心理治疗师为硅谷公司把脉

    休斯顿回忆到，2012年年初，Dropbox聘请了哈格伯格，随后他接受了一系列缜密的测试，目的都是进行数据分析。

    休斯顿说：“哈格伯格会从对方的优点开始讲起。他会说，‘你的的确确很有创造力。你喜欢新颖的想法。’或者，‘你确实很灵活’。听的人就会想，太好了。这个过程会进行的很顺利。然后，他就会说到对方的缺点。比如说，你只会按部就班，不可靠，会犯愚蠢的错误，不喜欢制定计划，不愿面对冲突。”

    休斯顿接着说，真相很残酷，但绝对必要，“它就像一面力量非常强大的镜子，能让你对自己一览无余。”

    培训为期一年。在这段时间里，哈格伯格为休斯顿做了大量工作——跟着他，观察他和员工的互动，帮他克服缺点。

    举例来说，休斯顿是典型的冲突逃避者，哈格伯格就督促他面对面地跟别人讨论公司的所有问题。他还研究了Dropbox的管理团队，跟他们一起找出后者精通的和缺乏的管理技能。根据哈格伯格的反馈，Dropbox于今年年初聘请了谷歌（Google）元老、摩托罗拉移动（Motorola Mobility）前首席执行官丹尼斯•伍德赛德担任公司首席运营官。实际上，休斯顿现在每个月仍然会跟哈格伯格见一次面。

    2009年以来，哈格伯格已经培训了约40名初创型企业家，休斯顿是其中一员。哈格伯格说，现在建立初创型企业的人跟15年前有很大的不同。

    如今，许多创业者在大学毕业后（或者，有些是从大学退学后）马上就会立即组建自己的公司。而几十年前，人们一般都会在有了一些工作经验后再开始自己的创业生涯——哈格伯格认为，这些经验会变成一个不利因素：“从大公司出来的人可能已经想好了采用什么样的组织结构和人力资源制度，或者怎样进行预算管理才算合适。”

    哈格伯格指出，现在许多创业者在组建公司时都没有这些先入为主的想法。相反，“他们非常渴望学习，和我培训过的有几年大公司工作经验的人相比，他们几乎没有自负方面的问题。”(财富中文网)

    译者：Charlie

    Dropbox's CEO Houston recalls undergoing a rigorous battery of data-driven tests when the file-sharing and storage company hired Hagberg in early 2012.

    "He has this presentation where he starts going through your strengths," Houston explained. "'Oh, you're really, really creative. You like new ideas,' he'll say, and, 'You're really flexible.' And you're thinking, Oh, that's great. This is going pretty well. Then he goes through your weaknesses: You're bored by routine. You're unreliable. You drop balls. You don't like planning. You're conflict-avoidant."

    The truth was harsh, but indispensable, added Houston: "It's sort of like a very powerful mirror that you shine on yourself."

    Hagberg worked intensively with Houston over the course of a year, shadowing him, observing his interactions with employees and conditioning the Dropbox CEO to improve on his weaknesses.

    For example, Hagberg pushed the typically conflict-avoidant Houston to discuss and confront all company issues head-on. He also studied and worked with the rest of Dropbox's management team to understand which skills they excelled at and which skills were lacking. Hagberg's feedback led Dropbox to hire Google (GOOG) veteran and ex-Motorola Mobility CEO Dennis Woodside as its chief operating officer earlier this year. Indeed, Houston continues to check in with Hagberg on a monthly basis.

    Houston is one of 40 or so startup entrepreneurs Hagberg has coached since 2009, and the difference between today's startup founders vs. those of 15 years ago is vast, he says.

    Many of today's entrepreneurs build their companies right after college (or in some cases, right after dropping out of college), whereas founders from decades past generally came to entrepreneurship with more experience in the corporate environment -- experience that Hagberg says can be a disadvantage."If you come out of a big company, you may already have ideas about which models are appropriate for organizational structure, human resources systems, or budgeting disciplines," Hagberg said.

    Many younger entrepreneurs don't come to a company with those preconceived ideas, he added. Rather, "they arrive with a tremendous appetite for learning and minimal ego problems compared with some of the people I've worked with at big companies over the years."