把信送給加西亞 英文版

1899

A Message to Garcia

By Elbert Hubbard

In all this Cuban business there is one man stands out on the horizon of my memory like Mars at perihelion. When war broke out between Spain & the United States, it was very necessary to communicate quickly with the leader of the Insurgents. Garcia was somewhere in the mountain vastness of Cuba- no one knew where. No mail nor telegraph message could reach him. The President must secure his cooperation, and quickly.

What to do!

Some one said to the President, There’s a fellow by the name of Rowan will find Garcia for you, if anybody can.

Rowan was sent for and given a letter to be delivered to Garcia. How the fellow by the name of Rowan took the letter, sealed it up in an oil-skin pouch, strapped it over his heart, in four days landed by night off the coast of Cuba from an open boat, disappeared into the jungle, & in three weeks came out on the other side of the Island, having traversed a hostile country on foot, and delivered his letter to Garcia, are things I have no special desire now to tell in detail.

The point I wish to make is this: McKinley gave Rowan a letter to be delivered to Garcia; Rowan took the letter and did not ask, Where is he at? By the Eternal! there is a man whose form should be cast in deathless bronze and the statue placed in every college of the land. It is not book-learning young men need, nor instruction about this and that, but a stiffening of the vertebrae which will cause them to be loyal to a trust, to act promptly, concentrate their energies: do the thing- Carry a message to Garcia!

General Garcia is dead now, but there are other Garcias.

No man, who has endeavored to carry out an enterprise where many hands were needed, but has been well nigh appalled at times by the imbecility of the average man- the inability or unwillingness to concentrate on a thing and do it. Slip-shod assistance, foolish inattention, dowdy indifference, & half-hearted work seem the rule; and no man succeeds, unless by hook or crook, or threat, he forces or bribes other men to assist him; or mayhap, God in His goodness performs a miracle, & sends him an Angel of Light for an assistant. You, reader, put this matter to a test: You are sitting now in your office- six clerks are within call.

Summon any one and make this request: Please look in the encyclopedia and make a brief memorandum for me concerning the life of Correggio.

Will the clerk quietly say, Yes, sir, and go do the task?

On your life, he will not. He will look at you out of a fishy eye and ask one or more of the following questions:

Who was he?

Which encyclopedia?

Where is the encyclopedia?

Was I hired for that?

Don’t you mean Bismarck?

What’s the matter with Charlie doing it?

Is he dead?

Is there any hurry?

Shan’t I bring you the book and let you look it up yourself?

What do you want to know for?

And I will lay you ten to one that after you have answered the questions, and explained how to find the information, and why you want it, the clerk will go off and get one of the other clerks to help him try to find Garcia- and then come back and tell you there is no such man. Of course I may lose my bet, but according to the Law of Average, I will not.

Now if you are wise you will not bother to explain to your assistant that Correggio is indexed under the C’s, not in the K’s, but you will smile sweetly and say, Never mind, and go look it up yourself.

And this incapacity for independent action, this moral stupidity, this infirmity of the will, this unwillingness to cheerfully catch hold and lift, are the things that put pure Socialism so far into the future. If men will not act for themselves, what will they do when the benefit of their effort is for all? A first-mate with knotted club seems necessary; and the dread of getting the bounce Saturday night, holds many a worker to his place.

Advertise for a stenographer, and nine out of ten who apply, can neither spell nor punctuate- and do not think it necessary to.

Can such a one write a letter to Garcia?

You see that bookkeeper, said the foreman to me in a large factory.

Yes, what about him?

Well he’s a fine accountant, but if I’d send him up town on an errand, he might accomplish the errand all right, and on the other hand, might stop at four saloons on the way, and when he got to Main Street, would forget what he had been sent for.

Can such a man be entrusted to carry a message to Garcia?

We have recently been hearing much maudlin sympathy expressed for the downtrodden denizen of the sweat-shop and the homeless wanderer searching for honest employment, & with it all often go many hard words for the men in power.

Nothing is said about the employer who grows old before his time in a vain attempt to get frowsy ne’er-do-wells to do intelligent work; and his long patient striving with help that does nothing but loaf when his back is turned. In every store and factory there is a constant weeding-out process going on. The employer is constantly sending away help that have shown their incapacity to further the interests of the business, and others are being taken on. No matter how good times are, this sorting continues, only if times are hard and work is scarce, the sorting is done finer- but out and forever out, the incompetent and unworthy go.

It is the survival of the fittest. Self-interest prompts every employer to keep the best- those who can carry a message to Garcia.

