ABOUT THE SPEAKER
David Grady - Information security manager
David Grady is on a crusade to help you take back your calendar.

Why you should listen

David Grady is an information security manager who believes that strong communication skills are
a necessity in today’s global economy. He has been a print journalist, a “PR guy” and a website producer, and has ghostwritten speeches and magazine articles for Fortune 500 company executives. A mid-life career change brought him into the world of information risk management, where every day he uses his communications experience to transform complex problems into understandable challenges.

More profile about the speaker
David Grady | Speaker | TED.com
TED@State Street Boston

David Grady: How to save the world (or at least yourself) from bad meetings

大卫·格雷迪: 如何将世界(或者至少你自己)从糟糕会议中拯救出来

Filmed:
2,459,605 views

糟糕、低效、人数过多的会议已成为全世界公司都有的一种疫病——它让员工们非常痛苦。大卫·格雷迪有想法来阻止它。
- Information security manager
David Grady is on a crusade to help you take back your calendar. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:13
Picture图片 this:
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想象一下:
00:14
It's Monday星期一 morning早上,
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星期一的早晨
00:15
you're at the office办公室,
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你在办公室
00:16
you're settling解决 in for the day at work,
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准备开始一天的工作
00:18
and this guy that you sort分类 of
recognize认识 from down the hall大厅,
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这时,坐在附近、你勉强认得的那个人
00:21
walks散步 right into your cubicle
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径直走到你的隔间
00:23
and he steals抢断 your chair椅子.
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把你的椅子拿走了
00:24
Doesn't say a word
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并且没有对此说一个字
00:25
just rolls劳斯莱斯 away with it.
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就直接把它推走了
00:27
Doesn't give you any information信息
about why he took your chair椅子
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没告诉你为何那么多椅子摆在那
00:29
out of all the other chairs椅子
that are out there.
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却偏偏拿走了你的
00:31
Doesn't acknowledge确认 the fact事实
that you might威力 need your chair椅子
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不了解你或许需要这把椅子
00:34
to get some work doneDONE today今天.
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来完成今天的工作
00:35
You wouldn't不会 stand for
it. You'd make a stink.
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你不能容忍这样的事
00:37
You'd follow跟随 that guy
back to his cubicle
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你会跟着那人走到他的隔间
00:39
and you'd say, "Why my chair椅子?"
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然后质问:“为什么拿我的椅子?”
00:43
Okay, so now it's Tuesday星期二 morning早上
and you're at the office办公室,
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现在是星期二的早晨,你在办公室
00:47
and a meeting会议 invitation请帖 pops持久性有机污染物
up in your calendar日历.
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日历上突然跳出一个会议邀请
00:50
(Laughter笑声)
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(笑声)
00:51
And it's from this woman女人 who you
kind of know from down the hall大厅,
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来自于你在走廊里有点头之交的这位女士
00:54
and the subject学科 line线 references引用 some
project项目 that you heard听说 a little bit about.
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标题栏显示会议是有关一个你勉强听说过的项目
00:58
But there's no agenda议程.
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但是没有议程
01:00
There's no information信息 about why
you were invited邀请 to the meeting会议.
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没有任何信息告诉你被邀请到这个会议的原因
01:03
And yet然而 you accept接受 the
meeting会议 invitation请帖, and you go.
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但你接受了邀请并去参会
01:07
And when this highly高度
unproductive非生产性 session会议 is over,
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当这个毫无成果的会议结束
01:10
you go back to your desk,
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你回到自己的办公桌
01:12
and you stand at your
desk and you say,
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你站在办公桌旁说
01:14
"Boy男孩, I wish希望 I had those two hours小时 back,
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“天,我希望拿回过去的两小时
01:16
like I wish希望 I had my chair椅子 back."
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就像我希望拿回我的椅子。”
01:18
(Laughter笑声)
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(笑声)
01:20
Every一切 day, we allow允许 our coworkers合作伙伴,
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每一天
01:22
who are otherwise除此以外 very,
very nice不错 people,
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我们都在让好心的同事们
01:24
to steal from us.
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从我们身上窃取
01:26
And I'm talking about something far
more valuable有价值 than office办公室 furniture家具.
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我说的是远比办公室家具更有价值的东西
01:30
I'm talking about time. Your time.
