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今天我们继续阅读Breaking through Three Common Engineering Myths这篇文章。首先我们用几句话来回顾一下上半篇文章，然后接着来粗读剩下的半篇文章。

在这篇文章中，作者指出三个广泛存在的针对软件工程师的“刻板印象”或者“成见”。它们是有害的，必须通过转变思想来打破这三个谬误。作者对这三个谬误进行了逐一讲解。

第一个是软件工程师不会沟通，因为软件工程师大都内向，内向的人不善于沟通。但是，内向和外向的性格，本身和善不善于沟通之间没有必然联系，但幸福健康的生活的确需要良好的沟通能力。作者进而介绍了两种沟通技能，学会倾听和复杂问题简单说，并分别提供了练习的方法。

接下来，我们再来看其他两个错误的“成见”，软件工程师“天然”不会当领导，以及软件工程师过于讲逻辑而不具有创造力。

全篇通读

下文中黑体字部分（标题）和斜体字部分（引用）都是原文自带的，橙色字是我自己标的，这都是略读全篇时，我自己会重点去看的内容。

我们可以提前预期一下，后面两条“神话”的文章结构应该和前面相似。大标题后面是两段论述，作者会指出“刻板印象”的谬误之处。那我们还是先看首句。

Myth: Engineers Don’t Make“Natural”Leaders

This myth follows an even more generalized myth that leaders are born, not made. Research on leadership development suggests that this simply is not true, and in fact 70 percent of leadership ability is the result of lessons learned through life experiences.

A foundational concept of leadership development is often referred to as“leadership readiness”. It is a belief inside someone that they are truly ready, willing, and able to become a leader. People who believe this about themselves can develop much more quickly, and this isn’t surprising. This idea is very much in-line with other research done by Carol Dweck about having a“growth”mindset versus a“fixed”mindset so that we believe we can continue to develop and change throughout our lives.

第一段的首句说，“这一谬论是基于另外一条谬论，即好的领导是天生的，不是后天培养的。”第二段的首句说，“领导力发展的根本在于是否在心理上做好了成为领导的准备”。这其实驳斥了之前的上一段阐述的错误观点。

和第一部分“沟通能力”的结构一样，接下来作者提出两条训练“领导力”的方法。第一条是“评估自己的优势”。小标题下面是两段论述加上一个“训练活动”。第一段的首句讲“发现我们具备领导力的方式之一是发现我们自身的优势并加以利用”，第二段首句讲“去问一下对你最为了解的十个身边人，让他们告诉你最强大的三大优势。”

Assess Your Strengths

One of the ways to discover that we are capable of leadership is to identify the strengths that we have and find ways to utilize them. There are a lot of free and paid assessments out there, such as Clifton Strengths by Gallup to help you do this, but a very simple approach is to ask people who know you well.

Go ahead – ask the ten people in your life who know you better than anyone else what they think your top three personal strengths are. Likely, you will agree with a lot of what they say. They may also share with you things that you don’t currently believe about yourself, but because others are suggesting it, you may start to believe a little bit more.

Crushing Limiting Belief Activity: This may seem a bit weird, but stay with me. Take about five minutes and jot down a quick list of what you consider to be your weaknesses. Then grab a piece of paper or note card and write down each of those“weaknesses”that you identified that is actually a limiting belief. Take that paper with the list of limiting beliefs and rip it up. Throw it into the air. Make a mess. Show those beliefs you don’t accept them. For example, my weakness might be that I tend to suppress my emotions which can lead to less connection in my relationships. A limiting belief I used to accept was that I was not a good writer. You may or may not agree with that, but at least I am pushing through and practicing my skills! I would write that on a note card and rip it up. I promise, it feels good.

接下来，我们看一下“训练活动”的小标题。limiting belief 指的是“限制性的想法”，也就是那些限制自己发展的错误信念，例如“我这辈子就是没有发财的命”“我每次作报告都会紧张到忘记自己的说什么”等充满负能量的信念。这个“训练活动”应该是要通过某种方式“打碎”这些限制性的理念。

第二条训练“领导力”的方法是 look inside，用中文说就是“反求诸己”的意思，就是遇到挫折时莫责怪他人，而应先反过来从自己身上原因，找出问题的症结后努力加以改正。

Look Inside

The fact of the matter is that people rarely make huge changes in their lives, but people do change. It happens when we can increase self-awareness and have“ah-ha”moments or epiphanies that help us see ourselves and our situations in a new light. That’s really how we change our mindsets, which then drives our behaviors in new ways.

