讲义文稿第二课secret to cess

1、Secret to Sucs - A GoodalityBy THOMAS K. GROSE / CAMBRIDGE Thursday, Nov. 15, 2007Its called, simply, The Boat Race. But the grueling, annual 178-year-old meet,which pits two eight-man rowing teams from the universities of Cambridge andOxford against each other along a four-tretch of Londons Riverme

2、s, is themost famous, most watched rowing racehe world. In April, when Cambridgestaged an amazing come-from-behind win, one of the victorious rowers was DanOShaughnessy, a brash Canadian who initially didnt make the coaches cut.OShaughnessys a strong rower, buthis sport, synchronization is key, and

3、histechnique didnt quite mesh with the Cambridge rowing style. Still, his clowning goodnature made him popular with the team, and the squads five top rowers-includingan Olympic gold medalist and two world chions-felt they rowed better withOShaughnessy aboard.Their instincts proved correct, and Mark

4、de Rond, an expert on teamwork atCambridges Judge Business School, knows why. He writes about the rowers andtheir lessons for business in a book, The Subjectivity of Performance, to be publishednext year. In building the best teams, de Rond argues, its sometimes nesary tojettison a bit of skill for

5、sobility. Talent is not just an individual trait but a solone, he says.ts true for high-performance business too: abplayersoften bring out the besthe superstars. They are lubricants; they can aabuffer betn the others.To immerse himselfhe culture of the Cambridge crew, De Rond embeddedwith them for s

6、even months last year, training full-time with the 39 hopefuls vyingfor an oarhe boat.t meant very early mornings and punishing physicalexertion, often in filthy weather. He came away with moren the usual platitudesabout teamwork and persistence. Like high-level executive teams, Oxbridge rowingcrews

7、 operate in stressful, prere-cooker environments. Bore made up of ambitious players from diverse backgrounds whose alities often have edges as sharp as their talents.His observations form the basis of an executive-education program he designedfor Judge, and they likewise infuse the consulting work D

8、e Rond does for companies,including BT and KPMG. De Ronds insights have helped KPMG, for exle, as itconstantly assembles of consultants from around the world. Theyre alltalented individuals, and getting them to pull the oarshe same direction soundssimple, but its tough to do because they have to rew

9、ire their DNA, says Steve Hollis,head of markets for KPMG Europe. De Ronds advice to factor a sol elementothe teams is absoluy spot-on, Hollis says. People want to deal with people theylike.But sobility doesnt meant tens wont exist. In fact, De Rond arguest tenis a given in any sucsful collaborative

10、 effort. In rowing, the only wayto go fast is to cooperate fully with the others, he says.ts hard when fellowrowers are also rivals for a handful of seats on the boat. The same dilemma occurs inbusiness. Co-workers have to cooperate to succeed while competing with one anotherfor promotions, resouran

11、d the attention of superiors. To ease the ten, theCambridge rowers red on humor, typically crude and black. Whent failed, DeRond acted as a mediator. Part of the trick, he relates, is simply getting people totalk.There are, of course, differenbetn rowing and business. Rowers only haveone obvious goa

12、l to focus on: the race. Business often have several, simultaneous and even ing goals. Coaches have the luxury of selecting fromthe best talent on cus, while managers in businesually have to make do wimore limited pool. In both cases, it is a combinatorial game, De Rond says, andmanagers need to rel

13、y on their instincts as well as objective assessments to find the1. grueling adj. Physically or mentally demanding to the poof exhaustion:折磨的，使精疲力尽的对生理或心理上的要求达到极限的：a gruelingn 令人精疲力尽的比赛2.mes temz n.士河(流经牛津,伦敦等)3. victorious adj.获胜的, 胜利的4. brash adj.仓促的, 无礼的,的, 傲慢的5. synchronization n.同步6. mesh vi. 网

14、住, 落网 紧密配合;【机】相啮合(with)Their characters just dont mesh. 他们的性格就是合不来。7. clown n., 粗鲁愚蠢的人8. squad n. 军班，分队小组；小队9. aboard adv.在船(飞机、车)上, 上船(飞机、车)10. subjectivity n.性,11. jettison vt. (船或飞机遇难时)向外投弃(货物等)除去, 放弃12. sobility n.好交际, 社交性,交际13. able adj.和蔼可亲的14. lubricant n. 润滑剂15. buffer n 缓冲器 缓冲者；缓冲物16. immer

15、se vt.沉浸, 使陷入17. crew n.全体, (工作)队right mix of players. Andt means every top-flight, tightly wound crew might want to save a seat foreast one OShaughnessy.Notes:18. embed vt.使, 使嵌入rson who aspires to suc19. hopefuln.s or who shows promise of succeeding,espelly as a political candidate: 有希望成功的人一个渴望成功或显示出成功的希望的人，尤指作为政治候选人20. vie v.竞争21. oar n.桨22. punishing adj.累人的23. exertion n.尽力, 努力, 发挥, 行使, 运用24. filthy adj.的, 污秽的, 丑恶的, 恶劣的（天气）25. come away v.离开, 离开时留下(印象)26. platitude n.陈词滥调27. prere cooker n.高压锅28. infuse vt.灌输, 注入, 沏或泡(茶、药等), 浸渍, 鼓舞vi.泡,注29. spot-on adj, adv 恰好的（地）；准确的（地）30. tenn.