裏克•特策利(Rick Tetzeli)合著的新書讓這種體例重新煥發了生機。你無需費力就能在《快公司》雜誌(Fast Company)上發現《關於史蒂夫•喬布斯管理風格的5條驚人見解》(Five Surprising Insights About Steve Jobs’ Management Style)，在Mashable上看到《6條領導力經驗》(Six Leadership Lessons)，在《時代》週刊(Time)上瀏覽到《看年輕喬布斯開會能教給你的8條經驗》(Eight Lessons You Can Learn From Watching Young Steve Jobs Run a Meeting)。這些文章均摘自這本新書。

Isaacson’s biography itself spawned Ten Leadership Tips from Steve Jobs (Forbes), Six Management Lessons (Globe and Mail) and 14 Real Leadership Lessons, drawn up by the biographer, who tried to reclaim the genre with a 2012 piece for Harvard Business Review.

而艾薩克森所著的喬布斯傳記本身就已催生了《從史蒂夫•喬布斯身上學到的10個領導訣竅》（Ten Leadership Tips from Steve Jobs，刊登在《福布斯》雜誌(Forbes)上）、《6條管理學經驗》（Six Management Lessons，刊登在《環球郵報》(Globe and Mail)上）以及由艾薩克森本人撰寫的《14條實實在在的領導經驗》（這位傳記作者試圖以這篇2012年刊登於《哈佛商業評論》(Harvard Business Review)上的文章奪回該體例的陣地）。

I occasionally succumb to the same temptation. I have listed the leadership lessons taught by ageing popes and capricious football managers. One of my best-read blogposts of 2012 was actually a derivative of the Isaacson HBR piece. I also understand the appetite of muddled managers for something short, simple and usable. Numbered lists are often the easiest way to sell a concept, which is why so many strategy gurus use them.

我偶爾也會屈服於同樣的誘惑。我也羅列過年事漸高的教皇和隨心所欲的足球經理交給我們哪些領導力經驗。我2012年所寫的其中一篇閲讀量最高的博客文章，實際上與艾薩克森發在《哈佛商業評論》上的那篇文章半斤八兩。我也知道，腦子裏一團亂麻的經理人喜歡讀的是短小、簡單又實用的文章。要推銷一個概念，最容易的方法往往就是列清單、標出一二三四五，這也是如此多策略大師都使用清單體的原因。

But the Jobs biographies highlight the dangers of list dependency. Here is how — in list form, naturally.

但是，兩本喬布斯傳記突顯了依賴清單體的危害。以下列舉了原因——自然，也是用清單的形式列出來的。

1. Leadership listicles can be absurd to the point of inanity. Biographies give their authors space to deal with every quirk and wrinkle of their subjects and readers the option to draw the conclusions that best suit their situation. Listicles do the opposite. A recent collection of lessons from the new series of House of Cards was vacuous enough. But its insights have the weight of peer-reviewed academic papers compared with the leadership lessons of Fifty Shades of Grey, King Saul or James Bond (all real examples). It would be fine if this were just a bit of fun, which it often is, but at the same time . . .

1.關於領導力題材的清單體文章可以荒唐到極點。傳記這種體裁，給了作者足夠的篇幅來描寫傳主的每一個怪癖和缺點，讓讀者能夠從中提煉出最適合自身情況的結論。而清單體正好相反。近期從最新美劇《紙牌屋》(House of Cards)中總結的經驗清單已經夠空洞的了。但是與《五十度灰》(Fifty Shades of Grey)、掃羅王(King Saul)或者詹姆斯•邦德(James Bond)帶給我們的領導力經驗（都是真實存在的文章）相比，從《紙牌屋》中總結的經驗清單簡直就像經過同行評審的學術論文一樣權威了。如果這類文章只是搞笑的話還好，事實上它們通常很好笑，但同時……

2. . . Listicles package leadership into a misleadingly neat parcel. The Apple founder’s death brought a remarkable life to a premature end. As Jim Collins, the management writer, tells the authors of Becoming Steve Jobs, his third phase — from age 55 to 75 — “would have been fascinating . . . But we don’t get to see that”.

