08.02.2008
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Das chinesische Neujahrsfest hat für die Chinesen eine so große Bedeutung wie für den westlichen Kulturkreis die Zeit um Weihnachten und Silvester. Nach dem chinesischen Kalender findet es immer am zweiten Neumond nach der Wintersonnenwende statt.
Gestern haben Millionen Chinesen weltweit das neue Jahr begrüßt. Damit ist das Jahr des Schweins beendet und das Jahr der Ratte beginnt.
Das chinesische Horoskop ist nicht mit dem westlichen Horoskop vergleichbar. Denn das westliche Horoskop beruht auf den zwölf Tierkreiszeichen, die den Jahresverlauf der Sonne in zwölf Abschnitte teilen. Das chinesische Horoskop führt seine zwölf Tierkreiszeichen auf eine Sage zurück. Der Sage nach sollen die zwölf Tierkreiszeichen entstanden sein, als Buddha alle Tiere zum Neujahrsfest einlud, zu ihm zu kommen. Allerdings folgten nur zwölf Tiere seiner Einladung. Zur Belohnung gab er ihnen jeweils die Aufsicht über ein Jahr, und zwar nach der Reihenfolge ihres Erscheinens. Als erstes erschien die Ratte, dann der Büffel, der Tiger, der Hase, der Drache, die Schlange das Pferd, das Schaf (die Ziege), der Affe, dann der Hahn, der Hund und als letztes erschien das Schwein.
China Bei der Beratung durch ein chinesisches Horoskop stehen die Deutung von Charaktereigenschaften und das Aufzeigen von Neigungen oder Talenten des Menschen im Vordergrund.
Das Jahr der Ratte soll chinesischen Astrologen zufolge großen Einfluss auf das Leben der Menschen haben. So müssen Büffel-Geborene (die Jahre 1949, 1961 und 1973) besonders aufpassen, um vor lauter Arbeit nicht die Beziehung zu vernachlässigen. Ebenso sollten Hase-Geborene (1951, 1963 und 1975) keine Flirts eingehen, denn diese könnten vorhandene Beziehungen zerstören, raten die Sterndeuter aus dem Reich der Mitte. Als Mitteleuropäer mag man zu solchen Empfehlungen stehen, wie man will. Doch in China - wie in ganz Asien - sind Aberglaube und der Glaube an (gute wie böse) Geister weit verbreitet. Schließlich haben auch Studien in der westlichen Welt gezeigt, dass sich die Horoskop-Spalten der Illustrierten bei vielen Lesern ganz besonderer Beliebtheit erfreuen.
2008年2月14日星期四
2008年1月28日星期一
华人状告德国《明镜》周刊辱华遇阻
国际先驱导报
“汉堡检察院冠冕堂皇地利用所谓的‘新闻自由’等条文，笼统地否定华人的上诉理由，却对上诉书中详细列出的论点和论据视而不见”
国际先驱导报记者金晶发自柏林 经过两个多月的耐心等待，在德国的华人等来的却是一纸停止调查的结案通知。
“虽然《明镜》周刊的报道具有一定误导性，个别言词挑衅味道浓，但这是为了引起读者的注意，仍然属于言论自由的范畴，并不能看作是对在德华人的侮辱，不能构成对华人尊严的侵犯。”1月23日，汉堡检察院驳回了在德华人指控《明镜》周刊的多项罪名。
“这个通知并不让人意外……但这并没有结束。”检察院的通知引起了在德华人的不满，他们状告《明镜》的又一轮“角力”即将展开。
检察院单方面终止调查
在这份长达数页的通知书中，汉堡检察院一一驳回了在德华人的上诉。通知称，《明镜》有关负责人的行为不属于相关“罪行”，因此检察院终止对这一事件的刑事调查。
事情的起因，已在包括本报在内多家媒体的跟踪报道中异常清晰。去年8月26日，《明镜》第35期刊登了长达14页的封面报道，诬称所有在德中国留学生为间谍。该杂志不仅打出醒目的“黄色间谍”标题，还配有一张黄色面孔从百叶窗后向外窥探的照片，报道中露骨的辱华情绪、赤裸裸的攻击性语言，让在德华人拍案而起。
“检察院冠冕堂皇地利用所谓的‘新闻自由’等法律条文笼统地否定我们的上诉理由，却对华人上诉书中详细列出的论点和论据视而不见，令人失望。”周坚愤愤不平地告诉《国际先驱导报》。
作为此次上诉行动的负责人，周坚此前对《明镜》的辱华报道做了细心研究，并反复查阅了有关德国法律。在他们去年11月22日向汉堡检察院提交的刑事控告书中，指控《明镜》周刊的罪名包括：侮辱、谩骂与诽谤罪，谩骂信仰、宗教组织与世界观团体罪，煽动民众罪，以及损害外国国旗和主权标志罪。
起诉人被“剥夺”知情权
周坚称，德国法律规定，检察院有义务对此类严重案件提起公诉。因此，“如果不是《明镜》捏造事实，就是检察院公然渎职”。
