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

大衛‧葛雷蒂: 如何將世界(或至少你自己)從令人厭倦的會議中拯救出來

Filmed:
2,459,605 views

差勁的、無效率的、過於擁擠的會議的迅速傳播是世界商業界的困擾──並使勞工痛苦。大衛‧葛雷蒂有些想法,也許能緩解這一現象。
- 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圖片 this:
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想像一下
00:14
It's Monday星期一 morning早上,
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星期一早上
00:15
you're at the office辦公室,
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你走進辦公室
00:16
you're settling解決 in for the day at work,
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準備開始一天的工作,
00:18
and this guy that you sort分類 of
recognize認識 from down the hall大廳,
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突然間有個同事,一個你好像認得,
可能在隔壁組工作的同事
00:21
walks散步 right into your cubicle
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走進你的辦公室
00:23
and he steals搶斷 your chair椅子.
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把你的椅子拿走
00:24
Doesn't say a word
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甚麼都沒說
00:25
just rolls勞斯萊斯 away with it.
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拿了椅子,就走了,
00:27
Doesn't give you any information信息
about why he took your chair椅子
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完全沒解釋為甚麼他把你的椅子拿走,
00:29
out of all the other chairs椅子
that are out there.
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全公司那麼多椅子
卻偏要拿你的,
00:31
Doesn't acknowledge確認 the fact事實
that you might威力 need your chair椅子
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也無視你很也許需要用這張椅子
00:34
to get some work doneDONE today今天.
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來完成你今天需要的工作。
00:35
You wouldn't不會 stand for
it. You'd make a stink.
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你絕對不會接受
所以你馬上行動,
00:37
You'd follow跟隨 that guy
back to his cubicle
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你追著這個同事回到他的辦公桌,
00:39
and you'd say, "Why my chair椅子?"
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質問他: "為甚麼偏要拿我的椅子?"
00:43
Okay, so now it's Tuesday星期二 morning早上
and you're at the office辦公室,
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現在,時間快轉到星期二早上,
你人已經到了公司,
00:47
and a meeting會議 invitation請帖 pops持久性有機污染物
up in your calendar日曆.
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行事曆傳來一個會議的邀請。
00:50
(Laughter笑聲)
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(笑聲)
00:51
And it's from this woman女人 who you
kind of know from down the hall大廳,
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是一個你可能認識的女同事寄來的,
00:54
and the subject學科 line references引用 some
project項目 that you heard聽說 a little bit about.
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會議的標題隱約的
提到你稍微聽過的一個案子,
00:58
But there's no agenda議程.
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但這個會議沒有議程,
01:00
There's no information信息 about why
you were invited邀請 to the meeting會議.
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沒有任何有關於為什麼你會被邀請的資訊,
01:03
And yet然而 you accept接受 the
meeting會議 invitation請帖, and you go.
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但你還是接受邀請,並出席。
01:07
And when this highly高度
unproductive非生產性 session會議 is over,
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當這場沒有效率的會議結束之後
01:10
you go back to your desk,
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你回你的座位
01:12
and you stand at your
desk and you say,
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並站在你座位旁
01:14
"Boy男孩, I wish希望 I had those two hours小時 back,
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說道 "我真希望我能要回那兩小時
01:16
like I wish希望 I had my chair椅子 back."
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就像我想要回我的椅子一樣"。
01:18
(Laughter笑聲)
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(笑聲)
01:20
Every一切 day, we allow允許 our coworkers合作夥伴,
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每天,我們同意讓我們的同事
01:22
who are otherwise除此以外 very,
very nice不錯 people,
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去偷走我們的東西,
01:24
to steal from us.
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儘管他們是非常好的人。
01:26
And I'm talking about something far
more valuable有價值 than office辦公室 furniture家具.
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我在講的比辦公用品還寶貴,
01:30
I'm talking about time. Your time.
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我們講的是你的時間
01:33
In fact事實, I believe that
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事實上,我認為
01:36
we are in the middle中間
of a global全球 epidemic疫情
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我們正處於全球的疫情當中,
01:38
of a terrible可怕 new illness疾病
known已知 as MASMAS:
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一個疫情名為MAS:
01:43
Mindless討巧 Accept接受 Syndrome綜合徵.
