書話 (Sheryl Sandberg)

Facebook首席運營官的閱讀清單

《紐約時報》書評 2013年03月27日

Facebook首席運營官、《進取》(Lean In)一書作者不喜歡一邊在橢圓機上健身一邊使用iPad上的Kindle應用。“滿身是汗的時候，你沒法看書。”


你去年讀過的最好的的一本書是什麼？ 

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Illustration by Jillian Tamaki

Facebook首席運營官謝莉爾·桑德伯格 Sheryl Sandberg

我喜歡蒂娜·菲(Tina Fey)的《女老闆》(Bossypants)，簡直不希望它結束。它很搞笑，也很有意義。每讀一頁，我不僅捧腹大笑，還點頭思考，在書上拚命畫線、折 角。在第3頁，她給工作的女人提了個有趣的建議：“別扎馬尾辮，別穿抹胸。少掉眼淚（有些人會說：‘千萬別讓他們看見你哭。’我會說：如果你實在太生氣了 那就哭吧，能把所有人都嚇住）。”實在太精彩了。我年輕的時候也被人貼上專橫、老闆作風的標籤，所以，作為“女老闆”的先驅——好吧，現在也是——我很感 激蒂娜的直言不諱，絕不道歉，而且還那麼有趣。

你喜歡在什麼樣的時間和地點閱讀？喜歡紙質書還是電子書？ 
作為一個從事技術行業的人，我可能不該承認，但我仍然更喜歡紙質書（在《進取》里，我還承認自己隨身帶着筆記簿和筆，記下我的待辦事項列表，在 Facebook公司，這種做法就和隨身帶着石板和鑿子沒兩樣）。我旅行時會帶iPad，但在家裡我喜歡打開一本書，隨手翻過，用一支真正的黃色記號筆在 上面畫重點，哪一頁重要就在上面折個角。讀完一本書，我通常會看自己折了多少頁，以此評估自己有多喜歡這本書。我還按舊式的方式讀報紙和雜誌；我試過在橢 圓機上用iPad的Kindle應用看東西，可是滿身是汗的時候，你沒法看書。

你讀書快嗎？一年能讀幾本書？ 
我看書慢極了，想看的書幾乎都沒看成。我把它們堆在我的床頭桌上，等它們越摞越高的時候，我就開始強迫自己加速，要不就放棄幾本事實上我永遠不會去看的書。

推薦一本你近年來讀過的最好的經管類圖書吧。 
馬庫斯·白金漢(Marcus Buckingham)與唐納德·O·克里夫頓(Donald O.Clifton)的《現在，發現你的優勢》(Now, Discover Your Strengths)。Facebook在思考如何開發僱員才能的時候曾經參考過這本書。和所有的公司一樣，我們也有一套回饋僱員的體系。幾年 前，Facebook人力資源部門的主管洛里·格勒(Lori Goler)帶馬庫斯和我們的領導團隊見面，幫助我們改進這個回饋系統。馬庫斯和他的同事們對公司僱員做了25年的調查研究，發現了能顯著影響員工表現的 一些因素。他們發現，“成功”最重要的指標就是：在一個公司或一個部門裡，被問到“每一天你都有機會做你最擅長的事情嗎”，有多少人回答“是的”。這很有 意義。大多數員工表現研究都更注重“可發展領域”（其實就是員工的弱點），而不是他們的長處。人們被告知要努力工作，在這些領域裡不斷進步，但一個人並不 需要擅長所有事。在Facebook，我們努力以員工優勢為主導，也就是說，我們試着讓工作去適應人，而不是讓人去適應工作。我們更注重員工天賦的優勢是 什麼，把管理者的時間花在幫助他們每天都能發揮優勢上面。

最好的一本技術書呢？市面上到底有沒有能夠正確描寫硅谷的書籍？ 
埃里克·里斯(Eric Ries)的《精益創業：新創企業的成長思維》(The Lean Startup: How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses)，它提供了關於技術行業如何建立產品與商務的內行觀點。傳統上，公司都要依靠精心制定的商務計劃和深入測試，來造出“完美”的產 品。里斯提倡，在技術行業，要想讓產品更完善就把它推向市場，讓用戶使用它，並做出反饋，這樣你就可以學到東西，然後不斷改進（Facebook早就發現 了這個方法。我們甚至在大廈里到處貼滿即時貼，提醒大家“集中精力，不斷前進”）。

