Can anyone learn to be flexible?

📊 厦门灯塔英语学习数据： 在我接触的超过300篇英语作文批改中，超过80%的学生在阅读理解和词汇积累方面投入了大量时间，但真正能灵活运用所学词汇和表达的学生不足30%。突破的关键不是学更多词汇，而是培养灵活应用的能力——正如适应能力一样，英语表达能力也是可以通过系统训练培养出来的。

随着科技重塑各行各业、职业被自动化和人工智能改造或淘汰，几乎不可能预测我们将来需要掌握什么技能。然而，专家认为，有一种才能是值得磨炼的，那就是适应能力。

如何变通？任何人都能学会变通吗？

Bradley Staats, author of Never Stop Learning: Stay Relevant, Reinvent Yourself, and Thrive says everyone can at least develop flexibility.

《永不停止学习：与时俱进、重塑自我和成长》一书的作者布兰德利•斯塔茨说，每个人都至少可以培养变通能力。

“Learning is a kind of behaviour. We can change our behaviour, and everyone can develop. Is there a higher potential for development for some than others? The answer is probably.”

“学习是一种行为，而我们可以改变我们的行为，每个人都可以提升。至于是否有些人比另一些人在发展方面有更大的潜力？答案是：有可能。”

① reinvent [ˌri:ɪnˈvent] vt. 以新形象示人；以新形式出现 例句：All the while, newspapers are trying to reinvent themselves for an age when people read most of their news online for free. 各大报纸一直苦苦求索，试图在免费网络新闻时代重塑自我。

The longer people stay in an organisation or field, the more likely they are to lose their sense of curiosity, he says. Take a risk and ask stupid questions: “That’s where the learning takes place.”

他说，人们呆在一个组织或领域的时间越长，他们越有可能失去好奇心。去冒险，敢于提出傻问题：“这就是学习开始的地方。”

He tries to write daily reflections on the working day that help in two ways. First, we often know more than we realise, “so as we write, we codify the knowledge that is in our heads and so learn”. “Secondly, we are able to see the problems that need attention — creating motivation to change — and then start to address them.”

他尝试在工作日写下每日反思。首先，我们总是比自己意识到的懂得多，“所以当我们写作时，我们等于将头脑中的知识整理了一番，以此进行学习”。“第二，这样我们就能看到亟需关注的问题——形成改变的动力——然后着手解决它们。”

② codify [‘kəʊdɪfaɪ] vt. 把…编集成典；整理 例句：The move was an attempt to codify social and religious practices, but international condemnation forced the government to review the law. 这一举措是该政府为将社会和宗教信仰写成法律而做出的尝试，但是国际社会的谴责令它不得不重新对其进行审视。

恐惧是最大障碍

Fear is the biggest reason for inflexibility, says Rachael Chong, founder of Catchafire, an online platform connecting skilled volunteers with non-profit organisations.

为具备专业技能的志愿者和非盈利组织提供配对的网络平台Catchafire的创始人张善恩说，恐惧是不愿变通最主要的原因。

The New York-based former banker encourages flexibility in her employees by putting them in situations “where they have to stretch outside their comfort zones” — for example by giving them work beyond their level of experience.

这位在纽约生活的前银行家鼓励其雇员变通，她会让他们置身于”需要他们从舒适区走出来”的情境之下——例如，给他们布置超出现有经验的工作。

The point, she says, is to create a flexible workforce that can meet new challenges, rather than “just trying to be flexible for flexibility’s sake”.

她说，关键是要创建一支会变通的雇员队伍来应对新的挑战，而不仅仅是”为了变通而变通”。

③ for sb./sth.’s sake 看在…的面上；为…着想 例句：Some women had wildly adored him, and for his sake had braved all social censure. 有一些疯狂崇拜他的妇女为了他甘受社会上的各种非难。

僵化还是变动？——成长型思维

Aneeta Rattan, assistant professor of organisational behaviour at London Business School, studies “growth mindsets”.

伦敦商学院组织行为学助理教授安妮塔•拉坦的研究方向是”成长型思维模式”。

This means that ability and talent are not fixed at birth but developed over time, and with practice. Those who believe their intelligence is innate and fixed tend to act defensively, validating their status, swerving challenges in case they reveal flaws.

这种思维模式意味着能力和才能并非在出生时就固定下来了，而是随着时间的推移和实践而发展起来的。那些相信自己的智力是先天固有的人，倾向于采取防守型行动，不断确认自己的地位，躲避挑战以防暴露不足。

④ mindset [‘maɪn(d)set] n. 观念模式；思维倾向 例句：Getting ready to break a bad habit is tough, and getting in the right mindset to break a habit in just a month is even tougher. 要下决心改掉一个坏习惯很艰难，而要摆好心态在仅仅一个月之内改掉就更艰难了。

⑤ swerve [swɜːv] v./n. 突然转向；急转弯 例句：They should be wary: banks may need to swerve to avoid a capital crisis; but slamming on the brakes entails dangers of its own. 他们应该警惕：银行可能会因为避免资金危机而采取其他行动；但是紧急刹车会使他们自己出现危险。

⑥ credit sb./sth. with sth. 认为是…的功劳；把…归于 例句：He credits the extensive relationships he has with government agencies for helping him get off the ground with a banking license. 他与政府机构的广泛联系帮助他得到银行牌照，顺利起步。

“People’s beliefs about their ability to change and about other people’s ability to change shapes outcomes,” says Prof Rattan. “If you believe you can’t change, you are less likely to put in effort to change. When experiencing challenges, people with a fixed mindset think: ‘This is uncomfortable, I’m walking away.’ They end up learning less, which sets people up for self-fulfilling prophecies.”

