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Corporate rituals
公司儀式
From the public to the private, ceremonies pervade business life.
從公開的到私密的，儀式在商業生活中無處不在。
For a public demonstration of the importance of ritual, the coronation of King Charles III on May 6th will be hard to beat.
在向公眾展示儀式的重要性方面，國王查爾斯三世在5月6日的加冕禮將是無可匹敵的。
The ceremony will take place at Westminster Abbey, where monarchs have been crowned since William the Conqueror in 1066.
儀式將在威斯敏斯特大教堂舉行，自1066年征服者威廉登基以來，君主一直在這里加冕。
There will be anointing, homage-paying, oath-taking and all manner of processing.
到時候將有涂油、致敬、宣誓等各種程序。
In any other circumstances this kind of behaviour would warrant a medical diagnosis.
在任何其他情況下，做出這種行為的人都有理由接受醫學診斷。
But the alchemy of tradition means that it will instead call forth a sense of continuity and the idea of shared history.
但傳統的神秘力量意味著，這種行為將喚起一種延續感和歷史認同感。
Rituals are also a big part of corporate life.
儀式也是企業生活的重要組成部分。
There is nothing to match coronation levels of weirdness, much as some chief executives might like the idea of robes and a throne.
沒有什么能比得上加冕儀式的怪誕程度，盡管有些首席執行官可能喜歡長袍和王冠。
But firms have their own ceremonies and rites.
但公司有自己的儀式和規矩。
Some are internal: the repetitive rhythms of performance reviews and weekly meetings, budget processes and farewell cards are all ritualistic.
有些儀式是內部的：周而復始的業績評估、周會、預算流程和離別賀卡都是例行的儀式。
Others are more public, from investor days to conference calls with analysts.
其他儀式則更加公開，從投資者日到與分析師的電話會議。
The pandemic spawned a host of new customs, from regular events designed to lure people into the office to dedicated times of the week devoted to concentrated work.
疫情催生了一系列新的習俗，從旨在吸引人們來辦公室的定期活動，到一周中專門用于集中工作的時間。
Business rituals can arise spontaneously -- those informal games of office bingo for when the boss uses their favourite bit of jargon.
商業儀式可能是自發出現的--當老板使用他們最喜歡的行話時，可以玩辦公室賓果這種小游戲。
They can also be entirely private.
儀式也可以是完全私密的。
No rule exists to say that, on entering a hotel room, the business traveller must check the minibar; that if the hotel manager has written a letter welcoming him, he must feel absurdly pleased; that if there is a plate of fruit, he must immediately eat all of it.
沒有規定說，在走進酒店房間時，出差的客人必須檢查一下小冰箱；如果酒店經理給他寫了一封歡迎信，他必須感到受寵若驚；如果有一盤水果，他必須馬上把水果都吃掉。
Yet all of these things are as if ordained.
然而，所有這些似乎都是規定好了的。
The prime example of the set-piece ceremony is the annual shareholders’ meeting.
這種精心安排的儀式的一個典型例子就是一年一度的股東大會。
As a way of getting things done, this format is dreadful.
作為一種完成工作的方式，這種形式糟糕透頂。
Any information that shareholders actually need is available to them elsewhere.
股東真正需要的信息都可以在其他地方獲得。
Many people delegate their voting rights to others.
許多人已經將投票權委托給其他人了。
Plenty come just for the sandwiches.
還有很多人來開會只是為了吃三明治。
But as a ritual it matters.
但作為一種儀式，這種大會很重要。
The board of directors enter and sit on a podium; some of them may say absolutely nothing.
董事們進入會場并坐在講臺上，他們中的一些人可能不會說一句話。
The bosses give presentations to show that shareholders could not wish for a better set of managers.
然后老板們匯報工作，表明股東們不可能希望找到更好的經理人。
A succession of small shareholders then take the microphone and harangue the company’s management for being totally useless.
然后，許多小股東接二連三地拿起麥克風，滔滔不絕地指責公司管理層毫無用處。
It is performative, to be sure, but a bit of a performance doesn’t go amiss for something as bloodless as corporate governance.
