I try my best to join every translation contest. It costs me much time on this paper. However, I failed again. I can't get the approval to translate a book. With a little disappointment, I am delighted that I have made a lot of progress, for the ones who get approved seems to not more excel than mine. However, I copy them here to compare them.
原文：I spoke to him nearly every day, using him as a sounding board. He seemed to me the kind of business expert who could enhance our thinking. He gave us good advice on the Virgin One account. His name was Gordon McCallum. He used to work for the business consultancy McKinsey & Co., and I knew he’d been doing some work for Wells Fargo— to do with consumer banking and financial services and major retailers including JC Penney. I trusted him. I knew a lot about him —but it suddenly dawned on me one day: ‘Gordon? Do you work for us?’
‘Yes,’ he replied.
‘I mean, are you an employee?’
‘No, Richard, I’m not. I’m still working as a freelance consultant atthe moment.’Oh.‘Well,’ I said, ‘you’d better come for a job interview. See you tomorrow at the house.’ And I put the phone down. I can’t remember much about that night but I must have had fun;when Gordon turned up at my place in Holland Park, at 9 a.m. sharp,I was still in bed. In fact, I couldn’t seem to get out of it.
So I tucked myself under the sheet and called him up and said: ‘Well, I’d like to offer you a full-time job.’It was not the kind of meeting he had expected, but he rose to the challenge. ‘What kind of job?’‘What kind of job would you like?’Finally Gordon cracked. In all his years at McKinsey he had never come across this technique as a way of identifying corporate talent. He burst out laughing, but he wasn’t put off. ‘I’d like to help Virgin develop a much clearer business strategy for the brand and help you expand it further internationally.’This made a lot of sense. It was what I’d been hoping for. ‘What would your title be?’ I said, and leaned over to grab my dressing gown.He thought about it. ‘Something like Strategy Director?’
‘Fine – we’ll call you the Group Strategy Director of Virgin.’We sorted out the money, and the deal was done – and I went off to have a shower.Is this any way to do business?Absolutely.At its heart, business is not about formality, or winning, or ‘the bottom line’, or profit, or trade, or commerce, or any of the things the business books tell you it’s about.
Business is what concerns us. If you care about something enough to do something about it, you’re in business, and you’ll find ideas in this book that will help you. This is a business book for everyone, whether or not they imagine themselves to be ‘business people’. Making the most of Gordon’s considerable talents and playing fair by him was not a ‘business decision’ I had to make – it was simply my business, my concern, my affair. I’m no less a businessman when I’m in a dressing gown – and I’m certainly not more of one when I put on a suit. This was brought home to me pretty sharply in July 2007, during an hour-long session at the Aspen Ideas Festival. I was being interviewed by Bob Schieffer, the former CBS news anchorman of the Evening News. This is the man who moderated the 2004 presidential election debate between George W. Bush and John Kerry. Bob knows his stuff, so I expected a grilling.
He could see that underneath my brash exterior I still harbour some nervousness about speaking in public, so he started off warm and generous, getting me nice and relaxed, conversing about all kinds of matters from terrorist extremism to space tourism, before he delivered his sucker punch. I had left school at fifteen to set up a student magazine, and Bob asked me why I had gone into business.I just stared at him. I suddenly realised I had never been interestedin being ‘in business’. And, heaven help me, I said so, adding: ‘I’ve been interested in creating things.’Now, feeble as that sounded on the stage at Aspen, that’s the gist of my thinking about business. It shouldn’t be something outside of yourself. It shouldn’t be something you can stand away from. And if it is, there’s something wrong.Over the years, the Virgin Group has made it its business to run railways, build a spaceship, launch a new airline in Africa, and help fight Aids and HIV. These are our concerns. Not all of them are‘businesses’ in the usual sense – and the journalists who have accused the Virgin Group of making no business sense are right, but in the wrong way.
The greatest and most unusual achievement of the Virgin Group is that, unlike most businesses, it remembers what it’s for. Business is creative. It’s like painting. You start with a blank canvas.You can paint anything – anything – and there, right there, is your first problem. For every good painting you might turn out, there are a zillion bad paintings just aching to drip off your brush. Scared? You should be. You start. You pick a colour. The next colour you choose has to work with the first colour. The third colour has to work with the first colour and the second. The fourth colour . . . You get the idea.You’re committed now. You absolutely cannot stop. You’ve invested.
There is no reverse gear on this thing. People who bad-mouth businessmen and women in general are missing the point. People in business who succeed have swallowed their fear and have set out to create something special, something to make a difference to people’s lives.
Are the colours just right? Are the planes polished? Do the crew look good? Are they comfortable? Are the seats OK? What’s the food like? It costs how much . . .?