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盲目接受症候群。
01:46
(Laughter笑聲)
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(笑聲)
01:48
The primary symptom症狀 of
Mindless討巧 Accept接受 Syndrome綜合徵
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盲目接受症候群的主要症狀為
01:50
is just accepting驗收 a meeting會議 invitation請帖
the minute分鐘 it pops持久性有機污染物 up in your calendar日曆.
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馬上無條件的接受任何的會議邀請。
01:54
(Laughter笑聲)
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(笑聲)
01:55
It's an involuntary非自願 reflex反射ding,
click點擊, bing — it's in your calendar日曆,
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他是一個反射動作,
只要叮— 點擊,乒— 就出現在你的月曆上,
01:59
"Gotta總得 go, I'm already已經 late晚了
for a meeting會議." (Laughter笑聲)
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"該走了,我的會議已經遲到了"。(笑聲)
02:02
Meetings會議 are important重要, right?
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會議非常重要,對吧?
02:05
And collaboration合作 is key to
the success成功 of any enterprise企業.
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合作通常是企業成功的關鍵。
02:08
And a well-run經營有方 meeting會議 can yield產量
really positive, actionable results結果.
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一個好的會議能夠帶來正面且效率的回應
02:11
But between之間 globalization全球化
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但是全球化
02:13
and pervasive無處不在 information信息 technology技術,
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以及大型資訊技術之間,
02:15
the way that we work
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我們的工作方式
02:17
has really changed dramatically顯著
over the last few少數 years年份.
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在過去的幾年內產生巨大的變化,
02:20
And we're miserable. (Laughter笑聲)
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然後我們變得很痛苦。 (笑聲)
02:23
And we're miserable not because the
other guy can't run a good meeting會議,
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我們很痛苦不是因為
別人不能開一個好會議,
02:27
it's because of MASMAS, our
Mindless討巧 Accept接受 Syndrome綜合徵,
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是因為MAS,我們的盲目接受症候群,
02:30
which哪一個 is a self-inflicted自作自受 wound傷口.
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這個病是我們自找的。
02:33
Actually其實, I have evidence證據 to prove證明
that MASMAS is a global全球 epidemic疫情.
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事實上,我能夠證明
MAS是一個全球性的疫情,
02:39
Let me tell you why.
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讓我解釋。
02:40
A couple一對 of years年份 ago, I put a video視頻
on Youtube的Youtube, and in the video視頻,
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幾年前我在YouTube上傳了一部影片,
02:45
I acted行動 out every一切 terrible可怕
conference會議 call you've ever been on.
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我把會議上曾經歷最糟糕的情況都展現出來,
02:48
It goes on for about five minutes分鐘,
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片長大約五分鐘
02:49
and it has all the things that we
hate討厭 about really bad meetings會議.
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包括了一切有關令我們厭煩的會議,
02:53
There's the moderator主席 who has
no idea理念 how to run the meeting會議.
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有主持者完全不知道怎麼運作會議,
02:56
There are the participants參與者 who
have no idea理念 why they're there.
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參會者完全不知道為什麼參加會議,
02:58
The whole整個 thing kind of collapses崩潰
into this collaborative共同 train培養 wreck破壞.
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整件事演變成一連串的鬧劇,
03:02
And everybody每個人 leaves樹葉 very angry憤怒.
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最後大家都憤怒的離去。
03:05
It's kind of funny滑稽.
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其實有點好笑。
03:06
(Laughter笑聲)
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(笑聲)
03:08
Let's take a quick look.
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讓我們簡單看一下
03:10
(Video視頻) Our goal目標 today今天 is to come to an
agreement協議 on a very important重要 proposal提案.
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(影片) 我們今天的目標是為一個
非常重要的計畫達成一個共識,
03:14
As a group, we need to decide決定 if —
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作為一個團隊,我們需要決定如果——
03:16
bloopBLOOP bloopBLOOP
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嗶 嗶——
03:19
Hi你好, who just joined加盟?
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嗨,誰剛剛加入?
03:22
Hi你好, it's Joe. I'm working加工 from home today今天.
