TED演讲:婴儿潮时期的人和千禧一代如何在工作中相互学习(1)

It was my third day on the job at a hot Silicon¹ Valley start-up in early 2013.

这是2013年初，我在硅谷一家热门创业公司工作的第三天。

I was twice the age of the dozen engineers in the room.

我的年龄是那个房间中十几个工程师年龄的两倍。

I'd been brought in to the company because I was a seasoned expert in my field,

我进到这个公司是因为我在自己的领域是资深专家，

but in this particular room, I felt like a newbie amongst the tech geniuses.

但在这个特定的房间中，我感觉自己就像一群科技天才中的菜鸟。

I was listening to them talk and thinking that the best thing I could do was be invisible.

我听着他们交谈，觉得我最应该做的事儿就是隐身。

And then suddenly, the 25-year-old wizard leading the meeting stared at me and asked,

突然，一位25岁主持会议的奇才盯着我，问：

"If you shipped a feature and no one used it, did it really ship?"

“如果你发布了一个功能，但没人用，它真的算是发布了吗？”

"Ship a feature"? In that moment, Chip knew he was in deep ship.

“发布一个功能？”在那一刻，我开始意识到自己正处于水深火热之中。

I had no idea what he was talking about.

我压根儿听不懂他在说什么。

I just sat there awkwardly, and mercifully, he moved on to someone else.

我只能尴尬地坐在那里，不过好在他直接转向了另一个人。

I slid down in my chair, and I couldn't wait for that meeting to end.

我浑身瘫软地坐在椅子上，迫不及待地等待会议结束。

That was my introduction to Airbnb.

这就是我在爱彼迎初来乍到的表现。

I was asked and invited by the three millennial² cofounders to join their company

我被三位千禧一代的联合创始人邀请加入他们的公司，

to help them take their fast-growing tech start-up and turn it into a global hospitality brand,

帮助他们快速成长的科技公司成为全球知名的住宿品牌，

as well as to be the in-house mentor³ for CEO Brian Chesky.

同时我也成了首席执行官布莱恩·切斯基的内部导师。

Now, I'd spent from age 26 to 52 being a boutique hotel entrepreneur,

我在26到52岁期间是一位经营着一家精品酒店的企业家，

and so I guess I'd learned a few things along the way and accumulated some hospitality knowledge.

我猜我在这一路上多少学到和积累了一些酒店业的知识。

But after my first week,

但在我加入爱彼迎的一周后，

I realized that the brave new home-sharing world didn't need much of my old-school bricks-and-mortar hotel insights.

我意识到这个全新的民宿共享世界并不需要借鉴太多传统实体酒店行业的经验。

A stark⁴ reality rocked me: What do I have to offer? I'd never been in a tech company before.

一个严酷的事实震撼了我：我能提供什么价值？我以前从没在科技公司呆过。

Five and a half years ago, I had never heard of the "sharing economy," nor did I have an Uber or Lyft app on my phone.

5年半前，我都还从没听过“共享经济”，手机上也没有优步或Lyft打车软件。

This was not my natural habitat.

我感到有些水土不服。

1 silicon   

n.硅(旧名矽)

参考例句：

• This company pioneered the use of silicon chip.这家公司开创了使用硅片的方法。
• A chip is a piece of silicon about the size of a postage stamp.芯片就是一枚邮票大小的硅片。

2 millennial   

一千年的，千福年的

参考例句：

• Both Russia and America looked to the future to fulfill their millennial expectations. 俄国和美国都把实现他们黄金时代的希望寄托于未来。
• The millennial generation is celebrating the global commons every day, apparently unmindful of Hardin's warning. 千禧一代显然对哈丁的警告不以为然，每天都在颂扬全球“公地”。

3 mentor   

n.指导者，良师益友；v.指导

参考例句：

• He fed on the great ideas of his mentor.他以他导师的伟大思想为支撑。
• He had mentored scores of younger doctors.他指导过许多更年轻的医生。

4 stark   

adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地

参考例句：

• The young man is faced with a stark choice.这位年轻人面临严峻的抉择。
• He gave a stark denial to the rumor.他对谣言加以完全的否认。