Chris Anderson: Welcome to TED.
克里斯安德森(克):欢迎来到TED
Richard Branson: Thank you very much. The first TED has been great.
理查德布兰森(理):十分感谢。TED第一次活动举办的持分成功
CA: Have you met anyone interesting?
克:那次活动你碰到什么有趣的人了吗?
RB: Well, the nice thing about TED is everybody's interesting. I was very glad to see Goldie Hawn, because I had an apology to make to her. I'd had dinner with her about two years ago and I'd -- she had this big wedding ring and I put it on my finger and I couldn't get it off. And I went home to my wife that night and she wanted to know why I had another woman's big, massive, big wedding ring on my finger. And, anyway, the next morning we had to go along to the jeweler and get it cut off. So -- (Laughter) -- so apologies to Goldie.
理:这个嘛,TED绝妙的一点就是所有人都很有趣 见到戈尔迪霍恩(美国女星)我很开心 因为我得向她道歉 大约两年前我有幸跟她共进晚餐,但是… 她有一个很大的结婚戒指,我戴在自己手上一试,结果摘不下来了 晚上我回到家,见到我妻子 她想知道为何我手上有另一个女人硕大… 无比的结婚戒指 不管怎么样,第二天我们不得不去珠宝商那儿 把戒指切下来 所以,(笑) 对不起,戈尔迪
CA: That's pretty good. So, we're going to put up some slides of some of your companies here. You've started one or two in your time. So, you know, Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Records -- I guess it all started with a magazine called Student. And then, yes, all these other ones as well. I mean, how do you do this?
克:很有意思的故事 现在我们放几张幻灯片 是有关你的几家公司的 当年你只开了一两家 就是维珍航空和维珍唱片 我听说这一切都是从一本名为《学生》的杂志开始的 后来发展到今天的一切。我想问的是,你是怎么做到的?
RB: I read all these sort of TED instructions: you must not talk about your own business, and this, and now you ask me. So I suppose you're not going to be able to kick me off the stage, since you asked the question. (Laughter)
理:我读了TED演讲指南-- 上面说不能谈自己生意上的事, 现在你道来问我 要是我回答,你应该不会把我赶下台吧 既然你问了 (笑)
CA: It depends what the answer is though.
克:那就要看你怎么回答了
RB: No, I mean, I think I learned early on that if you can run one company, you can really run any companies. I mean, companies are all about finding the right people, inspiring those people, you know, drawing out the best in people. And I just love learning and I'm incredibly inquisitive and I love taking on, you know, the status quo and trying to turn it upside down. So I've seen life as one long learning process. And if I see -- you know, if I fly on somebody else's airline and find the experience is not a pleasant one, which it wasn't, 21 years ago, then I'd think, well, you know, maybe I can create the kind of airline that I'd like to fly on. And so, you know, so got one secondhand 747 from Boeing and gave it a go.
理:不,我的意思是,我早年学到要是你能开一家公司 你就可以开任何公司 我的意思是,开公司关键就是要找到合适的人 激发他们,要知道,就是是他们发挥各自的最佳优势 而且,我乐于学习,还很不耻下问 要知道我很喜欢了解现状 喜欢尝试翻天覆地 所以生活对我来说是一种学习过程 要知道,要是那天我坐在别人的航班上 感觉不怎么自在,也就是-- 21年前,我当时想,没准儿我能 创造一家让人自在的航空公司 后来,我买了架二手波音747,小试一把
CA: Well, that was a bizarre thing, because you made this move that a lot of people advised you was crazy. And in fact, in a way, it almost took down your empire at one point. I had a conversation with one of the investment bankers who, at the time when you basically sold Virgin Records and invested heavily in Virgin Atlantic, and his view was that you were trading, you know, the world's fourth biggest record company for the twenty-fifth biggest airline and that you were out of your mind. Why did you do that?
克:还真是怪事一桩 你这一举动下的你的顾问们以为你精神失常 事实上,这一举动差点毁掉你半边江山 一次我和一个投资银行家聊天 那时候,你基本已经出卖维珍唱片 重点投资维珍航空 那银行家觉得 用世界上第四大唱片公司 去换排名仅25位的航空公司,你肯定脑子出问题了 你为什么会那样做?
RB: Well, I think that there's a very thin dividing line between success and failure. And I think if you start a business without financial backing, you're likely to go the wrong side of that dividing line. We had -- we were being attacked by British Airways. They were trying to put our airline out of business, and they launched what's become known as the dirty tricks campaign. And I realized that the whole empire was likely to come crashing down unless I chipped in a chip. And in order to protect the jobs of the people who worked for the airline, and protect the jobs of the people who worked for the record company, I had to sell the family jewelry to protect the airline.
理:这个嘛,我觉得成败仅一线之隔 而且,组建公司要没雄厚的资金保障 你很可能会被推向失败一边 我们当时正遭到英国航空的排挤 他们想让我们倒闭 他们运用了被称为”三流手段宣传攻势“ 当时,我意识到,我的帝国很可能会毁于一旦 除非我另辟蹊径 为了保住航空公司员工们的饭碗 同时保住唱片公司员工的饭碗 我就不得不顾全大局变卖维珍唱片
CA: Post-Napster, you're looking like a bit of a genius, actually, for that as well.
克:后Napster(一种在线音乐服务)时代作风,此举还真是 天才
RB: Yeah, as it turned out, it proved to be the right move. But, yeah, it was sad at the time, but we moved on.