值得关注的是，到目前为止，汉堡检察院仅仅给本次状告《明镜》的华人原告之一——“中国留德学者学生团体联合会”发送了结案通知，并在通知中声明，因为“状告理由相似”，不再给同时提起诉讼的个人发通知，而这部分“个人”中包括在报道插图中被侵犯肖像权的中国留学生，以及曾经在德研究所工作的华人专家等。
“这属于严重的程序违法，不仅剥夺了个人的知情权，更严重的是，这给个别华人的上诉制造了程序上的障碍。”周坚告诉《国际先驱导报》，根据德国法律，通过“个人”而不是“团体”的方式控告“侮辱罪”胜诉的机会更大。据了解，除了联合会，本次状告《明镜》还有40多位华人分别向汉堡检察院投递了30多份上诉状。
法兰克福的一名华人律师，在接受本报记者电话采访时明确指出，汉堡检察院的结案通知书“也并非无懈可击”。
带着疑问和各方的说法，《国际先驱导报》联系了汉堡检察院，但被告知负责撰写该结案通知的检察长“生病不在”。汉堡检察院还表示，不能接受记者的电话采访，而截至发稿时，记者也没有收到检察院给予书面采访问题的任何回复。
律师不敢接手“特殊案件”
“我们不会就此放弃上诉，中国留德学者学生团体联合会将向汉堡总检察院提起上诉，要求检察院重启调查。”周坚同时呼吁，所有提出刑事控告的华人立即向汉堡检察院写信，询问调查结果，以便各自获得书面的调查程序结果通知，作好进一步上诉的准备。
周坚解释，由于德国检察院受司法部管辖，上诉者有权向司法部提交“职务监督异议”，让司法部监督检察院是否公正执法。因此，联合会准备近期向汉堡市的州检察院提交“职务监督异议”。
至于目前德国华人维权面临最大的困难，恐怕还是没有专业的代理律师。周坚告诉《国际先驱导报》，他曾经与多位德国律师就本案交涉，但因为种种原因都吃了闭门羹，而在德的华人律师则更是顾虑重重。
据了解，在德国目前拥有律师证的华人一共不超过5人，并且专业方向主要是民法、商法或者经济法。而状告《明镜》的“侮辱罪”等罪名在德国属于“刑法”范畴。此外，根据法律规定，华人律师在取得律师证前，都必须加入德国籍，他们中的一些人还就职于德国律师行，因此，对接手这类具有特殊案件颇有顾虑。本报记者电话采访的那位华人律师，就不愿意公开自己的姓名，也不愿对此案发表太多意见。
“汉堡检察院冠冕堂皇地利用所谓的‘新闻自由’等条文，笼统地否定华人的上诉理由，却对上诉书中详细列出的论点和论据视而不见”
国际先驱导报记者金晶发自柏林 经过两个多月的耐心等待，在德国的华人等来的却是一纸停止调查的结案通知。
“虽然《明镜》周刊的报道具有一定误导性，个别言词挑衅味道浓，但这是为了引起读者的注意，仍然属于言论自由的范畴，并不能看作是对在德华人的侮辱，不能构成对华人尊严的侵犯。”1月23日，汉堡检察院驳回了在德华人指控《明镜》周刊的多项罪名。
“这个通知并不让人意外……但这并没有结束。”检察院的通知引起了在德华人的不满，他们状告《明镜》的又一轮“角力”即将展开。
检察院单方面终止调查
在这份长达数页的通知书中，汉堡检察院一一驳回了在德华人的上诉。通知称，《明镜》有关负责人的行为不属于相关“罪行”，因此检察院终止对这一事件的刑事调查。
事情的起因，已在包括本报在内多家媒体的跟踪报道中异常清晰。去年8月26日，《明镜》第35期刊登了长达14页的封面报道，诬称所有在德中国留学生为间谍。该杂志不仅打出醒目的“黄色间谍”标题，还配有一张黄色面孔从百叶窗后向外窥探的照片，报道中露骨的辱华情绪、赤裸裸的攻击性语言，让在德华人拍案而起。
“检察院冠冕堂皇地利用所谓的‘新闻自由’等法律条文笼统地否定我们的上诉理由，却对华人上诉书中详细列出的论点和论据视而不见，令人失望。”周坚愤愤不平地告诉《国际先驱导报》。
作为此次上诉行动的负责人，周坚此前对《明镜》的辱华报道做了细心研究，并反复查阅了有关德国法律。在他们去年11月22日向汉堡检察院提交的刑事控告书中，指控《明镜》周刊的罪名包括：侮辱、谩骂与诽谤罪，谩骂信仰、宗教组织与世界观团体罪，煽动民众罪，以及损害外国国旗和主权标志罪。
起诉人被“剥夺”知情权
周坚称，德国法律规定，检察院有义务对此类严重案件提起公诉。因此，“如果不是《明镜》捏造事实，就是检察院公然渎职”。
值得关注的是，到目前为止，汉堡检察院仅仅给本次状告《明镜》的华人原告之一——“中国留德学者学生团体联合会”发送了结案通知，并在通知中声明，因为“状告理由相似”，不再给同时提起诉讼的个人发通知，而这部分“个人”中包括在报道插图中被侵犯肖像权的中国留学生，以及曾经在德研究所工作的华人专家等。
“这属于严重的程序违法，不仅剥夺了个人的知情权，更严重的是，这给个别华人的上诉制造了程序上的障碍。”周坚告诉《国际先驱导报》，根据德国法律，通过“个人”而不是“团体”的方式控告“侮辱罪”胜诉的机会更大。据了解，除了联合会，本次状告《明镜》还有40多位华人分别向汉堡检察院投递了30多份上诉状。
法兰克福的一名华人律师，在接受本报记者电话采访时明确指出，汉堡检察院的结案通知书“也并非无懈可击”。
带着疑问和各方的说法，《国际先驱导报》联系了汉堡检察院，但被告知负责撰写该结案通知的检察长“生病不在”。汉堡检察院还表示，不能接受记者的电话采访，而截至发稿时，记者也没有收到检察院给予书面采访问题的任何回复。
律师不敢接手“特殊案件”
“我们不会就此放弃上诉，中国留德学者学生团体联合会将向汉堡总检察院提起上诉，要求检察院重启调查。”周坚同时呼吁，所有提出刑事控告的华人立即向汉堡检察院写信，询问调查结果，以便各自获得书面的调查程序结果通知，作好进一步上诉的准备。
周坚解释，由于德国检察院受司法部管辖，上诉者有权向司法部提交“职务监督异议”，让司法部监督检察院是否公正执法。因此，联合会准备近期向汉堡市的州检察院提交“职务监督异议”。
至于目前德国华人维权面临最大的困难，恐怕还是没有专业的代理律师。周坚告诉《国际先驱导报》，他曾经与多位德国律师就本案交涉，但因为种种原因都吃了闭门羹，而在德的华人律师则更是顾虑重重。
据了解，在德国目前拥有律师证的华人一共不超过5人，并且专业方向主要是民法、商法或者经济法。而状告《明镜》的“侮辱罪”等罪名在德国属于“刑法”范畴。此外，根据法律规定，华人律师在取得律师证前，都必须加入德国籍，他们中的一些人还就职于德国律师行，因此，对接手这类具有特殊案件颇有顾虑。本报记者电话采访的那位华人律师，就不愿意公开自己的姓名，也不愿对此案发表太多意见。
2008年1月21日星期一
TABLE TALK
By Tim Harford
Sunday, February 03, 2008
Feng shui is all very well, but the next time you decide to redesign the layout of your office space you might consider calling an economist. That's because an astonishing new set of data from Google – where else? – has allowed economists to track something that had been utterly ethereal: the flow of information around a physical office space.
