These days, the heads of some of the most successful companies in the world have one thing in common: They're engineers.

目前世界上一些最成功的企業領袖有一個共同點：他們都是工程師。

For those who aspire to be CEO of a company one day, getting an MBA⏤a Master of Business Administration degree⏤used to be the way to go,

對於那些有志成為公司 CEO 的人來說，獲得 MBA 學位曾經是一種通往成功的途徑，

but that's not so true anymore.

但現在已不再如此。

"Harvard Business Review" used to publish an annual list of the top 100 best-performing CEOs.

《哈佛商業評論》曾經每年公布表現最佳的百位 CEO 榜單。

In 2018, they found that, for a second year in a row, there were more CEOs with an engineering degree than an MBA⏤34 compared to 32.

2018 年，他們連續二年發現擁有工程學位的 CEO 數量比擁有 MBA 的更多，34 位對上 32 位。

Some had both.

有些人兩者都有。

Getting an MBA can come with a hefty price tag.

獲得 MBA 學位可能需要支付高昂的學費。

Top graduate schools such as the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton or Harvard Business School will set you back over $200,000.

頂尖的研究所，如賓州大學華頓商學院或哈佛商學院的學費超過 20 萬美元。

Now, some CEOs are telling you to save your money.

有些 CEO 勸告你省下這筆錢。

Elon Musk went so far as to say, "I think there might be too many MBAs running companies" in an interview with the "Wall Street Journal".

伊隆·馬斯克在接受《華爾街日報》採訪時甚至表示：「我認為可能有太多 MBA 領導公司了。」

He thinks those with business degrees spend too much time in board meetings,

他認為擁有商業學位的人花太多時間在董事會會議上，

pouring over power points and finances when their focus should be on the product.

仔細研究投影片和財務報表，但他們的焦點本應該放在產品上。

The thinking being that if the product is good, the profits will follow.

他的想法是，如果產品好，利潤就會隨之而來。

In the case of Musk, that means building great electric cars at Tesla or great reusable rockets at SpaceX.

就馬斯克而已，這想法代表在特斯拉打造優秀的電動汽車或在 SpaceX 建造優秀可重複使用的火箭。

That's where being an engineer is helpful.

這就是成為一名工程師有用的地方。

Engineers can design, build, create, and improve their product because of their background in math, science, and technology.

工程師可以根據他們在數學、科學和科技方面的背景來設計、建造、創造和改善產品。

And they can help solve challenging technical problems that might otherwise scuttle their dreams.

而且他們可以幫忙解決具有挑戰性，會破壞他們夢想的技術問題。

Technically, Musk has a degree in physics and economics, not engineering.

嚴格來說，馬斯克擁有的學位是物理學和經濟學，而非工程學。

He's a self-taught engineer who read books to learn about rocket science.

他是一位自學成才的工程師，靠閱讀書籍學習火箭科學。

When engineering consultant Sandy Munro interviewed him for his YouTube channel, Munro Live, he said it's Musk's knowledge that stands out.

當工程顧問 Sandy Munro 在他的 YouTube 頻道《Munro Live》採訪他時，他說馬斯克的知識是舉足輕重的。

I was blown away.

我很驚艷。

I've seen dozens of CEOs; I've never seen a CEO ever or a president that knew more about the product.

我見過無數位 CEO，我從未見過任何 CEO 或總裁比他更了解自家產品。

That technical know-how that comes with an engineering background goes a long way toward building better products.

擁有工程背景所帶來的技術知識對於打造更好的產品有很長遠的幫助。

Just ask Satya Nadella, the engineer at Microsoft who rose to become CEO.

像是工程師出身的微軟 CEO 薩蒂亞·納德拉。

When he took over the top job in 2014, he had to figure out a way to make Microsoft relevant, as it faced an onslaught from Apple.

當他於 2014 年接任微軟的最高職位時，他必須想出讓微軟在面對蘋果的猛攻下仍保持重要地位的方法。

We now need to make Microsoft thrive.

我們現在必須讓微軟茁壯起來。

The software company struggled to thrive under the leadership of his predecessor Steve Ballmer.

在前輩史蒂芬·巴爾默的帶領下，這家軟體公司努力茁壯成長卻未能如願。

Its products were far from revolutionary.

微軟的產品與「創新」完全擦不上邊。

The Surface was a response to the iPad, the Windows phone (was) an answer to the iPhone.

Surface 因應 iPad 被製作出來，Windows 手機是因應 iPhone 被製作出來。

Ballmer has a degree in mathematics and economics from Harvard, which helped balance the books but didn't do much when it comes to innovation.

巴爾默擁有哈佛大學的數學和經濟學學位，這有助於平衡帳目，但在創新方面沒有太大的貢獻。

When Nadella took over, he transformed Microsoft, moving its software to non-Windows devices.

當納德拉接任時，他改變了微軟，將該公司的軟體導入非 Windows 系統的設備上。

For example, bringing Microsoft Word to the iPad and the iPhone.

例如，將 Microsoft Word 導入 iPad 和 iPhone 上。

He also expanded its cloud business, Azure, which has become the biggest rival to Amazon's AWS. 