你最喜歡的作家有哪些？ 
邁克爾·劉易斯(Michael Lewis)提煉複雜題材的功力就像魔術。讓你不敢相信自己的眼睛。他選取重大問題——從《大空頭》(The Big Short)里的2008年的華爾街金融危機到《家庭遊戲》(Home Game)里的父母教育問題——並揭示它們最深刻的真相。他既有卓越的分析思維能力，也深刻理解人類本性，所以才能夠在數據與事實之間遊刃有餘，做出新穎 而又深刻的敘述。不管是什麼題材，最終的結果總是那麼引人入勝而又興奮刺激。我很敬佩他。
在我床頭柜上的那堆書里，有一本已經很破舊的書，就是安娜·昆德蘭(Anna Quindlen)的《快樂生活小指南》(A Short Guide to a Happy Life)。我早就讀過它，我還想再讀一遍，把它放在床邊就能帶給我安慰。在我最絕望的時候，她的智慧帶給我安慰：“對於自己的生活，你才是世上唯一一個 享有監護權的人。你獨特的生活。你完整的生活。而不僅僅是你書桌邊的生活、大巴上的生活、小轎車裡的生活或者電腦邊的生活。生活不僅僅關乎頭腦，而是關乎 心靈。”說得太好了。
要列舉我最喜歡的作家，絕不能少了我在大學的室友卡洛琳·韋伯(Caroline Weber)。我喜歡她的書，是因為從頭到尾我都親耳聽過——包括出版過程中的各種起伏。她主要是為比較文學愛好者寫作，而不是寫給技術主管們的，但她總 是樂於給我解釋字裡行間的含義。2007年，她出版了精彩又有趣的《時尚王后：瑪麗·安托內特在革命期間的服裝》(Queen of Fashion: What Marie Antoinette Wore to the Revolution)。很少有什麼書能讓我這麼愛看。我承認我有偏心，但不僅僅是我愛看——《華盛頓郵報》的“圖書世界”把它評為年度最佳圖書之一。

你怎樣管理個人的圖書收藏呢？你喜歡把所有書都留着，還是不斷精簡呢？ 
我丈夫喜歡不斷精簡；我就像個囤積的耗子。我連大學時的課本都留着——你知道，要是我突然想看叔本華的《作為意志和表象的世界》(The World as Will and Representation)，就可以拿出來了。
你最珍愛的書籍是什麼，你把它們放在哪兒？ 
我大學時上過海倫·文德勒(Helen Vendler)的美國詩人課，我把課上用過的書放在我的床頭櫃里（是放在抽屜裡面，這樣就不會和外面摞的一大堆混起來）。文德勒教授說，只有把一首詩背 下來，你才能真正擁有它，我完全同意這個說法。每一年，我的新年計劃中都有這麼一條：每天冥想5分鐘。雖然我從來做不到，但當我背誦自己背過的詩歌時，我 覺得效果很接近冥想。
推薦一本所有商業主管都應該讀的書吧。 
弗萊德·考夫曼(Fred Kofman)的《高效能人士的七項修鍊???  》(Conscious Business: How to Build Value Through Values)，它對我的事業和生活有着深遠影響。幾乎每天，我都想着他教的東西——真誠交流的重要性、完美的承諾、要做“參與者”而不是“受害者”、承 擔責任。工作的時候，我曾把這本書送給很多團隊成員，我曾目睹它是如何激勵着人們一覺醒來，對自己的行為有了更清楚的認識，並且去影響他人。

你小時候最喜歡的書是什麼？有沒有最喜歡的角色或者英雄？有沒有一本書是你覺得所有孩子都應該讀的？ 
我想成為梅格·穆雷(Meg Murry)，她是瑪德琳·英格(Madeleine L’Engle)的小說《及時的皺紋》里大家公認有點古怪的女主角。我喜歡她和其他人一起努力，反抗不公正的體制，即便希望很小也要拚命拯救家人。我還迷 戀時間旅行這個觀念。我一直都在讓Facebook的工程師給我造一個四度空間模型(tesseract)，這樣我就可以扭曲時空的構造了。但是到現在也 沒人試着去做。
給孩子們選書（或者畫冊）不算難事——馬洛·托馬斯(Marlo Thomas)的《自由地去做你和我》(Free to Be You and Me)就很好。它所傳達的信息時至如今也非常重要（這一點很悲哀），但是它的故事文筆非常優美。