I’ve seen people who were so bent on blaming others that they became so toxic and were about to be fired. Yet they were able to create just enough space to realize they were part of the problem and began focusing on what they could change, rather than blaming everyone else. It’s transformational.

Mindset Adjustment Activity: Identify the largest work challenge you are facing right now. Write down what you think the root cause of the problem is. Then, write down 2-3 things you can do personally to make things better (this is not about you taking action to fix other people – focus on you). Then, stay focused on your own ability to help the cause rather than what others are/aren’t doing.

我们还是看一下两段的首句，第一段第一句讲，“人们很少会在生活中做出巨大改变，但人确实会改变。”第二段第一句讲，“我见过一些人总是指责别人，以至于毒舌到要被解雇。”结合小标题“反求诸己”，这两段应该是在讲从指责别人到反省自己的转变。

接下来，我们来看“训练活动”这个小标题。“心态调整活动”，应该也是通过一个活动，来让人调整心态，从原先在外部找原因，转变成为从自己身上找原因，这也是培养领导力的一个重要方面。

第三个谬误是“工程师只讲逻辑、没有创造力”。看到这里，作者的写作套路我们其实已经比较熟悉了。

Myth: Engineers Are Very Logical and Not Creative

This one seems to make sense – if engineers were creative, wouldn’t they have decided to be artists, writers, or some other“Fine Arts”profession? Wrong! The key word in being creative is right there – to create! Engineers create products, services, and processes that influence people every day. Whether your work goes into consumer applications, devices, or machines, the end product of engineering work is used by other people. If engineers suppressed their creativity, they would miss out on a lot of insights into ways to solve problems than they otherwise would.

Every day, engineers need to find new ways to think outside the box to tackle new challenges. They have the fabulous opportunity and responsibility of imagining ways in which the world could be different and then creating ways to make that happen. That is at the heart of what creativity is all about and it should be inspiring and exciting for engineers. For example, engineering innovations have been a big part of healthcare improvement over the years. From data analysis to efficient software systems, to surgery machines, to providing treatment tracking and recommendations, engineering truly saves lives daily.

我们还是先看两句话，第一段首句讲“这个似乎有点道理。如果工程师有创意，他们不是应该去做艺术家、作家或其他创意类工作吗？错!”，第二段的首句讲“每天，工程师们都需要找到新的思维方式，跳出固有的框框来应对新的挑战。”这依旧还是驳斥谬误，提出破除谬论的办法。

接下来还是作者提出两条训练“创造力”的方法。

Get Curious

When we suppress creativity it’s often because we feel like we already have the right answers or approaches to solve the problems we face. Yet different people and their perspectives can see things in completely different ways. This is good!

One way to start considering creative ideas and not getting set in our ways is to get curious. If someone disagrees with you, get curious about why and how they are feeling about the issue. If someone comes to you with a problem, spend a bit more time asking questions about the issue before you rush into providing a solution. Curiosity can open our minds to new ideas while continuing to embrace the rational thinking that engineers value so much.

Curiosity Activity: Utilize“Yes, and…”The next time you have a brainstorming session with a team, I want you to do everything in your power to promote ideas and open-minded thinking. Eliminate from your vocabulary responses such as“no,” “I don’t think that will work,”or“yes, but…”When someone suggests an idea, remain open to it by responding with“yes, and [expand upon the idea].”This principle comes from the world of improv comedy and is taught heavily in the world of design thinking, and has the ability to keep teams positive and supportive to promote collaboration.

第一条是“培养好奇心”。小标题下面同样的还是两段论述加上一个“训练活动”。第一段的首句讲，“我们压抑创造力，往往是因为我们觉得自己已经有了正确的答案或方法，来解决面临的问题。”第二段首句讲，“开始创新、打破陈规的方法之一就是培养好奇心。”接下来是作者提供的一个培养好奇心的“训练活动”。

第二条培养“创造力”的方法是“拥抱失败”。

Embrace Failure and Try Again

The struggle with creation is that we often“fail,”and this fear of failure can keep us from exploring different approaches or possibilities. Consider this quote:

Failure is central to engineering. Every single calculation that an engineer makes is a failure calculation.