译者：Yolanda
译文： 我几乎每天都跟他交谈，把他当成一个传话筒。对我来说他似乎是那种能够让我们看问题看得更深一点的商业专家。站在维珍的立场他给了我们很好的建议。他是戈登马卡兰。他过去是在麦肯锡公司做商业顾问，我也知道他也在威尔士法戈做了一些工作，处理消费者银行业和财经服务社和包括JC朋呢在内的一些主要零售商人的业务。我信任他因为我了解他很多——但是有一天我突然心头一亮：
“戈登？你是在为我们工作吗？ ”
“是的。”他回答。
“我的意思是，你是一个职员吗？”
“不，理查德，我不是。我现在仍然是个自由商业顾问。 ”
“哦，好。 ”我说：“你最好来面试一下。明天在我住所见。”
然后我放下电话，我已经记不清楚那个晚上很多东西了，但是我肯定是过得不亦乐乎。当戈登出现在我荷兰公园的住所的时候，刚好是早上九点正，我仍然躺在床上睡觉。其实我似乎都起不来。
所以我躲在被窝里给他打了个电话“这样吧，我想给你提供一个全职工作。”这是个他意想不到的会面方式，但他接受了这个挑战。“什么工作？”“你喜欢什么工作呢？”戈登终于大笑起来。在麦肯锡的这些年他从没遇过用这样的方法鉴别个人业务能力。他爆笑不已，但没有放下电话。“我想帮助维珍集团发展一个更加清晰的提高品牌知名度的商业战略，帮助您进一步扩大品牌的国际化。 ”这听起来很有道理。这是我一直期待的。“那你的头衔是什么？”我边说边俯下身子拉了拉睡袍。他想了想。“像战略总监之类的名字” “好的。我们将会称你为维珍集团战略总监” 我们取出钱，这个交易就成交了。然后我走出去洗了个澡。这是经商的一种方式吗？绝对是。它的内涵是商业并不拘泥于形式，或赢利，或底线，或利益，或贸易或商务或商业书上说的任何东西。
商业是与你有关的事物。如果你足够在乎某种东西而去做关于它的事情，你就是在经商。这本书上会启发你获得灵感。这是一本对任何人都适用的书，无论他们是否把自己当成商人。充分发挥戈登的无限才能并且让他公平行事，这不是我必须做出的商业决定。它仅仅是我的生意，我所关心的东西，我的事情。穿着睡袍的时候，我依然是个商人；当然，穿上正装的时候，我也仅仅是个商人而已。我深深体会到这点是在2007年7月份的阿斯朋思想节上的一个长达一个小时的会议上。那天我被鲍伯 史斥弗——原先的CBS傍晚新闻栏目主持人采访。他曾主持布什和约翰肯利的总统选举辩论赛。鲍伯精通自己的业务，所以我预想接下来是一场在所难免的盘问。
他能透过我傲慢不羁的外表看出我在大众面前讲话很紧张。所以他以又温暖和宽慰的语言开始，让我感到舒服与放松，从恐怖分子极端主义到太空旅行等话题开始慢慢交谈，然后悄悄入题。我十五岁的时候曾离开学校去建办《学生》杂志。鲍伯问我为什么经商。我只是盯着他，突然意识到我对商业从不感兴趣。上帝保佑我，我就这样说了。还补充说，我一直对创造感兴趣。如在阿斯朋的舞台上听起来苍白无力一样，这是我考虑商业的依据。商业不应该是你的身外之物，不应该是你能远离的东西。如果是，那肯定是哪里出错了。这些年来，维珍集团已经把自己的商业领域拓展到经营铁路工程，研发太空飞船，在非洲开发新的航线，并且提供航空和艾滋病方面的援助。这些都是我们关心的东西。并不是所有的这些都是常规的商业模式——那些曾指责维珍集团没有商业意识的新闻记者是对的，只是方式错了。
维珍集团最大也最不寻常的成就是：与大多数的企业不同，它始终谨记企业的存在之本。商业是有创造性的。它像画画，以空白的帆布开始，你可以画任何东西——任何东西——在那里——就在那里，这是你的第一个问题。因为每遇到一个好作品可能就有无数个坏作品毁坏了你的绘画艺术。怕吗？你会的。你开始了，你描了第一笔颜色。你选择的第二笔颜色必须跟第一笔搭配。第三笔颜色必须跟第一和第二个搭配。第四笔颜色……这时你已经获取灵感。现在你已经投入。你完全不能停下来了。你已经投资了。
这种事情是没有回头草可以吃的。那些苛刻批评经商的男女的那些人普遍是忽略了这一点。那些成功的商人已经吞下他们的恐惧，开始创造了一些特别的东西，一些能改变人们生活的东西。
颜色是恰到好处的吗？位面是光亮精美的吗？员工看起来愉快吗？他们感到舒服吗？他们的椅子是舒适的吗？他们的食物是怎样的？它的代价是多少？
译者：Ryan2008