I know one man of really brilliant parts who has not the ability to manage a business of his own, and yet who is absolutely worthless to any one else, because he carries with him constantly the insane suspicion that his employer is oppressing, or intending to oppress him. He cannot give orders; and he will not receive them. Should a message be given him to take to Garcia, his answer would probably be, Take it yourself.

Tonight this man walks the streets looking for work, the wind whistling through his threadbare coat. No one who knows him dare employ him, for he is a regular fire-brand of discontent. He is impervious to reason, and the only thing that can impress him is the toe of a thick-soled No. 9 boot.

Of course I know that one so morally deformed is no less to be pitied than a physical cripple; but in our pitying, let us drop a tear, too, for the men who are striving to carry on a great enterprise, whose working hours are not limited by the whistle, and whose hair is fast turning white through the struggle to hold in line dowdy indifference, slip-shod imbecility, and the heartless ingratitude, which, but for their enterprise, would be both hungry & homeless.

Have I put the matter too strongly? Possibly I have; but when all the world has gone a-slumming I wish to speak a word of sympathy for the man who succeeds- the man who, against great odds has directed the efforts of others, and having succeeded, finds there’s nothing in it: nothing but bare board and clothes.

I have carried a dinner pail & worked for day’s wages, and I have also been an employer of labor, and I know there is something to be said on both sides. There is no excellence, per se, in poverty; rags are no recommendation; & all employers are not rapacious and high-handed, any more than all poor men are virtuous.

My heart goes out to the man who does his work when the boss is away, as well as when he is at home. And the man who, when given a letter for Garcia, quietly take the missive, without asking any idiotic questions, and with no lurking intention of chucking it into the nearest sewer, or of doing aught else but deliver it, never gets laid off, nor has to go on a strike for higher wages. Civilization is one long anxious search for just such individuals. Anything such a man asks shall be granted; his kind is so rare that no employer can afford to let him go. He is wanted in every city, town and village- in every office, shop, store and factory. The world cries out for such: he is needed, & needed badly- the man who can carry a message to Garcia.

THE END-
讀《把信送給加西亞》有感

早在幾年前，我就讀了《把信送給加西亞》這本書，時至今天、事隔數年，期間我看過很多很多的書，但好些書的內容隨著時間的流逝，已被逐漸淡忘了。唯有《把信送給加西亞》讓我記憶猶新，每次讀它都能帶給我新的體驗。

記得剛看這本書時，看到一半我就不想再看下去了，覺得這本書有點小題大做，有嘩眾取寵之嫌。讓我產生的第一個想法就是：這隻不過是管理者用來教化職員服從他們管理的一本書而已，我相信很多人初看這書都會有這種感覺。

既然是暢銷書，我按下性子還是把書看完了。把書合上後，沒能給我大多的收益，書中人物羅文的形象在我的腦海也很是模糊，但有個潛在意識讓我覺得：羅文好象有點傻，有點盲從。為什麽連加西亞在那都不知道，也不詢問就輕意地接受了任務，我是不怎麽認可這種不定性的工作目標的。

再次捧起《把信送給加西亞》，是基於一次原公司月度工作的總結會。公司營銷、研發與生產部的工作目標未能達成，而且相互找借口推脫責任。老總不悅地說：“我想知道，在我們公司誰能把信送給加西亞？我需要這樣的員工。”

這次我讀了《把信送給加西亞》，還讀了《誰能把信送給加西亞》，這次的閱讀讓我的視野豁然開闊，也讓我的思維提高到了一個更高的境界。以前覺得“小題大作、羅文的傻、管理者用來教化職員服從”的觀點，讓我有點無地自容。

這次閱讀中讓我覺得，一個普通的軍人，在給加西亞將軍送信的任務中，羅文所做的確是件很普通的事。但正是從這普通的平凡中，孕育出了偉大的服從精神，因為服從，才使他圓滿地完成了任務。也正因為他那種服從、敬業的精神，才使得他成為人們心目中的英雄廣為傳頌。

可在我們的工作中，時常會聽到：“這事怎麽辦？有什麽支持和幫助？”或者是：“這工作有一定的難度，我可能完成不了任務，另派別人吧”。大家在接受任務時，想得最多的是我會得到什麽幫助，從而討價還價要資源。這種對自己缺乏信心的疑問，很自然給自己無形中就設置了一道障礙，把自己困擾了起來。

