The 10 Most Important Things I’ve Learned About Trust关于信任：最重要的十件往事

George P. Shultz is a former U.S. secretary of labor， treasury and state， and was director of the Office of Management and Budget.

乔治·P. 舒尔茨曾任美国劳工部长、美国财政部长、美国国务卿、白宫行政管理和预算局局长。

Dec. 13 marks my turning 100 years young. I’ve learned much over that time， but looking back， I’m struck that there is one lesson I learned early and then relearned over and over： Trust is the coin of the realm. When trust was in the room， whatever room that was—the family room， the schoolroom， the locker room， the office room， the government room or the military room—good things happened. When trust was not in the room， good things did not happen. Everything else is details.

2020年12月13日是我风华正茂的100岁生日。在这100年里，我懂得了许多道理，但是回首往昔，我猛然发现，有个道理我早已知晓，却一直在反复领悟：信任是成功之本。无论在哪儿，家庭、学校、球队、公司、政府或军队，只要有信任，就会发生好事。但倘若缺乏信任，就不会成功。信任之外都是细枝末节。

There are countless examples of how that lesson was brought home to me across the past century， but here are 10 of the most important.

100年来，教我懂得信任的例子不胜枚举，这里写写最重要的十件往事。

1. I first saw the concept in action at home by observing how my parents treated one another and their friends and family. One hundred years later， I can still sense the steadfast love that my parents had for each other and for me， their only child. My mother made our home comfortable and welcoming; my father took me on jaunts out into the world， from his Wall Street office on Saturday mornings to a cross-country train trip when I was 8 years old. My early boyhood memories underlined the joy of family closeness and how it creates powerful bonds of trust.

1. 第一次感受到信任，是我在家里看到父母如何待彼此、待朋友、待家人。100年了，我仍然能感受到当年父母对彼此以及对我这个他们唯一的孩子的深爱。母亲把我们家打理得温馨舒适。父亲带我看世界，包括周六早上跟着他去华尔街的办公室，还有在我8岁的时候带我坐火车全国旅行。我最难忘的童年记忆就是亲密欢乐的家庭关系和它建立起来的绝对信任。

2. During World War II， I served in the Pacific theater in a Marine outfit that included a sergeant named Palat. I have forgotten his first name， but I have never forgotten the respect and admiration—the deep-seated trust—that he inspired. When Palat was killed in action， it brought home to me more than ever how pitiless war can be. Later in life， I thought about the loss of this trusted， beloved sergeant when I advised President Ronald Reagan about military action： Make sure it is just， I said—and equip the troops for victory.

2. 第二次世界大战期间，我在太平洋战区海军陆战队服役，当时有一位姓帕拉特的中士，虽然我忘了他叫什么名字，却从未忘记他得到的那种尊重和钦佩，那种强烈的信任感。帕拉特阵亡后，我越发感受到战争是何其残酷。后来，我在给罗纳德·里根总统提军事行动建议时，想起了这位值得信任且备受爱戴的中士的牺牲：行正义之战，而后全副武装，确保全胜。

3. As a graduate student at MIT in the late 1940s， I worked with Joe Scanlon， a former research director for the United Steelworkers union. He would visit steel plants where costs were out of control and rearrange their practices， giving workers a voice in how their jobs were set up and， in many cases， a chance to receive a bonus based on increased productivity. This was later called the Scanlon Plan. I saw how Joe rebuilt bonds of trust between the workers and management that had been frayed or broken. Ultimately， both sides benefited， as did the country.

3. 20世纪40年代末，在麻省理工学院读研时，我曾与美国钢铁工人联合会前研究主任乔·斯坎伦共事。斯坎伦会到一些成本超支的钢铁厂整顿工作。他让工人畅所欲言，交流工作安排情况，多次在生产效率提升后给工人发奖金。这种做法后来称为“斯坎伦计划”。我看到了乔是如何将已经破损或破裂的劳资关系修复成信任关系。最终，不只双方，连国家也受益。

4. In the 1960s， I was part of a committee studying changes in the meatpacking industry. Armour planned to open a plant in Worthington， Minn.， an all-White small town. Black workers from a closed plant in Kansas City had seniority claims on the new jobs. In that era of great racial friction， trouble might have been expected. Yet the town’s civic leaders made it clear to us： Black families would be welcomed. Many of those families scouted Worthington and liked what they found. The visitors from Kansas City turned out to be tithers， so the churches in Worthington competed for them. Their faith led to trust. Trust was built—and quite a few families made the move.

4. 20世纪60年代，我参加了肉类加工行业一个研究改革的委员会。阿穆尔打算在明尼苏达州的白人小镇沃辛顿开一家工厂。堪萨斯城一家倒闭工厂的黑人工人更资深，适合到新工厂工作，但在那个种族冲突严重的年代，这可能会带来麻烦。不过，沃辛顿的市政领导向我们明确表示：欢迎黑人家庭。许多黑人家庭纷纷打听沃辛顿，对那里很满意。原来他们也是缴纳什一税的基督教徒，所以沃辛顿的教堂竞相欢迎他们。信仰带来了信任。因为彼此信任，许多黑人家庭都搬到了沃辛顿。

5. President Richard M. Nixon formed a Cabinet committee in 1970， when I was labor secretary， to address school segregation persisting， illegally， in seven Southern states. We formed biracial committees in each state to advise us. The discussions were civil， but there was little trust in the room. Then， by arrangement， Attorney General John Mitchell joined us. Mitchell was regarded by many White Southerners as “their” man. I asked him what he planned to do about the schools. Mitchell growled， “I am attorney general， and I will enforce the law.” Then he left. No nonsense. Opponents of school segregation could trust the administration.

5. 尼克松总统于1970年成立内阁委员会，负责解决南部七州非法持续的学校种族隔离问题，当时我担任劳工部长。我们在七个州都成立了由黑人和白人组成的委员会，向我们提供建议。虽然讨论时大家彬彬有礼，但是几乎不信任彼此。后来经过安排，司法部长约翰·米切尔加入了我们。米切尔被许多南方白人视为“自己人”。我问他打算怎么处理这些学校。米切尔咆哮道：“我是司法部长，我会执行法律。”说完就走了。直截了当。那些反对学校种族隔离的人可以信任政府。

6. Trust was essential in every aspect of the desegregation effort. As we moved each of the seven states’ advisory committees to agreeing on how the schools would be desegregated， we usually waited until the matter was essentially settled before bringing in the president to add the final touch. But with the Louisiana group， not as much progress had been made as I had expected before Nixon’s scheduled noon arrival. I apologized to him and said， “This time， you’re going to have to finish the job yourself.” But it wasn’t a gamble. I knew the president and trusted that he would rise to the occasion—and he did.