理:是啊,现在看来这可真是明智之举 但当时可是挺伤心的,但我们的步伐并未因此而停歇
CA: Now, you use the Virgin brand a lot and it seems like you're getting synergy from one thing to the other. What does the brand stand for in your head?
克:现在你的维珍品牌涉及范围还挺广泛的 貌似你在自己的各个企业合并产生的协同合作中受益不小啊 在你心中维珍品牌代表的是什么呢?
RB: Well, I like to think it stands for quality, that you know, if somebody comes across a Virgin company, they --
理:我觉得维珍就是品质的代言 要知道,如果有人恰巧看到维珍旗下的一家公司,他们会--
CA: They are quality, Richard. Come on now, everyone says quality. Spirit?
克:维珍就是品质,理查德,行行好,人人都说品质--是企业精神?
RB: No, but I was going to move on this. We have a lot of fun and I think the people who work for it enjoy it. As I say, we go in and shake up other industries, and I think, you know, we do it differently and I think that industries are not quite the same as a result of Virgin attacking the market.
理:不是的,我马上就会谈到这一点 我们的工作中种满乐子,我觉得员工还是相当乐在其中的 我们,就像我说的一样,一入行就振动了其他行业 并且我认为,要知道,我们的手法还是很与众不同的 这些行业从此开始发生改变 因为维珍进军他们的市场
CA: I mean, there are a few launches you've done where the brand maybe hasn't worked quite as well. I mean, Virgin Brides -- what happened there? (Laughter)
克:我的意思是,你创立的公司有没有-- 运营情况不佳的 比如,维珍新娘--它的现状怎么解释? (笑)
RB: We couldn't find any customers. (Laughter) (Applause)
理:我们压根就找不到顾客 (笑) (鼓掌)
CA: I was actually also curious why -- I think you missed an opportunity with your condoms launch. You called it Mates. I mean, couldn't you have used the Virgin brand for that as well? Ain't virgin no longer, or something.
克:我很好奇的是-- 我就得你错失了一次向安全套行业进军的机会--你曾将其命名为“伴侣”(Mates) 我是说,你为啥不把它也划入维珍名下呢? 这产品的消费群体不能算处子之身(维珍virgin意为处子之身)吗?
RB: Again, we may have had problems finding customers. I mean, we had -- often, when you launch a company and you get customer complaints, you know, you can deal with them. But about three months after the launch of the condom company, I had a letter, a complaint, and I sat down and wrote a long letter back to this lady apologizing profusely. But obviously, there wasn't a lot I could do about it. And then six months later, or nine months after the problem had taken, I got this delightful letter with a picture of the baby asking if I'd be godfather, which I became. So, it all worked out well.
理:同样,这样做我们就会很难有人光顾啦 我是说,我们曾经刚开业时老是收到顾客的抱怨 这个还是可以应付得了的 但安全套公司运营三个月后 我们收到一封信,一封投诉信 后来,我坐下来写了一封很长的信并向这位女士致以最诚挚的歉意 但很明显,除此以外我也做不了什么 问题出现的六个月后,也许是九个月后 我收到一封很令人愉快的回信,信上附了一张婴儿的照片 询问我是否愿意做着孩子的教父,我欣然答应 所以事情进展的还算顺利
CA: Really? You should have brought a picture. That's wonderful.
克:真的?你真应该带张照片的。这真是棒极了
RB: I should have.
理:我是应该带照片来的
CA: So, just help us with some of the numbers. I mean, what are the numbers on this? I mean, how big is the group overall? How much -- what's the total revenue?
克:帮我们做做下面的数学题吧 这数字是? 着整个集团到底有多大? 盈利额是多少呢?
RB: It's about 25 billion dollars now, in total.
理:现在大概250亿吧
CA: And how many employees?
克:有多少员工呢?
RB: About 55,000.
理:大约5万5千人
CA: So, you've been photographed in various ways at various times and never worrying about putting your dignity on the line or anything like that. What was that? Was that real?
克:不同场合下你上镜无数 有没有想过让自己看上去体面些 这是怎么回事?是真的吗?
RB: Yeah. We were launching a megastore in Los Angeles, I think. No, I mean, I think -- CA: But is that your hair? RB: No. CA: What was that one?
理:千真万确。我们在洛杉矶开了一家超级店铺 不,我想-- 克:那你的头发是怎么回事? 理:不 克:那是怎么回事?
RB: Dropping in for tea.
临时去喝茶
CA: OK. (Laughter)
克:好吧 (笑)
RB: Ah, that was quite fun. That was a wonderful car-boat in which --
克:挺有意思的。那个有趣的车船里--
CA: Oh, that car that we -- actually we -- it was a TEDster event there, I think. Is that -- could you still pause on that one actually, for a minute? (Laughter)
理:噢,那部车--事实上--我们 那是一次TED活动 那个不会是--你能在哪掌上多停留几秒吗? (笑)
RB: It's a tough job, isn't it?
理:其实挺难得,不是吗?
CA: I mean, it is a tough job. (Laughter) When I first came to America, I used to try this with employees as well and they kind of -- they have these different rules over here, it's very strange.