他還擴大了微軟的雲端業務 Azure，Azure 已成為亞馬遜雲端運算服務的頭號競爭對手。

In his first email to employees as CEO, Nadella wrote, "Our industry does not respect tradition; it only respects innovation."

納德拉在擔任 CEO 後發給員工的第一封郵件中寫道：「我們的行業不尊重傳統 ，只尊重創新。」

That innovative spirit of engineering saved Microsoft, but it's not easy. 

工程師的創新精神拯救了微軟，但這並不容易。

It requires risky moves and not accepting failure. 

這需要冒險行動並不向失敗低頭。

As American inventor Thomas Edison famously said, "I have not failed. I've only found 10,000 ways that won't work."

正如美國發明家湯瑪斯·愛迪生的名言：「我沒有失敗，我只是找到了一萬種行不通的方法。」

James Dyson, the British engineer, knows a thing or two about not giving up.

英國工程師詹姆斯·戴森深知不放棄的道理。

He became frustrated when a vacuum he had at home kept losing suction, so he decided to build a better vacuum himself.

當他家裡使用的一款吸塵器吸力不斷減弱時，他感到很失望，因此他決定自己打造一款更好的吸塵器。

He spent 15 years tinkering with over 5,000 different prototypes to come up with the perfect bagless design.

他花了 15 年時間，嘗試了超過 5,000 種不同的原型機，最終設計出了完美的無塵袋吸塵器。

I'd like to give you a little demonstration.

我想要示範給各位看。

The payoff for his perseverance was a multi-billion-dollar company that bears his name.

他的堅持和努力帶來的回報是一家以他的名字命名、市值數十億美元的公司。

In order to be successful, Dyson was invested in the fine details of his company.

為了成功，戴森深入了解公司的各處細節。

Engineers aren't afraid to get involved in the day-to-day business, especially when it comes to hiring.

工程師不怕涉足日常業務，特別是在招募人才方面。

Amazon is notorious for tough interviews. 

亞馬遜因其嚴格的面試而聲名狼藉。

Bezos, who has a degree in electrical engineering and computer science, used to meet every candidate himself during Amazon's early days.

貝佐斯擁有電機工程和計算機科學學位，在亞馬遜創業初期，他曾親自與每位求職者會面。

He would ask quirky questions like, "How many gas stations are there in America?"

他會問一些古怪的問題，例如：「美國有幾間加油站？」

He wasn't after the right answer but wanted to see whether the candidate had an analytical approach in order to come up with an informed response.

他不是想得到正確答案，而是想看看求職者是否有分析問題的方法，以便提出有根據的回答。

Bezos once said setting the bar high for hiring was the most important factor for the online retailer's success.

貝佐斯曾經表示，為徵才設定高標準是這家網路零售商成功的重要因素之一。

It's no surprise that engineers make it to the top of the tech industry, which has seen explosive growth over the years,

不意外地，這些年間，工程師在科技行業取得了爆炸性的增長，

but they're also doing well at non-tech companies. 

但他們在非科技公司中也表現出色。

Like Jeffrey Sprecher, the CEO of the holding company that owns the New York Stock Exchange, he has a degree in chemical engineering.

例如紐約證交所控股公司的 CEO 傑佛瑞·史普雷徹就擁有化學工程學位。

I've never had a job that had anything to do with chemistry,

我從來沒有從事過任何和化學有關的工作，

but the discipline that I went through there taught me about problem-solving, and business is really just that.

但我在就學時學到的學科教導了我如何解決問題，而商業本質上就是如此。

Engineers are very good at solving problems, and that's the key to doing everything from building a bridge across a river to designing a rocket to get to Mars.

工程師非常善於解決問題，這是建造跨越河流的橋樑或設計火箭前往火星等任何事情的關鍵特質。

If you've been inspired to become an engineer or simply want to learn more about the world, a good foundation in math and computer science is crucial.

如果你被工程師的工作所啟發，或者想要更了解這個產業，那麼擁有優秀的數學和電腦科學基礎是至關重要的。

A problem-solving website called Brilliant can help put you on the path to success, and it's free to sign up.

Brilliant 是一個解決問題的網站，可以幫助你走向成功的道路，而且免費註冊。

Whether you want to practice programming, you're struggling with calculus, or you're hoping to brush up on your algorithms,

不論是想要練習程式設計、苦於微積分，還是希望複習演算法，

my sponsor Brilliant offers over 60 interactive courses in math, science, and computer science. 

我的乾爹 Brilliant 提供了超過 60 門互動式的數學、科學和計算機科學課程。

You can learn at your own pace, there are no exams.

你可以依照自己的步調學習，沒有考試。

If you make mistakes while practicing, Brilliant explains exactly where you went wrong. 

如果在練習時出錯，Brilliant 會清楚地解釋錯誤在哪。

You can sign up with the link in my description, and the first 200 people to use my link will get 20% off the Premium subscription, which gives you unlimited access to all the courses. 

你可以使用說明欄中的連結註冊，前 200 位使用連結的人將獲得 Premium 訂閱的 20% 折扣，訂閱的話可以無限制地瀏覽所有課程。

Thanks for watching Newsthink; I'm Cindy Pom.

感謝收看 Newsthink，我是 Cindy Pom。