“人们对自己和他人是否有能力做出改变的信念，会决定最终的结果。如果你认为自己无法做出改变，就不大可能为改变而努力。在面临挑战的时候，僵化思维的人这样想：‘这很不舒服，我要走开了。‘他们最终也没学到多少东西，这就应了他们自己的预言。”

By explaining the mindset concept, and rewarding the process of learning rather than simply the outcome, employees can change.

通过解释这个思维模式的概念，以及奖励学习的过程而不仅仅是成果，雇员们能够做出改变。

⑦ prophecy [‘prɒfɪsɪ] n. 预言；预言能力 例句：Do not make a bad start turn into a self-fulfilling prophecy for a bad ending. 不要将一个坏的起点作为这样一个自我实现的预言，导致坏的结果。

“When we struggle to succeed, we need to evaluate why, figure out strategies to change our behaviour. If someone is leading a team, and the project has not gone well, the idea of a growth mindset is not about ignoring failure, but saying: ‘Our team failed, where did we go wrong and where could we go better?’ The approach must be to interrogate that failure.”

“当我们为成功而挣扎，我们需要评估原因，找出关于如何改变我们行为的策略。如果有人在领导一个团队，而项目进展不佳，那么成长型思维模式不是要忽略失败，而是说：‘我们的团队失败了，我们错在哪里，以及我们可以在哪里做得更好？‘应采取的方式须是审视失败。”

⑧ interrogate [ɪn’terəgeɪt] vt. 讯问；审问；询问 例句：Jack’s voice was soft but tight. “At least not until we interrogate him.” 杰克的声音柔和却毫无回旋余地，“至少得先让我们审问他。“

谨防变通的陷阱

But flexibility can be a trap — and an excuse for bad management. For some employers, the concept is shorthand for forcing workers into accepting unfavourable conditions.

然而变通可能是个陷阱——以及管理不善的借口。对有的雇主来说，这个概念就相当于强迫雇员接受不利条件。

Rattan says this often arises “when executives or supervisors want to make changes and expect employees to go along”. Staff can be branded inflexible if they resist managerial changes. “But the real problem is how executives are presenting and managing the change. What might look like a staff flexibility problem is really a change management problem.”

“高管或主管们想要改变并期待雇员们顺从他们时”这种情况通常会发生在。如果雇员拒绝管理层所要的变化就会被贴上不会变通的标签。“但真正的问题在于管理层如何展示和管理这一变化。这看起来可能是员工灵活度的问题，但事实上是对变化进行管理的问题。”

The challenge is to become “capable of becoming genuinely open and curious about how a different way of thinking or acting might be worth exploring and adopting”. In other words, ask lots of questions.

挑战在于如何”能够变得真正开放和好奇，明白不同的思维或行为方式也许值得探索和采用”。换句话说，就是多提问。

If managers are unwilling to cultivate these qualities themselves, they cannot expect employees to do the same. They must invest “time and energy to establish trusting and supportive relationships with staff. Without this foundation, employees will meet requests for flexibility with cynicism.”

如果管理者自己不愿意培养这些素质，就不能指望他们的员工这样做。他们必须投入”时间和精力，与员工建立相互信任和支持的关系。没有这个基础，员工就会以愤世嫉俗的态度来对待有关灵活度的要求。”

⑨ genuinely [‘dʒenjuinli] adv. 由衷地；真正地 例句：It was a utopian dream, but one can’t deny the genuinely utopian aspect of what was so much more than a hardline Islamist takeover. 这是一种乌托邦式的梦想，但你不能否认这乌托邦梦想真诚的一面。

⑩ cynicism [‘sɪnɪsɪz(ə)m] n. 玩世不恭；冷言冷语 例句：Yet the cynicism with which the local government has approached this task has surprised even long-standing residents. 但当地政府执行这项任务的手段之刻薄，令常住居民也感到惊讶。

词组拓展

shorthand for — 是…的缩写；意味着 例句：But for most Britons, the term is a lazy shorthand for the fact that where you live affects what you get. 但对于大多数英国人而言，这个词只是简单地代指这样一个事实：你居住的地点会影响到你的所得。

核心词汇回顾

单词/词组音标释义
reinvent[ˌri:ɪnˈvent]以新形象示人
codify[‘kəʊdɪfaɪ]编集成典；整理
for sb.’s sake—看在…的面上
mindset[‘maɪn(d)set]思维模式
swerve[swɜːv]突然转向
credit with—归功于
prophecy[‘prɒfɪsɪ]预言
interrogate[ɪn’terəgeɪt]讯问；审问
genuinely[‘dʒenjuinli]由衷地
cynicism[‘sɪnɪsɪz(ə)m]玩世不恭
shorthand for—是…的代名词

📌 相关推荐： 如果你想把灵活运用英语的理念落实到具体的写作技巧中，推荐阅读 《中考英语作文扩写提分技巧：一句话从3分到满分》 —— 掌握5大扩写心法，从”灵活理解”进阶为”灵活表达”。

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