“It is easy to welcome innovation and accept new ideas. What most people find difficult, however, is accepting the way these new ideas are put in to practice.”
嘉文博译Sample Essay
To a greater or lesser degree, all people are resistant to change, and change often begins with innovation and new ideas. Indeed, the human body has a built-in response mechanism for dealing with the anxiety that occurs in unfamiliar situations. Particularly in the world of business, the dynamics of affecting change in a company are becoming increasingly important but also increasingly difficult to do without creating dissension among the employees. Barring any difficulties in their current situation, people prefer the status quo to almost any changes. The resistance to change begins with the difficulty in the initial acceptance of innovation and new ideas, which then leads to difficulties in putting those ideas into practice.
People are most comfortable with that with which they are familiar. Depending upon the situation and the degree to which innovation or a new idea means changing one’s life, every person will feel a certain amount of discomfort when facing the unfamiliar. Whether it is a new job, new location or even meeting a new friend, psychologists and sociologists know that there is an automatic adrenaline response within the human body that occurs in response to the unfamiliar. It is a totally natural and ingrained response similar to the “fight or flight” idea that is left over from the days when humans were often faced with situations that determined whether they would survive to live another day.
Even in today’s more modern society, business management and human resources literature is filled with techniques and ideas for dealing with the dynamics of change within an organization. If human beings were well equipped to deal with innovation and new ideas, there would be no reason for managers to have to worry about getting employees to “go along” with a different business direction or method. Acceptance would be automatic and there would be no problem with putting the ideas into practice. The reluctance to change begins with accepting the idea rather than actually putting the new idea into practice.
Furthermore, history is littered with examples of human resistance to innovation and new ideas, even those that are routinely accepted and taken for granted in today’s world. As early as the 6th century BC, Pythagoras insisted that the world was round, but no one believed him. The idea was not widely accepted until actually proven by maritime explorers over one thousand years later. American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T) invented the first cell phone in 1947 - yet it would not be commercially accepted until thirty-six years later. It would be several more than another decade before the general public decided that the cell phone had a practical use. In the late 1930’s, an inventor tried to sell his idea of “xerography” to two of the world’s largest companies, IBM and Kodak, among others. They flatly rejected his idea and sent him away. A little known company named Haloid-Xerox, now known as Xerox, bought the idea and debuted the first photocopier in 1960, which became an unprecedented success in the world of business. Human beings natural resistance to innovation and new ideas has been displayed throughout history; it continues to be a natural human trait even in today’s modern, high-tech society.
In summary, it is human beings’ natural resistance to change that presents the greatest challenge to accepting new ideas and innovation. Business managers struggle to overcome it, and history shows many examples of this human trait. Although putting these changes into action is also problematic, it is definitely not easy in the first place for people to welcome new ideas with open arms.
(593 words)
参考译文
迎纳革新和接受新思想，并非难事。然而，大多数人所感到困难的，是实施这些新思想的方式
在一定程度上，所有的人都不愿意变化，而变化常常始于革新和新思想。的确，人体具有一种内在的反应机制来处理不熟悉的环境中产生的焦虑。尤其在商业界，影响公司内部变化的动态因素日趋重要，而且日益难以处理，因为它常常在雇员当中造成不和。除非他们目前的情形中出现困难，否则人们还是宁愿选择维持现状而不愿选择任何变化。对变化的抵制始于最初难以接受革新和新思想，这又导致人们难以实践这些新思想。
人们能处在他们熟悉的环境中是最舒适不过的。因为环境的改变以及革新或新思想意味着改变他们的生活方式，所以人们在面对陌生事物时都会感到一定程度的不适。心理学家和社会学家研究得知，无论是找工作，迁移到新地方还是会见一位新朋友，人体内有一种不自觉的肾上腺素反应随着陌生事物的出现而发生。这完全是一种自然的而且是与生俱有的反应，它与古代所留下来的“打不赢就跑”的思想相似，在那个时代，人类常常会面临某些危险的境地，这些境地可以决定他们是否能生存下来，去享受另一天的生命。
即使在今天更具现代色彩的社会中，企业管理和人力资源文献中到处可见组织机构内部发生变动时的应变对策和理论。如果人们有很好的准备来应对革新和新思想，那么经理们也就没有理由去担心如何使雇员适应不同的工作指令或工作方式。接受将是自然而然的，实践新思想也就不会有问题。只接受新思想，而不真正将新思想付诸实践，这只能意味着拒绝变化。
再者，历史上不乏人类拒绝革新和新思想的实例，甚至是那些在今天看来是被很自然地接受且毫不置疑的思想。早在公元前6世纪，Pythagoras提出地球是圆的学说，但是没有人相信他的话。他的思想直到一千多年以后被航海探险家实际证实才被普遍接受。美国电话电报公司(AT&T)1947年发明了第一部电池电话，但是它直到36年后才被商界接受。普通大众认为电池电话可以实际应用，那还是又过了十多年之后的事。在20世纪30年代，一位发明家试图把他的静电印刷术卖给世界上两家最大的公司IBM和Kodak。这两家公司断然拒绝他的想法并把他打发走。一家名不见经传的叫做Haloid—Xerox的公司——现在称为Xerox公司——买下了他的思想，于1960年首次使用了摄影复制机，并在商界取得了前所未有的成功。人类对革新和新思想的本能排斥，在整个历史上俯拾皆是，而且这一本能在今天现代的高科技社会仍然是人性的一个特征。
总之，正是人类对变化的本能抵制构成了接受新思想和革新的最大挑战。企业经理努力克服它，而且历史也展示了许多实例足以证明这一人性特点。尽管把这些变化付诸行动同样是一个问题，但是，让人们一开始便信奉新思想决非易事。
