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TED Technology, Entertainment, Design在英语中的缩写，美国的一家私有非营利机构，以它组织的TED大会著称；将”用思想的力量来改变世界”作为宗旨。事实上，除了科技、娱乐、设计的主题，这场盛会涉及的领域还在不断扩展，展现着涉及几乎各个领域的各种见解，TED的演讲简短且深刻，参加者们称它为 “超级大脑SPA”。

It sure used to be a lot easier to be from Iceland, because until a couple of years ago, people knew hardly anything about us, and I could basically come out here and say only good things about us. But in the last couple of years we’ve become infamous for a couple of things. First, of course, the economic meltdown. It actually got so bad that somebody put our country up for sale on eBay. (Laughter) Ninety-nine pence was the starting price and no reserve. Then there was the volcano that interrupted the travel plans of almost all of you and many of your friends, including President Obama. By the way, the pronunciation is “Eyjafjallajokull.” None of your media got it right.

在过去，作个冰岛人是比较轻松的， 因为直到前几年 人们对我们的国家几乎都还不太熟悉。 我基本上可以站在这里 毫无顾忌地吹嘘我们国家。 但是，在最近一两年里， 我国因为几个事件而名声鹊起。 首先，大家都知道，我们的经济开始雪崩。 情况非常严重， 甚至有人把我们国家放到eBay网上拍卖。 （众人笑） 起拍价99便士， 还谢绝预订。 接着火山爆发了， 几乎破坏了在座各位 以及你们的朋友的旅行计划， 连奥巴马总统的行程也受到了影响。 顺便说一下，火山的名字 念 “哎呀我服了优酷”（音译）。 你们的媒体都念错了。

(Laughter)

（众人笑）

But I’m not here to share these stories about these two things exactly. I’m here to tell you the story of Audur Capital, which is a financial firm founded by me and Kristin — who you see in the picture — in the spring of 2007, just over a year before the economic collapse hit. Why would two women who were enjoying successful careers in investment banking in the corporate sector leave to found a financial services firm? Well let it suffice to say that we felt a bit overwhelmed with testosterone. And I’m not here to say that men are to blame for the crisis and what happened in my country. But I can surely tell you that in my country, much like on Wall Street and the city of London and elsewhere, men were at the helm of the game of the financial sector, and that kind of lack of diversity and sameness leads to disastrous problems.

我今天不是来这里 分享这两个事件来龙去脉的。 我在这里是想跟大家讲讲Audur Capital公司的故事， 它是我和克莉斯汀共同创办的一家金融服务公司。 这是我们的合影－ 公司成立于2007年 也就是经济雪崩开始的前一年。 为什么这两位 各自在投资银行业 颇有成就的女性 会决定改行去创立一家金融服务公司呢？ 事实上这是因为 我们已经对“睾丸激素” 忍无可忍了。 我并不是说 男人们是冰岛发生经济危机的 罪魁祸首。 但是我可以负责任的告诉你们， 我们国家就像是华尔街和伦敦市等地方一样， 男人们主导了 整个金融业。 这种行业的单调性 和单一性 会引发灾难性的问题。

(Applause)

（众人鼓掌）

So we decided, a bit fed-up with this world and also with the strong feeling in our stomach that this wasn’t sustainable, to found a financial services firm based on our values, and we decided to incorporate feminine values into the world of finance. Raised quite a few eyebrows in Iceland. We weren’t known as the typical “women” women in Iceland up until then. So it was almost like coming out of the closet to actually talk about the fact that we were women and that we believed that we had a set of values and a way of doing business that would be more sustainable than what we had experienced until then. And we got a great group of people to join us — principled people with great skills, and investors with a vision and values to match ours. And together we got through the eye of the financial storm in Iceland without taking any direct losses to our equity or to the funds of our clients. And although I want to thank the talented people of our company foremost for that — and also there’s a factor of luck and timing — we are absolutely convinced that we did this because of our values.

我们对这样的世道有些不满， 而且预感到保持现状 不是长久之计， 于是决定以自己的理念 建立一家金融服务公司。 我们决心在金融世界中 注入女性的价值观。 这在冰岛引起了不小的轰动。 直到那一刻， 我们作为冰岛典型女性的身份 才受到了关注。 这感觉就像从幕后走到台前， 宣告我们是女性， 我们相信，我们所持的价值观 和生意经 相比男人们的那一套 更具可持续性。 我们招集了一群精英 他们都是坚持原则的能人， 是有远见的投资者， 和我们志趣相投。 我们携手挺过了冰岛金融风暴最为强劲的时期， 没有直接损失任何资产 或客户资金。 为此我要感谢 公司的这些人才 当然其中也有 幸运以及时机的成分。 但我们相信，我们的成功 最终取决于我们的价值观。

