Catherine, what’s the connection between hierarchies, managers and chickens?
Catherine,等级制度、管理者和鸡之间有什么联系?
Catherine(凯瑟 琳)
Well, I don’t know Neil, but I’m, sure you’re going to tell me.
嗯,我不认识 Neil,但我确信你会告诉我的。
Neil(尼尔)
First of all, could you explain for our listeners what a hierarchy is?
首先,您能为我们的听众解释一下什么是层次结构吗?
Catherine(凯瑟 琳)
Of course! A hierarchy is a way of organising people. For example, in a company, where there are people working at different levels. You’ve got bosses, managers and workers. The workers do the work and the managers have meetings that stop the workers doing the work!
But where do the chickens come in? We’ll find out shortly, but first here is today’s question and it is – surprise, surprise – about chickens. What is the record number of eggs laid by one chicken in a year? Is it: a: 253 b: 371 c: 426 What do you think Catherine?
Well, I think most chickens lay an egg once a day, so I think it’s 371.
嗯,我认为大多数鸡每天下一次蛋,所以我认为是 371。
Neil(尼尔)
Well, we will have an answer later in the programme. Now, for hierarchies and chickens. In the radio programme The Joy of 9 to 5, produced by Somethin’ Else for the BBC, entrepreneur Margaret Heffernan described an experiment. In this experiment, researchers compared the egg production of a group of average chickens to a group of super-chickens. That’s chickens with an above average egg production. Which was the most successful? Here’s Margaret Heffernan, and by the way, the noun for a group of chickens is a flock.
好吧,我们将在节目的后面给出答案。现在,对于层次结构和鸡。在 Somethin’ Else 为 BBC 制作的广播节目 The Joy of 9 to 5 中,企业家 Margaret Heffernan 描述了一项实验。在这个实验中,研究人员比较了一组普通鸡和一组超级鸡的产蛋量。那是产蛋量高于平均水平的鸡。哪个最成功?这是 Margaret Heffernan,顺便说一句,一群鸡的名词是一群鸡。
Margaret Heffernan(玛格丽特·赫弗南)
He compares the two flocks over six generations. The average flock just gets better and better and better. Egg production increases dramatically. The super-flock of super-chickens, at the end of six generations, all but three are dead, because the other three have killed the rest. They’ve achieved their individual productivity by suppressing the productivity of the rest. And that’s what we do at work.
Well, the super-flock actually killed each other, so it turned out that the average flock laid more eggs in total and was more successful.
嗯,超级鸡群实际上是互相残杀的,所以事实证明,普通鸡群总共产下更多的蛋,而且更成功。
Neil(尼尔)
Yes, but why was that?
是的,但为什么呢?
Catherine(凯瑟 琳)
Well, the super-chickens must have seen their other flock members not as colleagues, but as competitors. Now to understand this, we have to start with the word productivity. This noun refers to the amount of work that’s done. So, on an individual level, the super- chickens achieved productivity because they suppressed the productivity of their flock members. Suppressed here means they ‘stopped the other chickens from being productive’ by killing them.
Well, Margaret Heffernan suggests that we see this kind of behaviour in the human workplace. When everyone is equal, productivity is high, but as soon as there’s a hierarchy - as soon as there are managers - things can go wrong because not all managers see their role as making life easier for the workers. They demonstrate their productivity as managers, by interfering with the productivity of the workers.
Margaret Heffernan 认为,我们在人类工作场所看到了这种行为。当每个人都平等时,生产力会很高,但是一旦有等级制度 —— 只要有经理 —— 事情就会出错,因为并非所有经理都认为他们的角色是让员工的生活更轻松。他们通过干扰工人的生产力来展示他们作为管理者的生产力。
Neil(尼尔)
But there are other experiments which show that chickens are productive in a hierarchy. How are those hierarchies different though? Here’s Margaret Heffernan again.
So chickens have an inbuilt or, if you like, an inherited hierarchy - that’s where we get the term pecking order from. But it’s one that they create among themselves, rather than one that’s imposed upon them.
Well, the best hierarchy is one that isn’t imposed. That means a good hierarchy isn’t forced on the chickens. They do well when they create the hierarchy themselves, naturally. They work out the pecking order themselves.
Pecking order is a great phrase. We use it to describe levels of importance in an organisation. The more important you are, the higher in the pecking order you are. Where does this phrase originate?
Well, pecking describes what chickens do with their beaks. They hit or bite other chickens with them. And the most important or dominant chickens, peck all the others. The top chicken does all the pecking, middle-level chickens get pecked and do some pecking themselves, and some chickens are only pecked by other chickens. So, there is a definite pecking order in chickens.
Right, time to review this week’s vocabulary, but before that let’s have the answer to the quiz. I asked what the record number of eggs laid by a single chicken in a year was. The options were: a: 253 b: 371 c: 426 What did you say, Catherine?
Well, lucky you! You’re definitely top of the pecking order, aren’t you? Because you are right!
好吧,你很幸运!你绝对是排名靠前的,不是吗?因为你是对的!
Catherine(凯瑟 琳)
That’s a lot of eggs!
好多鸡蛋啊!
Neil(尼尔)
Indeed. Now, the vocabulary. We are talking about hierarchies - a way to organise a society or workplace with different levels of importance.
事实上。现在,词汇。我们谈论的是等级制度 - 一种组织具有不同重要性的社会或工作场所的方式。
Catherine(凯瑟 琳)
An expression with a similar meaning is pecking order, which relates to how important someone, or a chicken, is, within a hierarchy.
具有相似含义的表达是 peking order,它与某人或一只鸡在层次结构中的重要性有关。
Neil(尼尔)
A group of chickens is a flock. It’s also the general collective noun for birds as well, not just chickens.
一群鸡是一群鸡。它也是 birds 的通用集体名词,而不仅仅是 chickens。
Catherine(凯瑟 琳)
Another of our words was the noun productivity, which refers to the amount of work that is done.
我们的另一个词是名词 productivity,它指的是完成的工作量。
Neil(尼尔)
And if you suppress someone’s productivity, you stop them from being as productive as they could be.
如果你压制某人的生产力,你就会阻止他们尽可能地提高他们的生产力。
Catherine(凯瑟 琳)
And finally, there was the verb to impose. If you impose something, you force it on people. For example, the government imposed new taxes on fuel.
最后,还有动词 to impose。如果你强加了什么,你就把它强加给人们。例如,政府对燃料征收新的税。
Neil(尼尔)
Well that is the end of the programme. For more from us though, check out Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and of course, our App! Don’t forget the website as well - bbclearningenglish.com. See you soon, bye.