這當然是一種表演，但對于像公司治理這樣冷血的事情來說，有一點表演也沒什么大礙。
The annual meeting offers a useful physical reminder of who is accountable to whom.
年度會議實實在在地提醒人們，誰對誰負有責任。
Standard rites of this sort can evolve into company-specific ones.
這類標準儀式可以演變為公司特有的儀式。
Amazon has attached a copy of its very first letter to shareholders, from 1997, to every one it has published since as a way of demonstrating that an underlying ethos endures even as the world around it changes.
亞馬遜在發布的每一封致股東的信中，都附上了來自1997年的第一封致股東的信的副本，以此表明即使周圍的世界在變化，公司的底層精神也會堅守不變。
Rituals are also used as a way of building culture and team spirit.
儀式也被用于建立企業文化和團隊精神。
The financial industry has a long-established custom of giving “tombstones” out to clients and bankers when a transaction closes.
金融業有一個由來已久的習俗，即在交易完成時向客戶和銀行家發放“墓碑”。
The original tombstones were ads in newspapers, so called because they were laid out in a way that resembled gravestone inscriptions.
最初的墓碑是報紙上的廣告，之所以叫墓碑，是因為它們的排版和墓碑銘文很像。
The modern versions are sometimes known as “deal toys”.
現代的墓碑有時也被稱為“交易玩具”。
Lucite may not have much intrinsic value but the ritual survives as part-reward, part-commemoration, part-brag.
這種樹脂做的墓碑本身可能沒有太多價值，但這個儀式既作為獎勵，又作為紀念，也作為自夸而存在。
Plenty of firms have less involved celebratory rites, like ringing bells or banging gongs when they hit certain sales milestones.
許多公司的慶祝儀式沒有這么復雜，比如當他們達到某個銷售額里程碑時，只是敲鐘或敲鑼。
Even simple rituals can encourage a sense of community and purpose among employees.
即使是簡單的儀式也能鼓勵員工形成集體意識和使命感。
A paper published in 2021 by Tami Kim of the University of Virginia and her co-authors asked volunteers to participate in a set of physical movements before starting out on a brainstorming exercise.
弗吉尼亞大學的塔米·金和她的合著者在2021年發表了一篇論文，要求志愿者在開始頭腦風暴練習之前一起做一套身體動作。
Some looked at each other during this warm-up and others did not.
在這個熱身過程中，一些人互相看著對方，另一些人則沒有。
The people who maintained eye contact rated the subsequent brainstorming as more meaningful.
保持眼神交流的人認為隨后的頭腦風暴更有意義。
But turning everything into a ritual also risks being tiresome.
但是把一切都變成一種儀式也有可能令人厭煩。
The only thing worse than an unnecessary meeting is an unnecessary meeting with stretching beforehand.
比不必要的會議更糟糕的，只能是在不必要的會議開始之前還要伸展一下身體。
Hosting colleagues at a regular meal and calling it “Fabulous Friday” is going to be most appealing to those who would otherwise be having a “Friendless Friday”.
招待同事吃一頓普通晚餐，然后將其稱為“美妙的星期五”，這對那些原本會過一個“沒朋友的星期五”的人來說才最有吸引力。
And one person’s ritual is another person’s ordeal.
而且一個人的儀式可能會讓另一個人想去世。
Ms Kim’s paper mentions a digital agency that holds regular sessions in which employees share personal stories about moments that changed their lives.
金女士的論文提到了一家數字機構，該機構定期舉行分享會，讓員工們分享改變他們人生的時刻和個人故事。
This is indeed a ritual, but so is hanging, drawing and quartering.
這確實是一種儀式，但對叛國者實施的絞刑、車裂、大卸八塊三件套也是一種儀式。
If there is a golden rule of corporate ritual, it is that it should make people feel as if they belong.
如果說企業儀式有什么金科玉律的話，那就是儀式應該讓人們感覺他們屬于這里。
