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Steve Jobs 曾經講過：“Be a yardstick of quality.
Some people aren't used to an environment where excellence is expected.”
意思即係要成為行內「品質」嘅標竿，佢帶領 Apple 嘅幾年入面，正正係為整個行業樹立左一個 #Excellence 嘅標竿...
你嘅同行或者只係在乎有冇「做到」，
而冇花心機去「做好」每一個細節，
呢個就係勝負嘅關鍵...
你有冇信心超越同行成為行內第一品質嘅公司？
你覺得你嘅產品或服務，
喺客戶嘅角度係咪已經做到最好？
#WeAreCommittedToExcellence
#做到最好
#Success
#Business
#BCM
#BrianCha
用字遣詞的敏感度
快來看Presentality的最新英語寫作分析~
特別敏感的時刻，我們的用字遣詞也要特別小心。今天的「閱讀筆記」，我們來看前一陣子轟動矽谷的事件：知名軟體公司老闆在部落格的一篇 po 文，讓三分之一員工離職。他到底寫了什麼？
📌 總結幾個重點：
1. 在敏感時刻，用字跟語氣，甚至可能比內容還要重要。
2. 用簡短無修飾的句子，會顯得比較強硬，較長而且有修飾的句子，反而比較溫和。
3. 主詞非常，非常重要。你用的是 I, us vs them，還是 "we" and "our"?
如果以後你在情緒高漲的時刻寫文，也不妨寄給英文好而且中立的朋友，請他們評估文字所帶著的情緒，會很有幫助。
★★★★★★★★★★★★
📌 前一陣子，Basecamp 事件震驚美國科技/新創圈。
Basecamp 是一家團隊協作軟體公司，創辦人 Jason Fried 跟 David Heinemeier Hansson 一直都很願意為自己的理想及理念說話。他們寫的 Rework 一書影響了非常多的人，我在台灣認識的好幾位創業家都曾經跟我分享這本書。
但他們四月底在部落格上公告 Basecamp 一系列政策改變之後，引來非常大的反彈。
我第一時間就有去他們的部落格看他們寫的文章，覺得文筆非常好，而且是用說道理的語氣，很 reasonable。但發布不久，公司超過30%的員工，決定離職，其中包括好幾位高階主管！
What happened? 那篇文章，很顯然觸發了一個危機。我回去再把文章看了一次，發現天啊... 那篇文章的語氣，根本沒有我第一次看感覺的溫和。
Changes at Basecamp: https://bit.ly/2SNN6Kr
很多魔鬼都藏在細節裡。
★★★★★★★★★★★★
📌 主要的改變 = 工作時別討論政治或社會議題
讓大家最氣憤的政策改變，其實就只有一個：
No more societal and political discussions on our company Basecamp account.
在這個時空背景下，美國社會立場分歧這麼深，從左右派政治議題，到種族歧視問題，Basecamp 領導人大膽決定，禁止員工在公司內部的線上溝通頻道，討論社會及政治議題。
要去弄社會政治議題，可以，但請別在公司內。
★★★★★★★★★★★★
📌 開頭還算溫和：說服大家把公司當產品看待
一開頭，Fried 就寫：
At Basecamp, we treat our company as a product. It's not a rigid thing that exists, it's a flexible, malleable idea that evolves. We aren't stuck with what we have, we can create what we want. Just as we improve products through iteration, we iterate on our company too.
Hmmm，為什麼要這樣開頭？為什麼要把「公司」跟「產品」劃上等號？
我們可以想像，Fried 肯定為了這篇文煩惱了一陣子。很多想法不斷的在他腦中盤旋，不同的開場，不同的句子...
但這個開頭，是一個很不錯的 framing：因為 Basecamp 的員工肯定很多 product fanatics - 就是最在乎產品好不好的 "builders"。Product lovers 的一個共同點，就是了解產品是會不斷改變的東西。如果說公司也是，就可以理解，公司也會改變。
然後，他非常小心的挑選最正面的說法。每一字每一句都是 product lovers 會認同的：
•flexible
•malleable
•evolve
•we can create what we want
•improve products
•iterate
用了一連串正面的同義字，就是要塑造 change = positive 的氣氛。
★★★★★★★★★★★★
📌 連大改變，都用「改版」來形容
下一步，就是用一個大家理解的方式，來描述「非常大的改變」：
Recently, we've made some internal company changes, which, taken in total, collectively feel like a full version change. It deserves an announcement.
什麼是大的改變？就有點像「改版」的意思。而且注意到，他不是寫 "We're making a full version change" 喔，而是說："changes... taken in total, collectively feel like a full version change."
