“信用卡之王”如何翻遍垃圾桶，寻找丢失的存单

總有不尽人意的工作，工作中也总有不尽人意的事，比如：微薄的薪水、“蛮不讲理”的老板、难以合作的同事。这时大家不免自怨自艾，为什么偏偏自己摊上这么一份“寒酸”的工作。其实，如今的人生赢家们也曾和我们处在同样的起跑线上，甚至更糟糕。但越是艰难的境况，越能检验“态度决定一切”。改变了人们付费方式的“维萨（VISA）之父”迪伊·霍克年轻时曾应工作要求翻找过垃圾桶。晚年，这位坐拥无尽资产的“信用卡之王”仍对这段经历记忆犹新。从中，奋斗路上的你我也许也会受到启迪。

Everyone knows what VISA is， right？ Its a credit card company， with a logo featuring blue and orange stripes， and sometimes theres a hologram of a white dove involved. It makes commercials with people buying things in tropical locales and its motto is “Everywhere you want to be.” But who owns it？ This is a question that not many people can answer， even though they carry the card around in their pocket and buy things with it all the time.

You may not have ever heard of Dee Hock， but that is exactly how he wanted it. This is the founder of VISA， and the man who first helped conceive of a worldwide system for the electronic exchange of value. In 2010， VISA earned over $8.065 billion in revenues.

Accomplishments， however， cannot be separated from ones virtues such as dedication， endurance and an attitude of never-give-up. Then Dee Hock， the king of credit， told us one of his early-year stories from which young people on their way of striving for a brighter future may get some inspiring points.

1965， Seattle， National Bank of Commerce.

One day stands out. I had been sent to a suburban office to leam branch banking. The manager tumed me over to a crusty woman who was to train me as a teller. The very soul of courtesy to customers and a genius at her work， she was， nevertheless， of cholenc disposition， not at all improved by tenuous relations with men. When she tumed away from attending to a customer， she could be a veritable bear， and I was raw meat.

The branch was closed at the end of the day and empty of customers. The lady and I could not balance the days receipts and disbursements. More than an hour passed as we checked everything time and again without success. Clearly， this was not something to which she was accustomed. The likely source of the problem was standing at her side. She tumed to me with an order， beneath which there appeared a glint of sadistic humor.

“It must be a lost deposit. Go down to the basement， look through the garbage， and see if you can find it.” Speechless， I descended to the basement visualizing a single can of crumpled paper. There， neatly in a row， were eleven fiftyfive-gallon cans stuffed with far more than paper-cigarette butts， ashes， chewing gum， rotting remnants of leftover lunches， and other disgusting detritus.

My neck grew hot with anger. This ripped it！After managing businesses since the age of twenty， this was preposterous！Damned if I was going to spend the night grubbing though garbage for a lost deposit， and double-damned if a snotty bank teller was going to order me about and triple-damned if I was going to spend another day at the National Bank of Commerce.

At the worst and the best of times， the ridiculous has always tickled my funny bone. As anger and expletives diminished， laughter came pouring out. Sure， Id been climbing the corporate ladder for sixteen years， but before that Id done stoop labor， picked beans， thinned sugar beets， mucked out dairy bams and cleaned offal. Id been proud to be a boy able to do a mans work and never felt demeaned by a minute of it. Hell， Id worked for sadistic bosses who made this woman look like the tooth fairy. Words spoken a thousand times to employees came swinging back to clout me in the back of the head. “There isnt any poor work; theres only work poorly done.”

Pride is pride. This work was not going to be poorly done. Off came coat， tie， and shirt as I upended the first can and dove into the garbage. If there was a lost deposit， I would find it if it took all night. Then， theyd leam what they could do with this job.

Two hours and ten cans later， my boss came down the stairs to take away my desired victory， smiling smugly as she said， “I found the error. Were in balance. It wasnt a lost deposit after all.” Had I been had by this diabolical woman？ I could not know， but no matter. If Id been had， it was a masterful piece of work.

The next day， as we worked frantically in the tellers cage to keep up with a flood of customers， she casually tumed. As though it were a rhetorical question， she abruptly said， “I need you to run down to the drug store and pick up a prescription for me. You can bring me a cup of coffee on your way back.”

I gave it to herlike a man. “Run your own errands. Im not your personal servant.” She didnt take it like a woman， but gave it back in kind. “And Im not here to clean up your mistakes.” We stood nostnl to nostril， eyeball to eyeball， breathing fire as we stared each other down. Later， in a slack half hour， both defeated and laughing， we went on the errands together.

沒有人不知道维萨（VISA），不是吗？这是一家信用卡公司，有着蓝和橘黄条纹相间的徽标，有时还会包含白鸽图样的全息图。它的广告是人们在热带地区“扫货”;它的口号是“心驰所向”。但谁是它的主人？几乎没有多少人能回答这个问题，尽管大家兜里揣着维萨卡，随时随地刷卡消费。

你可能没听过迪伊·霍克这个名字，但这正是他所希望的。他就是维萨公司的创始人，世界上第一个设想着构建覆盖全世界的网络，实现电子形式价值交换的人。维萨公司2010年的营业额为80.65亿美元。

然而，成就从来无法和一个人的自身修为相分离，那就是执着、坚韧和永不言弃。于是迪伊·霍克，这位信用王国的统治者，为我们讲述了他早年的一个故事。或许从中，为了更美好的明天而辛苦打拼的年轻的你我，会受到一些启发。

