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LeticiaGasca_2018S-_别急着失败——要谨慎地失败_
[This talk contains mature language Viewer discretion is advised] 【本演讲含有成人词汇, 请观众酌情观看】
mature:v.成熟; adj.明白事理的; discretion:n.自由裁量权;谨慎;判断力;判定;考虑周到;
If we traveled back to the year 800 BC, in Greece, we would see that merchants whose businesses failed were forced to sit in the marketplace with a basket over their heads. 如果我们穿越到公元前800年的希腊, 我们会看到经营生意失败的商人 被迫坐在市场上,用篮子扣住头。
merchants:n.[贸易]商人(merchant的复数); marketplace:n.市场;集市;
In premodern Italy, failed business owners, who had outstanding debts , were taken totally naked to the public square where they had to bang their butts against a special stone while a crowd jeered at them. 在前现代意大利, 破产企业主,若有未偿还的债务, 会被赤条条地带到公共广场, 用一块特殊的石头打自己的屁股, 同时还有一群嘲笑他们的围观群众。
outstanding:adj.优秀的;杰出的;出色的;v.突出;离港;向海上;停留(outstand的现在分词) debts:n.负债类,债务(debt的复数形式); naked:adj.裸体的;无装饰的;无证据的;直率的; bang:n.猛敲; v.猛敲; v.正好; butts:n.短硬黄麻根纤维; v.踩熄或捻熄香烟等; jeered:n.嘲笑;戏弄;揶揄的言语;vi.嘲笑;戏弄;vt.嘲笑;戏弄;
In the 17th century in France, failed business owners were taken to the center of the market, where the beginning of their bankruptcy was publicly announced. 在17世纪的法国, 失败的企业主被带到市场的中央, 在那里,他们破产的消息被公之于众。
bankruptcy:n.破产;
And in order to avoid immediate imprisonment , they had to wear a green bonnet so that everyone knew they were a failure. 为了避免立即入狱, 他们必须带一顶绿色的帽子, 这样每个人就会知道他们是失败者。
imprisonment:n.监禁,关押;坐牢;下狱; bonnet:n.[机]阀盖;软帽;v.给…装上罩;给…戴上帽子;
Of course, these are extreme examples. 当然,这些都是极端的例子。
extreme:adj.极端的;极度的;偏激的;尽头的;n.极端;末端;最大程度;极端的事物;
But it is important to remember that when we excessively punish those who fail, we stifle innovation and business creation , the engines of economic growth in any country. 但请记住, 当我们过度惩罚那些失败的人时, 我们是在扼杀创新和商业创造的能力, 而这些能力是每个国家经济成长的引擎。
excessively:adv.过分地;极度; stifle:vt.扼杀; vi.窒息; n.(马等的)后膝关节; (马等的)[动]后膝关节病; innovation:n.创新,革新;新方法; creation:n.创造,创作;创作物,产物; economic:adj.经济的,经济上的;经济学的;
Time has passed, and today we don't publicly humiliate failed entrepreneurs . 时间飞逝,今天我们已经不会 公开羞辱失败的企业家了。
humiliate:v.羞辱;使丧失尊严; entrepreneurs:n.企业家;(entrepreneur的复数)
And they don't broadcast their failures on social media . 他们也不会在社交媒体上 宣扬他们的失败。
broadcast:v.广播; n.广播节目; adj.[无线]播音的; media:n.媒体;媒质(medium的复数);血管中层;浊塞音;中脉;
In fact, I think that all of us can relate with the pain of failure. 事实上,我认为我们所有人 都体会过失败的痛苦。
But we don't share the details of those experiences. 但我们并不分享那些体验的细节。
And I totally get it, my friends, I have also been there. 我完全明白,朋友们, 我也陷入过那样的境地。
I had a business that failed and sharing that story was incredibly hard. 我有过生意失败的经验, 而且分享这个失败真的很难。
incredibly:adv.难以置信地;非常地;
In fact, it required seven years, a good dose of vulnerability and the company of my friends. 事实上,它花费了我长达 7年的时间,适度的脆弱感, 还有我朋友们的陪伴。