The data come from Google's trials of something called an internal prediction market. Prediction markets are most famously used to forecast presidential elections. If Barack Obama is trading at 35 cents on the Democratic nomination market, that is what punters are willing to pay for a ticket that will pay a dollar if and only if he wins the nomination. In that case the market is giving Obama a 35 per cent chance.
Prediction markets aren't perfect, but they often beat alternative forecasting mechanisms. That is why some companies have started to experiment with them by asking their own employees to bet on sales and revenue figures – the alternative being to rely on the bureaucracy's own forecasts, which are often made by people with a vested interest in sitting on bad news.
Google is not the first to try: according to Bo Cowgill, of Google's economics group, and academic economists Eric Zitzewitz and Justin Wolfers, other pioneers include ArcelorMittal, Chrysler, Eli Lilly, General Electric and Hewlett Packard.
The markets seem to work quite well. But that is not the most interesting thing to emerge from the analysis by Cowgill and his co-authors. By looking at which Google employees trade in which markets (betting on, for instance, how many users Google's Gmail service will attract by the end of the quarter) and on which side of the trade, they have a good idea about who has what information. And by looking at who else makes similar trades, they can draw conclusions about who has similar information at similar times.
If this was an ordinary company, the researchers might try to correlate information with the organisation chart, and that would be about all there was to say. But this is Google. Cowgill, Zitzewitz and Wolfers had the precise GPS location of each desk (Google offices are open-plan). They had information about which employees were on the same e-mail listings, such as the poker group. From a survey, they had a list of each employee's friends. They knew which bosses they worked for, which projects they worked on, and where they went to college. All they lacked were the names of the employees, which were stripped out of the database.
The results were striking. Clear correlations existed between the trading behaviour of certain groups of employees. But they were not explained by shared interests or by social connections. Having the same immediate boss only explains a little about information flows.
No, it is the office layout that matters: people who sit near each other tend to know the same things, as evidenced by making similar trades on the prediction markets. Social and professional proximity matters very little for the flow of information: physical proximity is almost everything.
Specialists in organisational behaviour have known for a while that people tend to interact much more with those who sit nearby, but it has never been clear whether that was just social grooming. Now we know that real information is flowing.
We keep being told that because of cheap, ubiquitous communication technology, distance is dead. But if there was ever a company that we should expect to exemplify that idea, surely it was Google. This research suggests that it is as important as ever to be sitting in the right place.
Sunday, February 03, 2008
Feng shui is all very well, but the next time you decide to redesign the layout of your office space you might consider calling an economist. That's because an astonishing new set of data from Google – where else? – has allowed economists to track something that had been utterly ethereal: the flow of information around a physical office space.
The data come from Google's trials of something called an internal prediction market. Prediction markets are most famously used to forecast presidential elections. If Barack Obama is trading at 35 cents on the Democratic nomination market, that is what punters are willing to pay for a ticket that will pay a dollar if and only if he wins the nomination. In that case the market is giving Obama a 35 per cent chance.
Prediction markets aren't perfect, but they often beat alternative forecasting mechanisms. That is why some companies have started to experiment with them by asking their own employees to bet on sales and revenue figures – the alternative being to rely on the bureaucracy's own forecasts, which are often made by people with a vested interest in sitting on bad news.
Google is not the first to try: according to Bo Cowgill, of Google's economics group, and academic economists Eric Zitzewitz and Justin Wolfers, other pioneers include ArcelorMittal, Chrysler, Eli Lilly, General Electric and Hewlett Packard.
The markets seem to work quite well. But that is not the most interesting thing to emerge from the analysis by Cowgill and his co-authors. By looking at which Google employees trade in which markets (betting on, for instance, how many users Google's Gmail service will attract by the end of the quarter) and on which side of the trade, they have a good idea about who has what information. And by looking at who else makes similar trades, they can draw conclusions about who has similar information at similar times.
If this was an ordinary company, the researchers might try to correlate information with the organisation chart, and that would be about all there was to say. But this is Google. Cowgill, Zitzewitz and Wolfers had the precise GPS location of each desk (Google offices are open-plan). They had information about which employees were on the same e-mail listings, such as the poker group. From a survey, they had a list of each employee's friends. They knew which bosses they worked for, which projects they worked on, and where they went to college. All they lacked were the names of the employees, which were stripped out of the database.
The results were striking. Clear correlations existed between the trading behaviour of certain groups of employees. But they were not explained by shared interests or by social connections. Having the same immediate boss only explains a little about information flows.
No, it is the office layout that matters: people who sit near each other tend to know the same things, as evidenced by making similar trades on the prediction markets. Social and professional proximity matters very little for the flow of information: physical proximity is almost everything.
Specialists in organisational behaviour have known for a while that people tend to interact much more with those who sit nearby, but it has never been clear whether that was just social grooming. Now we know that real information is flowing.
We keep being told that because of cheap, ubiquitous communication technology, distance is dead. But if there was ever a company that we should expect to exemplify that idea, surely it was Google. This research suggests that it is as important as ever to be sitting in the right place.