也就是說，在中間加了很多緩衝的字眼，淡化 "full version change"。
就像你如果要跟一個人說他是混蛋，哪一種說法比較直接：
The way you act sometimes, when people don't know you yet, can feel like you're a bit of an asshole. 或是 You're an asshole.
講完這個，他就要給大家打預防針了。
而且又是從「產品」開始：
In the product world, not all changes are enjoyed by all customers. Some changes are immediately appreciated. Some changes take time to steep, settle in, and get acquainted with. And to some, some changes never feel quite right — they may even be deal breakers.
哇噻，好幾劑預防針啊！
而且他用了三個意思差不多的字，鼓勵大家「耐心的習慣新的改變」：Some changes take time to steep, settle in, and get acquainted with。
Again 他的用字很細心。"Get acquainted with" 就好像跟我們說，
改變其實是我們的朋友，只要我們願意好好認識它。
但他們其實知道，有些改變是一些人完全，完全無法接受的。
所以才有最後一句："They may even be deal breakers"。
They totally knew what was coming...
★★★★★★★★★★★★
📌 溫和就到這裡... 語氣開始轉變
接下來，他選擇美國人非常愛用的寫法，就是引用一位大家尊敬的人的話，來幫自己助陣：
As Huxley offers in The Doors of Perception, "We live together, we act on, and react to, one another; but always and in all circumstances we are by ourselves. The martyrs go hand in hand into the arena; they are crucified alone. Embraced, the lovers desperately try to fuse their insulated ecstasies into a single self-transcendence; in vain. By its very nature every embodied spirit is doomed to suffer and enjoy in solitude."
這裡藏了點玄機。
如果他的目的是說服大家接受這些改變，那為什麼要引用這一段！？
讀起來，這段話反應了他的心情：在做困難決定時的「孤獨」。如果是這樣，那這段話的用途就是「療癒」而不是「說服」。
因為如果目的是說服，為何不引用某個你的員工/讀者都非常敬佩的人的故事，這個人做了一個不受歡迎，但大部分讀者都會認同是正確的決定？
個人猜測：他上面好話已經寫完了。真正的意涵是：We're going forward, alone if necessary。
而且，他們還把自己的決定，frame 成 navigating somewhere，同時把另一邊寫成 circling nowhere
We all want different somethings. Some slightly different, some substantially. Companies, however, must settle the collective difference, pick a point, and navigate towards somewhere, lest they get stuck circling nowhere.
★★★★★★★★★★★★
📌 語氣變的很硬：No More
然後他就開始寫改革本身。
如果把所有改變的第一句話看過去，會發現全部都是 "No more..." 開頭。這個硬到不行了。
完整文章: https://bit.ly/3wT6x3z
圖片出處: https://bit.ly/34wWkO5
★★★★★★★★★★★★
Presentality每天都在追蹤與分析跟英文溝通/寫作有關的文章，如果想要透過我們這些「閱讀筆記」一起學習，可在 FB 追蹤我們：https://www.facebook.com/presentality/
📌 Presentality系列文章:
1. 看貝佐斯致亞馬遜股東的最後一封信，學一些英文寫作小撇步
https://bit.ly/3xCN1cC
2. 英文演講實用的結構與技巧
https://bit.ly/2PHu3Ax
3. 在演講中的四種敘述角度
https://bit.ly/39tNUtv
4. 詩人Amanda Gorman的英文演講技巧
https://bit.ly/39sI3on
5. 從 Most Dangerous Place 文章，看經濟學人寫作邏輯
https://bit.ly/3htqJEs
6. 寫作的終極目標是「提供價值」
https://bit.ly/3yA3gYe
7. 看 Bloomberg學資深記者如何寫文章
https://bit.ly/3i3am1P
左翼串左膠特別好力
今日工黨前首相Tony Blair上電視，仲响右翼平民（最賣得嘅）報紙《Daily Mail》出文批評左膠誤國誤黨（工黨），
"The problem is that, in an era where people want change in a changing world, and a fairer, better and more prosperous future, the radical progressives aren't sensible and the sensible aren't radical."
（响每個人都想改變世界，擁有更公平同繁榮未來嘅時代，最大嘅問題係極端進步派（即係左膠）唔夠理性，而理性嘅人唔夠激進去抗衡。）
"Progressive folk tend to wince at terms such as 'woke' and 'political correctness' but the normal public know exactly what they mean. And the battle is being fought on ground defined by the Right because sensible progressives don't want to be on the field at all."
（理性左翼從來都避免用「醒覺」同「政治正確」呢啲詞彙，因為大眾太清楚呢啲字背後嘅意思，仲已經係由右翼定義咗為（負面）戰場，有常理嘅都唔應該去打呢類泥漿摔角。）
"The consequence is that the 'radical' progressives, who are quite happy to fight on that ground, carry the standard. The fact that it ensures continued Right-wing victory doesn't deter them at all. On the contrary, it gives them a heightened sense of righteousness, like political kamikaze."