dose:n.剂量;一剂,一服;v.服药;给药;给…服药; vulnerability:n.易损性;弱点;
This is my failure story. 我的失败故事是这样的。
When I was in college, studying business, I met a group of indigenous women. 当我还在大学的商学院学习时, 我遇到一群原住民妇女。
indigenous:adj.本土的;土著的;国产的;固有的;
They lived in a poor rural community in the state of Puebla, in central Mexico. 她们住在墨西哥中部普埃布拉州 一个贫穷的农村社区。
rural:adj.农村的,乡下的;田园的,有乡村风味的; community:n.社区;[生态]群落;共同体;团体;
They made beautiful handmade products. 她们会制作漂亮的手工产品。
handmade:adj.手工的;手制的;
And when I met them and I saw their work, 当我遇到她们,看到她们的作品时,
I decided I wanted to help. 我决定要帮助她们。
With some friends, I cofounded a social enterprise with the mission to help the women create an income stream and improve their quality of life. 怀揣着帮助这些女性获取稳定的收入, 以及提升她们生活质量的使命, 我与几位朋友共同创立了一个社会企业。
mission:n.使命,任务;代表团;布道;v.派遣;向…传教; improve:v.改进;改善;
We did everything by the book , as we had learned in business school . 我们一直在照本宣科, 正如我们在商学院学到的那样。
by the book:adv.按常规;依照惯例; business school:n.(大学里针对毕业生的)工商学院;
We got investors, we spent a lot of time building the business and training the women. 我们有了投资者, 我们花了很多时间建立企业 和培训这些女性。
But soon we realized we were novices . 但很快我们意识到,我们只是菜鸟。
novices:n.新手,初学者(novice的复数形式);
The handmade products were not selling, and the financial plan we had made was totally unrealistic . 手工艺品根本卖不动, 我们做的财务计划也完全不现实。
financial:adj.金融的;财政的,财务的; unrealistic:adj.不切实际的;不实在的;
In fact, we worked for years without a salary, hoping that a miracle would happen, that magically a great buyer would arrive and she would make the business profitable . 事实上,我们赔本赚吆喝地经营了几年, 希望奇迹会发生, 有个大买家会奇迹般地出现, 让整个生意变得有利可图。
miracle:n.奇迹,奇迹般的人或物;惊人的事例; magically:adv.用魔法地;如魔法般地; profitable:adj.有利可图的;赚钱的;有益的;
But that miracle never happened. 但那个奇迹从未发生。
In the end, we had to close the business, and that broke my heart. 最终,我们不得不关闭公司, 这让我十分痛心。
I started everything to create a positive impact on the life of the artisans . 我开始这一切是为了给艺术家的生活 创造积极的影响。
positive:adj.积极的;[数]正的,[医][化学]阳性的;确定的;n.正数;[摄]正片; impact:n.影响;效果;碰撞;冲击力;v.挤入,压紧;撞击;对…产生影响; artisans:n.[劳经]工匠;技工(artisan的复数形式);
And I felt that I have done the opposite. 但我感到,整个事情的发展却事与愿违。
I felt so guilty that I decided to hide this failure from my conversations and my resume for years. 我感到内疚, 于是决定在接下来几年的 交谈和简历中隐藏这个失败。
guilty:adj.有罪的;内疚的; resume:n.简历;v.继续;重返;
I didn't know other failed entrepreneurs, and I thought I was the only loser in the world. 我不认识其他失败的企业家, 当时只觉得我是世界上唯一的失败者。
One night, seven years later, I was out with some friends and we were talking about the life of the entrepreneur. 7年之后的一个晚上, 我跟朋友一起出去, 我们谈到了企业家的生活。
And of course, the issue of failure came out. 自然而然地,我们聊到了失败的话题。
issue:n.重要议题;争论的问题;v.宣布;公布;发出;发行;
I decided to confess to my friends the story of my failed business. 我决定向朋友坦白 曾经创业失败的经历。
confess:v.承认;坦白;忏悔;供认;
And they shared similar stories. 而她们则分享了类似的故事。