年终总结要人命
作者：英国《金融时报》中文网特约撰稿人龙溪微微
2007年12月27日 星期四
眼看年底了，我的小脑瓜又开始一个变两个大——无他，写总结耳。
写年终总结不是个轻松活，首先得有良好的记忆力，回顾自己过去一年做出的丰功伟绩，千万别漏掉几笔重要贡献，更别犯糊涂把他人的伟绩记错安在自个头上。其次，文笔要好——以谦虚的态度表达骄傲，让自己的闪光点自然流露于字里行间，这可是一门艺术。然后么，速度要快，花一周时间吭哧吭哧写总结的人是最傻的，因为这种慢性折磨会剥夺你难得的节日喜悦。
怎样写好年终总结？我向同事虚心求教。同事A说，这还不好办，上网搜索一些模板，结合自身工作实际套进去嘛。同事B说，这还不简单，把你去年写过的总结找出来，“与时俱进”一下不就搞定了吗？
说得轻巧，像根灯草，去年做过的事和今年一样嘛？去年的我有今年这么努力嘛？总结是播种机，播种的就是新的希望嘛! 去年的播种机，种出来的粮食都被我吃到肚子里了。
写着写着，我写不下去了。因为就在11月份，我在工作上犯了两个不大不小、可轻可重的错误。这真叫人为难，是一笔带过呢？还是深刻反思呢？为什么迟不出错早不出错，偏偏在快到年底评估的节骨眼上掉链子呢？
所以说，在职场上，行百里者半九十。如果一个员工在一年的前三个季度忘我工作，结果却在最后一个季度开始颠三倒四，那么可以说，他前9个月的努力就基本上打了水漂了。随着时间的流逝，你之前的努力在老板的印象中已逐渐模糊，而最近的表现和新犯的错误却清晰如昨。
同理，对一个表现平平的惰性员工而言，最好的补救办法就是在年底这几个月拼命工作，主动加班。身边的领导和同事们会为你蓬勃的干劲和无私的付出，流下感动的泪水，从而忘记你以前的顽劣表现。不过，如果你在年终评估的前一周突然工作异常神勇，那估计大家会觉得你吃错药了……
其实，年终考核真有那么灵吗？英国BBC最近发表报告称，一半的英国职场人觉得上司对他们的年终评估不够公正，还有33%的人觉得年终评估是浪费时间。看来，欧美人民也和我们一样痛恨年底这一套程序啊！
不过像我们单位还好，年终总结只要按格式写满两页纸就可以了。前几天给一个供职于合资公司的同学打电话，他正在为他的“360度评估”奋笔疾书呢。据其称，不但要邀请同事给自己在线打分，还要填写几十道开放性问题，比如：你觉得你的特长在公司得到充分发挥了吗? 如何量化过去一年来你对公司的贡献？未来一年你的职业发展构想是什么？
该同学苦恼地对我说，我是做行政的，又不是做销售的，我对公司的贡献能量化么？哼！
我对他深表同情，并献计献策：不如把你去年的总结……
该同学打断我说，我是今年才跳到这家公司的，天天加班累得像狗一样，新人命苦啊！
我从该同学的语气里听出了抱怨，也听出了小小的骄傲——没有忙碌？哪有收获。
其实，每到年末，很多职场人都患上了年终焦虑症。比如，绩效考核能不能做到上下满意？来年的工作任务怎么定？是主动跳槽寻求更好发展还是安心卧槽？公司能不能给自己放探亲年假？谈了一阵的女朋友带回家去，父母会不会眉开眼笑？
眼看过节了，还要写一份长长的工作总结，确实挺累心的。听人说，现在的“枪手”连年终总结都能代劳了，花几百块钱就能给你来一份个性化通稿。我倒，这都什么人啊……
说来说去，我的工作总结还是得我来写，我的播种机还是要我来驾驶。到底是干得好重要，还是写得好重要？一转方向盘，谁写谁知道。
2007年12月27日 星期四
眼看年底了，我的小脑瓜又开始一个变两个大——无他，写总结耳。
写年终总结不是个轻松活，首先得有良好的记忆力，回顾自己过去一年做出的丰功伟绩，千万别漏掉几笔重要贡献，更别犯糊涂把他人的伟绩记错安在自个头上。其次，文笔要好——以谦虚的态度表达骄傲，让自己的闪光点自然流露于字里行间，这可是一门艺术。然后么，速度要快，花一周时间吭哧吭哧写总结的人是最傻的，因为这种慢性折磨会剥夺你难得的节日喜悦。
怎样写好年终总结？我向同事虚心求教。同事A说，这还不好办，上网搜索一些模板，结合自身工作实际套进去嘛。同事B说，这还不简单，把你去年写过的总结找出来，“与时俱进”一下不就搞定了吗？
说得轻巧，像根灯草，去年做过的事和今年一样嘛？去年的我有今年这么努力嘛？总结是播种机，播种的就是新的希望嘛! 去年的播种机，种出来的粮食都被我吃到肚子里了。
写着写着，我写不下去了。因为就在11月份，我在工作上犯了两个不大不小、可轻可重的错误。这真叫人为难，是一笔带过呢？还是深刻反思呢？为什么迟不出错早不出错，偏偏在快到年底评估的节骨眼上掉链子呢？
所以说，在职场上，行百里者半九十。如果一个员工在一年的前三个季度忘我工作，结果却在最后一个季度开始颠三倒四，那么可以说，他前9个月的努力就基本上打了水漂了。随着时间的流逝，你之前的努力在老板的印象中已逐渐模糊，而最近的表现和新犯的错误却清晰如昨。
同理，对一个表现平平的惰性员工而言，最好的补救办法就是在年底这几个月拼命工作，主动加班。身边的领导和同事们会为你蓬勃的干劲和无私的付出，流下感动的泪水，从而忘记你以前的顽劣表现。不过，如果你在年终评估的前一周突然工作异常神勇，那估计大家会觉得你吃错药了……
其实，年终考核真有那么灵吗？英国BBC最近发表报告称，一半的英国职场人觉得上司对他们的年终评估不够公正，还有33%的人觉得年终评估是浪费时间。看来，欧美人民也和我们一样痛恨年底这一套程序啊！
不过像我们单位还好，年终总结只要按格式写满两页纸就可以了。前几天给一个供职于合资公司的同学打电话，他正在为他的“360度评估”奋笔疾书呢。据其称，不但要邀请同事给自己在线打分，还要填写几十道开放性问题，比如：你觉得你的特长在公司得到充分发挥了吗? 如何量化过去一年来你对公司的贡献？未来一年你的职业发展构想是什么？
该同学苦恼地对我说，我是做行政的，又不是做销售的，我对公司的贡献能量化么？哼！
我对他深表同情，并献计献策：不如把你去年的总结……
该同学打断我说，我是今年才跳到这家公司的，天天加班累得像狗一样，新人命苦啊！
我从该同学的语气里听出了抱怨，也听出了小小的骄傲——没有忙碌？哪有收获。
其实，每到年末，很多职场人都患上了年终焦虑症。比如，绩效考核能不能做到上下满意？来年的工作任务怎么定？是主动跳槽寻求更好发展还是安心卧槽？公司能不能给自己放探亲年假？谈了一阵的女朋友带回家去，父母会不会眉开眼笑？
眼看过节了，还要写一份长长的工作总结，确实挺累心的。听人说，现在的“枪手”连年终总结都能代劳了，花几百块钱就能给你来一份个性化通稿。我倒，这都什么人啊……
说来说去，我的工作总结还是得我来写，我的播种机还是要我来驾驶。到底是干得好重要，还是写得好重要？一转方向盘，谁写谁知道。
年终总结要人命
作者：英国《金融时报》中文网特约撰稿人龙溪微微
2007年12月27日 星期四
眼看年底了，我的小脑瓜又开始一个变两个大——无他，写总结耳。
写年终总结不是个轻松活，首先得有良好的记忆力，回顾自己过去一年做出的丰功伟绩，千万别漏掉几笔重要贡献，更别犯糊涂把他人的伟绩记错安在自个头上。其次，文笔要好——以谦虚的态度表达骄傲，让自己的闪光点自然流露于字里行间，这可是一门艺术。然后么，速度要快，花一周时间吭哧吭哧写总结的人是最傻的，因为这种慢性折磨会剥夺你难得的节日喜悦。
怎样写好年终总结？我向同事虚心求教。同事A说，这还不好办，上网搜索一些模板，结合自身工作实际套进去嘛。同事B说，这还不简单，把你去年写过的总结找出来，“与时俱进”一下不就搞定了吗？