译文：他是我的智囊，我几乎每天都要和他唠上几句。对我来说，他好像属于那种商业专家似的，能够强化我们的思维，对我们的维珍一体账户（Virgin One account）[P1] [P1]提出上好的建议。他叫戈登·麦卡勒（Gordon McCallum）。他过去长期给麦肯锡商业咨询公司（McKinsey & Co.）工作，而且我知道他曾做过美国富国银行(Wells Fargo)项目，负责一些消费者银行和金融服务以及主要零售商包括美国彭尼公司（JC Penney）的业务。我信任他，对他很了解。但是，突然有一天打电话问他：
“戈登，你是在为我们工作吗？”
“是的，”他回答说。
“我的意思是，你是我们的雇员吗？”
“不是，理查德，我不是你们的雇员。目前，我还是一个自由职业者，从事顾问工作。”
哦。
“好吧，”我说，“你最好来进行一次面试。明天到我这里来。”我放下电话。
关于那天晚上的情形，我已记不得很多了，但是我可以肯定当时心情不错；当戈登在早上9点整来到我位于荷兰公园（Holland Park）的房子时，我还躺在床上。事实上，我似乎起步来。因此，我把被子裹在身上，叫他上来，并且对他说：
“是这样的，我想给你安排一份全职工作。”
那次会面并不是他所期待的那种，但是他接受了挑战。“什么工作？”
“你想要什么样的工作？”
终于，戈登笑了起来。在麦肯锡商业咨询公司工作的这些年中，他从未遇到过用这样的技巧来选拔公司经营人才。他大笑起来，接着说：
“我要帮助维珍（Virgin）推出更加清晰的品牌商业战略，并帮助你进一步推进品牌国际化。”
这很有意义，也正是我一直以来所期待的目标。
“那你要一个什么样的头衔呢？”我边问边侧过身子去抓我的睡衣。
他想了想。“战略主管怎么样？”
“很好，我们就称呼你维珍集团战略主管。”
随后我们谈了薪酬，这笔生意就算完成了。然后我去冲了个澡。
就这样做生意？绝对是。从本质上说，做生意不是拘泥某种形式、不是为了单纯的赢、不是所谓的“底线”、不是为了利润、不是为了贸易、不是为了商务，总之不是商业书籍里告诉你的那些东西。做生意就是做我们所关心的事。如果你关注某一件事情到了想要投身其中的时候，那你就是在做生意了。并且，你会在本书中找到一些对你有所帮助的想法。这是一本适用于任何人的商业书，不管看书的人是否把自己当作“商人”。
充分发挥戈登卓越的才能，公平地跟他谈判不是我要做的“商业决策”——这只是我的分内之事、我的生意。不管是穿着睡衣还是西装革履，我都是一个生意人。我始终没有忘记2007年7月Aspen思想节[P2] [P2]期间，我接受CBS（哥伦比亚广播公司）前任晚间新闻节目主持人鲍勃·希弗（Bob Schieffer）一小时采访的情形。鲍勃是2004年美国总统大选期间，布什（George W. Bush）和克里（John Kerry）辩论的主持人。
鲍勃是资深主持人，所以我早已料到会有一翻盘问。他可以感觉得到，在我傲慢的外表下，依然潜藏着在公众场合发言时的那份紧张不安。所以访谈开始时，他表现出了热情大方，让我感觉放松自在。我们谈论的话题很多，从恐怖分子的极端主义到太空旅行，然后他就话锋突转。我15岁离开学校创办学生杂志，Bob问我为什么那么早进入商界。
我盯着他看，突然意识到我从来都没有对“从商”产生过兴趣。老天保佑我，我如是说，并补充到“我对创造新事物有兴趣”。
如今看来我在Aspen思想节上所说的那些话，苍白无力但却是我对商业本质的思考。商业不应该脱离或远离你。如过它脱离或远离了你，那么就有问题了。
多年来，维珍集团经营铁路业务、建造飞船、在非洲推出新的航线，并帮助防治艾滋病和艾滋病毒。这些都是我们所关心的东西。这些业务中并非都是通常意义上的商业。一些记者指责维珍集团没有商业理性，这种判断是对的，但是这些记者对此加以指责却是不对的。维珍集团最大的和最不寻常的成就是，维珍不同于大多数企业，她铭记自己想要什么。
商业是具有创造性的。就像绘画。一开始你拿到是一块空白的画板，你可以画任何东西——随便什么都行——而出现的第一个问题也恰巧在此：对于你想要绘制的每一副精美画卷，不能有任何败笔，每一笔着色都可能需要痛苦的酝酿，是不是觉得很恐怖？你应该会的。开始画的时候，要挑选第一种颜色，接下来所挑选的颜色必须与第一种颜色相搭配，第三种颜色又必须与前两种颜色搭配，第四种颜色……你得到了灵感。然后投入进去，就绝不能停下。你已经投资了。
开弓没有回头箭。那些诋毁商人的人一般都忽略了一个重点。在商场上取得成功的人士克服了他们的恐惧，并着手去创造一些特殊的东西从而改变人们的生活。
看看颜色是否恰到好处？飞机是否亮洁了？机组人员看上去好吗？他们的服务令乘客舒服吗？座位好吗？机上食物怎么样？成本多少。。。？