In that moment, a thought became really clear in my mind: all of my friends were failures. 在那一刻,我的脑海中清晰地 出现了这样一个念头: 我所有的朋友都是失败者。
(Laughter) （笑声）
Being more serious, that night I realized that A: I wasn't the only loser in the world, and B: we all have hidden failures. 严肃地说,那晚我意识到: 首先,我不是世界上唯一的失败者, 第二,我们全都在隐藏自己的失败。
Please tell me if that is not true. 如果有谁没这么做过, 请一定要告诉我。
That night was like an exorcism for me. 那个晚上对我来说, 就如同一场驱魔活动。
exorcism:n.驱魔;驱邪;用魔法召鬼魂;
I realized that sharing your failures makes you stronger, not weaker. 我意识到分享你的失败 可以让你更强,而不是更弱。
And being open to my vulnerability helped me connect with others in a deeper and more meaningful way and embrace life lessons I wouldn't have learned previously . 坦然面对自己的脆弱, 帮助我与其他人建立了 更深和更有意义的连接, 并拥抱过去无法学到的生活教训。
meaningful:adj.严肃的;重要的;重大的;意味深长的; embrace:n.拥抱,怀抱;v.拥抱;乐意采纳(思想、建议等);信奉;包括; previously:adv.先前;以前;
As a consequence of this experience of sharing stories of businesses that didn't work, we decided to create a platform of events to help others share their failure stories. 作为分享我们不成功的 商业故事的结果, 我们打算创建一个活动平台, 来帮助别人分享她们的失败故事。
consequence:n.结果;重要性;推论; platform:n.平台; v.把…放在台上[放在高处;
And we called it Fuckup Nights. 我们称之为“搞砸之夜”。
Years later, we also created a research center devoted to the story of failure and its implications on business , people and society and as we love cool names, we called it the Failure Institute . 几年后,我们也创建了以个研究中心, 致力于失败故事, 以及它对商业,人类和社会的启示, 由于我们喜欢比较酷的名字, 于是称之为“搞砸研究所”。
devoted:adj.专心致志; v.献身; (devote的过去分词和过去式) implications:n.蕴涵式;暗指,暗示;含蓄,含意;卷入(implication的复数); on business:为了公事,出差; Institute:v.开始(调查);制定;创立;提起(诉讼);n.学会,协会;学院;
It has been surprising to see that when an entrepreneur stands on a stage and shares a story of failure, she can actually enjoy that experience. 令人惊讶的是, 当企业家站在舞台上 分享他们失败的故事时, 她能够享受那种体验。
It doesn't have to be a moment of shame and embarrassment , as it used to be in the past. 这不一定像过去一样,是象征着 羞耻和尴尬的时刻。
embarrassment:n.窘迫,难堪;使人为难的人或事物;拮据;
It is an opportunity to share lessons learned and build empathy . 这是一个分享经验教训 和构建同理心的机会。
empathy:n.神入;移情作用;执着;
We have also discovered that when the members of a team share their failures, magic happens. 我们也发现, 当团队成员分享 她们的失败时,奇迹发生了。
Bonds grow stronger and collaboration becomes easier. 纽带增强,协作变得更容易了。
collaboration:n.合作;勾结;通敌;
Through our events and research projects, we have found some interesting facts. 通过我们的活动和研究项目, 我们发现了一些有趣的事实。
For instance , that men and women react in a different way after the failure of a business. 比如,男人和女人在生意失败之后, 反应是不一样的。
instance:n.实例;情况;建议;v.举...为例; react:v.起反应;回应;(对食物等)有不良反应,过敏;起化学反应;
The most common reaction among men is to start a new business within one year of failure, but in a different sector , while women decide to look for a job and postpone the creation of a new business. 男性最常见的反应是 在失败后的一年内再次开始新的业务, 但是在不同的行业, 而女性则决定找份工作, 并推迟创造新事业。