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我说的是时间。你的时间
01:33
In fact事实, I believe that
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事实上,我认为
01:36
we are in the middle中间
of a global全球 epidemic疫情
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我们正处在一种叫MAS的
01:38
of a terrible可怕 new illness疾病
known已知 as MASMAS:
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可怕的新型全球性疫病中
01:43
Mindless讨巧 Accept接受 Syndrome综合征.
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M(盲目)A(接受)S(综合症)
01:46
(Laughter笑声)
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(笑声)
01:48
The primary symptom症状 of
Mindless讨巧 Accept接受 Syndrome综合征
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盲目接受综合症的主要症状是
01:50
is just accepting验收 a meeting会议 invitation请帖
the minute分钟 it pops持久性有机污染物 up in your calendar日历.
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当会议邀请一出现在你的日历上时就接受它
01:54
(Laughter笑声)
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(笑声)
01:55
It's an involuntary非自愿 reflex反射ding,
click点击, bing — it's in your calendar日历,
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这是不自觉地反应——叮,点击,哔——把它加到你的日历上了
01:59
"Gotta总得 go, I'm already已经 late晚了
for a meeting会议." (Laughter笑声)
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“得走了。我开会已经迟到了” (笑声)
02:02
Meetings会议 are important重要, right?
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会议很重要,是吧?
02:05
And collaboration合作 is key to
the success成功 of any enterprise企业.
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合作是任何企业成功的关键
02:08
And a well-run经营有方 meeting会议 can yield产量
really positive, actionable results结果.
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一个进展良好的会议可以收获非常正向,可行性高的成果
02:11
But between之间 globalization全球化
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但是在全球化
02:13
and pervasive无处不在 information信息 technology技术,
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以及大型信息技术之间
02:15
the way that we work
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我们工作的方式
02:17
has really changed dramatically显着
over the last few少数 years年份.
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在过去几年里已发生了翻天覆地的变化
02:20
And we're miserable. (Laughter笑声)
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然后我们很痛苦 (笑声)
02:23
And we're miserable not because the
other guy can't run a good meeting会议,
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我们痛苦不是因为别人不能运作个好的会议
02:27
it's because of MASMAS, our
Mindless讨巧 Accept接受 Syndrome综合征,
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而是因为MAS,我们的盲目接受综合症
02:30
which哪一个 is a self-inflicted自作自受 wound伤口.
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这个病状是我们自找的
02:33
Actually其实, I have evidence证据 to prove证明
that MASMAS is a global全球 epidemic疫情.
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事实上,我能证明MAS是一种全球性的疫病
02:39
Let me tell you why.
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我来告诉你为什么
02:40
A couple一对 of years年份 ago, I put a video视频
on Youtube的Youtube, and in the video视频,
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几年前我在Youtube上传了一个视频
02:45
I acted行动 out every一切 terrible可怕
conference会议 call you've ever been on.
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在视频中我把所有你曾经历的最糟糕的会议情况展现出来
02:48
It goes on for about five minutes分钟,
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时长大约五分钟
02:49
and it has all the things that we
hate讨厌 about really bad meetings会议.
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包含了一切有关令我们讨厌的会议
02:53
There's the moderator主席 who has
no idea理念 how to run the meeting会议.
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主持者完全不知道怎样运作会议
02:56
There are the participants参与者 who
have no idea理念 why they're there.
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参会者完全不知道自己为什么参加
02:58
The whole整个 thing kind of collapses崩溃
into this collaborative共同 train培养 wreck破坏.
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整件事演变成一场集体脱轨
03:02
And everybody每个人 leaves树叶 very angry愤怒.
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每个人离开时都很愤怒
03:05
It's kind of funny滑稽.
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这仿佛挺可笑的
03:06
(Laughter笑声)
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(笑声)
03:08
Let's take a quick look.
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我们来简单看一下
03:10
(Video视频) Our goal目标 today今天 is to come to an
agreement协议 on a very important重要 proposal提案.
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(视频)我们今天的目标是就一个非常重要的提议达成一个共识
03:14
As a group, we need to decide决定 if —
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作为一个团队,我们需要决定如果——
03:16
bloopBLOOP bloopBLOOP
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哔 哔——
03:19
Hi你好, who just joined加盟?
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嗨,谁刚刚加入了?
03:22
Hi你好, it's Joe. I'm working加工 from home today今天.
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嗨,我是乔。我今天在家办公
03:25
(Laughter笑声)
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(笑声)
03:27
Hi你好, Joe. Thanks谢谢 for
joining加盟 us today今天, great.