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嗨,我是喬,我今天在家辦公。
03:25
(Laughter笑聲)
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(笑聲)
03:27
Hi你好, Joe. Thanks謝謝 for
joining加盟 us today今天, great.
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嗨,喬,謝謝你的加入,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通過,
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我剛剛提到說,我們這次會議有很多人參加,
03:33
so let's skip跳躍 the roll call
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所以我們直接跳過點名,
03:35
and I'm gonna dive潛水 right in.
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我就直接開始了。
03:37
Our goal目標 today今天 is to come to an
agreement協議 on a very important重要 proposal提案.
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我們今天的目標是為一個
非常重要的計畫達成一個共識,
03:41
As a group, we need to decide決定 if —
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作為一個團隊,我們需要決定如果——
03:44
bloopBLOOP bloopBLOOP
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嗶 嗶——
03:45
(Laughter笑聲)
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(笑聲)
03:47
Hi你好, who just joined加盟?
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嗨,誰剛剛加入?
03:49
No? I thought I heard聽說 a beep. (Laughter笑聲)
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沒人? 我以為我聽到嗶聲 (笑聲)
03:53
Sound聲音 familiar?
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聽起來熟悉嗎?
03:55
Yeah, it sounds聲音 familiar
to me, too.
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對,這對我來說也很熟悉。
03:57
A couple一對 of weeks after I put that online線上,
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在我上傳影片的幾週後,
03:59
500,000 people in dozens許多 of countries國家,
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來自數十國家的50萬人
04:02
I mean dozens許多 of countries國家,
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我講的是數十個國家
04:04
watched看著 this video視頻.
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觀看這部影片。
04:05
And three years年份 later後來, it's still getting得到
thousands數千 of views意見 every一切 month.
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之後的三年,每個月
仍然有幾千次的觀看次數,
04:08
It's close to about a million百萬 right now.
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到現在大概有一百萬次了。
04:10
And in fact事實, some of the biggest最大
companies公司 in the world世界,
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事實上,有些國際大公司,
04:12
companies公司 that you've
heard聽說 of but I won't慣於 name名稱,
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你肯定知道這些公司,但我不會公布名字,
04:14
have asked for my permission允許 to use
this video視頻 in their new-hire新員工 training訓練
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他們徵求我的允許
把影片使用在他們的員工培訓上面,
04:18
to teach their new employees僱員 how
not to run a meeting會議 at their company公司.
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來教導新員工如何不在公司裡開這樣的會議,
04:22
And if the numbers數字
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如果
04:24
there are a million百萬 views意見 and it's
being存在 used by all these companies公司
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幾百萬次的觀看紀錄和被大公司使用的事實
04:26
aren't enough足夠 proof證明 that we have
a global全球 problem問題 with meetings會議,
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不足以證明會議已經是全球性議題,
04:30
there are the many許多, many許多 thousands數千
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在影片上傳之後
04:31
of comments註釋 posted發布 online線上
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有成千上萬的評論
04:33
after the video視頻 went up.
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發布在網路上,
04:35
Thousands成千上萬 of people wrote things like,
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數千人寫下這樣的話
04:37
"OMG我的天啊, that was my day today今天!"
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"我的天,這就是我的天"
04:39
"That was my day every一切 day!"
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"這是我的每一天"
04:41
"This is my life."
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"這是我的生活"
04:42
One guy wrote,
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有一個人寫道
04:43
"It's funny滑稽 because it's true真正.
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"這很有趣因為這是事實。
04:45
Eerily詭異, sadly可悲的是, depressingly令人沮喪 true真正.
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怪異,可悲,令人沮喪的事實,
04:46
It made製作 me laugh until直到 I cried哭了.
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它讓我笑到哭出來,
04:48
And cried哭了. And I cried哭了 some more."
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然後我一直哭,一直哭"。
04:51
(Laughter笑聲)
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(笑聲)
04:53
This poor較差的 guy said,
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這個可憐人寫道
04:54
"My daily日常 life until直到
retirement退休 or death死亡, sigh."
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"這是我直到退休或死亡的每一天,嘆氣"。
04:59
These are real真實 quotes報價
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這些都是真實的評論
05:01
and it's real真實 sad傷心.
