常规任务对决首要任务 不可忽视工作中的"小事"

Most people can identify their top priority at work. Generally, it will be the part of the job that is most productive for their employer: for a merger and acquisitions banker, it could be landing a big deal for a client; for a lorry driver, the punctual delivery of an important consignment; for a hospital doctor or nurse, giving vital treatment to a patient.
绝大多数人能够认知自己工作中的首要任务。通常，这也是他们工作中最能给雇主带来成效的部分：对并购银行家来说，首要任务是为客户敲定一桩大交易；对货车司机来说，首要任务是将重要的货物准时送达；对医生或者护士来说，首要任务是给予病人至关重要的治疗。

But every job is ringed with secondary tasks – the routine but critical stuff covered by codes and guidelines. If such chores are neglected, the consequences may undermine overall success. New research suggests tired workers in demanding jobs start giving up doing those small, but vital, tasks remarkably quickly.
但是每一项工作都涉及次要任务，这些常规而又至关重要的环节包含在准则和指引中。如果忽视了它们，可能会破坏整体上的成功。一项新的研究似乎表明，从事高强度工作的疲惫员工会很快放弃那些细小但却十分重要的任务。

Technology can, of course, take over some basic chores altogether. It is no longer necessary to engage an additional auditor to cross-check the balance sheet, or to insist airline pilots handle every tiny aspect of monitoring and flying their aircraft.
当然，技术能完全接手一些基础的日常事务。我们不再需要一位额外的审计员来核对资产负债表，或者坚持让飞行员处理飞机监控和飞行中的每一个细小的方面。

Automated solutions are not as reassuring as they seem, however. Peter Thiel, the entrepreneur, wrote in the FT last week that computers “excel at efficient data processing but struggle to make basic judgments”. In other words, humans are not redundant. But the flesh-and-blood workers who remain now have greater responsibility for more important tasks. If companies pile more work on to them, these weary employees could inadvertently plunge them into disaster.
然而，自动化解决方案并不像它们看上去那样令人放心。企业家彼得•蒂尔(Peter Thiel)最近在英国《金融时报》撰文表示，计算机“善于进行高效率的数据处理，但很难做出基本的判断”。换句话说，人类并不多余。但是，剩下的有血有肉的员工如今为更重要的任务承担了更大的责任。如果公司将更多工作分配给他们，疲惫的员工可能在不经意间使公司陷入灾难。

It is a truism that a tired worker is less productive than a fresh one. But researchers at Wharton and Kenan-Flagler business schools have shown that compliance with routine tasks can fall away within one heavy shift.
疲劳的员工的生产率没有精力充沛的员工高，这是不言而喻的道理。但沃顿商学院(Wharton School)和凯南-弗拉格勒商学院(Kenan-Flagler Business School)的研究者向我们展示，即使在一个繁重的轮班期间，人们完成常规性任务的程度也可能逐渐下降。

Their study’s focus was hand hygiene, healthcare’s mundane but powerful weapon against cross-infection. Such is the importance of sanitisation – when done thoroughly, it can reduce infection by the MRSA “superbug” by 95 per cent – that hospitals have started to monitor compliance, using electronic tags in sanitisers and workers’ badges. Each time a member of staff skips the sanitiser, the omission is logged.
他们的研究重点是手卫生，这是一种平淡无奇的卫生保健手段，却能有效地对抗交叉感染。消毒如此重要，以至于如果彻底洗手，就能将有“超级病菌”之称的耐甲氧西林金黄色葡萄球菌(MRSA)的感染几率减少95%。医院开始在洗手液分配器和员工胸牌上安装电子跟踪器，以监控医护人员是否遵守这项程序。每当一个员工跳过了洗手程序，就会被记录下来。