Many employees must be tempted to inquire on a daily basis when they see their bosses headed down the wrong track. But caution, for fear of appearing insubordinate or foolish and thus possibly at risk of losing their jobs, often leads workers to keep silent.
A culture of silence can be dangerous, argues a new book, “The Fearless Organization”, by Amy Edmondson, a professor at Harvard Business School. Some of her examples are from the airline industry. One was its deadliest accident: a crash between Boeing 747s in the Canary Islands in 1977 when a co-pilot felt unable to doubt his captain’s decision to take off based on a misunderstanding of instructions from air-traffic control.
The risks may be lower than life or death in most organizations, but companies also suffer when people keep silent, Ms Edmondson believes. Volkswagen was caught up in a scandal over diesel(柴油) emissions from 2015. The engines of its diesel models did not meet American emissions standards and engineers devised a system to fool the regulators. Ms Edmondson says the company’s culture had been one based on threat and fear; Ferdinand Piëch, its longtime boss, boasted of telling engineers they had six weeks to improve the bodywork(车身) fitting on pain of dismissal. In the circumstances, engineers were understandably unwilling to mention the bad news on emissions standards and instead, worked around the problem. In a corporate culture based on fear and intimidation, it may appear that targets are being achieved in the short term. But in the long run, the effect is likely to be counterproductive. Studies show that fear stops learning. And when confronted with a problem, scared workers find ways of covering it up or getting around it with inefficient practices.
The answer is to create an atmosphere of “psychological safety” whereby workers can speak their minds. In a way, this is the equivalent of Toyota’s “lean manufacturing” process, which allows any worker who spots a problem to stop the production line. This does not mean that workers, or their ideas, are immune from criticism, or that they should complain continuously. The book describes, Pixar created what it called a “Braintrust” to give feedback to film directors. The rules were that feedback should be constructive and about the idea, not the person.
As ordinary tasks are automated, and workers rely on computers for data analysis, the added value of humans will stem from their creativity. But as Ms Edmondson’s book demonstrates, it is hard to be either constructive or creative if you are not confident about speaking out.
1. The underlined word “insubordinate”(para 1) means ________.| A．being inferior | B．disobeying a superior |
| C．getting aggressive | D．being arrogant |
| A．Volkswagen’s engineers designed a system to meet American emissions standards |
| B．when facing problems, scared workers resolve them directly |
| C．Volkswagen’s engineers were at risk of losing jobs |
| D．the culture of fear and intimidation must be counterproductive in the long term. |
| A．A culture of being silent is life-threatening. |
| B．Volkswagen’s culture is on the basis of fear. |
| C．Workers can escape being blamed in the culture of psychological safety. |
| D．The value of humans lies in originality in today’s highly-automated world. |
| A．An introduction to Amy Edmondson’s new book. |
| B．The disadvantages of fear and intimidation culture. |
| C．People need to be confident when they are speaking out. |
| D．Companies will perform better if employees are not threatened into silence. |
相似题推荐
Last week, the United Nations (UN) released the most complete report ever created on the global problem of food waste. It found that the world wastes about 17% of all the food produced. That's about a billion tons of food a year.
A billion tons is a lot of food — it's over 2 trillion (2 ,000 ,000 ,000 ,000) pounds or about 931 billion (931 ,000 ,000 ,000) kilograms. The report says that the amount wasted is roughly twice as much as earlier studies had suggested.
The report was produced by the UN's Environment Program (UNEP) and covered food waste around the world in 2019. The study showed a several different ways in which food was wasted — at home, in restaurants and in stores.
It turns out that by far, most food waste — about 61% — happens horse. On average, the amount of food thrown out at home works out to about 163 pounds (74 kilograms) for each person every year.
Restaurants were responsible for about 26% of the food wasted. The remaining 13% was thrown away by stores.
Many people thought rich countries were more likely to waste food than countries that were less rich. That turned out not to be true. One surprising discovery was that food was wasted at about the same rate in all but the poorest countries. (The UN had difficulty measuring food waste in the poorest countries.)