reaction:n.反应,感应;反动,复古;反作用; sector:n.部门;扇形,扇区;象限仪;函数尺;vt.把…分成扇形; postpone:v.延期;延迟;展缓;
Our hypothesis is that this happens because women tend to suffer more from the impostor syndrome . 我们对此的猜测是, 女性更容易受到“冒牌者症候群”的折磨。
hypothesis:n.假设; impostor:n.骗子;冒充者; syndrome:n.[临床]综合征;综合症状;并发症状;校验子;并发位;
We feel that we need something else to be a good entrepreneur. 我们觉得我们还需要其他东西, 才能成为好的企业家。
But I have seen that in many, many cases women have everything that's needed. 但我在很多案例中见到,女性其实 已经具备了所需要的一切品质。
We just need to take the step. 我们只是需要多迈出一步。
And in the case of men, it is more common to see that they feel they have enough knowledge and just need to put it in practice in another place with better luck. 而在男性的例子中, 更普遍的情况是,他们觉得 自己已经拥有了足够的知识, 只是在等待一个更好的机会。
in practice:在实践中;实际上,事实上;
Another interesting finding has been that there are regional differences on how entrepreneurs cope with failure. 另一个有趣的发现是, 企业家如何应对失败, 表现出了地域上的差别。
regional:adj.地区的;局部的;整个地区的; cope:v.处理;n.大圆衣;
For instance, the most common reaction after the failure of a business in the American continent is to go back to school. 比如,在美洲大陆, 生意失败后人们最常见反应是 回归学校。
continent:n.大陆,洲,陆地;adj.自制的,克制的;
While in Europe, the most common reaction is to look for a therapist . 而在欧洲,人们更愿意去找个治疗师。
therapist:n.临床医学家;治疗学家;
(Laughter) （笑声）
We're not sure which is a better reaction after the failure of a business, but this is something we will study in the future. 我们不确定面对生意失败, 究竟哪种反应更好, 但以后会仔细研究一下。
Another interesting finding has been the profound impact that public policy has on failed entrepreneurs. 另一个有趣发现是, 针对失败企业家的公共政策 所带来的深远影响。
profound:adj.深厚的;意义深远的;渊博的; policy:n.政策,方针;保险单;
For instance, in my country, in Mexico, the regulatory environment is so hard, that closing a business can take you a lot of time and a lot of money. 例如,在我的国家,墨西哥, 监管环境苛刻, 关闭一家公司需要花费 大量的时间和金钱。
regulatory:adj.管理的;控制的;调整的;
Let's begin with the money. 我们先说说金钱。
In the best possible scenario , meaning you don't have problems with partners, providers , clients , employees, in the best possible scenario , officially closing a business will cost you 2,000 dollars. 在最好的情况下, 意味着你跟伙伴, 供应商,客户,员工没有纠纷, 在最好的情况下, 正式关闭一家公司需要花费2千美元。
scenario:n.方案;情节;剧本; providers:n.供应者;提供者;供养人;(provider的复数) clients:n.委托人;当事人;客户机;(client的复数)
Which is a lot of money in Mexico. 在墨西哥,这个数目可不算小。
Someone who earns the minimum wage would have to work for 15 months to save this amount. 一个赚最低工资的人, 需要工作15个月才能存够这笔钱。
minimum wage:n.(法定的)最低工资;
Now, let's talk about the time. 现在,我们再来说说时间。
As you may know, in most of the developing world, the average life expectancy of a business is two years. 你可能知道在多数发展中国家, 企业的平均预期寿命是2年。
life expectancy:预期寿命;
In Mexico, the process of officially closing a business takes two years. 在墨西哥,正式关闭一家企业 也需要两年的时间。
