龟 兔 赛 跑 另 一 章

作者：龟毛的乌龟
校稿：有三栋房子的兔子
排版：有孙子的母鸡

Once upon a time a tortoise and a hare had an argument about who was faster. They decided to settle the argument with a race. They agreed on a route and started off the race.

从前，有一只乌龟和一只兔子在互相争辩谁跑得快。他们决定来一场比赛分高下，选定了路线，就此起跑。

The hare shot ahead and ran briskly for some time. Then seeing that he was far ahead of the tortoise, he thought he'd sit under a tree for some time and relax before continuing the race.

兔子带头冲出，奔驰了一阵子，眼看它已遥遥领先乌龟，心想，它可以在树下坐一会儿，放松一下，然后再继续比赛。

He sat under the tree and soon fell asleep. The tortoise plodding on overtook him and soon finished the race, emerging as the undisputed champ.

兔子很快地在树下就睡着了，而一路上笨手笨脚走来的乌龟则超越过它，不一会儿完成比赛
，成为货真价实的冠军。

The hare woke up and realised that he'd lost the race. The moral of the story is that slow and steady wins the race.


等兔子一觉醒来，才发觉它输了。这个故事给我们的启示是：缓慢且持续的人会赢得比赛。

This is the version of the story that we've all grown up with.



这是从小伴随我们长大的龟兔赛跑故事的版本。

But then recently, someone told me a more interesting version of this story. It continues.


但最近有人告诉了我一个更有趣的版本。故事这么连续下去。

The hare was disappointed at losing the race and he did some Defect Prevention (Root Cause Analysis). He realised that he'd lost the race only because he had been overconfident, careless and lax.

兔子当然因输了比赛而倍感失望，为此他做了些缺失预防工作（根本原因解析）。它很清楚，失败是因它太有信心，大意，以及散漫。

If he had not taken things for granted, there's no way the tortoise could have beaten him. So he challenged the tortoise to another race. The tortoise agreed.

如果它不要自认一切都是理所当然的，乌龟是不可能打败它的。因此，它单挑乌龟再来另一场比赛，而乌龟也同意。

This time, the hare went all out and ran without stopping from start to finish. He won by several miles.


这次，兔子全力以赴，从头到尾，一口气跑完，领先乌龟好几公里。

The moral of the story？ Fast and consistent will always beat the slow and steady.


这故事的有什么启示？动作快且前后一致的人将可胜过缓慢且持续的人。


If you have two people in your organisation, one slow, methodical and reliable, and the other fast and still reliable at what he does, the fast and reliable chap will consistently climb the organisational ladder faster than the slow, methodical chap.
如果在你的工作单位有两个人，一个缓慢，按部就班，且可靠，另一个则是动作快，且办事还算牢靠，那么动作快且牢靠的人会在组织中一直往上爬，升迁的速度比那缓慢且按部就班办事的人快。

It's good to be slow and steady; but it's better to be fast and reliable.



缓慢且持续固然很好，但动作快且牢靠则更胜一筹。

But the story doesn't end here. The tortoise did some thinking this time, and realised that there's no way he can beat the hare in a race the way it was currently formatted.

这故事还没完没了。这下轮到乌龟要好好检讨，它很清楚，照目前的比赛方法，它不可能击败兔子。

He thought for a while, and then challenged the hare to another race, but on a slightly different route.


它想了一会儿，然后单挑兔子再来另一场比赛，但是是在另一条稍许不同的路线上。

The hare agreed. They started off. In keeping with his self-made commitment to be consistently fast, the hare took off and ran at top speed until he came to a broad river.

兔子同意，然后两者同时出发。为了确保自己立下的承诺－从头到尾要一直快速前进，兔子飞驰而出，极速奔跑，直到碰到一条宽阔的河流。

The finishing line was a couple of kilometers on the other side of the river.



而比赛的终点就在几公里外的河对面。

The hare sat there wondering what to do. In the meantime the tortoise trundled along, got into the river, swam to the opposite bank, continued walking and finished the race.

兔子呆坐在那里，一时不知怎么办。这时候，乌龟却一路跚跚而来，撩入河里，游到对岸，继续爬行，完成比赛。

The moral of the story? First identify your core competency and then change the playing field to suit your core competency.

这故事的有什么启示？首先，辨识出你的核心竞争力，然后改变游戏场所以适应（发挥）你的核心竞争力。

In an organisation, if you are a good speaker, make sure you create opportunities to give presentations that enable the senior management to notice you.

在你的工作单位，如果你是一个能言善道的人，一定要想法创造机会，好好表现自己，以便让层峰注意到你。

If your strength is analysis, make sure you do some sort of research, make a report and send it upstairs. Working to your strengths will not only get you noticed but will also create opportunities for growth and advancement.
如果你的优势是从事分析工作，那么你一定要做一些研究，写一个报告，然后呈送上楼。依着自己的优势(专长)来工作，不仅会让上头的人注意到你，也会创造成长和进步的机会。

The story still hasn't ended.