−HenryPetroski

Instead of being afraid of providing failing solutions and ideas, we should look at each failure as an opportunity to learn something new. It’s a new data point. It’s a new experience. And if we are good learners, we won’t make the same mistake again. Indeed, failing fast is often the best way to succeed if we stick with it and treat each failure as a learning experience.

Overcoming Fear Activity: Create something you´ve always wanted to but which is outside of your comfort zone. Just try it. If it means writing code in a different language, do that. It may mean that you want to create something physical using your hands, such as a drawing, painting, or a small construction project. The point here is to do something that you haven’t done before and to realize that at your core, you truly are a creator. Personally, I have recently started creating videos for my own marketing efforts. I’ve never done that before and it’s very uncomfortable, but I’ve received helpful feedback and learned a lot through the process.

这两段主题句的意思分别是“创新伴随着失败，对失败的恐惧会让我们不敢去探索新的方法或可能性。”“我们应该把每一次失败看成是学习新东西的机会。”观点和逻辑都是非常清楚的，之后还是一个“训练活动”，主题是“克服恐惧”。

最后一部分的小标题是 moving forward，展望未来，就是全文的一个总结。我们来一起看一下橙色标注的部分。

Moving Forward

Myths, stereotypes, and limiting beliefs can be really damaging to our success. It’s important to know that those things don’t have to define you, and who you think you are and can vastly change as you let go of damaging beliefs and embrace new ways of thinking for the future. Another favorite quote:

To reach a goal you have never before attained, you must do things you have never before done.

−RichardG.Scott

If you currently suffer from accepting or giving in to these myths and stereotypes, the time to change that is right now. It is going to take some action and a change in mindset, but it’s very possible.

Rather than believing the myths shared above, I want to share three truths about engineers you should accept instead:

1.Engineers can develop exceptional communication skills (if they don’t already have them)

2.Engineers have the capacity to become great leaders (as many already are)

3.Successful engineers are creative (just look at what they create!)

Take the actions suggested in the solutions and practice activities and see what happens. You might be surprised at what you’re capable of.

“神话、成见和限制性信念都会对我们的成功造成伤害。”“现在就是改变的时候了。”

“我想分享三个你应该接受的关于软件工程师的真相”：

1. 工程师可以培养出卓越的沟通能力（如果他们尚不具备这些能力的话）；

2. 工程师有能力成为伟大的领导者（很多人已经成为伟大的领导者）；

3. 成功的工程师是有创造力的（看看他们创造的东西就知道了！）。

最后，作者希望“按照建议的解决方案和实践活动采取行动”，看看会发生什么。

小结

在粗略阅读的过程中，我们可以在不打断阅读节奏的情况下，适当地在笔记本上画一个简单的提纲。全篇略读完成之后，我们就可以比较清楚地看到文章的总体结构。

这篇文章还是比较规整的“总分总”结构。作者在总起部分开门见山提出论点，指出“普遍存在的三个针对软件工程师的错误成见是非常有害的，必须采取行动打破这三个成见”。

接下来是三个并列关系的分论点。作者对这三种针对软件工程师的错误“成见”逐一阐述，首先陈述谬误的观点，然后进行反驳，进而提出解决方案，并提供“训练活动”来实践每一个解决方案。

最后，作者进行收尾总结，再次重申这些“神话”或“成见”的破坏性，提出三个真相来和开头提出的三个“成见”相呼应，并呼吁读者采取行动，实现改变。

可以说，并不是所有的文章或者书籍都值得我们花时间从头到尾、一字一句地读完，在我们把最为宝贵的时间资源投入到阅读中去之前，我们需要以最少的投入、用比较高效的方式来判断两件事：作者的语言质量（文笔、风格等）和思想内容（信息、观点等）是否值得我们投入更多的时间和精力。

所以说，对于每一个希望提高自学效率的终生学习者，都要有一套具有成本效益的阅读策略。

课后作业

1. 这是一篇关于“限制性理念”（limiting belief）的文章，你可以快速浏览阅读一下。

2. 这个链接介绍了一系列阅读策略（Reading Strategies）。你可以通读全文（包括观看文章内的视频）并和我们这两节的内容进行比较，总结出适合你的阅读策略。

如果在学习中有什么问题，你可以在留言区提问，同时欢迎你把学习心得分享出来，我们一起每天进步一点。