How Would You Move Mount Fuji – William Poundstone

How would you move mount fuji 不知大家有沒有在見工面試時﹐被問智力IQ題的經驗呢﹖我記得以前在大學應徵見習工時﹐真的在面試時被問如何佔計加拿大有多少間油站。據說這個面試考智力是微軟的傳統﹐因為他們只要挑選最聰明的人當員工﹐後來很多科技公司甚至金融銀行也爭相彷效﹐成為最幾年面試模式的一個潮流。不知這個潮流過氣了沒有﹐現在的公司面試時還會不會問IQ題﹐我也有一段日子沒有面試了。《如何搬走富士山》是一本分析這個現像的書﹐而書名則是來自微軟面試的其中一條問題。

這本書從IQ題的歷史開始說起﹐講述史旦福大學的Lewis Treman如何發明測驗智力的方法。不講不知﹐原來IQ題最初是用來診斷弱智兒童的工具﹐Treman把這些考驗抽象思考能力的問題﹐倒過來用來發掘天材﹐並制定我們今天常用的智力測驗標準。正常人的智力以IQ100分為基礎﹐低於80分屬弱智﹐而高於135分則被視為天材。後來智力測驗亦成為學校判斷學生學習水平和軍隊召募士兵時的標法問題。半導體的發明者William Shockly﹐離開Bell Labs自組晶片公司時﹐Treman大力拉攏他在史旦福附近落腳。Shockly本人十分聰明IQ甚高﹐對員工有相同的要求﹐他聘請的員工統統要通過智力測驗。可惜他不善管理之道留不住人材﹐現今半導體工業的大部份創辦人﹐當年也曾在Shockly旗下工作過﹐當中包括Intel的創辦人Gordon Moore。雖然Shockly的公司最後經營不善倒閉了﹐但看重員工智力卻留下來成為矽谷的企業文化。

有不少人質疑面試問智力問題有沒有用﹐本書嘗試從正反兩個角度去解答這個問題。考智力問題並不是要應徵者答得快而準﹐而是希望藉此觀察他們在壓力環境下﹐處理難題的應變能力。很多時候那些難題是沒有劃一的正確答案﹐而是應者展露邏輯推理能力﹐一步步嘗試找出答案的線索﹐就算最後答不到指定答案也沒有關係。很多時間應徵者踏入門口那一剎那﹐給面試者留下的第一個印象﹐已經足以左右他的聘請決定。在面試中考智力問題﹐可以覆核第一個印象是否準確﹐確保不會因一時疏忽而請錯人。當然面試考智力問題﹐可能拒絕一些有材能力員工﹐但站在公司的立場來看﹐最重要是千萬不要請到一個壞員工。若果有好員工不幸成為濫網之魚 ﹐對公司也不是重大的損失﹐反正又不是請不到足夠的人材。可是壞員工易請難送﹐他們甚至可會影響其他員工的習慣﹐蝕食賴以成功的公司文化。

這本書講面試智力問題﹐書中當然羅列不少例子﹐最後一百頁更有所有問題的詳細答案。答案除了例出計算或推理的步驟﹐最重要是指出問題重點﹐以及類似問題的應對方法。每一條智力問題也有特定的考察目標﹐只要想通了那個特定的線索﹐問題就很輕鬆地迎刃而解。有些問題考數理邏輯能力﹐有些問題考跳出框框的思考能力 ﹐有些問題則考能否小心意會題目用字的含義。書中的智力問題分為高低兩個等級﹐不過其實高等級也不是太難。身為Mensa會員的我﹐﹐差不多兩三分鐘就可以解決一題。最難是海盜分金或紅帽綠帽那類題目﹐因為不能用直線思考﹐要用螺旋循環的思考方法﹐推理隱藏在題目中的線索。這本書除了給應徵者答問題的貼士外﹐也有寫給面試者要注要的事項﹐小心不要把問題淪成為吹水亂答或數學習作﹐如何讓智力問題成為面試中有用的評核工具。