说得轻巧，像根灯草，去年做过的事和今年一样嘛？去年的我有今年这么努力嘛？总结是播种机，播种的就是新的希望嘛! 去年的播种机，种出来的粮食都被我吃到肚子里了。
写着写着，我写不下去了。因为就在11月份，我在工作上犯了两个不大不小、可轻可重的错误。这真叫人为难，是一笔带过呢？还是深刻反思呢？为什么迟不出错早不出错，偏偏在快到年底评估的节骨眼上掉链子呢？
所以说，在职场上，行百里者半九十。如果一个员工在一年的前三个季度忘我工作，结果却在最后一个季度开始颠三倒四，那么可以说，他前9个月的努力就基本上打了水漂了。随着时间的流逝，你之前的努力在老板的印象中已逐渐模糊，而最近的表现和新犯的错误却清晰如昨。
同理，对一个表现平平的惰性员工而言，最好的补救办法就是在年底这几个月拼命工作，主动加班。身边的领导和同事们会为你蓬勃的干劲和无私的付出，流下感动的泪水，从而忘记你以前的顽劣表现。不过，如果你在年终评估的前一周突然工作异常神勇，那估计大家会觉得你吃错药了……
其实，年终考核真有那么灵吗？英国BBC最近发表报告称，一半的英国职场人觉得上司对他们的年终评估不够公正，还有33%的人觉得年终评估是浪费时间。看来，欧美人民也和我们一样痛恨年底这一套程序啊！
不过像我们单位还好，年终总结只要按格式写满两页纸就可以了。前几天给一个供职于合资公司的同学打电话，他正在为他的“360度评估”奋笔疾书呢。据其称，不但要邀请同事给自己在线打分，还要填写几十道开放性问题，比如：你觉得你的特长在公司得到充分发挥了吗? 如何量化过去一年来你对公司的贡献？未来一年你的职业发展构想是什么？
该同学苦恼地对我说，我是做行政的，又不是做销售的，我对公司的贡献能量化么？哼！
我对他深表同情，并献计献策：不如把你去年的总结……
该同学打断我说，我是今年才跳到这家公司的，天天加班累得像狗一样，新人命苦啊！
我从该同学的语气里听出了抱怨，也听出了小小的骄傲——没有忙碌？哪有收获。
其实，每到年末，很多职场人都患上了年终焦虑症。比如，绩效考核能不能做到上下满意？来年的工作任务怎么定？是主动跳槽寻求更好发展还是安心卧槽？公司能不能给自己放探亲年假？谈了一阵的女朋友带回家去，父母会不会眉开眼笑？
眼看过节了，还要写一份长长的工作总结，确实挺累心的。听人说，现在的“枪手”连年终总结都能代劳了，花几百块钱就能给你来一份个性化通稿。我倒，这都什么人啊……
说来说去，我的工作总结还是得我来写，我的播种机还是要我来驾驶。到底是干得好重要，还是写得好重要？一转方向盘，谁写谁知道。
2007年12月27日 星期四
眼看年底了，我的小脑瓜又开始一个变两个大——无他，写总结耳。
写年终总结不是个轻松活，首先得有良好的记忆力，回顾自己过去一年做出的丰功伟绩，千万别漏掉几笔重要贡献，更别犯糊涂把他人的伟绩记错安在自个头上。其次，文笔要好——以谦虚的态度表达骄傲，让自己的闪光点自然流露于字里行间，这可是一门艺术。然后么，速度要快，花一周时间吭哧吭哧写总结的人是最傻的，因为这种慢性折磨会剥夺你难得的节日喜悦。
怎样写好年终总结？我向同事虚心求教。同事A说，这还不好办，上网搜索一些模板，结合自身工作实际套进去嘛。同事B说，这还不简单，把你去年写过的总结找出来，“与时俱进”一下不就搞定了吗？
说得轻巧，像根灯草，去年做过的事和今年一样嘛？去年的我有今年这么努力嘛？总结是播种机，播种的就是新的希望嘛! 去年的播种机，种出来的粮食都被我吃到肚子里了。
写着写着，我写不下去了。因为就在11月份，我在工作上犯了两个不大不小、可轻可重的错误。这真叫人为难，是一笔带过呢？还是深刻反思呢？为什么迟不出错早不出错，偏偏在快到年底评估的节骨眼上掉链子呢？
所以说，在职场上，行百里者半九十。如果一个员工在一年的前三个季度忘我工作，结果却在最后一个季度开始颠三倒四，那么可以说，他前9个月的努力就基本上打了水漂了。随着时间的流逝，你之前的努力在老板的印象中已逐渐模糊，而最近的表现和新犯的错误却清晰如昨。
同理，对一个表现平平的惰性员工而言，最好的补救办法就是在年底这几个月拼命工作，主动加班。身边的领导和同事们会为你蓬勃的干劲和无私的付出，流下感动的泪水，从而忘记你以前的顽劣表现。不过，如果你在年终评估的前一周突然工作异常神勇，那估计大家会觉得你吃错药了……
其实，年终考核真有那么灵吗？英国BBC最近发表报告称，一半的英国职场人觉得上司对他们的年终评估不够公正，还有33%的人觉得年终评估是浪费时间。看来，欧美人民也和我们一样痛恨年底这一套程序啊！
不过像我们单位还好，年终总结只要按格式写满两页纸就可以了。前几天给一个供职于合资公司的同学打电话，他正在为他的“360度评估”奋笔疾书呢。据其称，不但要邀请同事给自己在线打分，还要填写几十道开放性问题，比如：你觉得你的特长在公司得到充分发挥了吗? 如何量化过去一年来你对公司的贡献？未来一年你的职业发展构想是什么？
该同学苦恼地对我说，我是做行政的，又不是做销售的，我对公司的贡献能量化么？哼！
我对他深表同情，并献计献策：不如把你去年的总结……
该同学打断我说，我是今年才跳到这家公司的，天天加班累得像狗一样，新人命苦啊！
我从该同学的语气里听出了抱怨，也听出了小小的骄傲——没有忙碌？哪有收获。
其实，每到年末，很多职场人都患上了年终焦虑症。比如，绩效考核能不能做到上下满意？来年的工作任务怎么定？是主动跳槽寻求更好发展还是安心卧槽？公司能不能给自己放探亲年假？谈了一阵的女朋友带回家去，父母会不会眉开眼笑？
眼看过节了，还要写一份长长的工作总结，确实挺累心的。听人说，现在的“枪手”连年终总结都能代劳了，花几百块钱就能给你来一份个性化通稿。我倒，这都什么人啊……
说来说去，我的工作总结还是得我来写，我的播种机还是要我来驾驶。到底是干得好重要，还是写得好重要？一转方向盘，谁写谁知道。
HOW TO MAKE SURE YOUR GYM DOES NOT CLOSE
Michael Skapinker
Sunday, February 03, 2008
The northern winter still has a way to run, but already there are signs of hope. The days are lengthening, the daffodils have poked their heads above the ground and you can once again have a lane to yourself in the swimming pool.
The new year's resolution crowd has abandoned the health clubs. They arrive as the year begins and soon go. We will not see them until September, when they return filled with a post-holiday determination to slim down and tone up, before disappearing again a fortnight later.