So let me share with you our values. We believe in risk awareness. What does that mean? We believe that you should always understand the risks that you’re taking, and we will not invest in things we don’t understand. Not a complicated thing. But in 2007, at the height of the sub-prime and all the complicated financial structures, it was quite opposite to the reckless risk-taking behaviors that we saw on the market. We also believe in straight-talking, telling it as it is, using simple language that people understand, telling people about the downsides as well as the potential upsides, and even telling the bad news that no one wants to utter, like our lack of belief in the sustainability of the Icelandic financial sector that already we had months before the collapse hit us. And, although we do work in the financial sector, where Excel is king, we believe in emotional capital. And we believe that doing emotional due diligence is just as important as doing financial due diligence. It is actually people that make money and lose money, not Excel spreadsheets.

我跟大家分享一下这些价值观。 我们坚持风险意识。 这是什么意思呢？ 我们相信人们应该对风险具有足够的认识， 我们不对不熟悉的事情 进行投资。 这很好理解。 然而在2007年， 次优级抵押贷款盛行， 金融结构复杂， 市场上表现出 各种冲动的风险行为， 与风险意识背道而驰。 我们相信开门见山 实话实说， 用平实的语言， 告诉人们事情的弊端， 上升的潜力， 告诉他们别人难以启齿的坏消息， 比如，我们告诉客户冰岛的金融业 缺乏可持续性， 结果，金融雪崩 真的就在几个月后发生了。 尽管我们在金融领域工作， 成天跟Excel工作表打交道， 但我们重视情感资本。 我们认为 培养感情 和赚钱 是一样重要的。 因为，赚钱赔钱的 都是人 而不是Excel工作表。

(Applause)

（众人鼓掌）

Last, but not least, we believe in profit with principles. We care how we make our profit. So while we want to make economic profit for ourselves and our customers, we are willing to do it with a long-term view, and we like to have a wider definition of profits than just the economic profit in the next quarter. So we like to see profits, plus positive social and environmental benefits, when we invest.

最后， 我们坚持获取利润的原则。 我们在乎获取利润的手段。 尽管我们渴望为自己以及客户赚到获取更多经济利益， 但是我们坚持放长线掉大鱼。 我们认为利润不仅仅是下个季度的经济收益， 它有着更宽泛的意义。 在进行投资的时候， 我们更希望 社会利益和环境利益能与经济收益并存。

But it wasn’t just about the values, although we are convinced that they matter. It was also about a business opportunity. It’s the female trend, and it’s the sustainability trend, that are going to create some of the most interesting investment opportunities in the years to come. The whole thing about the female trend is not about women being better than men; it is actually about women being different from men, bringing different values and different ways to the table. So what do you get? You get better decision-making, and you get less herd behavior, and both of those things hit your bottom line with very positive results.

虽然，我们相信这些价值观非常重要， 但这不是决定成功与否的全部因素。 商机也是因素之一。 女性势力的壮大和可持续性的走强， 即将在未来的几年内 创造出最为引人入胜的 投资机遇。 女性力量的壮大 并不代表女性强于男性， 事实上， 女男之间存在的差别 能够将新的价值观和处事方法带到决策席上。 这样有什么好处呢？你可以做出更英明的决定。 并且可以避免羊群效应。 这两个好处 能帮助你绝处逢生。

But one has to wonder, now that we’ve had this financial sector collapse upon us in Iceland — and by the way, Europe looks pretty bad right now, and many would say that you in America are heading for some more trouble as well. Now that we’ve had all that happen, and we have all this data out there telling us that it’s much better to have diversity around the decision-making tables, will we see business and finance change? Will government change?

然而我们总会奇怪， 既然冰岛的金融业发生雪崩－ 其实整个欧洲都不太景气， 许多人会说： 美国也快遭殃了。 既然我们吃过那么多亏， 而且有数据显示 决策者中有男有女 能够保证决策更有成效， 那么商业和金融业是否会因此而有所改变呢？ 政府会做出改变吗？

Well I’ll give you my straight talk about this. I have days that I believe, but I have days that I’m full of doubt. Have you seen the incredible urge out there to rebuild the very things that failed us? (Applause) Einstein said that this was the definition of insanity — to do the same things over and over again, hoping for a different outcome. So I guess the world is insane, because I see entirely too much of doing the same things over and over again, hoping that this time it’s not going to collapse upon us. I want to see more revolutionary thinking, and I remain hopeful. Like TED, I believe in people. And I know that consumers are becoming more conscious, and they are going to start voting with their wallets, and they are going to change the face of business and finance from the outside, if they don’t do it from the inside.