But people in richer countries may waste less food at home because they are eating out at restaurants more often. That certainly seems to be the case in the US, which has low waste numbers for homes, but quite high numbers for restaurants.
In some cases, labels might be causing food waste, the report said. People might be throwing away food even though it's still good to eat, simply because the container's "Best By" or "Sell By" date has passed. In poorer countries, food may be wasted because not all homes have a refrigerator.
Why is wasting food such a problem? For one thing, the report points out, hundreds of millions of people went hungry in 2019. Also, wasting food is really bad for the planet. Farming creates between 10% and 30% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions (排放) — the pollution that's making the climate crisis worse. So when food gets thrown out, the pollution is created for nothing.
The UNEP report says that it's important for countries to study food waste more carefully in order to figure out ways to solve the problem.
1. How many tons of food are wasted a year according to the UN report?2. Why is wasting food bad for the environment?
3. Read the following statement, underline the false part of it and explain the reason.
Labels might be causing food waste, because people might be throwing away food that is bad to eat.
4. Please briefly present what you can do in daily life to save food. (about 40 words)
【推荐2】Not Even Wrong
My eight-year-old son, lack, is a boy with autism (孤独症). Even though I always hear from others that he is very bright and he is making enough progress to meet goals, I am still anxious walking into their parents’ meetings.
Last fall’s parents’ meeting was even worse for me. I noticed Jack making a great effort to keep up with others. Some parents watched Jack and whispered (窃窃私语) and no children were willing to play with him. I started to see the social divide between Jack and his peers (同龄人) widening.
After the parents’ meeting, his teacher spent long time talking to me. She told me that it was getting more difficult for Jack to meet goals just because he was bright. Some teachers and students always complained (抱怨) about Jack’s actions. She also advised me to think about whether the normal class was the best setting for him. Hearing these words, I was very upset.
Then she blew my mind. She showed me one example of Jack’s works and said, “I didn’t know how to grade this. It’s not even wrong, but it’s not right.” I grasped when she said “not even wrong”, which is the name of one of my favorite books on autism, by Paul Collins. The book says a girl whose idea is so far off base but it is not even wrong. It perfectly describes autism and it perfectly describes Jack.
In his book, Paul Collins wrote, “Children with autism are like the square pegs (钉，桩). Hitting a square peg into a round hole is hard work. What’s worse, it’s destroying the square pegs.”
As a mother of a boy with autism, I want to help find more square holes. I want this world to be a world where it is okay to be a square peg without having to pretend to be round. We have been hammering (锤打) square pegs into round holes for a long time. Now we should put down the hammers. And I hope that some of those kids told their parents. And I hope that some of you read this and tell your kids. And I hope that we, all of us together, CAN change the world.
1. Last fall’s parents’ meeting______.| A．gave more joy to the author | B．left the author quite concerned |
| C．frightened the author greatly | D．seemed wonderful for the author |
| A．Impression. | B．Personality. | C．Difference. | D．Brightness. |
| A．Jack had been entirely wrong | B．she actually told a white lie |
| C．she just tried to please the author | D．Jack had a special thinking style |
| A．a round hole fits a square peg |
| B．hitting can never destroy the square pegs |
| C．children with autism tend to be hard-working |
| D．people should let children with autism be themselves |
| A．To change people’s opinion on autism. | B．To give some examples of autism. |
| C．To advise people to buy a book on autism. | D．To warn people of the risk of autism. |
【推荐3】Many people list hiccups (嗝) as one of the most annoying problems which are associated with being human. For a group of people, continuous hiccups can seriously harm the quality of life. In the year 2017, the question “What causes hiccups?” was one of the most searched medical questions. That’s how much of an issue these hiccups are and it also reflects that this problem is so widespread in our daily life.
Dr. Ali Seifi, a professor of the University of Texas, was tired of the traditional methods which are used to remove hiccups, like drinking water or varying breathing techniques. He then came up with the idea that a straw (吸管) could help interrupt hiccups. The straw, which is named HiccAway, requires more suction (吸) power than regular straws in order to draw up liquid. Drinking with this straw can lower the diaphragm (隔膜) while first opening it and then closing it. Doing so stimulates the nerves at the same time, allowing the brain to reset and stop the hiccups.