The Liberal-NDP-Bloc coup

Canada has a very weird political system. We just had an election 2 months ago, we elected a minority government and the voters are still happy about the Conservative Prime Minister. Then suddenly the other three losing parties try to form a coalition and take over the government with majority seats in the parliament. The coup has became one of the most talked topics in our office. We all puzzled by this weird three parties coalition. The NDP and Liberals has totally different political platforms and they were criticizing each other like crazy in the past election. Yesterday’s enemies become today’s friends, yet the we have no clue what kind of policy their will bring forth. Just the Liberal and NDP is messy enough, then bring in the Bloc Quebecois can only make it messier. Bloc Quebecois is another weirdo political party does not exist in provinces other than Quebec. They have only one agenda, separation of Quebec from Canada. In the parliament, they don’t care about any policies for national good, all they care about is bringing more beef to Quebec. How can we trust the Bloc with power? We feel like cheated by the coalition, we did not vote for this screwed up government.

If the coalition really want to take the power, maybe they should do it fairly and call for election on a common convincing political platform and let the voters decide. I would rather have a Conservative majority government than another government with the leftist NDP and the separatist Bloc. I don’t mind a minority Liberal government if they can win it on their own power though. On a second though, Canada is still part of the common wealth and still ruled by the Queen. Maybe we should just reinstate full monarchy and ask the Queen to be our head of state with real power. I am sure she is more popular and nicer than all of the political party leaders. I may even go so low that I am willing to accept Prince Charles as our King than having the coalition government.

Fruit manual

Pomegranate

Nowadays, even fruit come with a user manual. I went to grocery shopping at Superstores and come across a weird looking fruit, Pomegranate. It is red in color, in the shape of an onion, looks like a decoration ball on a X’mas tree. I have no idea what it is, how it tastes or even how to eat it. To my surprise, the fruit come with a user manual. The food producer printed a nice pamphlet answering all my questions and place them next to the fruit. From the pamphlet, I know pomegranate suppose to be very healthy, it has lots of antioxidants and Vitamin C. There are illustrations in the pamphlet show me how to eat a pomegranate step by step. You are not actually eating the fruit, you are eating the seeds inside fruit. After you cut open the pomegranate, you have to loose the arils (seeds) from the membrane attached to the skin and then pour the arils through a strainer to remove any remaining liquid. We bought one home, but I don’t know it taste yet. I am waiting for Pat to open a pomegranate. I would never buy one if there is no user manual. I feel more comfortable trying new things if I can read some related information first. Maybe all odd looking fruits in the supermarket should have a user manual too, so I know what to try.

Charlie has cancer

Charlie

Our family dog, Charlie, is 13 years old. Pat grew up with it since a little girl. Charlie is a very adorable golden retriever. Now, it is getting old and it can’t even get up on its own due hip problem. We have to help it getting up by giving it support on the stomach. Pat took it to visit a vet yesterday and did its annual lab test. The results come back today and reveal that it has cancer. We will see whether the insurance cover for the surgery fee. If not, we will just let it live its remaining days peaceful. It is simply cheaper to buy a new dog than fixing the old one. I guess 13 years of life is long enough for a dog. It does not do much everyday, spent most of time sleeping and gets up only for food and its daily walk. To Charlie, everyday is just the repeat of the previous day. Life of a dog seems so meaningless, all it does is eat, sleep, walk, pee and shit. The function of a pet is to give joy and pleasure to its owner. When owning a pet brings more trouble than pleasure, maybe it is time send it to SPCA to end its suffering.

