英語長文章 - The Effective Executive

作者：Peter Drucker
出版社：Harper & Row (1967)
中譯版：杜拉克談高效能的5個習慣（遠流出版）

▎杜拉克在美國越戰時期混亂的社會氛圍下，提出進步冷靜的管理方法。
▎管理方法不僅能運用在團隊合作上，應用在獨立工作時也非常有效。

文章難度：★★★★★
預估閱讀時間：02:30

'The Effective Executive' was written by Peter Drucker, known as the founder of modern management theory. The book was first published in the U.S.A. in 1967 when Cold War tensions were running high, Lyndon B. Johnson was the U.S. president, and the Vietnam War was ongoing. In contrast to the disorder, anxiety, and dissent the era is famed for, Drucker’s book presents a highly-evolved vision of order, showing what a marvelous force humans in organization can become as well as how to accomplish calm operational excellence.

《The Effective Executive》的作者杜拉克(Peter Drucker)是現代管理理論的建立者。這本書出版在1967年，在詹森總統執政的美國，當時冷戰局勢緊繃，越戰也如火如荼的進行中。對比該時代著名的失序、焦慮、以及意見分歧，杜拉克在這本書提出了高度進步的秩序願景，描繪出組織化的驚人力量，以及如何達成冷靜卓越的經營方式。

Knowing the book's date of publication, you may be surprised at the high level of its still relevant clarity and insight. The book provides a clear order of operations for ways to improve workflow. It includes helpful practices that promote work efficiency, lists of hurdles that the executive must consider, habits to encourage, a clear order of operations that improves workflow, and a host of operative truths about the nature of organizational leadership.

當你得知這本書的出版時間可能會非常驚訝，它高水平的清晰度和洞察力在今日依舊有效。書中提供了提高工作流暢性的明確方法，包含有助提升工作效率的操演、列舉決策者必須考慮的障礙、應該培養的習慣、能夠提高工作流暢性的明確作業流程、以及關於組織領導力的一些執行上的典範。

The book makes suggestions that are easy to understand and apply – there is detailed information on how to manage one’s time, for example, as well as how to organize one’s system of task priority. Its guidance covers many common pitfalls for management, including task delegation, ownership structure, and time control. He lays out powerful strategies crafted out of simple actions.

本書同時提出許多容易了解與應用的建議，例如如何管理時間、如何建立工作優先順序的詳細資訊。書中的指引涵蓋了許多管理上常見的陷阱，包含任務授權、所有權結構、與時間控制。杜拉克透過簡單的行動制定出強而有力的策略。

Practical organizational theory makes up the core of this book. Much of the book’s appeal comes from the way it’s written and the phrases it uses, which lend power and practicality to its ideas. Somehow, it's much easier to accomplish a task, or more importantly, get someone onboard with your plan and follow directives when guided by a better, more precise vocabulary.

本書的核心在於實用的組織管理方法。杜拉克的敘事方式，以及使用的片語，使書中的理念更有力量與可行性，是本書特別吸引人的部分。當你能被更好、更精確的字句引導時，讓你帶領的人進入你的計畫並跟隨你的指令、完成一項任務，就變得容易許多了。

被譽為現代管理學建立者的杜拉克(Peter Drucker)
photo credit: IsaacMao

'The Effective Executive' is well worth the read, providing a clear picture of an ideal, Western-style operating system in business. This book makes itself incredibly useful as both a model and toolbox that can be adapted to suit the needs of any enterprise or focused labor – personally, I found its guidance to be as useful during the solo, self-directed work of the painter's easel or writer's desk as it is in management situations.

《The Effective Executive》是一本非常值得閱讀的書，它為企業建立了一個清晰的願景，一個理想的、有西式風格的企業管理方法。這本書也神奇地好用，無論作為範本或是工具書，都適用於任何有需求的企業或人力組織。筆者認為，除了組織管理，書中的準則在獨立工作室一樣有效，無論是在畫家的畫架上、作家的書桌上。

Peter Drucker's 8 Principles for Effective Managers
彼得杜拉克：有效管理者的八個原則

⃞ 1. Continually ask "what needs to be done?" 不斷地問「需要完成什麼？」
⃞ 2. Always ask "what is right for the enterprise?" 總是問「怎麼樣對公司來說才是對的？」
⃞ 3. Develop action plans 發展行動計畫
⃞ 4. Take responsibility for decisions 為決策負責
⃞ 5. Take responsibility for communicating 為溝通負責
⃞ 6. Focus on opportunities rather than problems 專注在機會而非問題上
⃞ 7. Run productive meetings  舉行有效率的會議
⃞ 8. ink and say "we" rather than "I"  用「我們」而非「我」來思考與說話

文/Max Power

本文收錄於英語島English Island 2018年4月號
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