Dr. James Alvarez of the University of Texas gathered 249 volunteers to use the straw and report back their results. When it comes to the effectiveness, this straw received a score of 4.58 out of 5. About 90% of the participants marked it as more effective than traditional home methods. A majority of the participants reported several occasions when they always suffer from hiccups. 53 reported that they suffered from hiccups weekly and about 11 participants reported daily hiccups issues. The frequent sufferers reported success rates were as high as people who hardly suffer from them.
Some people are convinced that how to interrupt hiccups is an issue in which placebo effect (安慰剂效应) could likely work. A lot of people swear that their own solutions do not end up working for others. It is not clear how this trial could be conducted in a more scientific way.
1. Why does the author mention the question in paragraph 1?| A．To show the possible causes of hiccups. |
| B．To show the terrible effects of hiccups. |
| C．To prove hiccuping is common in our life. |
| D．To prove people are concerned about health. |
| A．Its working principle. | B．Its wide popularity. |
| C．Its experimental result. | D．Its process of producing. |
| A．It led to more hiccups for one-fifth of them. |
| B．It was thought highly of by the majority of them. |
| C．It had no effect on removing hiccups for most of them. |
| D．It helped 11 of them completely get rid of daily hiccups. |
| A．Less volunteers should be involved in the study. |
| B．The study has caught people’s attention on hiccups. |
| C．Many people are believing hiccups can be cured easily. |
| D．There has been no well-recognized cure for hiccups so far. |
【推荐1】A new study suggests that mindfulness education — lessons on techniques to calm the mind and body — can reduce the negative effects of stress and increase students’ ability to stay engaged, helping them stay on track academically and avoid behavior problems.
After finding that students who self-reported mindful habits performed better on tests and had higher grades, researchers from the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University wanted to know if school-based mindfulness training could help more students reap similar benefits.
They designed a study focusing on sixth-graders in a Boston school. The study showed that sixth-graders who participated in an eight-week mindfulness were less stressed out than their classmates who hadn’t. Practicing mindfulness had helped improve the ability to focus in the moment, expanding students’ capacity to learn and regulate their emotions.
Four times a week, instructors from Calmer Choice, a Massachusetts nonprofit specializing in mindfulness education, taught the group techniques and led them through practices, like focusing on a rock for a minute, then discussing when their mind wandered and refocused on the rock. Another group of sixth-graders took computer coding during that time instead. The students were randomly assigned between the groups.
At the end of the eight weeks, the mindfulness group reported being less stressed than they had been before the mindfulness education, and better able to practice self-control. And their amygdalae, the part of the brain that controls emotion, responded less to pictures of fearful faces than they did prior to the mindfulness work, suggesting their brains were less sensitive to negative stimuli, or, in other words, that they were less likely to get stressed out and lose focus. The group who attended coding classes didn’t see the same benefits.
The findings suggest that the mindfulness instruction helped boost students’ attention skills, as well as develop coping mechanisms for stress. The researchers believe it could be especially useful for schools to support students suffering from severe mental damage and other adversities that trigger stress in the body, hurting students’ ability to succeed.
1. What was the purpose of the study?| A．To examine the techniques for practicing mindfulness. |
| B．To study the effects of group mindfulness training on students. |
| C．To see how students help themselves to perform better on tests. |
| D．To understand why mindfulness training calms the mind and body. |
| A．By listing benefits of mindfulness education. |
| B．By scanning the brain to see how it controls emotions. |
| C．By teaching different students different mindfulness skills. |
| D．By comparing two groups of students attending different classes. |
| A．They felt easier to stay focused. | B．They were better at computer coding. |
| C．Their mind was wandering more actively. | D．Their brains were more aware of negativity. |
| A．Stressful parents. | B．Mindful instructors. |
| C．Emotional students. | D．School educators. |
【推荐2】Karaoke App Hits the Right Note
The coronavirus pandemic has forced countless karaoke bars to close. As a response, a music platform in China has launched a new app to put the KTV experience in people’s smartphones so that they can sing at home.