1965年，西雅图，国家商业银行。

那一天令我记忆犹新。我被派到城郊的一个营业处学习分行制度。经理把我交给一位易怒的女士，让她训练我成为一名出纳员。在工作上，她有天赋;对客户也足够周到——尽管如此，她性格暴躁，完全不懂如何和男性相处令这点更显糟糕。一旦业务处理完毕，转过身来，她就变作一头名副其实的“熊”，而我就是板上鱼肉。

那天晚些时候，客户已经散去，银行也关门了，我和该女士却无法将收入和开支对上。一个多小时过去了，我俩一遍又一遍地检查每一笔账目，却无功而返。显然，这令她无法接受，问题的源头很可能出在她那里。她转向我，发号施令，这背后一丝残忍的幽默感若隐若现。

“肯定有一张存款单弄丢了。你下楼去地下室，在垃圾桶里找找，看能不能找到。”不说二话，我来到地下室，四处张望，寻找一个堆满废纸团的垃圾桶。就在那里，11个55加仑的垃圾桶整齐地排成一排，里面塞满了各种令人作呕的废屑，远不止纸烟头、烟灰、嚼过的口香糖、正在腐烂的午饭残渣那么简单。

因为生气，我的脖子发烫。撕了它得了！我从20岁开始管理业务，这种事简直不可理喻！我今晚要是在垃圾堆里翻找一张丢失的存单，那真是见鬼了;一个狂妄自大的小小银行出纳也对我颐指气使，更是见鬼了;我如果再在国家商业银行多呆上一天，还有比这更见鬼的事吗？

无论人生的辉煌还是惨淡时刻，荒谬的事总是戳中我的笑点。当怒气散去，也骂痛快之后，我大笑了起来。没错，我在企业的晋升阶梯上攀爬了16年，但那之前，我弯腰劳作，捡过豆子，择过甜菜，清理过奶牛场，也清洗过下脚料。我那时为自己虽是个男孩却能胜任男人的工作而倍感骄傲，没有一刻曾认为这样不够体面。好吧，我会按照这个被残忍老板变得像牙仙一样的女人所说的去做。我曾对下属说过无数次的话此时犹如醍醐灌顶：“没有寒酸的工作，只有完成得‘寒酸的工作。”

骄傲归骄傲，但我不会含糊对待这项工作。脱下外套，解下领带，松开衬衫，我将第一个垃圾桶倾倒，潜在垃圾中寻找。如果真有这么一张丢失的存单，我会找到它，哪怕要用去一整夜。届时，他们就会明白这项工作究竟意味着什么。

两小时过去了，翻找了10个垃圾桶之后，我老板走下楼梯，带走了我近在眼前的胜利。她笑的沾沾自喜：“我找到错误了，账单已经对上。根本就没有什么丢失的存单。”我是否被这恶魔般的女人愚弄了？不得而知，但也无所谓。哪怕如此，这也是一分完成的漂亮的工作。

次日，我们正在狭窄的出纳室里应对络绎不绝的客户，忙得不可开交时，她心不在焉地转过身来。全然不顾这是多么夸张的问题，她突然说道：“我需要你快点到药店去给我选一种药。回来的时候再给我捎一杯咖啡。”

我像个男人一样回复了她。

“这是你自己的事。我不是你的仆人。”她倒没有做出通常女人会做的举动，只是善良地回敬：“我在这里也不是为了给你的错误埋单。”我们针尖对麦芒，直视对方的眼睛，互相盯着对方想让其不敢直视时，呼吸中都带着火药昧。气氛紧张的半小时之后，我们都被打败了，相视一笑，一起去办了她的“私事”。

Dee Hock Quotes迪伊·霍克语录

Money motivates neither the best people， nor the best in people. It can move the body and influence the mind， but it cannot touch the heart or move the spirit; that is reserved for belief， principle， and morality. As Napoleon observed，“No amount of money will induce someone to lay down their life， but they will gladly do so for a bit of yellow ribbon.”

钱既不能触动“牛”人，也不能激发让人变“牛”的潜能。它可以影响你的思维和行事方式，但它不能触及心灵;那里是为信念、原则和道德预留的港湾。正如拿破仑所说，“无论多少钱都无法让人们心甘情愿献出生命，但一小段黄丝带却能做到。”

Given the right circumstances， from no more than dreams， determination， and the liberty to try， quite ordinary people consistently do extraordinary things.

提供适当的时机，至多不过梦想、决心、并给予尝试的自由，那么再平凡的人也会经常不断地成就非凡之举。

The problem is never how to get new， innovative thoughts into your mind， but how to get old ones out. Every mind is a room packed with archaic furniture. You must get the old furniture of what you know， think， and believe out before anything new can get in. Make an empty space in any comer of your mind， and creatMty will instantly fillit.

腦海中形成新奇的创意不成问题，困难在于怎样摒弃陈旧的念头。每个人的大脑都像是摆满陈旧家具的房间。除非将这些装满陈规旧矩的家具搬出去，新家具才能搬进来。在你的脑中保留一块空白角落，那么创意将会马上将它占据。

There is no dominant part of nature. No organ in your body dominates any other. Get nd of your liver and your brain dies just as certainly as your liver will without the brain.

别害怕失败。人正是从失败中获得成长;前提是你必须认识到失败，坦率接受，从中汲取教训，改进方法，并重新尝试。