赫芬頓郵報創始人致特斯拉CEO馬斯克的一封信
導語
特斯拉公司CEO馬斯克（Elon Musk）最近因為特斯拉私有化的事情把自己搞得焦頭爛額，並且他在接受了《紐約時報》的採訪後導致特斯拉股價跌跌不休，此時，不乏冷嘲熱諷者、冷眼旁觀者，他還要為了Model 3的量產不分晝夜的工作——一周工作120小時。此時，他的朋友、赫芬頓郵報創始人Arianna Huffington給他寫了一封公開信，言辭誠懇，「特斯拉的未來由你的『傑作』來決定，而不是取決於你醒著工作多少個小時」，「每周120小時的超額工作並不能充分發揮你獨特的品質，相反，它會浪費你的天分」。按照中國人的說法就是，洗洗睡吧。
希望本文對年輕奮進的朋友們，有一定的啟示。
本文發表在ThriveGlobal網站上，由微信公眾號「大數據文摘」（ID：BigDataDigest）翻譯，譯者：Don FJ。
以下為信件譯文：
嗨 Elon：
我是你的一個粉絲，你的個人魅力和改變世界的成就都讓我十分的崇拜。特別是每次咱們碰面的時候你都會拿出手機，一臉自豪地給我看你們家孩子的視頻還有他們的成長。你的生活中會發生很多的事情，但是它們其實都源自於你。
你是一個有宏圖大志的人。你在創新和改變世界的能力上都有著非同一般的天分和熱情，這些天分和熱情其實不止是由於你對家人和朋友的愛，更多的是來自於你之前所說的「人的思想格局（the scope and scale of human consciousness）」和我們對於「更大的啟示（greater enlighenment）」的渴求。你深信古希臘第一原則哲學（first principles），所以你會將一個問題分解成很多個基本部分來思考。
咱們回過頭來說，你在接受《紐約時報》的採訪的時候說你有時候一周要工作120個小時，所以犧牲了看孩子和拜訪朋友的時間。甚至有幾天的時候你一直在特斯拉的工廠里不出門。
你不休假，但是你想想，縱然你有驚人的創造力和眼界，但如果你一直禁閉自己不跟外界聯繫，又怎麼能獲悉外界的訊息呢？又怎麼能將創造力和眼界與之聯繫上呢？如果你不給自己時間，就無法將自己的身心和和那些你所熱愛的事情連接在一起，也沒時間將你非凡的智慧和你深愛的事業聯繫到一起。
你這樣已經不是努力工作的事兒了，當然你肯定特別努力。咱們現在說的是讓你做出最好的選擇的事兒。
你是一個科學和數據驅動的人。你沉迷於物理、工程，總是想知道萬物運行背後的秘密。你對於科學的熱情其實也應該分一部分出來關心你自身。人不是機器。對於機器來說，不論是第一次還是第四次工業革命，宕機都是一個bug。但是對人來說，宕機叫做休息，它就是你生命中的一個合理而正常的過程，是人類的一個特點而已。科學說的很清楚，當人沒勁兒的時候是做不出來好的決定的。
舉個栗子來說，研究表明當我們17~19個小時不睡覺的時候，我們就開始有認知障礙了，這種認知障礙就像人體血液酒精含量在0.05%的時候一樣，這個酒精含量略低於合法的飲酒含量。你是個企業的領導，沒有哪個領導會僱傭喝酒上班的員工，所以別給你的員工起不好的示範作用。
特斯拉是一個革命性的公司，因為它告訴我們應該如何最大效率的利用能量，它有著改變世界的能力。這就是為什麼Tesla Model 3市場重要的原因。你所面臨的是個嚴峻的挑戰，而你有能力也有信心通過最新的科技迎接挑戰。
但其實，你展示給世界的卻是一個過時的、反科學而又特別低效的能源利用方式。就好像試圖用燒煤蒸汽機的方式來帶領人類進入清潔能源的未來一樣，它很難成功呀。
咱們舉個新例子，美國歷史上的一位有遠見的領導人，富蘭克林羅斯福。1940年的時候，美國正處於歷史上的動蕩時刻。英國正陷於苦戰，在物資和金錢上都十分緊缺，他們急缺幫助。但是羅斯福知道美國國會不會輕易的向英國借款。
所以你以為羅斯福會每周工作120個小時拚命工作嗎？並沒有，他跑到了海軍艦船上休息了10天。這次的休假引起了外界的廣泛批評，但是羅斯福知道他在幹什麼——他需要時間和空間來給自己充電。作為結果，我們看到了500億美元的Lend-Lease計劃。這次計劃的成功被認為是羅斯福的政治「傑作」，他為美國國會在日後持續幫助英國人對抗納粹提供了一條道路。
所以說，特斯拉的未來由你的「傑作」來決定，而不是取決於你醒著工作多少個小時。如果你有規律地休息、充電、加滿油，並且將你超凡的創造力和這個世界重新連接聯繫，那麼特斯拉、甚至是整個世界（更不用說你可愛的孩子們）都將會因此而更好。
每周120小時的超額工作並不能充分發揮你獨特的品質，相反，它會浪費你的天分。你不能硬扛，這根本不是我們身體和大腦工作的正常方式。你肯定明白，違反物理定律是上不了火星的，同樣的，違背了生活中的科學規律也是寸步難行的。
之前你在時代周刊的採訪中說，你在特斯拉工廠中度過了47歲生日，當天你24小時都泡在工作中（「整晚，沒有朋友，什麼都沒有all night, no friends, noting」）。我稱讚你的誠實，也同情你的脆弱，因為你意識到需要一個新的工作方法了。
48歲的你，我相信會是一個更歡樂，更健康，更有效率，也更有遠見的Elon。你需要一個這樣的Elon，特斯拉也需要，這個世界更需要這樣的你。
當你下一個生日到來的時候，我十分樂意負責舉辦這場聚會，隨時打電話聯繫！
譯者附：這篇文章發表在Thrive Global上，作者是Arianna Huffington，Elon的老盆友。這篇文章主要是回復Elon在Times上的採訪。Arianna是Huffington郵報的創始人、Thrive Global的創始人和CEO，寫了15本書，包括最近出版的Thrive和The Sleep Revolution。2005年她創辦了Huffington郵報，這是一個新聞博客網站，一經推出就很受歡迎。2016年她又推出了Thrive Global。她被時代周刊評為全球100位最具影響力的人物，也進入福布斯最具影響力女性榜單。
信件原文：
Dear Elon,
As you know, I』m a huge admirer of yours -- both of you personally and of all the ways in which you are changing our world. In particular, I』ve always loved how, whenever I see you, the first thing you do is whip out your phone to proudly show me videos of your adorable children and their latest exploits. Clearly you have much going on in your life, but it says a lot about you that this is what you lead with.
You"re a person of incredible big-picture vision. Your genius and your passion for innovating and changing the world have always been informed by your passion not just for your children and friends but for what you』ve called 「the scope and scale of human consciousness」 and our longing for 「greater enlightenment.」 And you』re a big believer in the ancient Greek philosophy of first principles, which encourages breaking a problem down to its fundamental parts.
Please come back to that. As you told the New York Times, you』ve exhausted yourself working 120-hour weeks at the expense of seeing your children and your friends. You』ve had days-long stretches where you shut yourself inside the Tesla factory and don』t even go outside. You don』t take vacations. There』s no way you can connect with your amazing vision and creativity when you don』t give yourself time to reconnect not just with those you love but also with yourself and your wisdom.