你喜歡和自己的孩子們一起讀什麼書？有沒有什麼書是你特別喜歡讀給他們聽的？ 
我曾和女兒一起背謝爾·希爾弗斯坦(Shel Silverstein)的《人行道的盡頭》(Where the Sidewalk Ends)裡面的《疼愛我、寵愛我、逗逗我》(Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me Too)這首詩，我非常珍惜那一天，一想起它就讓我微笑。我的兩個孩子都是通過希爾弗斯坦的《聰明》(Smart)那首詩學習識數的。

 Where the Sidewalk Ends/ A light in the Attic/ Run...


如果你能和某個作家會面，不管是去世的還是在生的，你會選誰呢，你會問那位作家什麼問題呢？ 
我很想見J·K·羅琳(J.K. Rowling)，告訴她我有多麼崇拜她的作品，她的想像力讓我多驚訝。哈利·波特系列的每一本書我都是一出版馬上就看，還迫不及待地等着下一本。我現在正在和孩子們重讀它們，每個字還是讓我那麼喜歡。她讓我用全新的方式去看待多味豆了。

本文最初發表於2013年3月17日。
翻譯：董楠

Sheryl Sandberg: By the Book

March 27, 2013

The chief operating officer of Facebook and author of “Lean In” doesn’t like to use the iPad Kindle app on the elliptical. “When you get sweaty, you can’t turn the pages.”
What was the best book you read last year? 