裁員

這幾天接二連三傳出大企業裁員的消息﹐匯豐花旗渣打無線﹐陸續宣報解僱員工削減人手。財政司長曾俊華例牌地站出來說幾句門面話﹐竟然惹來各方批評﹐說他沒有對大企業施壓﹐阻止裁員潮的發生。其實財政司長根本沒有權力做什麼﹐難道叫政府立法禁止企業解僱員工﹐還是向企業承諾包底﹐由庫房代付要削減員工的薪酬。職工盟的李卓人﹐更批評大企業在金融海嘯下裁員﹐是落井下石不負社會責任。可是在金融海嘯的大浪捲過來的時候﹐大企業自己也自身難保﹐若不趁早壯士斷臂緊縮開支﹐到時恐怕己不是落井下石﹐而是大家抱著一齊死了。

大慨是香港回歸後經濟一直向上﹐香港人已經忘記了經濟有起有跌的定律。就算當年SARS也只是短時間的陣痛﹐外圍有利因素保持不變﹐經濟在疫症過後也快速反彈。今次金融海嘯全球國家無一肯免﹐外圍經濟因素大逆轉﹐香港這樣的出口型經濟﹐明年恐怕將會是一個漫長的經濟嚴冬。也許今年企業的業績還有盈利﹐但對明年的預測數字恐怕不怎樂觀了。若到出現赤字時才裁員﹐那已經為時已晚了。在經濟增長時錢很易賺經營很容易﹐到經濟衰退時才出管理顯真功夫。只要企業保持生存空間﹐挨到經濟從谷底反彈時﹐競對手﹐淘弱留強死了大半﹐輕易奪取市場佔有率﹐增長比衰退前更加壯大。當然前題是企業要挨過衰退期﹐沒有倒閉沒有被人收購﹐亦沒有裁員過度削深入骨﹐自癈武功斷絕谷底反彈的競爭力。

今次金融海嘯暫時還未吹到我公司﹐但自出來做事後也經歷過數次裁員﹐幸好每次都大步檻過。最記得第一次裁員時﹐科技泡沬剛剛爆破﹐公司股價在數月內蒸發九成。在大刀砍下來之前﹐我們早已收到裁員的消息﹐人事部開不尋常的週未會議﹐IT部漏夜急召開工﹐只是不知道誰會遭央。我部門的行政主管比較不幸﹐在裁員前一天已收到離職通知。我們下面的員工頓時成為無主孤魂﹐人心惶惶不知會否整個部門給關掉。正式裁員的那天﹐我們如常上班如常無心工作﹐十時收到總裁發來的電郵﹐公台裁員行動開始。我們要安在座位等候命運﹐若要收大信封的話﹐經理會來捉你入去會議室。好像捉越南難民般即捕即解﹐收了信封後由保安送出門口﹐再約個時間回來簽離職文件和搬箱。我四邊座位有三個人給經理捉了去﹐恐怕下一個就輸到我﹐一直挨到午餐時候裁員結束﹐大家同事才出去吃定驚飯﹐有些女同事還驚到哭了出來。

到第二次裁員公司吸收了上次的經驗﹐不再和我們玩恐懼鬥室﹐直接給我們來個爽快了結。裁員電郵在向外發佈消息的同時傳來﹐把所有人叫入不會議室開會。入到會議室時大家也不知會發生什麼事﹐人齊後高層開腔發言說我們全部人都安全﹐被解僱的同事在另一個會議室。這時我們才你眼望我眼﹐看看誰人不幸不在這裏。後來第三四五次裁員﹐大家也漸漸麻木了﹐反正這個年代已經沒有一輩子的工作保障。當經濟好景時外邊高薪挖角跳槽﹐經濟不好時公司裁員削減人手﹐雙方關係不過是一紙合同﹐合則來不合則去﹐沒有什麼責任可言。只要保持個人競爭力﹐被炒了也不用擔心沒有會失業。看上次裁員給解僱的同事﹐有些人很快便找到工作﹐有些人回校進修讀個MBA﹐有些人索性轉行做政府或教書。被裁員也不一定是壞事﹐可以當是一個重新開始的機會。反過來我公司的一些競爭對手﹐衰退初期持著招股時集資不少﹐堅持不裁員希望難關早過﹐結果因為衰退比所有人預期都長﹐錢最終還是燒光了﹐難逃被收購拆骨的命運。當然炒人也不是沒有風險﹐若果衰退比預期的短﹐衰退過後就沒有反彈的實力﹐不能搶佔有利增長的市場位置。