This is not about working hard -- of course you』re always going to work hard. It』s about working in a way that allows you to make your best decisions.
You』re a science and data-driven person. You』re obsessed with physics, engineering, with figuring out how things work. So apply that same passion for science not just to your products but to yourself. People are not machines. For machines -- whether of the First or Fourth Industrial Revolution variety -- downtime is a bug; for humans, downtime is a feature. The science is clear. And what it tells us is that there』s simply no way you can make good decisions and achieve your world-changing ambitions while running on empty.
To cite just one study, after 17-19 hours without sleep, we begin to experience levels of cognitive impairment equivalent to a blood alcohol level of .05 percent, just under the threshold for being legally drunk. No business leader would hire people who came to work drunk, so don』t model that behavior for your employees.
Tesla is revolutionary because it』s all about how we can most efficiently use energy, which holds the potential to change the world. That』s why the mass-market Model 3 is so important. You』ve come up against incredible challenges, and you』ve met them by being ever more rigorous and determined about applying the latest science. But at the same time, you』re demonstrating a wildly outdated, anti-scientific and horribly inefficient way of using human energy. It』s like trying to launch us into our clean energy future (or into space) with a coal-fired steam engine. It just won』t work.
So please take a page from another visionary American leader, FDR. In 1940, America was at a precarious moment in history. Britain was struggling in the war, with both supplies and money running low. They needed help, but Roosevelt knew Congress would never simply loan Britain the money. So instead of putting in 120-hour weeks, FDR instead took a ten-day break on a naval ship. The trip drew criticism, but FDR knew what he was doing -- he needed time and space to refuel. The result was the $50 billion Lend-Lease program, which has been described as his political masterpiece that provided a way for him to sell Congress on helping the Brits continue to resist the Nazis.
So Elon, the future of Tesla depends on you coming up with your masterpiece. It doesn』t depend on how many hours you』re awake. Tesla -- and the world (not to mention you and your beautiful children) -- would be better off if you regularly built in time to refuel, recharge and reconnect with your exceptional reserves of creativity and your power to innovate. Working 120-hour weeks doesn』t leverage your unique qualities, it wastes them. You can』t simply power through -- that』s just not how our bodies and our brains work. Nobody knows better than you that we can』t get to Mars by ignoring the laws of physics. Nor can we get where we want to go by ignoring scientific laws in our daily lives.
In your interview with the Times you mentioned that you spent your recent 47th birthday, all 24 hours of it, at work (「all night — no friends, nothing」). I applaud your honesty and vulnerability in realizing that you need a new way of working. Here』s to a happier, healthier -- and even more efficient and visionary -- 48th year. You need it, Tesla needs it, and the world needs it. And when your next birthday rolls around, I』m happy to host the celebration -- all work phones will be checked at the door!
— Published on August 17, 2018
