What value do we create here?

原文(original version):http://www.astatespacetraveler.com/have-you-ever-wondered-what-value-we-create-here/

Author:CARTER CLEVELAND
monkey-typer:Shawn the R0ck

作者:CARTER CLEVELAND
译者:Shawn the R0ck

What value do we create here?
我们hack了些什么呢?
 
One summer I thought I had the ultimate dream job. During the day I created software that accessed some of the world’s largest financial databases and provided traders with real-time data and analysis for trade ideas. At night I worked with the CTO on a side project that analyzed huge amounts of transaction data to identify arbitrage opportunities. We figured that if we could start finding enough of these opportunities, we could present them as trade ideas to the bosses. So we wrote scripts, and at night, after everyone else left the office, we installed them on their computers and ran the scripts in parallel to try and crunch through the massive amount of data we had access to. This was fun. Really fun. And even better, the CTO was an awesome guy who taught me a lot about programming.
有一年夏天我得到了梦寐以求的工作.在那些日子里我写的软件主要是访问世界大型金融数据库,通过处理和分析实时数据让交易者可以作出更好的判断.一天晚上 我和我的CTO一起在着手分析大量的可以带来潜在收益的事务数据.我们认为如果可以找出足够多的有用信息那老板会很高兴的.之后我们写了脚本,其他员工都 离开办公室后我们仍然在继续工作安装这些脚本,运行它后尝试去分析大把大把的数据.真是个有趣的过程,真的很有意思.更有意思的是CTO是个很酷的家伙, 他教会了我很多关于程序设计的技巧.
 
They also paid well. Really well. Even more than my friends received working 100 hour weeks at I-Banking jobs. In retrospect, no college student should ever have been paid that much (on the bright side, the savings were enough for Art.sy’s initial funding).
他们付我很不错的薪水,真的不错.甚至比我的一些干I-banking(投资银行顾问)的朋友还要好.现在回想起来,没有college的学生会得到这么高的薪水.
 
But that summer it meant I could go out to nice dinners with my girlfriend, and never worry about paying for drinks at expensive clubs. It meant I could afford fancy clothes, an iPhone, and plane flights to Asia. Having always worked in labs prior to that job, it redefined how I thought about money.
那个夏天,我可以享受和女朋友共进晚餐,当然也不用担心在俱乐部昂贵的饮料.我的意思是说我有能力购买时尚的衣服,iphone和去亚洲旅行.比起之前在lab的工作,我重新定义了金钱观.
 
So what is wrong with this picture? I had an extremely fun and challenging job, working with awesome people, that let me afford an incredible lifestyle. It was a dream come true.
这一切难道不好吗?我有一个非常有趣而且极具挑战性的工作,和这么酷的家伙一起共事,而且有能力选择不错的生活方式.看似美梦都成为现实了.
 
But at the end of the summer, the CTO brought me into the corner office and closed the door. I had worked with him all summer and this was my last day, so I was expecting a performance evaluation. Instead, after some chit chatting, he asked me a question:
但在那个夏天结束时,CTO让我去他的办公室然,关上了门.这是我和他在这个夏天工作的最后一天.所以当时我期待着他能给我一些评价之类的.相反,在一阵闲聊之后他问了我一个问题:
 
"Have you ever wondered what value we create here?"
"您曾经思想过你在这里所创造的价值吗?"(Shawn注:注意wonder这个词,在犹太-基督教方法论的语境中,这个词是惊讶的意思,也就 是"aha"的意思,按照两希文化偏希伯来式的解释是敬畏产生惊讶,惊讶产生智慧.而偏希腊式的解释是苏格拉底所言"哲学始于惊讶"和 Kierkegarrd所言"哲学不是始于怀疑".可以这样来试想一下,当人们发现新的范式后会惊讶,然后就会aha一下,而计算模型的建立的aha过程 是"aha,philosophy"->"aha,mathematic"->"aha,algorithm"...)
 
Value? This wasn’t what I was expecting at all.
价值?这可不是我期待的问题.
 
"Not really."
"还真没怎么想过."
 
"I'll tell you. We increase the liquidity of the secondary bond market. We shave basis points off of spreads."
"我可以告诉你.我们增加了次级市场的资产流动性.我们削掉了收益差的基点."
 
I’ll never forget that question. It turns out that our CTO was saving every penny and had plans of leaving as soon as he had enough cash to pursue his dream.
我从未忘记这个问题.这个问题让CTO努力存下每一分钱,他有个计划,而且正在实施中,当他存够了足够的现金他会离开这里而去追求他的梦想.(CTO现在已经离开去追求一个非软件技术领域)
 
He didn’t care about the fancy clothes, the clubs, or being a master of the universe. All he cared about was how he would add value to the world. At this point, my story starts to sound cliche, but it was a cliche I needed to experience in person because it radically changed my perspective.
他不关心什么时尚衣服,俱乐部,或者成为大学里的佼佼者.他所有的关注都在于他的人生如何给世界增加一些有价值的东西.关于这一点,我开始了一些陈词滥调,的确如此,但我需要亲自去经历一些事情,因为这个问题彻底的改变了我原有的视角.
 
"How am I creating value?"
我该怎么样来创造价值?
 
I realized that the programs I had spent all summer writing were great, if they could make people money and save them time. But if all it resulted in at the end of the day was slightly more efficient markets, well, what was the point of that?
我发现那个夏天的我所参与开发那个软件真的是很棒,如果他们能赚客户的钱和帮客户节省时间的话.但是所有的结果都在那天谈话的结束后变得稍微有效率,好吧,这算什么?
 
I was so caught up in the fun and camaraderie of my job, so high with the rush of money, I never considered such a simple question.
我在那里经历了快乐时光和友谊,当然还有高薪水.但我却从来没有思考过如此简单的问题.
 
This probably won’t change the minds of people who have already chosen career paths. But to any students who are thinking about their futures, I hope my story illustrates how easy it is to get swept up by short term pleasures, and how important it is to always ask this question when making important decisions.
这个故事或许不会改变已经工作的人.但对所有正在思考他们的未来人生的学生是有益处的,认真思考这个问题后会让你认真对待未来的选择.