process:v.处理;加工;列队行进;n.过程,进行;方法,adj.经过特殊加工(或处理)的;
What happens when the average life expectancy of a business is so similar to the time it will take you to close it if it doesn't work? 当企业的平均预期寿命跟 关掉它的时间一样长时,会发生什么？
Of course, this discourages business creation and promotes informal economy . 显然,这无法鼓励企业创新, 反而会促进非正规生意。
discourages:vt.阻止;使气馁; promotes:v.促进;推动;促销;推销;提升;晋升;(promote的第三人称单数) informal:adj.非正式的;不拘礼节的;通俗的;日常使用的; economy:n.经济;节约;理财;
In fact, econometric research has proved that if the process of declaring bankruptcy takes less time and less money, more new firms will enter the market. 事实上,经济研究证明, 如果宣布破产的流程越短,花钱越少, 更多新的企业就会进入市场。
econometric:adj.经济计量(的);
For this reason, in 2017, we proposed a series of public policy recommendations for the procedure of officially closing businesses in Mexico. 正因为如此,在2017年, 我们提出了一系列在墨西哥 关闭企业的流程的公共政策建议。
proposed:adj.建议的;推荐的;v.提议;建议;计划;求婚;(propose的过去分词和过去式) series:n.系列,连续;[电]串联;级数;丛书; recommendations:n.推荐;推荐信;推荐规范(recommendation的复数形式); procedure:n.步骤;手术;(商业、法律或政治上的)程序;
For a whole year, we worked with entrepreneurs from all over the country and with Congress . 在整整一年中, 我们与全国的企业家 和国会一道工作。
Congress:n.国会;代表大会;会议;社交;
And the good news is that we managed to help change the law. 好消息是,我们成功地协助修改了法律。
Yay! 吔！
(Applause) （鼓掌）
The idea is that when the new regulation comes into force, entrepreneurs will be able to close their businesses in an online procedure that is faster and inexpensive . 其背后的想法是,当新规生效时, 企业家将可以通过快速且 廉价的线上流程 关闭他们的公司。
regulation:n.规则;法规;控制;规章制度;adj.规定的;必须穿戴的;必须使用的; inexpensive:adj.廉价的;不昂贵的;
(Sighs) （松一口气）
On the night we invented Fuckup Nights, we never imagined that the movement would grow this big. 在我们创建 搞砸之夜 时, 我们从来没想到这场运动 会发展到如此大的规模。
We are in 80 countries now. 我们的业务已经开展到80个国家了。
In that moment, our only intention was to put the topic of failure on the table. 在创立那刻,我们唯一的意图 是把失败的话题放到桌面,
intention:n.意图;目的;意向;愈合;
To help our friends see that failure is something we must talk about. 去帮助我的朋友认识到, 失败是我们不应该回避的话题。
It is not a cause of humiliation , as it used to be in the past, or a cause of celebration, as some people say. 它不再像过去那样,只代表着羞耻, 或是庆祝的理由,也有人这样形容。
humiliation:n.丢脸,耻辱;蒙羞;谦卑;
In fact, I want to confess something. 事实上,我需要坦言一件事情。
Every time I listen to Silicon Valley types or students bragging about failing fast and often like it's no big deal, I cringe . 每次我听到硅谷范的论调,或者有学生 吹嘘自己如何迅速失败,而且常常觉得 这没什么大不了的,我就会感到不寒而栗。
Silicon Valley:n.硅谷(美国加利福尼亚州一处计算机和电子公司聚集地,有时用以指任何计算机公司聚集地); bragging:v.吹嘘;自吹自擂;(brag的现在分词) cringe:vi.畏缩;奉承;阿谀;n.畏缩;奉承;
Because I think that there is a dark side on the mantra "fail fast." 因为我觉得“迅速失败”的 言论有着很大的弊端。
mantra:n.咒语(尤指四吠陀经典内作为咒文或祷告唱念的);颂歌;
Of course, failing fast is a great way to accelerate learning and avoid wasting time. 当然,迅速失败是加速学习, 避免浪费时间的 好办法。