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嗨,乔。谢谢你的加入,很好
03:30
I was just saying, we have a lot of people
on the call we'd星期三 like to get through通过,
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我刚提到说,我们此次会议有很多人参加
03:33
so let's skip跳跃 the roll call
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所以我们跳过点名
03:35
and I'm gonna dive潜水 right in.
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我就直接开始了
03:37
Our goal目标 today今天 is to come to an
agreement协议 on a very important重要 proposal提案.
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我们今天的目标是就一个非常重要的提议达成一个共识
03:41
As a group, we need to decide决定 if —
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作为一个团队,我们需要决定如果——
03:44
bloopBLOOP bloopBLOOP
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哔 哔——
03:45
(Laughter笑声)
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(笑声)
03:47
Hi你好, who just joined加盟?
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嗨,谁刚刚加入了?
03:49
No? I thought I heard听说 a beep. (Laughter笑声)
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没人?我以为我听到了哔声 (笑声)
03:53
Sound声音 familiar?
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听起来很熟悉吗?
03:55
Yeah, it sounds声音 familiar
to me, too.
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这对我来说也非常熟悉
03:57
A couple一对 of weeks after I put that online线上,
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在我上传视频之后的几星期
03:59
500,000 people in dozens许多 of countries国家,
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来自数十个国家的50万人
04:02
I mean dozens许多 of countries国家,
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真的是数十个国家
04:04
watched看着 this video视频.
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观看了这个视频
04:05
And three years年份 later后来, it's still getting得到
thousands数千 of views意见 every一切 month.
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之后的三年,每个月依然有几千次观看
04:08
It's close to about a million百万 right now.
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到现在大约有一百万次了
04:10
And in fact事实, some of the biggest最大
companies公司 in the world世界,
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事实上有一些全球大公司
04:12
companies公司 that you've
heard听说 of but I won't惯于 name名称,
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你肯定知道的公司,但我不会说出名字
04:14
have asked for my permission允许 to use
this video视频 in their new-hire新员工 training训练
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他们征求我的允许想将此视频用于上岗培训
04:18
to teach their new employees雇员 how
not to run a meeting会议 at their company公司.
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来教导他们的新员工们怎样不要在公司里开这样的会议
04:22
And if the numbers数字
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如果
04:24
there are a million百万 views意见 and it's
being存在 used by all these companies公司
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几百万次的观看记录和已被大公司使用的事实
04:26
aren't enough足够 proof证明 that we have
a global全球 problem问题 with meetings会议,
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不足以证明开会已经是全球性问题
04:30
there are the many许多, many许多 thousands数千
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在视频被上传之后
04:31
of comments注释 posted发布 online线上
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有成千上万条评论
04:33
after the video视频 went up.
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发布在网络上
04:35
Thousands成千上万 of people wrote things like,
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数千人写下这样的话
04:37
"OMG我的天啊, that was my day today今天!"
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“我的天,这就是我的今天”
04:39
"That was my day every一切 day!"
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“这是我的每一天!”
04:41
"This is my life."
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“这是我的生活”
04:42
One guy wrote,
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有个人写到
04:43
"It's funny滑稽 because it's true真正.
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“这很有趣,因为这就是事实
04:45
Eerily诡异, sadly可悲的是, depressingly令人沮丧 true真正.
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怪异、可悲、令人沮丧的事实
04:46
It made制作 me laugh until直到 I cried哭了.
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它让我笑到哭出来
04:48
And cried哭了. And I cried哭了 some more."
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然后我哭了,哭得更伤心了”
04:51
(Laughter笑声)
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(笑声)
04:53
This poor较差的 guy said,
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这个可怜的人写到:
04:54
"My daily日常 life until直到
retirement退休 or death死亡, sigh."
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“这是我直到退休或死亡的每一天,叹气”
04:59
These are real真实 quotes报价
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这些都是真实的评论
05:01
and it's real真实 sad伤心.
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很令人伤感
05:02
A common共同 theme主题 running赛跑 through通过
all of these comments注释 online线上
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这些网上评论有一个共同点是
05:05
is this fundamental基本的 belief信仰
that we are powerless无力
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已认定我们无能为力
05:08
to do anything other
than go to meetings会议