2.……這種清單體文章又把關於領導力的複雜學問誤導性地包裝成了簡單利落的樣子。這位蘋果創始人的逝世使他的傳奇人生提前終結。正如管理學圖書作家吉姆•柯林斯(Jim Collins)向《成為史蒂夫•喬布斯》一書的作者所説的那樣，喬布斯的第三階段——從55歲到75歲——“本來會極其精彩……但是我們沒機會看到了”。

In fact, leaders’ legacies, good or bad, outlive their departures. As Mr Collins adds, the things that make a truly great company are superior financial results, distinctive impact and lasting endurance. “Whether [Apple] has lasting endurance is the final check, something we won’t know for some time,” he says.

事實上，無論是好是壞，領袖人物的遺產會比他們本人更長壽。柯林斯補充稱，成就一家真正偉大的公司的是出眾的財務業績、特殊的影響力以及持久的生命力。“（蘋果）能夠長久存在才是最終的檢驗標準，這是我們短時間內無法判斷的，”他稱。

3. The lessons learnt from leaders often depend on the student. One of the most obvious differences between Isaacson’s life of Jobs and the new biography is that the authors emphasise the man’s evolution from the young Jobs 1.0, who craved recognition for his management skills but was “confounded by the ins and outs of running a company”, to Jobs 2.0.

3.你能從領袖身上學到什麼，往往取決於你自己。艾薩克森所著喬布斯傳記和新傳記之間最明顯的區別之一在於，新傳記的作者強調了喬布斯本人從年輕的喬布斯1代(Jobs 1.0)到喬布斯2代(Jobs 2.0)的進化。喬布斯1代渴望得到人們對他管理才能的認可，但卻“被具體的企業管理事務搞得不知所措”。

By his second attempt at leading Apple, they suggest, Jobs had become an “effective visionary” and a genuine “business genius” (their emphasis). His colleagues appreciated his more mature, softer side. Isaacson, while granting Jobs the same status as Henry Ford or Thomas Edison, found as many people prepared to testify that he was, to the end, “charismatic and inspiring, yet also . . . an asshole”.

他們認為，在第二次嘗試領導蘋果時，喬布斯已經成為“能實現自己想法的夢想家”和真正的“商業奇才”（他們寫作的側重點）。他的同事們意識到了他有更成熟、更温和的一面。把喬布斯與亨利•福特(Henry Ford)和托馬斯•愛迪生(Thomas Edison)相提並論的艾薩克森卻認為，喬布斯如許多人願意證明的那樣，歸根到底，“儘管富有魅力和感召力，但同時……也是混蛋一個”。

4. Form often dictates listicle substance. In the quest for concision, more nuanced lessons may be omitted, or alternatively . . .

4.清單體的形式往往大於內容。為了追求簡明，較為複雜的經驗可能被忽略，或者……

5. . . the last item in any listicle may be stretched to conform to the unwritten rule that any such list must have at least five components.

5.……任何一篇清單體文章的最後一條可能都是強加進去的，這是為了遵從一條不成文的規定，即所有這類清單必須列出至少5條。

I have met more than one executive who claims to read the lives of great men and women rather than list-prone business books. It is a wise choice, but still needs care. The final reason it can be perilous to study tidily presented insights is that some lessons are unrepeatable sparks of genius, struck by one-off leaders. Instead of trying to mimic Jobs, listen to Bill Gates. He tells Mr Schlender and Mr Tetzeli that Jobs was a unique case. “Maybe you should call your book Don’t Try This at Home,” he quips. It is the best leadership lesson in either biography.

我遇到過不止一位高管自稱會閲讀偉人（男人或女人）的生平而不是看清單體商業書籍。這是一個明智之選，但是也需要留心。學習這種排列整齊的觀點之所以危險的最後一個原因是，某些經驗是不可複製的靈光乍現，創造這些經驗的那些領袖也都是獨一無二的。與其嘗試去模仿喬布斯，還不如聽聽比爾•蓋茨(Bill Gates)的話。他告訴施倫德和特策利，喬布斯是個特例。“或許你們應該把這本書命名為《請勿在家模仿本書內容》(Don’t Try This at Home)，”他打趣道。這就是兩本傳記中都包含的最佳領導力經驗。