異類之不一樣的成功啟示錄 第78期:沒人說他是一個天才

I hope by now that you are skeptical of this kind of story.

我相信你現(xiàn)在對我講的這個故事將信將疑。

Brilliant immigrant kid overcomes poverty in the Depression, can't get a job at the stuffy downtown law firm, makes it all on his own through sheer hustle and ability.

一個富有才氣的外來移民的孩子，他雖然克服了貧窮和絕望，但不可能在市區(qū)乏味的律師事務(wù)所找到一份工作，不可能只靠自己的才華和努力就掙大錢。

It's a rags-to-riches story, and everything we've learned so far from hocky players and software billionaires and the Termites suggests that success doesn't happen that way.

這是一個從窮光蛋到富翁的故事，但是我們前面所有的故事都認(rèn)為成功是不可能發(fā)生在窮光蛋身上的，無論是曲棍球運動員、軟件行業(yè)的億萬富翁，還是特曼人，他們都不是這種人。

Successful people don't do it alone.

成功人士不可能僅憑一己之力就獲得成功，

Where they come from matters.

他們的成功離不開自身之外的很多因素。

They are products of particular places and environments.

他們總是在特定的環(huán)境和條件下產(chǎn)生。

Just as we did, then, with Bill Joy and Chris Langan, let's start over with Joseph Flom,

那么，正如我們前面對比爾·喬伊和克里斯·蘭根所做的分析一樣，

this time putting to use everything we've learned from the first half of this book.

現(xiàn)在我們也利用前面四章所學(xué)到的，來對約瑟夫·弗洛姆進行分析。

No more talk of Joe Flom's intelligence, or personality, or ambition, although he obviously has these three things in abundance.

人們很少說到喬·弗洛姆的智商、性情、雄心，雖然他顯然在以上三個方面都很豐富;

No glowing quotations from his clients, testifying to his genius.

他的客戶也沒什么熱情洋溢的評語，沒人說他是一個天才;

No more colorful tales from the meteoric rise of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher and Flom.

一路飆升的世達(dá)律師事務(wù)所也沒什么繽紛多彩的故事。

Instead, I'm going to tell a series of stories in the New York immigrant world that Joe Flom grew up in-a fellow law student,

我們將要講述的，是來自紐約移民社會，一個名叫喬·弗洛姆的人成長的系列故事——我們將從一個學(xué)法律的學(xué)生，

a father and son named Maurice and Mort Janklow,

一對名為莫里斯(Maurice)和莫特·詹克洛(MortJanklow)的父子，

and the extraordinary couple by the name of Louis and Regina Borgenicht-in the hopes of answering a critical question.

一對叫做路易斯(Louis)和瑞吉娜·鮑各尼特(ReginaBorgenicht)的夫婦那里聽到這個故事——希望能從他們那里找到答案的關(guān)鍵問題所在。

What were Joe Flom's opportunities?

喬·弗洛姆的機遇是什么?

Since we know that outliers always have help along the way, can we sort through the ecology of Joe Flom and identify the conditions that helped creat him?

我們知道，那些卓爾不群的人都受益于各方面的因素，那么，我們是否能抽絲剝繭地對喬·弗洛姆的生活環(huán)境進行分析，從而找到成就他一番事業(yè)的主要原因?

We tell rags-to-riches stories because we find something captivating in the idea of a lone hero battling overwhelming odds.

我們常常聽別人講一些從窮光蛋到富翁的故事，因為一個敢于挑戰(zhàn)艱難困苦的孤膽英雄，有他自身的魅力。

But the true story of Joe Flom's life turns out to be much more intriguing than the mythological version

與那些虛構(gòu)的英雄故事相比，喬·弗洛姆生命中的真實故事更令人著迷，

because all the things as seemed in his life to have been disadvantages-that he was a poor child of garment workers;

因為他生命中的所有事情看起來似乎都是不利條件——他是一個外衣制作工人家的窮孩子;

that he was Jewish at a time when Jews were heavily discriminated against;

猶太人的他，生活在一個猶太人受盡歧視的時代;

that he grew up in the Depression-turn out, unexpectedly, to have been advantages.

他的成長歷程令人覺得沮喪——要獲得好的轉(zhuǎn)機，似乎非常渺茫。