Mean People Fail
November 2014 It struck me recently how few of the most successful people I know are mean.
2014 年 11 月 最近，我突然意识到，在我认识的最成功的人中，很少有人是刻薄的。
There are exceptions, but remarkably few.
也有例外，但极少。
Meanness isn't rare.
卑鄙并不罕见。
In fact, one of the things the internet has shown us is how mean people can be.
事实上，互联网向我们展示的一件事就是人们可以多么卑鄙。
A few decades ago, only famous people and professional writers got to publish their opinions.
几十年前，只有名人和专业作家才能发表他们的观点。
Now everyone can, and we can all see the <xa href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpOEO2gUekE">long tail of
现在每个人都可以，我们都可以看到<xa href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpOEO2gUekE">长尾
meanness that had previously been hidden.
以前隐藏的卑鄙。
And yet while there are clearly a lot of mean people out there, there are next to none among the most successful people I know.
然而，虽然外面显然有很多卑鄙的人，但在我认识的最成功的人中几乎没有。
What's going on here?
这是怎么回事？
Are meanness and success inversely correlated?
卑鄙和成功成反比吗？
Part of what's going on, of course, is selection bias.
当然，部分原因是选择偏差。
I only know people who work in certain fields: startup founders, programmers, professors.
我只认识在某些领域工作的人：初创公司创始人、程序员、教授。
I'm willing to believe that successful people in other
我愿意相信其他方面的成功人士
fields are mean.
字段是卑鄙的。
Maybe successful hedge fund managers are mean; I don't know enough to say.
也许成功的对冲基金经理很刻薄；也许我不知道说得够多了。
It seems quite likely that most successful drug lords are mean.
大多数成功的毒枭似乎都很卑鄙。
But there are at least big chunks of the world that mean people don't rule, and that territory seems to be growing.
但世界上至少有很大一部分地区是不由人统治的，而且这些地区似乎还在不断扩大。
My wife and Y Combinator cofounder Jessica is one of those rare people who have x-ray vision for character.
我的妻子兼 Y Combinator 联合创始人杰西卡是少数对性格具有透视能力的人之一。
Being married to her
与她结婚
is like standing next to an airport baggage scanner.
就像站在机场行李扫描仪旁边一样。
She came to the startup world from investment banking, and she has always been struck both by how consistently successful startup founders turn out to be good people, and how consistently bad people fail as startup founders.
她从投资银行业来到创业界，她一直对那些一贯成功的初创公司创始人最终成为好人以及如何不断地成为坏人作为初创公司创始人而失败感到震惊。
Why?
为什么？
I think there are several reasons.
我认为有几个原因。
One is that being mean makes you stupid.
一是刻薄会让你变得愚蠢。
That's why I hate fights.
这就是为什么我讨厌打架。
You never do your best
你从不尽力而为
work in a fight, because fights are not sufficiently general.
在战斗中工作，因为战斗还不够普遍。
Winning is always a function of the situation and the people involved.
胜利始终取决于具体情况和相关人员。
You don't win fights by thinking of big ideas but by thinking of tricks that work in one particular case.
要想赢得战斗，不是靠想出伟大的想法，而是靠想出在特定情况下有效的技巧。
And yet fighting is just as much work as thinking about real problems.
然而，战斗与思考实际问题一样重要。
Which is particularly painful to someone who cares how their brain is used: your brain goes fast but you get nowhere, like a car spinning its wheels.
对于那些关心自己的大脑如何使用的人来说，这尤其痛苦：你的大脑转得很快，但你却一事无成，就像汽车车轮空转一样。
Startups don't win by attacking.
初创公司不会通过攻击取胜。
They win by transcending.
他们通过超越而获胜。
There are exceptions of course, but usually the way to win is to race ahead, not to stop and fight.
当然也有例外，但通常获胜的方法是向前奔跑，而不是停下来战斗。
Another reason mean founders lose is that they can't get the best people to work for them.
创始人失败的另一个原因是他们无法找到最优秀的人才为他们工作。
They can hire people who will put up with them because they need a job.
他们可以雇用那些愿意忍受他们的人，因为他们需要一份工作。
But the best people have other options.
但最优秀的人还有其他选择。
A mean person can't convince the best people to work for him unless
一个卑鄙的人无法说服最优秀的人为他工作，除非
he is super convincing.
他非常有说服力。
And while having the best people helps any organization, it's critical for startups.
虽然拥有最优秀的人才对任何组织都有帮助，但对于初创企业来说却至关重要。
There is also a complementary force at work: if you want to build great things, it helps to be driven by a spirit of <xa href="good.html">benevolence .
还有一种互补的力量在起作用：如果你想创造伟大的事物，那么由仁慈的精神驱动会有所帮助。
The startup founders who end up richest are not the ones driven by money.
最终成为最富有的初创公司创始人并不是那些受金钱驱动的人。
The ones driven by money take the big acquisition offer that nearly every successful startup
受金钱驱动的公司会接受几乎所有成功的初创公司的大型收购要约