克:的确是一项挺难的事儿的 (笑) 我第一次来美国时,我还跟员工们一起试过呢 他们,他们的规矩和这个有点不同 挺奇怪的
RB: I know, I have -- the lawyers say you mustn't do things like that, but --
理:是啊,我的律师告诉我别这么干,但是--
CA: I mean, speaking of which, tell us about --
克:跟大家所说--
RB: "Pammy" we launched, you know -- mistakenly thought we could take on Coca-Cola, and we launched a cola bottle called "The Pammy" and it was shaped a bit like Pamela Anderson. But the trouble is, it kept on tipping over, but -- (Laughter)
理:我们推出的帕米(Pammy) 原本错以为可以击败可口可乐 我们推出的瓶装碳酸饮料叫帕米 瓶体形状有点像帕米拉安德森(美国艳星) 但问题是瓶体上半部分太重,老是倒,但-- (笑)
CA: Designed by Philippe Starck perhaps?
克:搞不好是菲利普斯塔克(著名法设计师)设计的?
RB: Of course.
理:当然是啦
CA: So, we'll just run a couple more pictures here. Virgin Brides. Very nice. And, OK, so stop there. This was -- you had some award I think?
克:我们再看多几张图片。维珍新娘。很不错 好的,这张。我猜这是什么奖吧?
RB: Yeah, well, 25 years earlier, we'd launched the Sex Pistols' "God Save The Queen," and I'd certainly never expected that 25 years later -- that she'd actually knight us. But somehow, she must have had a forgetful memory, I think.
理:是的,25年前我们本可以推出性手枪(Sex Pistols为英国朋克乐队) ”天佑吾王“,我怎么也不会料想到 25年后女王竟然授予我爵士头衔 不过她一定记性不太好,我觉得
CA: Well, God saved her and you got your just reward. Do you like to be called Sir Richard, or how?
克:天佑女王而且你得到了奖励 你喜欢被叫做理查德爵士吗?
RB: Nobody's ever called me Sir Richard. Occasionally in America, I hear people saying Sir Richard and think there's some Shakespearean play taking place. But nowhere else anyway.
理:压根没人那么叫我 在美国偶尔会有人那样叫 不过是在莎翁舞台剧里罢了 仅此一处
CA: OK. So can you use your knighthood for anything or is it just ...
克:好吧,你的头衔能给你捞到任何好处吗,还是仅仅…
RB: No. I suppose if you're having problems getting a booking in a restaurant or something, that might be worth using it.
理:没有,我猜当你你有困难的时候 预订餐厅有麻烦还是别的什么 倒值得一试
CA: You know, it's not Richard Branson. It's Sir Richard Branson.
克:要知道,这可不是理查德布兰森,是理查德布兰森爵士
RB: I'll go get the secretary to use it.
理:我会让我的秘书适应这叫法儿的
CA: OK. So let's look at the space thing. I think, with us, we've got a video that shows what you're up to, and Virgin Galactic up in the air. (Video) So that's the Bert Rutan designed spaceship?
克:好的,再来看看空间开发吧 我觉得,有个视频,可以告诉我们你下步想干什么 把维珍星际射向宇宙 是伯特鲁坦(美国航天工程师)设计的飞船吗?
RB: Yeah, it'll be ready in -- well, ready in 12 months and then we do 12 months extensive testing. And then 24 months from now, people will be able to take a ride into space.
理:是啊,再过个12个月,就可以准备升空了 接下来再做12个月的高强度的试飞 就是说再过24个月 人们就可以遨游太空了
CA: So this interior is Philippe Starcke designed?
克:那么室内装潢是菲利普斯塔克承包的吗?
RB: Philippe has done the -- yeah, quite a bit of it: the logos and he's building the space station in New Mexico. And basically, he's just taken an eye and the space station will be one giant eye, so when you're in space, you ought to be able to see this massive eye looking up at you. And when you land, you'll be able to go back into this giant eye. But he's an absolute genius when it comes to design.
理:菲利普设计了一部分,相当一部分 标志是他设计的,现在他在新墨西哥州建发射中心 基本上他的想法是一只眼 发射中心是一只巨眼 所以,在太空中, 你就会看见一只巨眼望着你 着陆时,你又会回到这只巨眼中 设计上他可是一绝
CA: But you didn't have him design the engine?
克:但你可没让他设计引擎啊?
RB: Philippe is quite erratic, so I think that he wouldn't be the best person to design the engine, no.
理:菲利普有很多鬼点子 所以我觉得他不是设计引擎的最佳人选
CA: He gave a wonderful talk here two days ago.
克:两天前菲利普给我们精彩演讲一番
RB: Yeah? No, he is a --
理:真的。不会的,他是个--
CA: Well, some people found it wonderful, some people found it completely bizarre. But, I personally found it wonderful.
克:有人觉得讲的很好 有人觉得很怪异 但,就我个人而言,我很欣赏
RB: He's a wonderful enthusiast, which is why I love him. But ...
理:他是个妙不可言、充满激情的人,我很欣赏他。但--
CA: So, now, you've always had this exploration bug in you. Have you ever regretted that?
克:那么,你现在老有星际探索的念头 你后悔过吗?
RB: Many times. I mean, I think with the ballooning and boating expeditions we've done in the past. Well, I got pulled out of the sea I think six times by helicopters, so -- and each time, I didn't expect to come home to tell the tale. So in those moments, you certainly wonder what you're doing up there or --
理:数不胜数 我的意思是,以前的热气球啊、船啊之类的探险人们都做过了 我6次都去坐海上直升飞机,所以-- 每次我都没想能回家,能讲讲这经历 在那些命悬一线之际 你都会想自己在这儿干什么…
CA: What was the closest you got to -- when did you think, this is it, I might be on my way out?
