2-4 对敬业精神的承认（在线收听）

Recognition of Dedication

Jane’s job was to monitor the assembly lines¹ at a cosmetics² manufacturer. Each hour she took note of the production level of each line and sent the information to the floor manager³.

Jane counted output, matched⁴ it with a count of materials used, and then did it all over again. Nobody asked her why the lines were slow or fast. That wasn’t her job. Just count. Over the course of five years, Jane took note of a hundred factors that influenced the pace of the lines, factors she knew nobody else was paying attention to. For one, if the volume on the radio system was too low, the workers spoke to each other more often, slowing down their pace.

The general manager casually asked her one time how things were going, expecting a generic response. He nearly fell over⁵ when Jane said production was down 2 percent and offered a list of the three most likely explanations.

Jane finally became visible⁶ to management, and she was promoted to a job where she could put to use many of the observations she’d made over the years.

注释：

1.assembly line （工厂产品的）装配线

2.cosmetic [kCz5metik] n. 化妆品，美容剂

3.floor manager （旅馆、百货公司等的）楼面主管

4.match [mAtF] vt. 使相配；使成对

5.fall over 跌倒；倒下；倒坍

6.visible [5vizEbl] adj. 引人注目的；明显的

对敬业精神的承认

　　简的工作是在一家化妆品厂检测流水线。她每小时记录下每条流水线的产出水平，将结果送交楼面主管。

　　她重复做同一件工作：清点产量，再清点与之相应的原料消耗量。没有人问过她为什么流水线运作时快时慢，那不是她份内的责任。她的活儿只是计数。但5年来，她记录下了影响流水线速度的100种因素。她知道别人谁也没有留意这些因素。比如有这样一种情况，假如无线电系统的音量太低，工人们之间互相说话就多一些，工作速度就慢了。

　　有一次，总经理随便问了问她工作的情况，并不指望得到超乎一般性的回答，可是她说生产下降了2％，并对造成下降最可能的原因提出了3种解释。这完全出乎总经理的意料。

　　简终于受到管理层的重视。她得到提升，在新职位上她能充分运用她多年观察的许多心得。