Change is important. When we were growing up, we got summers off from school. Summer vacation was change. It was something to look forward to. A few months of something different really meant a lot.
变化很重要。当我们还年轻还在学校读书的时候有暑假，暑假就是一种变化。那是多么让人期待的一件事情。短短几个月的不同对我们意义重大。
We grow out of a lot as we grow up. One of the most unfortunate things we leave behind is a regular dose of change. Nowhere is this more evident than at work.
我们在成长过程中丢弃了许多东西。其中一样便是那些常规的变化，这在工作中最能体会得到。
Work in February is the same as work in May. June’s the same as October. And it would be hard to tell August from April.
在二月份工作跟在五月份工作一样，六月份的工作跟十月份的工作一样。好像也说不出八月份的工作跟四月份的有什么区别。
Yes, some businesses are more seasonal than others, but ultimately the stuff we do at work isn’t that much different — it’s just busier some times than others. That isn’t change, it’s just more volume.
没错，有些事务比其他事务更具季节性，但所干的活没有实质的不同——只是比其他时候要忙些罢了。那不是变化，只是容量大了。
I wanted to do something about this. So, at 37signals, the software company I’ve run for the past 13 years, we take inspiration from the seasons and build change into our work schedule.
所以，我想为此做点功夫。在37signals——这家我经营了13年的软件公司里，我们从季节变化里获取灵感，从而建立了我们的工作时间表，把变化带入我们的工作中来。
For example, from May through October, we switch to a four-day workweek. And not 40 hours crammed into four days, but 32 hours comfortably fit into four days. We don’t work the same amount of time, we work less.
譬如，从五月到十月，我们实行四天工作制。不是说把原来的40个工作时挤到四天里，而是四天工作32小时。与以前不同，我们一周的工作时间更短了。
Most staff workers take Fridays off, but some choose a different day. Nearly all of us enjoy three-day weekends. Work ends Thursday, the weekend starts Friday, and work starts back up on Monday.
公司里大部分的员工会选择把星期五腾出来，而有些人会选其他时间。几乎所有人都能享受到一个三天周末。工作在星期四结束，周末从星期五开始，上班时间又从下个星期一开始。
The benefits of a six-month schedule with three-day weekends are obvious. But there’s one surprising effect of the changed schedule: better work gets done in four days than in five.
半年，每周三天假，这样的员工待遇当然讨人喜欢。不过除此之外，这种变化还带来了一个令人惊讶的结果：花四天完成的工作比花五天完成的更好。
When there’s less time to work, you waste less time. When you have a compressed workweek, you tend to focus on what’s important. Constraining time encourages quality time.
你工作的时间越短，你浪费的时间就越少。如果工作时间紧张，你就会把时间投放到更重要的事情上。限量时间引出高效时间。
At 37signals there’s another thing we do to celebrate the seasons: we cover the cost of a weekly community-supported agriculture share for each employee. We enjoy this benefit year-round, but fresh fruit and produce really glisten in the summer months. It’s a simple way to celebrate change.
在37signals里，我们还会做另外一件事来庆祝季节：分享社区里的农作物，时间持续一星期。我们全年都能享受到这种待遇，而新鲜水果和作物在夏日里真是让人眼前一亮。这是一种庆祝变化的简单方法。
In the spirit of continual change, this summer we tried something new. We decided to give everyone the month of June to work on whatever they wanted. It wasn’t vacation, but it was vacation from whatever work was already scheduled. We invited everyone to shelve their nonessential work and to use the time to explore their own ideas.
在持续变化的精神驱使下，这个夏季我们做了新的尝试。我们决定给每位员工一个“六月”，让他们在这个月里干他们想干的活。这不是假期，但对于已经安排的工作时间来说，这又是个假期。我们让每位员工把不重要的事都搁起来，利用时间去挖掘新点子。
People worked independently or joined up with other employees on team projects. The only rule was: explore, see if there are ways to make our existing products better, or come up with a new product idea, create a new business model, or do whatever is of most interest.
员工可以单独工作，也可以与其他员工一起搞团队项目。唯一的规则就是：探索。看看有什么办法能让我们现有的产品做得更好，有没有更好的产品设计，能否创造出一个更好的经营模式，或者做能给公司带来最大利润的事。
Then, in July, we asked each person to share, with the rest of the staff, whatever idea he or she came up with, on a day we set aside as “Pitchday.”
接下来的七月，我们留一天（Pitchday）出来，让每位员工分享各自的想法。
The June-on-your-own experiment led to the greatest burst of creativity I’ve seen from our 34-member staff. It was fun, and it was a big morale booster. It was also ultraproductive. So much so that we’ll likely start repeating the month-off project a few times a year.
“六月你做主“的尝试引发了我们公司34位员工的创造力大爆发。这个尝试趣味十足，大大激发了员工的工作积极性。他们所完成的工作彻底超出预期的数量与质量，因此，我们开始打算一年里重复几次这样的“月假”项目。
Are you thinking of introducing change to your business or work life? Try following the seasons. There are few things that are as regular and predictable, yet so fresh and different.
你在想办法对你的公司或工作做点什么改变吗？试着跟着季节走吧，因为世上少有如此常规可预测却又如此新鲜特别的事情了。
|