克:你最惊险的经历是什么? 你觉得是哪次?我可能会不再
RB: Well, I think the balloon adventures were -- each one was, each one, actually, I think we came close. And, I mean, first of all we -- nobody had actually crossed the Atlantic in a hot air balloon before, so we had to build a hot air balloon that was capable of flying in the jet stream, and we weren't quite sure, when a balloon actually got into the jet stream, whether it would actually survive the 200, 220 miles an hour winds that you can find up there. And so, just the initial lift off from Sugarloaf to cross the Atlantic, as we were pushing into the jet stream, this enormous balloon -- the top of the balloon ended up going at a couple of hundred miles an hour, the capsule that we were in at the bottom was going at maybe two miles an hour, and it just took off. And it was like holding onto a thousand horses. And we were just crossing every finger, praying that the balloon would hold together, which, fortunately, it did. But the ends of all those balloon trips were, you know -- something seemed to go wrong every time, and on that particular occasion, the more experienced balloonist who was with me jumped, and left me holding on for dear life. (Laughter)
理:我觉得热气球探险,次次都是-- 每次,实际上,我们都挺悬的 首先,我们-- 以前从来没人坐热气球横跨大西洋 我已我们必须设计出适应高速气流的热气球 我们自己也是疑虑重重 当气球行驶在高速气流中时 它能否挺过时速200220里的高空气流 所以,当气球从巴西甜面包山起飞要横越大西洋时 就在上升到高速气流区时,那个巨大的气球-- 结果气球顶端能达到时速两百来里 底部的航天藏却只有大概时速2里 这还仅仅是起飞呢 它就像栓了上千匹马 我么当时祈求天赐好运 祈祷气球别散架儿,幸运的是,的确没有 但每次气球探险的结果,要知道-- 老是出差错 每次出航,跟我一起驾驶气球的的老手 此次都会跳伞,弃我自生自灭 (笑)
CA: Did he tell you to jump, or he just said, "I'm out of here!" and ...
克:那人会让你也跳伞还是就直说”我呆不下啦“
RB: No, he told me jump, but once his weight had gone, the balloon just shot up to 12,000 feet and I ...
理:不,他告诉我跳伞,但是一旦他挑出舱外,给飞船减负 气球就直窜1万2千米高空
CA: And you inspired an Ian McEwan novel I think with that.
克:你的冒险给了伊恩麦克伊旺(英国作家)灵感
RB: Yeah. No, I put on my oxygen mask and stood on top of the balloon, with my parachute, looking at the swirling clouds below, trying to pluck up my courage to jump into the North Sea, which -- and it was a very, very, very lonely few moments. But, anyway, we managed to survive it.
里:对,不是的,我带上氧气面罩站在气球顶端 背上背着降落伞,低头看着脚下的漩涡一般的云 我想鼓起勇气一头跳进北海-- 那一刻真的是太太孤单了 但不管怎么说,我们还是活下来了
CA: Did you jump? Or it came down in the end?
克:你跳了吗,还是气球最后着陆了?
RB: Well, I knew I had about half an hour's fuel left, and I also knew that the chances were that if I jumped, I would only have a couple of minutes of life left. So I climbed back into the capsule and just desperately tried to make sure that I was making the right decision. And wrote some notes to my family. And then climbed back up again, looked down at those clouds again, climbed back into the capsule again. And then finally, just thought, there's a better way. I've got, you know, this enormous balloon above me, it's the biggest parachute ever, why not use it? And so I managed to fly the balloon down through the clouds, and about 50 feet, before I hit the sea, threw myself over. And the balloon hit the sea and went shooting back up to 10,000 feet without me. But it was a wonderful feeling being in that water and --
理:当时我知道还有够半小时飞行的燃料 我也知道要是我跳的话 我也就只能再多活几分钟 所以我又回到驾驶舱,绝望地试着 让自己相信这个选择是正确的 我给家人写了几张纸条,然后又爬回舱外 低头看着云朵 接着又回到驾驶舱 终于想到,还有一个更好的方法 要知道,我头上有这么一个硕大的气球 这可是有史以来最大的降落伞,为什么白白浪费呢? 所以我就试着穿过云层用气球着陆 当降落到距海面50尺的时候我就跳下去了 气球也撞击到海面上了 然后弹回到空中高达1万尺,不过我可没在气球上 不过泡在海里的感觉还挺好的--
CA: What did you write to your family?
克:给家人的纸条上写的是什么?
RB: Just what you would do in a situation like that: just I love you very much. And I'd already written them a letter before going on this trip, which -- just in case anything had happened. But fortunately, they never had to use it.
理:不过是人人都会在那种情况下写的东西 我很爱你们,还有-- 我在出发前就已经写给他们一封信 以防万一 不过万幸的是他们至今还没机会拆开看
CA: Your companies have had incredible PR value out of these heroics. The years -- and until I stopped looking at the polls, you were sort of regarded as this great hero in the U.K. and elsewhere. And cynics might say, you know, this is just a smart business guy doing what it takes to execute his particular style of marketing. How much was the PR value part of this? RB: Well, of course, the PR experts said that as an airline owner, the last thing you should be doing is heading off in balloons and boats, and crashing into the seas. (Laughter)
克:你的公司的公关部门可是很看重这种英雄式的冒险精神啊 这些年来--直到我最后一次看民意调查 在英国国内外,你可算得上大英雄 那些愤世嫉俗的家伙会说你不过是个很有商业头脑的人 你市场营销的手段罢了的所作所为不过是 这其中的公关成分有多大呢? 理:当然了,公关专家会说作为航空公司的拥有者 最不该做的事莫过于跑到热气球啊,船啊什么上去冒险 还一头栽到海里 (笑)
CA: They have a point, Richard.