看書中主人翁羅文，他接受任務時，根本沒問加西亞在那裏，該怎麽找到他，難道羅文不知道工作的難度？我想他比誰都清楚自己所承擔的責任。可是他堅定的信念和自信告訴他一定能完成任務，所以他什麽也不問。如果他當初在接受任務時，他什麽都問清楚了，知道加西亞在那裏，也就沒有他今天的輝煌了。

所以說最艱巨的任務，方能顯現英雄本色。如果我們在熟悉的環境中從事熟悉的工作，就無法領略一路的驚險，也沒有機會突破自我。羅文送信的任務是挑戰也是機遇，危險與機會其實是一對孿生兄弟，就看我們怎麽去駕馭。

職業生涯中，忠誠和敬業並不僅僅有益與公司和老板，最大的受益是我們自己，是整個社會。 忠於職守，敬業愛崗，履行承諾，這些看似俗套的話語，並不僅僅是一個優秀員工的標準，而是每一個熱愛事業、熱愛生活、有責任心、渴望成功人的標準。因為忠誠使人贏得尊敬，因為敬業使人得到充實、獲得成功，忠誠和敬業能使人感到踏實和值得信賴。

古人雲：“人無信則不立”。上級命令的結果是下級的堅決服從，背後卻是上級的絕對信任，他們的信任來自於對他品質的肯定也是對他能力的間接認可。是他平素的品行為他“贏”得了這次機會，羅文憑這堅強的意誌，曆盡艱險，不負眾望地完成了任務，這正是他的所立之處。

古人又雲：“人而無信，不知其可”。一個人如果不講信用，就不知道他能做些什麽了。事實證明，不守誠信的人，很難贏得別人的信任和尊重。日常生活中，誠信能為我們贏得友誼；工作中，誠信給我們帶來事業上的發展和機遇。誠信守用是為人處世的基本素養，也是人際交往的根本。

對《把信送給加西亞》第二次的回顧，讓我明白了很多事理，好似也教會了我為人和處世。我再次合上書時，羅文的形象在我眼前忽然高大起來，他是我心中的英雄，而且書中的場境很是讓我熱血沸騰。

漫漫職場路，羅文再次從我記憶深處挖掘出來，同樣是緣於一次公司員工大會，同樣是老總呼籲發揚羅文精神，這次是老總要送每位員工一本《把信送給加西亞》，老總的良苦用心是：希望我們能領悟這本書，並通透去詮釋。

溫故而知新，同樣一本書放在不同時間段看，其領悟到的東西就是不一樣。此一時，彼一時，很多事不能一概而論。我們在津津樂道讚揚羅文的同時，有個問題不得不去考量。現在是知識經濟年代，要求開拓創新，提倡的是工作的積極主動性，如果所有員工都在那坐等指派任務，那將是件可怕的事。

我們通常說：“做對的事比把事做對更重要”，羅文把信送給了加西亞，他隻是把事做對了，因為他是在不斷摸索中完成任務的。“對的事”應該有明確的方向和目標，有清晰的路線和工具等，再配以周祥的計劃與布署，才能確保萬無一失。“對的事”――就是說任務一下來，就知道完成的概率了。

現在的企業競爭非常激烈，核心競爭力與企業的戰略是成敗的關鍵。很多企業領導在做決策時未能把目標達成“對的事”，隻是想讓“羅文精神”的員工去摸索達成，從而浪費了時間和精力。

事事變遷，時代在變，人們的世界觀、價值觀也在變。雖說：“忠誠、敬業、勤奮”的職業道德觀不應變，但作為企業領導,你得給“送信者”以溫飽，你得稱讚他、感激他、支持他的立場，讓送信者無後顧之憂。如果“送信者”得不到最基本的生存需求，他送信的動機就會大打折扣了。

作為企業領導，應深刻理解“送信人”和“送信人精神”對企業是何等的重要與需要，但更應清楚地知道：天上不會掉餡餅。“送信人”和“送信人精神”必須靠企業自己去教育、去培養、去發現、去激勵、去吸納、去保留。

現今企業管理中，科學精神才是企業發展的根本。“科學管理、民主決策、創新理念、求實精神”應當是創業和守業的基本原則，這個原則相當於“送信人”的智慧和“送信派遣人”的責任。有了這個智慧與責任結合，我們就不會糊塗和盲目。就能夠促使企業穩定持續地發展、長足地進步。

前後三次讀同樣的一本書，但每次的觀點和看法都不相同，這次的感受趨於平淡。謹以此文寫出我的不同感受與大家分享，互相探討希望能共同進步！