000 Flashcards
此時此刻相信不會有人比我更開心，因為在我提筆寫二版序的此時，本書銷量已逼近兩百萬本。
No one is more pleased than I am that as I write this, this important book is approaching two million copies in print.
十年前，當作者們給我看初稿時，我就已從中獲益匪淺。多年來，我一直在傳授《與成功有約》中，所提到的第五個習慣．知彼解己（Habit 5: Seek First to Understand)。
I learned a lot from this book ten years ago when the authors first sent me the manuscript. For years I have taught Habit 5: Seek First to Understand.
但本書更深、更廣地探討了攸關利害的溝通基本原則，全面性地討論關鍵對話的整體動態。但更重要的是，本書讓我們注意到那些會實際上改造我們人生、形塑我們感情、打造我們世界的關鍵時刻。
But this book goes even broader and deeper into the fundamental principles of high-stakes communication. It deals with the whole dynamic of crucial conversations in a wonderfully comprehensive way. But even more important, it draws our attention to those defining moments that literally shape our lives, shape our relationships, and shape our world.
而那正是本書為什麼理應在當代重要思想領導學中，占有一席之地的理由。
And that’s why this book deserves to take its place as one of the key thought leadership contributions of our time.
此外，我很高興看到本書的影響力，因為我與這四位作者相識多年。他們都是好人、良師和訓練專家。他們組成的團隊不僅同心協力，還維繫了二十多年。
Furthermore, I am gratified at this book’s influence, because I have known these four authors for many years. They are superior people, great teachers, and master trainers. They have created a remarkably synergistic team that has endured for over twenty years.
這一點正足以說明他們本身都擁有關鍵對話的能力。另外，他們也創辦了世界級的機構 VitaiSmarts，這機構已經成為領導學、關係學和個人改變教材的引擎，影響全球數百萬人的人生。
That says a lot about their ability to have crucial conversations themselves. In addition, they have created a world-class organization, VitalSmarts, that has become an engine of leadership, relationship, and personal change material that has influenced many millions of lives around the world.
此一機構的文化，正反映了他們在本書所教的一切，也是這些原則有效的鐵證。
The culture of their organization is a stellar reflection of all they teach in this volume—and is evidence of the efficacy of these principles.
謹以此文誠懇祝福此一優秀團隊的作品，在未來能繼續長遠地影響這個世界。
I write this with my best wishes that the work of this fine team will continue to influence the world for many years to come.
這是一本具突破性的書。當我初讀本書文稿時，就有這樣的想法。我對於書中內容的重要性、威力和適時性，深有同感。
This is a breakthrough book. That is exactly how I saw it when I first read the manuscript. I so resonated with the importance, power, and timeliness of its message.
本書貼切地呼應了偉大的歷史學家阿諾德•湯恩比 (Arnold Toynbee）的理論。他說，簡單四個字就能總結整個歷史 ——不只是社會，也包括制度和人類——「盛衰難敵」(Nothing fails like success)。
This book is an apt response to the wisdom of the great historian Arnold Toynbee, who said that you can pretty well summarize all of history—not only of society, but of institutions and of people—in four words: Nothing fails like success.
換句話說，當人生的挑戰得到同樣力度的反應時，你就成功；但當挑戰升級，舊的、一度成功的反應不再有效一一就失敗了。所以，盛衰難敵。
In other words, when a challenge in life is met by a response that is equal to it, you have success. But when the challenge moves to a higher level, the old, once successful response no longer works—it fails; thus, nothing fails like success.
考驗已經顯著地改變了我們的生活、家庭和組織。一如這世界正以驚人的速度在改變，與新奇而危險的科技間的牽連愈來愈密切，我們感受到的緊張和壓力也呈倍數擴大。
The challenge has noticeably changed our lives, our families, and our organizations. Just as the world is changing at frightening speed and has become increasingly and profoundly interdependent with marvelous and dangerous technologies, so, too, have the stresses and pressures we all experience increased exponentially.
如此緊張的氣氛，使得我們更必須經營人際間的關係，並開發工具、技巧、提升能力，以找到更好、更新的方法來解決問題。
This charged atmosphere makes it all the more imperative that we nourish our relationships and develop tools, skills, and enhanced capacity to find new and better solutions to our problems.
這些更新、更好的解決方法，不代表「我的方法」或「你的方法」，而是「我們的方法」。簡單來說，這解決方法必須是綜效的，意思就是「整體大於個體的總和」。
These newer, better solutions will not represent “my way” or “your way”—they will represent “our way.” In short, the solutions must be synergistic, meaning that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.
這樣的綜效就會展現在更好的決定、更好的關係、更好的決策過程、更投入執行已拍板定案的決策，或者同時出現以上幾種情況。
Such synergy may manifest itself in a better decision, a better relationship, a better decision-making process, increased commitment to implement decisions made, or a combination of two or more of these.
你所學到的是「關鍵對話」會改變人與人際關係的。關鍵對話並不處理問題，而是創造出全新的連結層次，形成佛家所說的「中 道」(the middle way)——並不是要求兩極端對立的雙方達成妥協，而是更高的中庸之道，例如三角形的尖端。
What you learn is that “crucial conversations” transform people and relationships. They are anything but transacted; they create an entirely new level of bonding. They produce what Buddhism calls “the middle way”—not a compromise between two opposites on a straight-line continuum, but a higher middle way, like the apex of a triangle.
因為當兩人或更多人從真誠的對話中創造出新東西時，就產生了連結，有如家有新生兒時，家庭或婚姻會產生新的連結一樣。
Because two or more people have created something new from genuine dialogue, bonding takes place, just like the bonding that takes place in a family or marriage when a new child is created.
當你和另一人創造出真正有創意的東西，那就是最有力的連結。事實上，這連結如此之強，即使對方不在場，即使面對社會壓力而叉須批評對方時， 你也不會背叛對方。
When you produce something with another person that is truly creative, it’s one of the most powerful forms of bonding there is. In fact the bonding is so strong that you simply would not be disloyal in his or her absence, even if there were social pressure to join others in bad-mouthing.
