The Metamorphosis of Silicon Valley C.E.O.s: From Big to Boring

When Joe Barton, a Republican congressman from Texas, greeted Jack Dorsey at a congressional hearing last week, he sounded flummoxed.

“I don’t know what a Twitter C.E.O. should look like,” Mr. Barton said. “But you don’t look like what a C.E.O. of Twitter should look like.”

The congressman had a point. Mr. Dorsey – who sported a nose ring, a popped-collar shirt and a craggy Moses beard – looked more like a hipster version of a Civil War officer than a tech icon. Yet more striking than his look was his manner before skeptical lawmakers.

Faced with tough questions, Mr. Dorsey did not mount an aggressive defense of his company and his technology, as an earlier generation of tech leader might have. Instead, he demurred, conceded mistakes and generally engaged in a nuanced and seemingly heartfelt colloquy on the difficulties of managing tech in a complex world. Even in response to Mr. Barton’s comment about his look, Mr. Dorsey was solicitous. “My mom agrees with you,” he said.

Mr. Dorsey’s testimony prompted questions about what we expect from tech leaders today –and how thoroughly what we expect has been upturned in the last few years. Since the 1980s, a common leadership archetype has loomed over the tech business: Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. Sometimes unconsciously and often deliberately, a generation of tech leaders attempted to ape the Apple and Microsoft founders’ charisma, their quirks, their style and above all their irrepressible, hard-charging confidence, to say nothing of arrogance.

Mr. Dorsey returned to a company he co-founded in order to save it – has long drawn comparisons to Mr. Jobs. Yet the congressional testimony marked a surprising rhetorical shift. Instead of the black-turtlenecked Mr. Jobs, Mr. Dorsey sounded more like Tim Cook, the understated operations manager who replaced him (and who is holding his umpteenth iPhone event on Wednesday).

That is, Mr. Dorsey sounded less like a quotable visionary who can see beyond the horizon and more like what he actually is and ought to be – a thoughtful, accessible, transparent and, despite the beard and nose ring, kind of boring manager of a serious company whose decisions have world-changing consequences.

When it comes to tech C.E.O.s, boring is the new black. Under the glare of global scrutiny, the daring, win-at-all-costs ethos that defined so much of the tech industry in the last couple of decades has been undergoing a thorough metamorphosis.

后喬布斯時代的硅谷領(lǐng)袖：平淡無奇是一種新時尚

當(dāng)?shù)驴怂_斯州共和黨眾議員喬·巴頓在上周的國會聽證會上開始向杰克·多爾西提問時，這位議員聽起來有點困惑。

“我不知道Twitter的首席執(zhí)行官該是什么樣子，”巴頓說，“但你看上去不像是Twitter首席執(zhí)行官應(yīng)該有的樣子。”

這位國會議員說的有道理。戴著一枚鼻環(huán)、穿著一件翻領(lǐng)襯衫、留著一把摩西式大胡子的多爾西，看上去更像是美國內(nèi)戰(zhàn)時代軍官的潮人翻版，而不是科技偶像。然而，比他的外表更異乎尋常的，是他在持懷疑態(tài)度的立法者們面前表現(xiàn)的舉止。

面對嚴厲質(zhì)問時，多爾西沒有像上一代科技領(lǐng)袖們可能做的那樣，為自己的公司和自己的科技大力辯護，而是表達懷疑，承認錯誤，并就在一個復(fù)雜世界中管理科技的困難與議員們展開了一場細致入微、似乎發(fā)自內(nèi)心的對話。就連回應(yīng)巴頓對自己外貌的評論時，多爾西也表現(xiàn)出一種對他人的關(guān)切。“我媽媽同意你的看法。”他說。

多爾西的聽證會表現(xiàn)，引發(fā)了有關(guān)我們?nèi)缃駥萍夹袠I(yè)領(lǐng)袖做何期待的問題，以及我們的期待在過去幾年里發(fā)生了怎樣徹底的轉(zhuǎn)變。自20世紀80年代起，科技行業(yè)赫然聳現(xiàn)的常見領(lǐng)袖典型是史蒂夫·喬布斯和比爾·蓋茨。一代科技領(lǐng)導(dǎo)們曾試圖模仿蘋果和微軟創(chuàng)始人的魅力，模仿他們的怪癖、他們的風(fēng)格，尤其是他們十足的、全力進取的信心，更不用說他們的傲慢。這種模仿有時是無意識的，但通常是故意的。

人們長久以來一直把多爾西與喬布斯相比，與已故的喬布斯一樣，多爾西為了挽救自己參與創(chuàng)建的公司，重返公司工作。然而，他在國會聽證會上的言辭標志著一個令人驚訝的轉(zhuǎn)變。多爾西聽起來不像是穿著黑色高領(lǐng)套頭衫的喬布斯，而更像是蒂姆·庫克，也就是接替了喬布斯的那位行事低調(diào)的運營經(jīng)理人。(周三，他將舉行自己的第無數(shù)次iPhone發(fā)布會)。

也就是說，多爾西聽起來不大像一位視野超越地平線的、時有名言警句的預(yù)言家，而更像他實際上的本人和他應(yīng)該成為的人——一個關(guān)心別人、易于接近的、透明的人，而且，盡管他留著胡子、帶著鼻環(huán)，多爾西更像一個重要公司的無聊經(jīng)理人，做出改變世界的決策。

當(dāng)涉及科技行業(yè)首席執(zhí)行官時，平淡無奇是一種新時髦。在全球的密切關(guān)注之下，過去幾十年里定義了科技行業(yè)大部分的那種大膽、不惜一切代價取勝的信念，正在經(jīng)歷一個徹底的質(zhì)變。

環(huán)球網(wǎng)校友情提示：以上內(nèi)容是英語翻譯資格頻道為您整理的2020上半年翻譯資格考試二級筆譯提升習(xí)題十，點擊下面按鈕免費下載更多精品備考資料。