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而且真的令人沮喪。
05:02
A common共同 theme主題 running賽跑 through通過
all of these comments註釋 online線上
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這些網路上的評論有一個共同點,
05:05
is this fundamental基本的 belief信仰
that we are powerless無力
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那就是我們覺得無能為力
05:08
to do anything other
than go to meetings會議
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來避免參加這些會議,
05:10
and suffer遭受 through通過 these
poorly不好 run meetings會議
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並且忍受這些效率很差的會議,
05:12
and live生活 to meet遇到 another另一個 day.
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苟延殘喘的活過另一天。
05:14
But the truth真相 is, we're
not powerless無力 at all.
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但事實上,我們並不是無能為力,
05:17
In fact事實, the cure治愈 for MASMAS
is right here in our hands.
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實際上盲目接受症候群的解藥就在我們手裡,
真的就在我們的指尖,
05:20
It's right at our fingertips指尖, literally按照字面.
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05:22
It's something that I call ¡No MASMAS!
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我稱之為 ¡No MAS!。
05:26
(Laughter笑聲)
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(笑聲)
05:28
Which哪一個, if I remember記得 my
high school學校 Spanish西班牙語,
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如果我還記得我高中的西班牙課,
05:30
means手段 something like,
"Enough足夠 already已經, make it stop!"
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這句話的意思大概是 "已經夠了,停止吧"
05:33
Here's這裡的 how No MASMAS
works作品. It's very simple簡單.
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拒絕 MAS 的做法很簡單,
05:36
First of all, the next下一個 time you
get a meeting會議 invitation請帖
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首先,下次你接到會議邀請的時候,
05:39
that doesn't have a lot
of information信息 in it at all,
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那種沒有任何相關資訊的會議邀請,
05:42
click點擊 the tentative試驗 button按鍵!
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點擊 "不確定" 按鈕!
05:44
It's okay, you're allowed允許,
that's why it's there.
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你是可以這麼做的,所以才有這個按鈕,
05:46
It's right next下一個 to the accept接受 button按鍵.
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就在"接受"按鈕的旁邊,
05:48
Or the maybe button按鍵, or whatever隨你 button按鍵
is there for you not to accept接受 immediately立即.
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或者是"或許"按鈕,
或什麼其他按鈕讓你不用立刻同意接受。
05:51
Then, get in touch觸摸 with the person
who asked you to the meeting會議.
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然後,去聯絡那個找你參加會議的人
05:55
Tell them you're very excited興奮
to support支持 their work,
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告訴他你很高興能後支持他的工作。
05:58
ask them what the goal目標
of the meeting會議 is,
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2015
然後問他會議的目的,
06:00
and tell them you're interested有興趣 in learning學習
how you can help them achieve實現 their goal目標.
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告訴他們你願意去學習
如何幫助他們達成目標。
06:03
And if we do this often經常 enough足夠,
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如果我們經常這樣做,
06:05
and we do it respectfully尊敬,
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以尊重的態度這樣做,
06:07
people might威力 start開始 to be
a little bit more thoughtful周到
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人們在邀請別人參與會議的時候
06:09
about the way they put together一起
meeting會議 invitations邀請函.
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會多用點腦筋,
06:11
And you can make more thoughtful周到
decisions決定 about accepting驗收 it.
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而你也可以做出更周全的決定來接受它。
06:14
People might威力 actually其實 start開始
sending發出 out agendas議程. Imagine想像!
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人們或許真的開始列出議程,想像一下!
06:17
Or they might威力 not have a conference會議 call
with 12 people to talk about a status狀態
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或者他們不會開一個12人的
電話會議來討論現況,
06:21
when they could just do a quick
email電子郵件 and get it doneDONE with.
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當他們可以簡單的使用電子郵件搞定。
06:24
People just might威力 start開始 to change更改 their
behavior行為 because you changed yours你的.
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人們的行為會因為你的改變而改變,
06:29
And they just might威力 bring帶來
your chair椅子 back, too. (Laughter笑聲)
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而他們也許還會把你的椅子還給你。 (笑聲)
06:33
No MASMAS!
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拒絕 MAS!
06:34
Thank you.
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謝謝
06:35
(Applause掌聲).
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(鼓掌)
Translated by Andrew Kuo
Reviewed by Martin Owen

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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