accelerate:v.加快;加速;n.接受速成教育的学生;
But I fear that when we present rapid failure to entrepreneurs as their one and only option , we might be promoting laziness . 但我害怕的是,当我们把迅速失败 当成企业家们的一个或唯一选项时, 我们可能在鼓励浅尝辄止。
one and only:唯一的; option:n.选择;可选择的东西; promoting:v.促进;推动;促销;提升;晋升;(promote的现在分词) laziness:n.怠惰;无精打采;
We might be promoting that entrepreneurs give up too easily. 我们可能在鼓励企业家轻易放弃。
I also fear that the culture of rapid failure could be minimizing the devastating consequences of the failure of a business. 我同时也害怕这种草率失败的文化 对企业失败所带来的恶劣影响 过于轻描淡写了。
minimizing:v.使减少到最低限度;降低;贬低;使显得不重要;(minimize的现在分词) devastating:adj.毁灭性的; v.毁灭; (devastate的现在分词) consequences:n.后果,结果;影响(consequence的复数);
For instance, when my social enterprise died, the worst part was that I had to go back to the indigenous community and tell the women that the business had failed and it was my fault. 例如,当我的社会企业倒闭时, 最糟糕的环节是,我需要回到原住民社区 告诉那些女性,生意失败了, 这是我的错。
For some people this could be seen like a great learning opportunity for me, but the truth is that the closure of this business represented much more than that. 在有些人看来,这是我 得到的最好的教训, 但真相是,关闭这个生意, 其背后的意义要深远得多。
closure:n.关闭;终止,结束;v.使结束;使终止;; represented:v.代表; (represent的过去式和过去分词)
It meant that the women would stop receiving an income that they really needed. 它意味着这些女性将没法获得 她们迫切需要的收入。
For this reason, I want to propose something. 针对这一点,我有个提议。
I want to propose that just as we put aside the idea of publicly humiliating failed entrepreneurs, we must put aside the idea that failing fast is always the best. 我想要提议,就像我们摒弃了公开羞辱 失败企业家这种想法一样, 我们也必须把“迅速失败总是 最佳选择”的想法抛诸脑后。
humiliating:adj.让人出丑的;丢脸的;v.羞辱;使丧失尊严;(humiliate的现在分词)
And I want to propose a new mantra: fail mindfully. 我想要提出一个新的箴言: 谨慎地失败。
We must remember that businesses are made of people, businesses are not entities that appear and disappear magically without consequences. 我们必须记住公司由人组成, 公司不是创立和失败都没有 任何后果的神奇实体。
entities:n.实体;存在(entity的复数形式);字符实体; disappear:v.消失;失踪;不复存在;
When a firm dies, some people will lose their jobs. 当公司关闭时,有些人会失去工作。
And others will lose their money. 有些人会失去收入。
And in the case of social and green enterprises, the death of this business can have a negative impact on the ecosystems or communities they were trying to serve. 在社会和绿色企业中, 这些企业的死亡会对它们服务的 生态或社区产生负面的影响。
negative:adj.[数]负的;消极的;否定的;阴性的;n.否定;负数;[摄]底片;v.否定;拒绝; ecosystems:n.生态系统(ecosystem的复数); communities:n.社区;社会;团体;共有(community的复数)
But what does it mean to fail mindfully? 那么谨慎地失败是什么意思呢？
It means being aware of the impact, of the consequences of the failure of that business. 意思是注意企业失败的 影响和后果。
Being aware of the lessons learned. 注意学到的教训。
And being aware of the responsibility to share those learnings with the world. 意识到与世界分享 这些教训的责任。
Thank you. 谢谢。
(Applause) （鼓掌）