克:他们说的没错,理查德
RB: In fact, I think our airline took a full page ad at the time saying, you know, come on, Richard, there are better ways of crossing the Atlantic. (Laughter)
理:实际上,我们当时买下杂志的一整页做广告 要知道,的了吧,理查德 要想横跨大西洋,选个好点的法子吧 (笑)
CA: To do all this, you must have been a genius from the get-go, right?
克:要做到这些 你可得是个大天才,没错吧?
RB: Well, I won't contradict that. (Laughter)
理:我不会否定这说法 (笑)
CA: OK, this isn't exactly hardball. OK.
克:好吧,我们这儿可不是硬球节目,好吧
Didn't -- weren't you just terrible at school?
克:你当年是不是--是不是学习成绩不太理想
RB: I was dyslexic. I had no understanding of schoolwork whatsoever. I certainly would have failed IQ tests. And it was one of the reasons I left school when I was 15 years old. And if I -- if I'm not interested in something, I don't grasp it. As somebody who's dyslexic, you also have some quite bizarre situations. I mean, for instance, I've had to -- you know, I've been running the largest group of private companies in Europe, but haven't been able to know the difference between net and gross. And so the board meetings have been fascinating. (Laughter) And so, it's like, good news or bad news? And generally, the people would say, oh, well that's bad news.
理:我当年有阅读困难症,我压根不懂学习上的玩意儿 我的智商测验成绩准很低 也许是因为这个我15岁就辍学了 要是--要是我对什么没兴趣,我肯定学不到什么东西 对于一个有阅读困难的人来说 这情况还是挺奇怪的 我的意思是,比如,我不得不 我一直以来在运营欧洲最大的私人集团 但一直我都没搞懂净收入和毛收入的差别 所以董事会会议还是挺令人向往的 (笑) 所以,这到底是好事还是坏事? 人们大都会说,噢,那可不是什么好事
CA: But just to clarify, the 25 billion dollars is gross, right? That's gross? (Laughter)
克:澄清一下,250亿是毛收入,是毛收入对吧? (笑)
RB: Well, I hope it's net actually, having -- (Laughter) -- I've got it right.
理:我倒希望是净收入 (笑) 我应该没搞错吧
CA: No, trust me, it's gross. (Laughter)
克:不,相信我,是毛收入 (笑)
RB: So, when I turned 50, somebody took me outside the boardroom and said, "Look Richard, here's a -- let me draw on a diagram. Here's a net in the sea, and the fish have been pulled from the sea into this net. And that's the profits you've got left over in this little net, everything else is eaten." And I finally worked it all out. (Laughter) (Applause)
理:有一天有人把年过50的我拉出董事会门外 “你看,理查德,让我给你画图解释一下-- 海里有一张网 把鱼从海里捞出来 这张小网里剩下的是你的盈利 其他的都被吃光了。” 到最后,我总算搞明白了 (笑) (鼓掌)
CA: But, I mean, at school -- so as well as being, you know, doing pretty miserably academically, but you were also the captain of the cricket and football teams. So you were kind of a -- you were a natural leader, but just a bit of a ... Were you a rebel then, or how would you ...
克:但是,在学校,虽说身为-- 成绩不太理想的学生 你可还是板球和足球队队长 所以,你是那种,那种天生领袖 但有有那么点--有点叛逆,你自己怎么看…
RB: Yeah, I think I was a bit of a maverick and -- but I ... And I was, yeah, I was fortunately good at sport, and so at least I had something to excel at, at school.
理:,我是有那么点标新立异,但是,我-- 幸运的是,我还挺有运动细胞的 所以在学校我还可以在某些方面很超群
CA: And some bizarre things happened just earlier in your life. I mean, there's the story about your mother allegedly dumping you in a field, aged four, and saying "OK, walk home." Did this really happen?
克:你年轻的时候还是经历了不少怪事的 我的意思是,你母亲还有段小插曲 据说,她把当时只有4岁的你弃于田野,说“自己走回家去吧。” 这是真的吗?
RB: She was, you know, she felt that we needed to stand on our own two feet from an early age. So she did things to us, which now she'd be arrested for, such as pushing us out of the car, and telling us to find our own way to Granny's, about five miles before we actually got there. And making us go on wonderful, long bike rides. And we were never allowed to watch television and the like.
理:是的,要知道 她认为我们从小就应该自食其力 所以她才会这样做,换作今天,她准会被送到警察局 她把我们赶下车 让我们自己找到去祖母家的路 我们走了得有5公里才到 她还让我们骑上自行车去很远的地方 她从来不让我们看电视什么的
CA: But is there a risk here? I mean, there's a lot of people in the room who are wealthy, and they've got kids, and we've got this dilemma about how you bring them up. Do you look at the current generation of kids coming up and think they're too coddled, they don't know what they've got, we're going to raise a generation of privileged ...
克:这么做也挺有风险的吧 演播室里在座的也有家境殷实有孩子的 把孩子拉扯成人还是挺进退两难的累人的 你觉得现在的孩子 是不是太被娇生惯养了,没有什么感恩之心 这代人会不会变成坐拥…
RB: No, I think if you're bringing up kids, you just want to smother them with love and praise and enthusiasm. So I don't think you can mollycoddle your kids too much really.