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来避免参加这些会议
05:10
and suffer遭受 through通过 these
poorly不好 run meetings会议
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避免忍受这些效率很差的会议
05:12
and live生活 to meet遇到 another另一个 day.
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避免日日如此
05:14
But the truth真相 is, we're
not powerless无力 at all.
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但其实我们绝不是无能为力
05:17
In fact事实, the cure治愈 for MASMAS
is right here in our hands.
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实际上盲目接受综合症的解药就在我们手里
05:20
It's right at our fingertips指尖, literally按照字面.
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真的就在我们指尖
05:22
It's something that I call ¡No MASMAS!
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我称其为“拒绝MAS”
05:26
(Laughter笑声)
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(笑声)
05:28
Which哪一个, if I remember记得 my
high school学校 Spanish西班牙语,
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我记得高中学过的西班牙语
05:30
means手段 something like,
"Enough足够 already已经, make it stop!"
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这句的意思大概是“已经够了,停止吧”
05:33
Here's这里的 how No MASMAS
works作品. It's very simple简单.
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拒绝MAS的做法很简单
05:36
First of all, the next下一个 time you
get a meeting会议 invitation请帖
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首先,下次你接到会议邀请时
05:39
that doesn't have a lot
of information信息 in it at all,
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那种没有包含任何相关信息的会议邀请
05:42
click点击 the tentative试验 button按键!
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点击“不确定”按钮!
05:44
It's okay, you're allowed允许,
that's why it's there.
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你是可以这么做的,所以才有这个按钮
05:46
It's right next下一个 to the accept接受 button按键.
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就在“接受”按钮旁边
05:48
Or the maybe button按键, or whatever随你 button按键
is there for you not to accept接受 immediately立即.
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或者是“或许”按钮,或者是别的什么按钮让你不用立刻同意接受
05:51
Then, get in touch触摸 with the person
who asked you to the meeting会议.
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接着,找到那个邀请你参加会议的人
05:55
Tell them you're very excited兴奋
to support支持 their work,
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告诉他们你很高兴能支持他们的工作
05:58
ask them what the goal目标
of the meeting会议 is,
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问他们会议的目的
06:00
and tell them you're interested有兴趣 in learning学习
how you can help them achieve实现 their goal目标.
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告诉他们你愿意去学习怎样能帮他们打成目标
06:03
And if we do this often经常 enough足够,
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如果我们总是这样做
06:05
and we do it respectfully尊敬,
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以尊重的态度这样做
06:07
people might威力 start开始 to be
a little bit more thoughtful周到
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人们会在邀请别人参加会议时
06:09
about the way they put together一起
meeting会议 invitations邀请函.
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多动点脑筋
06:11
And you can make more thoughtful周到
decisions决定 about accepting验收 it.
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你在接受与否时做出更周全的决定
06:14
People might威力 actually其实 start开始
sending发出 out agendas议程. Imagine想像!
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人们或许能真的开始列出议程, 想象一下
06:17
Or they might威力 not have a conference会议 call
with 12 people to talk about a status状态
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或者他们不会开一个12人参加的电话会议来讨论数据
06:21
when they could just do a quick
email电子邮件 and get it doneDONE with.
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而用简单电子邮件就把事情搞定的
06:24
People just might威力 start开始 to change更改 their
behavior行为 because you changed yours你的.
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人们的行为会因为你的改变而随之改变
06:29
And they just might威力 bring带来
your chair椅子 back, too. (Laughter笑声)
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他们也会把你的椅子还给你 (笑声)
06:33
No MASMAS!
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拒绝盲目选择综合症!
06:34
Thank you.
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谢谢
06:35
(Applause掌声).
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(鼓掌)
Translated by Aimee Zhou
Reviewed by Jenny Yang

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
David Grady - Information security manager
David Grady is on a crusade to help you take back your calendar.

Why you should listen

David Grady is an information security manager who believes that strong communication skills are
a necessity in today’s global economy. He has been a print journalist, a “PR guy” and a website producer, and has ghostwritten speeches and magazine articles for Fortune 500 company executives. A mid-life career change brought him into the world of information risk management, where every day he uses his communications experience to transform complex problems into understandable challenges.

More profile about the speaker
David Grady | Speaker | TED.com