If you are a regular health club user, it is easy to be irritated by the temporary hordes puzzling over the machines or swimming, heads up, in the middle of the lane. Easy, but short-sighted, because irregular members make gyms possible for everyone else.
The economics of health clubs are simple: you need thousands of members who never come. The
gym could never accommodate them all if they did.
By paying their dues and seldom appearing, inactive members ensure health club owners have enough money to invest in aerobics halls and squash courts, while keeping membership fees at reasonable levels for the regulars.
There are other businesses where the owners count on only a small proportion of the customers using the service. Insurance is one; those DVD rental clubs where you pay a fee and order films one at a time are another.
Gyms are different because they require expensive sites, cannot outsource beauty treatments to Asia and need constant investment if their premises are not to look shabby.
London's gentlemen's clubs work on the same principle, except that shabby premises appear to be mandatory and the members do not see each other naked (at least not at the ones I have been taken to).
Gerald Ratner, the British businessman who ran a successful health club after losing his jewellery empire when he described some of
its products as “crap”, says about
30 per cent of his members dropped out each year.
Some clubs attempt to limit the attrition rate by telephoning inactive members and asking whether there is anything the club can do for them. Mr Ratner never thought this was a good idea as it might remind them that they were wasting their money.
It is a constant battle to attract new members, he says, and some clubs resort to desperate measures. He recalls seeing a gym representative outside Cape Town airport tearing banknotes in half, giving one piece to passing strangers and promising them the other if they came to look around. They did not even need to join.
He preferred to rely on discounting the joining fee (but never the monthly membership) and showing prospective members the heated outdoor pool. People demand a pool, he says, but most do not use it. Many clubs waive the joining fee altogether.
Mr Ratner estimates that about 5 per cent of his members used the gym every day and 50 per cent at least twice a week. That left half in that essential group who sign up but rarely come.
Two Californian academics, Stefano DellaVigna and Ulrike Malmendier, studied three US health clubs and discovered that 80 per cent of members used the gym so infrequently that they would have been better off paying the $10 fee for each individual visit. Many also left substantial gaps between their last visit and cancelling their membership.
In their paper (you can find the web address at www.ft.com/skapinker), the academics concluded either that the gym members were making “time-inconsistent choices” or that they had “limited cognitive abilities”.
Of course, some people say the same about gym members. It is one thing to pay to use a swimming pool or a tennis court, but most of us know you could get half the benefit of the other facilities by walking up the stairs and all the benefit by running up them.