理:不,我不觉得人们在培养孩子 是把他们泡在宠爱、表扬和殷勤的蜜罐子里 我觉得最好还是不要太娇宠孩子了
CA: You didn't turn out too bad, I have to say, I'm ... Your headmaster said to you -- I mean he found you kind of an enigma at your school -- he said, you're either going to be a millionaire or go to prison, and I'm not sure which. Which of those happened first? (Laughter)
克:你成长的很好嘛,我觉得-- 你的校长对你说-- 我的意思是他觉得你在学校不太合群 他说,你日后要么成为百万富翁,要么锒铛入狱 而他也不确定你会发成哪一个 那么,上面两个哪一个最先发生? (笑)
RB: Well, I've done both. I think I went to prison first. I was actually prosecuted under two quite ancient acts in the U.K. I was prosecuted under the 1889 Venereal Diseases Act and the 1916 Indecent Advertisements Act. On the first occasion, for mentioning the word venereal disease in public, which -- we had a center where we would help young people who had problems. And one of the problems young people have is venereal disease. And there's an ancient law that says you can't actually mention the word venereal disease or print it in public. So the police knocked on the door, and told us they were going to arrest us if we carried on mentioning the word venereal disease. We changed it to social diseases and people came along with acne and spots, but nobody came with VD any more. So, we put it back to VD and promptly got arrested. And then subsequently, "Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols," the word bollocks, the police decided was a rude word and so we were arrested for using the word bollocks on the Sex Pistols' album. And John Mortimer, the playwright, defended us. And he asked if I could find a linguistics expert to come up with a different definition of the word bollocks. And so I rang up Nottingham University, and I asked to talk to the professor of linguistics. And he said, "Look, bollocks is not a -- has nothing to do with balls whatsoever. It's actually a nickname given to priests in the eighteenth century." (Laughter) And he went, "Furthermore, I'm a priest myself." And so I said, "Would you mind coming to the court?" And he said he'd be delighted. And I said -- and he said, "Would you like me to wear my dog collar?" And I said, "Yes, definitely. Please." (Laughter)
理:我两样都做到了,不过蹲监狱在先 我是给英国最古老的两个法案定罪的 根据1889年性病法案我被判罪 还有根据1916年猥琐广告法案 第一桩是因为我在公众场合提起“性病”这字眼儿 那是在一个青年援助中心 有个问题少年有性病 有那么个古老的法案规定 禁止在公众场合口头或书面提起“性病”二字 所以,警察找上门来,告诉我我会被逮捕 要是我日后再提起那二字 在英国这病被叫做“社会病” 人们会长青春痘或暗疮 但没人会得性病 所以,我们冠之以老叫法就被捕了 紧接着,《去他的胡诌八扯,我们是性手枪》(英国朋克乐队性手枪专辑名)问世 警察认为”胡诌八扯“不雅,所以我再次锒铛入狱 就因为专辑名字不雅 约翰蒙泰莫(英国作家、法官)为我们辩护 他问我能否找个语言学家 给出bollocks(一意为胡诌八扯)的其他意思 后来我打电话给诺丁汉大学 想跟语言学教授谈谈 那教授说”其实,bollocks压根儿没“睾丸”的意思 这次不过是18实际人们给牧师起得诨名。“ (笑) 他还说“并且,我本人就是一个牧师。” 我问“你能来法庭为我作证吗?” 他说他很乐意。我说-- 不,他说“需要我戴牧师的白领子(dog collar又有狗脖套之意)?” 我说“那就太好了--麻烦了…” (笑)
CA: That's great.
克:神了
RB: So our key witness argued that it was actually "Never Mind the Priest, Here's the Sex Pistols." (Laughter) And the judge found us -- reluctantly found us not guilty, so ... (Laughter)
理:所以我们的重点证人辩证道--其实 《去他的牧师,我们是性手枪》 (笑) 然后法官判决--很不情愿的判决我们无罪 (笑)
CA: That is outrageous. (Applause) So seriously, is there a dark side? A lot of people would say there's no way that someone could put together this incredible collection of businesses without knifing a few people in the back, you know, doing some ugly things. You've been accused of being ruthless. There was a nasty biography written about you by someone. Is any of it true? Is there an element of truth in it?
克:还真是神了 (鼓掌) 不过说真的,这事儿有负面影响吗? 很多人都说 一个人单枪匹马根本没法应付这么庞大的集团 除非被底陷害几个人 就是,就是感谢不光彩的事 你被指责过心狠手辣 有人写过一本丑化你的传记 是真的吗?那书里面有真实的成分吗?
RB: I don't actually think that the stereotype of a businessperson treading all over people to get to the top, generally speaking, works. I think if you treat people well, people will come back and come back for more. And I think all you have in life is your reputation and it's a very small world. And I actually think that the best way of becoming a successful business leader is dealing with people fairly and well, and I like to think that's how we run Virgin.
理:我并不认为那些刻板印象有用 从商的人不择手段达到目的的说法 通常情况下,不是很有说服力 我觉得只要你对人不薄 人们就会回来,并且多次回来 我觉得人生在世信誉为本 这世界说小很小 而且我觉得最好是 做一个讲信誉、待人公正的商人 我是这样运营维珍集团的
CA: And what about the people who love you and who see you spending -- you keep getting caught up in these new projects, but it almost feels like you're addicted to launching new stuff. You get excited by an idea and, kapow! I mean, do you think about life balance? How do your family feel about each time you step into something big and new?