（偏偏啲左膠好鍾意帶住啲標準去打，結果咪令右翼更加啱囉，左膠永遠都輸㗎，結果同政治神風特擊隊一樣不停送死。）
"People like common sense, proportion and reason. They dislike prejudice; but they dislike extremism in combating prejudice."
（人嘅天性係喜歡常識、客觀同常理，唔鍾意偏見，不過更討厭就係以極端對付偏見。）
佢仲特別遠距離抽擊美國民主黨，
"And truth be told, no sensible Democrat or democrat should overplay the Biden victory. He won against an incumbent like no other; even then, Donald Trump increased his number of votes in the 2020 presidential election from 2016."
（真相越辯越明，正常嘅民主黨人係唔應該為阿登當選特別高興，佢贏咗Donald Trump係事實，但咪忘記Trump嘅選票比2016年多咗好多。）
Patreon原文：
由工黨前首相狠批「左膠」特別好力
https://bit.ly/3y853Uj
#左翼串左膠特別好睇
#滅黨前嘅忠言
報導：
Why I fear the kamikaze Left could plunge my party into extinction - Tony Blair
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9572501/TONY-BLAIR-fear-kamikaze-Left-plunge-party-extinction.html
***************************************
每日更新乞兒兜Patreon：
https://www.patreon.com/goodbyehkhellouk
MeWe：https://mewe.com/p/goodbyehkhellouk
Twitter：@ByeHKHiUK
IG：@goodbyehkhellouk
最近更新：
由工黨前首相狠批「左膠」特別好力
https://bit.ly/3y853Uj
試下唔用忠奸黑白二元了解今次以巴衝突
https://bit.ly/3hqkKQO
2021年Queen's Speech講咗咩？
https://bit.ly/3bkbMk9
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I don't think so, although I can understand why Oxford Dictionary chose the face with tears of joy as Word of the year. Indeed, people across all cultures use emoticons in digital communication nowadays. But strictly speaking, emoticons AREN'T words. Words carry meaning(含有意思) and can be pronounced(可以發音). Emoticons do carry meaning, but they simply cannot be pronounced. Since they aren't words in my opinion, an emoticon seems not to be a good choice for Word of the year. Make sense?
呀Sir對發音好有興趣，如果你想知某個字點讀得準，請WhatsApp我，我親自錄音為你解答?
Ming Sir WhatsApp: 5118 4620
全年開放haha！
升中4，中5，中6同學或自修生如果想補習都可以聯絡我！！?
另外，新增Paper 2/Paper 3專業改卷服務?
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aren't意思 在 [外絮] 威少擔心接受買斷會為自己帶來污名- 看板NBA 的推薦與評價
One option: Westbrook considering a buyout of the final year of his contract, bu
t at least for now, sources close to the 2017 MVP expressed pessimism he would d
o that,” ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne wrote.
今日撰文報導了威少與湖人之間的緊張關係
一個選擇是：威少考慮買斷他最後一年的合約，但至少就目前而言，親近他的消息人士對他
會這麼做的可能性表示不看好。
Westbrook is a prideful man. His swagger is both his sword and his shield, and h
e will not lay them down lightly. He is wary of the stigma that comes with accep
ting a buyout, one source close to him explained. But he also still believes he
can contribute to a team at a high level.”
他是一個驕傲的人。 他的狂妄就是他的劍和盾，他決不輕易放下。 一位與其關係密切的消
息人士解釋說，威少擔心接受合約買斷會給自己帶來污名。 但他仍然相信自己可以為一支
高水準的球隊做出貢獻
The Lakers reportedly aren’t ruling out waiving Westbrook after this season via
the waive-and-stretch provision. Such a move would basically turn Westbrook’s
player option for next season into a three-year deal.
湖人並不排除直接通過延伸條款裁掉威少的球員選項。延伸條款會讓Westbrook下賽季的球
員選項轉化為湖人隊未來三年薪資空間(每年約1500萬美元的薪資)
It seems like parting ways is what is best for both sides, but Westbrook is clea
rly mindful that accepting a buyout could hurt his value
似乎分手對雙方都是最好的，但威少意識到，接受買斷的提議可能會損害自己的價值
https://lakersdaily.com/report-russell-westbrook-wary-of-the-stigma-that-comes-w
ith-accepting-buyout-from-lakers/amp/
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※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc), 來自: 101.137.237.203 (臺灣)
※ 文章網址: https://www.ptt.cc/bbs/NBA/M.1649429233.A.B06.html
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