The app targets the younger generation and combines a series of functions such as singing, scoring, and producing. Specifically, it allows users to remix songs and create something new.
“You can sing alone or sing with your friends online. You can also create your own stories or songs. It’s like writing a diary every day, ” says the CEO of the company where the app was developed.
The company has attached two new functions—remixing music and discovering new talented singers—to the app in an attempt to win over more fans. “For the younger generation, they have lots of access to music from all over the world. They love to create and share their ideas on social media platforms, ” the CEO says.
As of August 2019, the company had more than 800 million registered users and over 30 million songs. Due to its large user base，the company has got useful data to analyze young Chinese music fans. According to the CEO, not only do they love singing with the original version, but they are also enthusiastic about creating new versions with different music styles.
On May 12, 2020, the company developed cooperation with an American music publishing company for the copyright to 1. 3 million songs. It is the large and expanding song library that benefits the new app’s users incredibly. By taking advantage of it, they can either perform the latest pop hits or reinterpret classic songs.
In addition, the new app serves as an opportunity to discover new talented singers. “We want to establish a new connection with our users. The app will offer a stage for everyone to display themselves, no matter whether they can sing well or not, ” the CEO adds.
About 160, 000 indie (独立的) musicians share their creations through the platform. To further support them, the company will invest 200 million yuan in the new app to sponsor 100 indie musicians within three years.
1. Which of the following is a highlight of the new app?| A．It includes new music styles. |
| B．Users can sing on their smartphones. |
| C．It can score the songs that users sing. |
| D．Users can remix songs and create something new. |
| A．Obtain. | B．Accept. |
| C．Promote. | D．Compete. |
| A．They tend to keep diaries. |
| B．They are mostly young music lovers. |
| C．They love singing with their friends online. |
| D．They prefer original musical forms. |
| A．Profits made by the company. |
| B．Steps to register an account and use the new app. |
| C．Differences between indie musicians and other musicians. |
| D．Successful examples of indie musicians supported by the company. |
【推荐3】Lynn Tilton lost her father as a teenager and experienced what the loss of the main income provider can do to a family. She struggled through Yale and secured a career on Wall Street. She planned to retire young once she had made enough money. But when she did, she had a dream where her father said, “This is not what I had in mind for you.” The dream gave her a vision that she needed to make her life about more than herself.
Following her intuition (直觉), Lynn founded Patriarch Partners by buying organizations on the edge of bankruptcy and turned them around, which now witnesses 700,000 employees whose jobs she had saved. The Turnaround Queen, as Lynn came to be known, is not alone. Eighty-five percent of CEOs use intuition when making decisions.
Intuition can be highly cognitive. It involves becoming an acute observer. You train your observation skills for differences from the norm in your environment. For example, noticing that a usually busy market was suddenly empty would be a sign of potential danger.
Another form of intuition is more of an emotion. After all, we often speak about intuition as something “feeling right” or “feeling off.” Kushal, a trader on Wall Street, had just entered one of the Twin Towers on September 11. Orders were given to remain in the building. There was a lot going on. Kushal didn’t have time to deliberate about what he should do, but his gut feeling told him to run. Because he followed it, he saved his life seconds before the building collapsed.
Should you always follow your instinct? Definitely. But intuition without intellect is like buying a plane without any propulsion (推动力). Before making a decision, make sure to “consult” your intuition, and analyze the complex situation along with all the other information you have.
Then how can you train yourself for intuition? Intuitive thoughts are more likely to come when your brain is in alpha-wave mode, i.e. you are not concentrating on something, nor are you so relaxed that you could fall asleep. So you can gain access to intuition through meditation, making time to be off your devices, spending time in nature and breathing.
1. Why did the author mention Lynn’s dream of her father?| A．To tell a story. | B．To recall the past. |
| C．To present a finding. | D．To introduce an idea. |
| A．Think over. | B．Look into. | C．Find out. | D．Note down. |
| A．Cognitive intuition. | B．Observation skills. |
| C．Emotional intuition. | D．Good feelings. |
| A．Features of intuition. | B．Functions of intuition. |
| C．Categories of intuition. | D．Cultivation of intuition. |