克:那对于爱戴你的人呢 他们眼睁睁看你的新项目被困吗? 貌似你对推陈出新很上瘾啊 你要一心血来潮,瞧! 你是怎么保持工作生活平衡的? 你家人怎么看 每当你着手新的大计划?
RB: I also believe that being a father's incredibly important, so from the time the kids were very young, you know, when they go on holiday, I go on holiday with them. And so we spend a very good sort of three months away together. Yes, I'll, you know, be in touch. We're very lucky, we have this tiny little island in the Caribbean and we can -- so I can take them there and we can bring friends, and we can play together, but I can also keep in touch with what's going on.
理:我也认为为人父是件很重要的事 当我的孩子很还很小时,时不时 当他们出去度假时,我就跟着一起去 我们就一起过了3个月快乐假期 是啊,我会,要知道,保持联系。我们是很幸运的 我们在加勒比海有个小岛,我们可以-- 我会带他们去哪儿,还有朋友们 一起玩乐 同时我也可以的到生意上的实时更新信息
CA: You started talking in recent years about this term capitalist philanthropy. What is that?
克:你近年来开始演讲 做有关资本家慈善活动的演讲 那到底是什么概念?
RB: Capitalism has been proven to be a system that works. You know, the alternative, communism, has not worked. But the problem with capitalism is extreme wealth ends up in the hands of a few people, and therefore extreme responsibility, I think, goes with that wealth. And I think it's important that the individuals, who are in that fortunate position, do not end up competing for bigger and bigger boats, and bigger and bigger cars, but, you know, use that money to either create new jobs or to tackle issues around the world.
理:资本主义被验证是一个有效的经济系统 要知道,另一种,也就是社会主义,不怎么管用 但资本主义的问题是-- 财富高度集中在少数人手中 因此这少数人肩负重任。我认为,用这笔财富 我觉得对一个人来说很重要 对那些幸运的人来说,避免相互攀比 看谁的船大,谁的车好 但,要知道,那钱可以创造更多的工作机会 解决世界上很多亟待解决的问题
CA: And what are the issues that you worry about most, care most about, want to turn your resources toward?
克:你最关心的、最担心的 最想用你的资源解决的是什么问题呢?
RB: Well, there's -- I mean there's a lot of issues. I mean global warming certainly is a massive threat to mankind and we are putting a lot of time and energy into, A, trying to come up with alternative fuels and, B, you know, we just launched this prize, which is really a prize in case we don't get an answer on alternative fuels, in case we don't actually manage to get the carbon emissions cut down quickly, and in case we go through the tipping point. We need to try to encourage people to come up with a way of extracting carbon out of the Earth's atmosphere. And we just -- you know, there weren't really people working on that before, so we wanted people to try to -- all the best brains in the world to start thinking about that, and also to try to extract the methane out of the Earth's atmosphere as well. And actually, we've had about 15,000 people fill in the forms saying they want to give it a go. And so we only need one, so we're hopeful.
理:这个嘛--问题很多 全球气候变暖是威胁人类生存的一大问题 我们正全力解决 要么,找到一种可替代能源 要么,我们推出个奖,一个真正的奖 以防我们找不到可替代能源 以防我们没法控制温室气体排放 没法即时的解决问题,突破极限时 我们得鼓励大家另辟蹊径 清洁大气中的温室气体 我们得--要知道,以前没什么人 着手做过,所以我们想让人们尝试-- 云集世上最优秀的头脑,集思广益 同时还要把甲烷 从大气层中清出 我们大概有1万5千人报名 想参与其中 我们只需一个解决方法,这还是很有希望的
CA: And you're also working in Africa on a couple of projects?
克:同时你在非洲也有几个计划?
RB: Yes, I mean, we've got -- we're setting up something called the war room, which is maybe the wrong word. We're trying to -- maybe we'll change it -- but anyway, it's a war room to try to coordinate all the attack that's going on in Africa, all the different social problems in Africa, and try to look at best practices. So, for instance, there's a doctor in Africa that's found that if you give a mother antiretroviral drugs at 24 weeks, when she's pregnant, that the baby will not have HIV when it's born. And so disseminating that information to around the rest of Africa is important.
理:是的我们--我们展开一项叫-- 战争房间,好像是这名儿不太好 我们尝试--也许名字得改--不管怎样,叫战争房间 这个计划试图环节解决非洲的各个冲突 各个社会问题 并寻找最佳解决替代途径 比如 非洲有一个医生发现 怀孕24周时服用抗逆转录病毒药物的孕妇 产下的婴儿不会感染艾滋病毒 然后把这个发现传播 遍及非洲是极为重要的
CA: The war room sounds, it sounds powerful and dramatic. And is there a risk that the kind of the business heroes of the West get so excited about -- I mean, they're used to having an idea, getting stuff done, and they believe profoundly in their ability to make a difference in the world. Is there a risk that we go to places like Africa and say, we've got to fix this problem and we can do it, I've got all these billions of dollars, you know, da, da, da -- here's the big idea. And kind of take a much more complex situation and actually end up making a mess of it. Do you worry about that?
克:战争房间,这名字很有力 作为西方商场上的英雄,这样做会不会有风险 这样兴奋--我的意思是,作为商人,早把主意层出习以为常 把问题解决习以为常,商人大都坚信 自己有能力造福世界 这样认为,在非洲会不会有风险 我们能解决这个问题,我们能做到那个 我们腰缠万贯,种种 心怀壮志,一心要解决复杂问题 但到头来却弄得一团糟。你这样担心过吗?