In his recent autobiography, Mr Ratner recalls taking his father to show off his club. Ratner Sr, who had never been to a gym before, looked at the members pounding away on a treadmill before asking: “What are they trying to achieve?”
No matter. Regular members go because they think it does them good, but they should not take their clubs for granted. Many gyms are having a difficult time. Most UK clubs are “in distress or struggling”, a banker told the Financial Times in November.
In the US, national chain Bally Total Fitness spent two months in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last year after its New York Stock Exchange listing was suspended.
Clubs need more help from the regulars to attract new members. My own club is offering a mountain bike to anyone who persuades two friends to sign up. This is silly. If we were happy riding mountain bikes around the city we would not need the gym.
Far better to offer anyone who introduces new members the free run of the place when it is closed to everyone else. The other members will not mind. They are never there.
Sunday, February 03, 2008
The northern winter still has a way to run, but already there are signs of hope. The days are lengthening, the daffodils have poked their heads above the ground and you can once again have a lane to yourself in the swimming pool.
The new year's resolution crowd has abandoned the health clubs. They arrive as the year begins and soon go. We will not see them until September, when they return filled with a post-holiday determination to slim down and tone up, before disappearing again a fortnight later.
If you are a regular health club user, it is easy to be irritated by the temporary hordes puzzling over the machines or swimming, heads up, in the middle of the lane. Easy, but short-sighted, because irregular members make gyms possible for everyone else.
The economics of health clubs are simple: you need thousands of members who never come. The
gym could never accommodate them all if they did.
By paying their dues and seldom appearing, inactive members ensure health club owners have enough money to invest in aerobics halls and squash courts, while keeping membership fees at reasonable levels for the regulars.
There are other businesses where the owners count on only a small proportion of the customers using the service. Insurance is one; those DVD rental clubs where you pay a fee and order films one at a time are another.
Gyms are different because they require expensive sites, cannot outsource beauty treatments to Asia and need constant investment if their premises are not to look shabby.
London's gentlemen's clubs work on the same principle, except that shabby premises appear to be mandatory and the members do not see each other naked (at least not at the ones I have been taken to).
Gerald Ratner, the British businessman who ran a successful health club after losing his jewellery empire when he described some of
its products as “crap”, says about
30 per cent of his members dropped out each year.
Some clubs attempt to limit the attrition rate by telephoning inactive members and asking whether there is anything the club can do for them. Mr Ratner never thought this was a good idea as it might remind them that they were wasting their money.
It is a constant battle to attract new members, he says, and some clubs resort to desperate measures. He recalls seeing a gym representative outside Cape Town airport tearing banknotes in half, giving one piece to passing strangers and promising them the other if they came to look around. They did not even need to join.
He preferred to rely on discounting the joining fee (but never the monthly membership) and showing prospective members the heated outdoor pool. People demand a pool, he says, but most do not use it. Many clubs waive the joining fee altogether.
Mr Ratner estimates that about 5 per cent of his members used the gym every day and 50 per cent at least twice a week. That left half in that essential group who sign up but rarely come.
Two Californian academics, Stefano DellaVigna and Ulrike Malmendier, studied three US health clubs and discovered that 80 per cent of members used the gym so infrequently that they would have been better off paying the $10 fee for each individual visit. Many also left substantial gaps between their last visit and cancelling their membership.
In their paper (you can find the web address at www.ft.com/skapinker), the academics concluded either that the gym members were making “time-inconsistent choices” or that they had “limited cognitive abilities”.
Of course, some people say the same about gym members. It is one thing to pay to use a swimming pool or a tennis court, but most of us know you could get half the benefit of the other facilities by walking up the stairs and all the benefit by running up them.
In his recent autobiography, Mr Ratner recalls taking his father to show off his club. Ratner Sr, who had never been to a gym before, looked at the members pounding away on a treadmill before asking: “What are they trying to achieve?”
No matter. Regular members go because they think it does them good, but they should not take their clubs for granted. Many gyms are having a difficult time. Most UK clubs are “in distress or struggling”, a banker told the Financial Times in November.
In the US, national chain Bally Total Fitness spent two months in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last year after its New York Stock Exchange listing was suspended.
Clubs need more help from the regulars to attract new members. My own club is offering a mountain bike to anyone who persuades two friends to sign up. This is silly. If we were happy riding mountain bikes around the city we would not need the gym.
Far better to offer anyone who introduces new members the free run of the place when it is closed to everyone else. The other members will not mind. They are never there.
Pat Metheny: Vier Takte Ewigkeit
Ein Musical, das ich schon fünfmal gesehen habe und auch immer wieder als CD auflege, ist „The Light in the Piazza“, geschrieben und komponiert von Adam Guettel. Seine Musik bricht mit der Soundtradition des Broadways, die oft aus leicht nachzusummenden Melodien besteht. Guettel übertritt die Grenzen des Genres, indem er zur Oper findet und zur neoromantischen Musik mit ihren zahlreichen unerwarteten harmonischen Verschiebungen und sehr langen Melodiebögen. Auch die Texte sind einzigartig, weil sie mit dem gebrochenen Englisch italienischer Einwanderer spielen und dem gebrochenen Italienisch einer amerikanischen Touristin. Aber die Show bietet vor allem eine so große Menge guter Noten, wie ich sie schon lange nicht mehr gehört habe. Seit Stevie Wonders Album „Songs in the Key of Life“ aus dem Jahre 1976 habe ich keine so originelle Popmusik-Bearbeitung gehört wie bei Guettel, der mit viel Piano, Harfe, Gitarre, Streichern und einer Handvoll von Blas- und Percussion-Instrumenten arrangiert.
Guettel hat außergewöhnliche harmonische Folgen gewählt – und damit genau die Art Musik, die meine Neugier auf Harmonien befriedigt. Diesen Umgang mit Harmonien finde ich sonst nur sehr selten in Musicals, dafür im Jazz und in der klassischen Musik des 20. Jahrhunderts. Komponisten wie Maurice Ravel oder Claude Debussy sind sehr empfehlenswert, sie haben die Musik vorangetrieben und damit das Feld für den Jazz bestellt.