故事还没结束。

The hare and the tortoise, by this time, had become pretty good friends and they did some thinking together. Both realised that the last race could have been run much better.

这下子，兔子和乌龟成了惺惺相惜的好朋友。它们一起检讨，两个都很清楚，在上一次的比赛中，它们可以表现得更好。

So they decided to do the last race again, but to run as a team this time.



所以，他们决定再赛一场，但这次是同队合作。

They started off, and this time the hare carried the tortoise till the riverbank. There, the tortoise took over and swam across with the hare on his back.


它们一起出发，这次可是兔子扛着乌龟，直到河边。在那里，乌龟接手，背着兔子过河。。

On the opposite bank, the hare again carried the tortoise and they reached the finishing line together. They both felt a greater sense of satisfaction than they'd felt earlier.

到了河对岸，兔子再次扛着乌龟，两个一起抵达终点。比起前次，它们都感受到一种更大的成就感。

The moral of the story? It's good to be individually brilliant and to have strong core competencies; but unless you're able to work in a team and harness each other's core competencies, you'll always perform below par because there will always be situations at which you'll do poorly and someone else does well.

这故事的有什么启示？个人表现优异与拥有坚强的核心竞争力固然不错，但除非你能在一个团队内（与别人）同心协力，并掌控彼此间的核心竞争力，否则你的表现将永远在标准之下，因为总有一些状况下，你是技不如人，而别人却干得蛮好的。

Teamwork is mainly about situational leadership, letting the person with the relevant core competency for a situation take leadership.

团队合作主要就是有关情境（权变）领导这档事，让具备处理某一情境能力（核心竞争力）的人当家做主。

There are more lessons to be learnt from this story.



从这故事，我们可以学到更多

Note that neither the hare nor the tortoise gave up after failures. The hare decided to work harder and put in more effort after his failure.

我们了解，在遭逢失败后，兔子和乌龟都没有就此放弃。兔子决定更拼，并且投入更多的努力。

The tortoise changed his strategy because he was already working as hard as he could. In life, when faced with failure, sometimes it is appropriate to work harder and put in more effort.

在尽了全力之后，乌龟则选择改变策略。在人的一生中，当失败临头时，有时我们需更加努力。

Sometimes it is appropriate to change strategy and try something different. And sometimes it is appropriate to do both.


有时则需改变策略，尝试不同的抉择。有时候，两者都要一起来。

The hare and the tortoise also learnt another vital lesson. When we stop competing against a rival and instead start competing against the situation, we perform far better.

兔子和乌龟也学到了最关键的一课。当我们不再与竞争对手较力，而开始逐鹿某一情境时，我们会表现得更好。

When Roberto Goizueta took over as CEO of Coca-Cola in the 1980s, he was faced with intense competition from Pepsi that was eating into Coke's growth.

1980年代，当古兹维塔接掌可口可乐执行长时，他面对的是百事可乐的激烈竞争，可口可乐的市场成长正被它蚕食掉。

His executives were Pepsi-focussed and intent on increasing market share 0.1 per cent a time.


古兹维塔手下的那些管理者，把焦点全灌注在百事可乐身上，一心一意只想着一次增长百分之零点一的市场占有率。

Goizueta decided to stop competing against Pepsi and instead compete against the situation of 0.1 per cent growth.

古兹维塔决定停止与百事可乐的竞争，而改与百分之零点一的成长此一情境角逐。

He asked his executives what was the average fluid intake of an American per day? The answer was 14 ounces. What was Coke's share of that? Two ounces. Goizueta said Coke needed a larger share of that market.
他问起美国人一天的平均液态食品消耗量为多少？答案是十四盎斯。可口可乐在其中有多少？答案是两盎斯。古兹维塔说，可口可乐需要在那块市场做大占有率。

The competition wasn't Pepsi. It was the water, tea, coffee, milk and fruit juices that went into the remaining 12 ounces. The public should reach for a Coke whenever they felt like drinking something.

我们的竞争对象不是百事可乐，要是占掉市场剩余十二盎司的水、茶、咖啡、牛奶及果汁。当大家想要喝一点什么时，应该是去找可口可乐。

To this end, Coke put up vending machines at every street corner. Sales took a quantum jump and Pepsi has never quite caught up since.

为达此目的，可口可乐在每一街头摆上贩卖机，销售量因此节节上升，百事可乐从此再也追赶不上。

To sum up, the story of the hare and tortoise teaches us many things.
Chief among them are that fast and consistent will always beat slow and steady; work to your competencies; pooling resources and working as a team will always beat individual performers; never give up when faced with failure; and finally, compete against the situation. Not against a rival.


【心得感想】

心得感想：龟兔赛跑的故事启发我们良多。
最重要的是：动作快且前后一致的人总是胜过缓慢且持续的人；依着自己的优势(专长)来工作；结合所有的资源且团队合作的人，总是打败单打独斗者；面对失败时，绝不轻言放弃；最后，与某一情境竞争，而不是限定某对手。