RB: Well, first of all, on this particular situation, we're actually -- we're working with the government on it. I mean, Thabo Mbeki's had his problems with accepting HIV and AIDS are related, but this is a way, I think, of him tackling this problem and instead of the world criticizing him, it's a way of working with him, with his government. It's important that if people do go to Africa and do try to help, they don't just go in there and then leave after a few years. It's got to be consistent. But I think business leaders can bring their entrepreneurial know-how and help governments approach things slightly differently. For instance, we're setting up clinics in Africa where we're going to be giving free antiretroviral drugs, free TB treatment and free malaria treatment. But we're also trying to make them self-sustaining clinics, so that people pay for some other aspects.
理:首先,就这一问题,我们实际上-- 我们正在和当地政府合作 姆贝基(南非前总统)虽有点难以接受 但事关艾滋病,我认为这也是一种解决途径 他也在试图解决这一问题,指责他的做法帮不了多大忙 这是与他合作的方法,通过与他的政府合作 要使人们能亲自到非洲,身体力行,这会有很大帮助的 不单单只是取代个几年就回来的那种 而是持而久之的那种 但我觉得商界领袖可以把他们的企业技能融入 对政府的政策稍作引导 比如,我们在非洲开设了诊所 我们将会提供 免费的抗逆转录病毒药物及肺结核治疗 还有免费的疟疾治疗 同时我们也试图让这些诊所自食其力 所以病人还是要支付其他一些费用的
CA: I mean a lot of cynics say about someone like yourself, or Bill Gates, or whatever, that this is really being -- it's almost driven by some sort of desire again, you know, for the right image, for guilt avoidance and not like a real philanthropic instinct. What would you say to them?
克:很多愤世嫉俗的人说,想你和比尔盖茨这样的人 只不过是--基本上是受 回报驱使,就是,提高个人形象 就是避免负罪感,而非所谓慈善家本能 你会对这批人怎么说呢?
RB: Well, I think that everybody -- people do things for a whole variety of different reasons and I think that, you know, when I'm on me deathbed, I will want to feel that I've made a difference to other people's lives. And that may be a selfish thing to think, but it's the way I've been brought up. I think if I'm in a position to radically change other people's lives for the better, I should do so.
理:我觉得,每个人 每个人的行为背后都是有原因的 我觉得,当我临死的时候 我能感到自己为世界做过贡献的感觉 为他人做过贡献的感觉 这么想也许挺自私的 但我就是怀揣这信念长大的 我觉得我有能力 极大提高人们的生活质量 我应该付诸行动
CA: How old are you?
克:你年纪多大了?
RB: I'm 56.
理:56岁了
CA: I mean, the psychologist Erik Erikson says that -- as I understand him and I'm a total amateur -- but that during 30s, 40s people are driven by this desire to grow and that's where they get their fulfillment. 50s, 60s, the mode of operation shifts more to the quest for wisdom and a search for legacy. I mean, it seems like you're still a little bit in the growth phases, you're still doing these incredible new plans. How much do you think about legacy, and what would you like your legacy to be?
克:心理学家埃里克森说过,并且我也赞同 不过我并非专家,他说,人在30、40岁时 会极渴望成长,这样会达到满足的境界 到了50、60岁时,人们会渴望得到智慧 并留下自己的贡献 好像你还 处于渴望成长的阶段 你还在着手开展新项目 你有多看中为后人留下自己贡献呢? 你希望自己的贡献是什么?
RB: I don't think I think too much about legacy. I mean, I like to -- you know, my grandmother lived to 101, so hopefully I've got another 30 or 40 years to go. No, I just want to live life to its full. You know, if I can make a difference, I hope to be able to make a difference. And I think one of the positive things at the moment is you've got Sergey and Larry from Google, for instance, who are good friends. And, thank God, you've got two people who genuinely care about the world and with that kind of wealth. If they had that kind of wealth and they didn't care about the world, it would be very worrying. And you know they're going to make a hell of a difference to the world. And I think it's important that people in that kind of position do make a difference.
理:我没大想过留下什么 我当然想,要知道,我祖母一直活到101岁 所以,要走运的话,我还有个30、40年 不,我只想充分利用生命 为世界做点贡献 我想为世界做点贡献 我觉得当下有利的一点是 比如,谷歌的谢尔盖和拉里 他们是至交 谢天谢地,有两个人 真心真意关心这个世界,并用他们的财富造福世界 要是换作有同样财富,却不关心世界的两个人 那可就坏了 要真那样,整个世界可就遭殃了 居高位的人为世界做出贡献 是很重要的
CA: Well, Richard, when I was starting off in business, I knew nothing about it and I also was sort of -- I thought that business people were supposed to just be ruthless and that that was the only way you could have a chance of succeeding. And you actually did inspire me. I looked at you, I thought, well, he's made it. Maybe there is a different way. So I would like to thank you for that inspiration, and for coming to TED today. Thank you. Thank you so much. (Applause)
克:理查德,我当年刚开始入行的时候 我一无所知,而且-- 我错以为商界的人就应该心狠手辣 只有这样才能站得住脚并成功 你今天给了我很大启发。看看你,我心想 他做到了,也许真有另一种成功的方法 所以,谢谢你今天给我们的启发 谢谢你今天参与TED,谢谢 非常感谢 (鼓掌)