Always Give 100%

By Dong Qian

Work shapes personality.If there are no strict requirements for the final result,most people are likely to loaf on the job.

There is some room for leeway:for instance,an actor who does not fully understand the character they are playing may still be able to present a performance that is not too bad and does not affect the overall quality of the film.Some household appliances,though not well designed and inconvenient to use,may still be accepted by customers as long as their major functions are not affected.I’ll take myself as another example.When I do not have adequate time to get fully prepared for an interview,I may just browse through some materials without having a careful study of the interviewee.Probing with my past experiences,the interview probably won’t go too badly.

Such jobs allow for some flukes:if I don’t work hard this time,I can make up for it next time.Therefore,people who are engaged in these jobs are more or less not so disciplined.We are not 100%strict at work.Instead,we allow 70% or 80% precision,trying to loaf at any place,in any aspect,and don’t pay too much attention to what we feel are minor details.

However,work in the aerospace field is quite the opposite.The only criterion to testify the work is whether the rocket or spacecraft can successfully launch and go into orbit.There is either success or failure—there is no third possibility.This clear-cut result coldly and ruthlessly examines the quality of all the daily work of the staff and the credibility of countless data.Therefore,the most important feature of this work is that you have to give 100%,without any indolence.How much work you have done is fully reflected in the product.If you slack off,it will be imprinted in the product,ultimately making the launch a failure;furthermore,you’ll have to accept this punishment in front of the whole world.A backward check will surely find out who shirks.No one can afford such disgrace,so anyone taking the job has to be 100% sure that their own tasks are fully and perfectly accomplished.

All the aerospace industry professionals I have interviewed are straight to the point in our conversations—clear-cut and concise in giving replies.If I didn’t prepare carefully,I would be embarrassed by their clear answers,and their clear logic would highlight the vagueness of my questions.Therefore,to interview such a group of people,I have to be mindful of every detail.

(FromGains,People’s Oriental Publishing & Media Co.,Ltd.Translation:Jessie White)

什么樣的工作塑造什么樣的性格。如果對(duì)結(jié)果的要求是松散的，那么過程必然是能偷懶就偷懶。

電影演員如果在人物性格塑造上有些地方?jīng)]理解到位，但只要整體過得去，就不大影響總體效果。有些生活用電器，某些細(xì)節(jié)沒有設(shè)計(jì)到位，使用起來不是那么順手，但不影響整體的使用，能對(duì)付也就對(duì)付了。再比如我自己，遇到時(shí)間緊，沒有時(shí)間充分地做采訪前的準(zhǔn)備工作，偷懶看個(gè)大概，而不是仔細(xì)研究采訪對(duì)象，憑著經(jīng)驗(yàn)摸著往前走，采訪效果也不會(huì)有太大的閃失。

這些工作都容得下僥幸：我這次沒用功，下次還能補(bǔ)上。所以，從事能偷懶的工作的人，做事多多少少都不嚴(yán)謹(jǐn)。這個(gè)不嚴(yán)謹(jǐn)會(huì)表現(xiàn)在方方面面，在任何地方，能用十分功的用七八分，說話的思路用詞也不會(huì)太條分縷析。總之，不同程度的模糊是我們的特點(diǎn)。

航天領(lǐng)域的工作則截然相反。檢驗(yàn)工作的唯一標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，就是火箭、飛船能不能順利升空，順利入軌。這個(gè)結(jié)果要么成功，要么失敗，沒有第三種可能性。結(jié)果的涇渭分明冷酷無情地在驗(yàn)證工作人員平時(shí)所有的工作是不是扎實(shí)、無數(shù)個(gè)數(shù)據(jù)是不是嚴(yán)謹(jǐn)。所以，這個(gè)工作的最大特點(diǎn)是，絕對(duì)不能偷懶，用幾分功，都體現(xiàn)在產(chǎn)品上，欠著一分，產(chǎn)品就給你記著這一分，最后累積到結(jié)果上，火箭發(fā)射不成功，在世人眼前接受懲罰。一倒查，肯定能發(fā)現(xiàn)是誰當(dāng)初欠下的那一分功。這份工作，丟不起人，承擔(dān)不起責(zé)任，就迫使人絕不能馬虎，必須確保自己這一關(guān)萬無一失。

我采訪過的所有航天人，表達(dá)都是直切主題、干凈簡潔。作為采訪者，如果我沒有仔細(xì)準(zhǔn)備，會(huì)被他們清楚的回答堵得尷尬不已，他們清晰的邏輯會(huì)映照出我提問的模糊。所以，采訪這群人要事無巨細(xì)地做準(zhǔn)備。

（摘自《懂得》東方出版社）