Harmonien sind für mich ein Spiegel der Gesellschaft. Ich glaube, dass sich die jeweilige Harmonik in der Musik parallel zu der Entwicklung der Gesellschaft bewegt. Auch für mich sind Harmonien eine Möglichkeit, mich mit der Welt zu versöhnen. Es gibt starke Parallelen zur Kunst, auch in der Harmonik ist von Realismus bis zu großer Abstraktion alles möglich. Das abzubilden ist in einer post modernen Ära noch eine größere Herausforderung.
MusikUSA Einer, der das kann, ist Keith Jarrett. In seiner musikalischen Welt – sie kann einfach und sie kann komplex sein – scheinen alle zwölf Noten gleichzeitig zu sein. Am besten ist das bei „Mysteries“ und „The Impulse Years“ aus den Jahren 1973 bis 1976 zu hören. Komplexe Musik darf übrigens ruhig schön sein. Wirklich großartige Musik bietet für beide Perspektiven etwas, für die Betrachtung aus der Entfernung und für die unter dem Mikroskop. Die Beatles haben Musik geschaffen, die meine Kinder mögen, die aber auch für uns Erwachsene so viel bietet, dass sie nie langweilig wird.
Vielfalt und Reichtum prägen das Werk des größten Musikers, den die Welt je hatte, Johann Sebastian Bach. Nehmen Sie irgendwelche vier Takte. Sie können sich damit ein halbes Jahr beschäftigen; Sie hören die Ewigkeit in diesen vier Takten. Und anschließend können Sie mit Ihrer Großmutter ein Bach-Konzert besuchen, und es wird ihr gefallen.
Alles, was mir wichtig ist in der Musik, finde ich auch im Jazz, wenngleich heutzutage immer weniger. Ich bin etwas weniger enthusiastisch, wenn es um den Jazz von heute geht. Vieles wird heute nur noch in Bezug auf frühere Jazzmusiker gemacht. Zu den Musikern, die keine überflüssige Note geschrieben oder gespielt haben, gehören Miles Davis und Wes Montgomery. Der Bach der Jazzwelt ist wohl Thelonious Monk, dessen Musik eine Haltbarkeit haben wird, die mit den Kompositionen Bachs zu vergleichen ist.
Da ich in New York wohne – der Stadt, die wohl wie keine andere dem Jazz eine Heimat gegeben hat –, kann ich Ihnen noch einen Jazzclub empfehlen. „The Jazz Standard“ liegt inder 116 East 27th Street. Dort sehen Sie Künstler wie die Big-Band-Komponistin Maria Schneider oder Gitarrist Kurt Rosenwinkel – um nur zwei zu nennen, die den Jazz auch heute noch beleben.
Guettel hat außergewöhnliche harmonische Folgen gewählt – und damit genau die Art Musik, die meine Neugier auf Harmonien befriedigt. Diesen Umgang mit Harmonien finde ich sonst nur sehr selten in Musicals, dafür im Jazz und in der klassischen Musik des 20. Jahrhunderts. Komponisten wie Maurice Ravel oder Claude Debussy sind sehr empfehlenswert, sie haben die Musik vorangetrieben und damit das Feld für den Jazz bestellt.
Harmonien sind für mich ein Spiegel der Gesellschaft. Ich glaube, dass sich die jeweilige Harmonik in der Musik parallel zu der Entwicklung der Gesellschaft bewegt. Auch für mich sind Harmonien eine Möglichkeit, mich mit der Welt zu versöhnen. Es gibt starke Parallelen zur Kunst, auch in der Harmonik ist von Realismus bis zu großer Abstraktion alles möglich. Das abzubilden ist in einer post modernen Ära noch eine größere Herausforderung.
MusikUSA Einer, der das kann, ist Keith Jarrett. In seiner musikalischen Welt – sie kann einfach und sie kann komplex sein – scheinen alle zwölf Noten gleichzeitig zu sein. Am besten ist das bei „Mysteries“ und „The Impulse Years“ aus den Jahren 1973 bis 1976 zu hören. Komplexe Musik darf übrigens ruhig schön sein. Wirklich großartige Musik bietet für beide Perspektiven etwas, für die Betrachtung aus der Entfernung und für die unter dem Mikroskop. Die Beatles haben Musik geschaffen, die meine Kinder mögen, die aber auch für uns Erwachsene so viel bietet, dass sie nie langweilig wird.
Vielfalt und Reichtum prägen das Werk des größten Musikers, den die Welt je hatte, Johann Sebastian Bach. Nehmen Sie irgendwelche vier Takte. Sie können sich damit ein halbes Jahr beschäftigen; Sie hören die Ewigkeit in diesen vier Takten. Und anschließend können Sie mit Ihrer Großmutter ein Bach-Konzert besuchen, und es wird ihr gefallen.
Alles, was mir wichtig ist in der Musik, finde ich auch im Jazz, wenngleich heutzutage immer weniger. Ich bin etwas weniger enthusiastisch, wenn es um den Jazz von heute geht. Vieles wird heute nur noch in Bezug auf frühere Jazzmusiker gemacht. Zu den Musikern, die keine überflüssige Note geschrieben oder gespielt haben, gehören Miles Davis und Wes Montgomery. Der Bach der Jazzwelt ist wohl Thelonious Monk, dessen Musik eine Haltbarkeit haben wird, die mit den Kompositionen Bachs zu vergleichen ist.
Da ich in New York wohne – der Stadt, die wohl wie keine andere dem Jazz eine Heimat gegeben hat –, kann ich Ihnen noch einen Jazzclub empfehlen. „The Jazz Standard“ liegt inder 116 East 27th Street. Dort sehen Sie Künstler wie die Big-Band-Komponistin Maria Schneider oder Gitarrist Kurt Rosenwinkel – um nur zwei zu nennen, die den Jazz auch heute noch beleben.
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