I absolutely loved Tina Fey’s “Bossypants” and didn’t want it to end. It’s hilarious as well as important. Not only did I laugh on every page, but I was nodding along, highlighting and dog-earing like crazy. On Page 3, she offers amazing advice to women in the workplace: “No pigtails, no tube tops. Cry sparingly. (Some people say, ‘Never let them see you cry.’ I say, if you’re so mad you could just cry, then cry. It terrifies everyone.)” It is so, so good. As a young girl, I was labeled bossy, too, so as a former — O.K., current — bossypants, I am grateful to Tina for being outspoken, unapologetic and hysterically funny.
When and where do you like to read? Paper or electronic?
I probably shouldn’t admit this since I work in the tech industry, but I still prefer reading paper books. (In “Lean In,” I also admit that I carry a notebook and pen around to keep track of my to-do list, which, at Facebook, is like carrying around a stone tablet and chisel.) I travel with an iPad, but at home I like holding a book open and being able to leaf through it, highlight with a real yellow pen and dog-ear important pages. After I finish a book, I’ll often look to see how many page corners are turned down as one gauge of how much I liked it. I also still read newspapers and magazines the old-fashioned way; I tried the Kindle app for the iPad on the elliptical, but when you get sweaty, you can’t turn the pages.
Are you a fast or slow reader? How many books would you say you read in a year?
I am painfully slow and don’t get through nearly as many books as I want to. I pile them up on my night stand, and when the piles start tipping over, I force myself to speed up or to give up on the ones that, realistically, I am never going to get to.
Recommend the best business book you’ve read in recent years.
“Now, Discover Your Strengths,” by Marcus Buckingham and Donald O. Clifton. This book has been instrumental in how we think about developing talent at Facebook. Like all organizations, we have a system for giving feedback to our employees. A few years ago, Lori Goler, Facebook’s head of human resources, brought Marcus to meet with our leadership team to help us improve this system. Marcus and his colleagues surveyed employees for 25 years to figure out what factors predict extraordinary performance. They found that the most important predictor of the success of a company or division was how many people answered yes to the question “Do you have the opportunity to do what you do best every day?” And this makes sense. Most performance reviews focus more on “development areas” (a k a weaknesses) than strengths. People are told to work harder and get better at those areas, but people don’t have to be good at everything. At Facebook, we try to be a strengths-based organization, which means we try to make jobs fit around people rather than make people fit around jobs. We focus on what people’s natural strengths are and spend our management time trying to find ways for them to use those strengths every day.
And what’s the best book about technology? Is there a book that really gets Silicon Valley right?
“The Lean Startup: How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses,” by Eric Ries, provides a great inside look at how the tech industry approaches building products and businesses. Traditionally, companies have depended on elaborate business plans and in-depth tests to put out a “perfect” product. Ries advocates that for tech, a better way to perfect a product is to introduce it to the market and get customers using it and giving feedback, so you can learn and then iterate. (Facebook figured out this approach long ago. We even have posters all over our buildings that remind people, “Stay Focused & Keep Shipping.”)
Who are your favorite authors?
Michael Lewis’s ability to boil down the most complicated subjects is like a magic trick. You can’t believe your eyes. He takes on important issues — from the 2008 Wall Street crash in “The Big Short” to parenting in “Home Game” — and breaks them down to their deepest truths. His combination of an extraordinary analytical mind and a deep understanding of human nature allows him to weave together data and events to offer a fresh and insightful narrative. Whatever the topic, the result is always compelling and even thrilling. I am in awe of him.
Somewhere in that pile of books on my night stand sits a well-worn copy of Anna Quindlen’s “A Short Guide to a Happy Life.” I’ve read it before — and I will read it again — and just knowing it’s at my bedside gives me comfort. Her wisdom resonates for me on the deepest level: “But you are the only person alive who has sole custody of your life. Your particular life. Your entire life. Not just your life at a desk, or your life on the bus, or in the car, or at the computer. Not just the life of your mind, but the life of your heart.” Perfect.
I can’t list my favorite authors without including my college roommate Caroline Weber. I love her books because I hear about them from start to finish — with the many ups and downs that go into publishing. Much of what she writes is for the comp lit crowd — not tech execs — but she is always willing to explain passages to me. In 2007, she published the brilliant and fun “Queen of Fashion: What Marie Antoinette Wore to the Revolution.” There are few books that I have enjoyed as much. And while I admit I’m biased, it’s not just me — The Washington Post Book World named it one of the best books of the year.
How do you organize your personal library? Do you hold on to all books or do you like to streamline?
My husband is a streamliner; I am a pack rat. I’ve even hung on to all my textbooks from college — you know, just in case I have the sudden urge to read Schopenhauer’s “The World as Will and Representation.”
What are your most cherished books, and where do you keep them?
I keep my books from Helen Vendler’s college class on American poets in my night stand (inside the drawer, not to be confused with the stack piled up on top). Professor Vendler says that you don’t own a poem until you memorize it, and I agree. Every year my New Year’s resolution is to meditate for just five minutes a day. I never do it, but when I recite one of the poems I memorized, I think it comes close to having the same effect.
What book should every business executive read?
“Conscious Business: How to Build Value Through Values,” by Fred Kofman, had a profound effect on my career and life. I think about his lessons almost every day — the importance of authentic communication, impeccable commitments, being a player not a victim, and taking responsibility. I have given this book to so many team members at work, and I’ve seen it inspire people overnight to be more aware of their actions and impact on others.
What were your favorite books as a child? Do you have a favorite character or hero from one of those books? Is there one book you wish all children would read?
I wanted to be Meg Murry, the admittedly geeky heroine of “A Wrinkle in Time,” by Madeleine L’Engle. I loved how she worked with others to fight against an unjust system and how she fought to save her family against very long odds. I was also captivated by the concept of time travel. I keep asking Facebook’s engineers to build me a tesseract so I, too, could fold the fabric of time and space. But so far no one has even tried.
Choosing one book (and album) for all children to read is easy: Marlo Thomas’s “Free to Be You and Me.” Its messages are — sadly — still relevant today, but its stories are beautifully written.
What books have you enjoyed reading with your own children? Is there a book you particularly love to read to them?
I cherish the day my daughter learned to recite “Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me Too” from Shel Silverstein’s “Where the Sidewalk Ends.” Just thinking about it makes me smile. And both my kids first learned to understand numbers from Silverstein’s poem “Smart.”
If you could meet any writer, dead or alive, who would it be? What would you want to know? 
I would love to meet J. K. Rowling and tell her how much I admire her writing and am amazed by her imagination. I read every Harry Potter book as it came out and looked forward to each new one. I am rereading them now with my kids and enjoying them every bit as much. She made me look at jelly beans in a whole new way.

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