我会把实话告诉大家。 有时候我相信现状会改变， 而有时候，我对此又充满疑问。 我们迫切想让那些失败的努力死灰复燃。 这种感觉你们能体会吧？ （众人鼓掌） 爱因斯坦曾说： 这就是神经病的定义－ 周而复始地 重复同样的事情， 每一次都盼着能有新的结果。 我看整个世界都发疯了， 因为我见过太多太多人 反反复复做同样的事情， 希望灾难不会降临到我们头上。 我希望有更具革命性的想法出现。 我对此寄予希望。 像TED一样，我相信人的力量。 我知道消费者们 会变得更加理智， 他们会用钱包来选择， 即使不能改变 金融与商业的内在， 他们也会改变其面貌。

But I’m more of the revolutionary, and I should be; I’m from Iceland. We have a long history of strong, courageous, independent women, ever since the Viking age. And I want to tell you when I first realized that women matter to the economy and to the society, I was seven — it happened to be my mother’s birthday — October 24, 1975. Women in Iceland took the day off. From work or from home, they took the day off, and nothing worked in Iceland. (Laughter) They marched into the center of Reykjavik, and they put women’s issues onto the agenda. And some say this was the start of a global movement. For me it was the start of a long journey, but I decided that day to matter. Five years later, Iceland elected Vigdis Finnbogadottir as their president — first female to become head of state, single mom, a breast cancer survivor who had had one of her breasts removed. And at one of the campaign sessions, she had one of her male contenders allude to the fact that she couldn’t become president — she was a woman, and even half a woman. That night she won the election, because she came back — not just because of his crappy behavior — but she came back and said, “Well, I’m actually not going to breastfeed the Icelandic nation; I’m going to lead it.”

而我更倾向于变革， 这是理所应当的，因为我是冰岛人。 我们有着悠久的历史， 我们的女性自维金时代 就以坚强，勇敢，独立著称。 我想告诉你们， 当我第一次意识到 女性对经济和社会具有重要意义 是在我七岁的时候－那时是我母亲的生日－ 1975年10月24日。 冰岛的女性在这一天全体罢工。 不管是职业女性还是家庭主妇，全部罢工， 结果全国都瘫痪了。 （众人笑） 她们游行进入雷克雅未克市中心， 争取她们的权利。 有些人认为它即将在全球掀起运动的浪潮， 在我看来，这仅是漫长旅程的开始， 然而这一天意义非比寻常。 五年以后， 维迪斯. 芬波迦朵特当选冰岛总统－ 她是冰岛首位成为国家元首的女性， 她是一位单身母亲， 曾患乳癌 不得不被切除了一个乳房。 在一次竞选活动中， 与她竞争的一位男性候选人 讽刺她，说她不能成为总统， 因为她是个女人，而且还只能算半个女人。 就在当晚，她在竞选中胜出， 她做出了反击－ 不仅因为他的龌龊言行－ 她反驳道： “听着，我可不是来给冰岛人喂奶的， 我是来领导这个国家的。”

(Applause)

（众人鼓掌）

So I’ve had incredibly many women role models that have influenced who I am and where I am today. But in spite of that, I went through the first 10 or 15 years of my career mostly in denial of being a woman. Started in corporate America, and I was absolutely convinced that it was just about the individual, that women and men would have just the same opportunities. But I’ve come to conclude lately that it isn’t like that. We are not the same, and it’s great. Because of our differences, we create and sustain life. So we should embrace our difference and aim for challenge.

我可以效仿的女性偶像 不胜枚举， 她们的影响成就了今天的我。 但尽管如此， 在我职业生涯中的10到15年中， 我做为女性总得不到认可。 在美国工作以后， 我打心里相信 每个人都要靠自己的实力取胜， 机会对于男人或女人来说都是一样的。 然而，最近我领悟到 事实不是这样的。 我们并不一样。 这是好事－正因为不同 我们才能创造生活，维持生活。 我们应该接受彼此的不同点，并勇敢接受挑战。

The final thought I want to leave with you is that I’m fed up with this tyranny of either/or choices in life — either it’s men or it’s women. We need to start embracing the beauty of balance. So let’s move away from thinking about business here and philanthropy there, and let’s start thinking about doing good business. That’s how we change the world. That’s the only sustainable future.

最后，我想对大家说， 我受够了 那种不是你死就是我活的专制－ 男女势不两立。 我们应当开始追求平衡之美。 我们不应该 把做生意和人道主义分割开来， 我们应该好好想想 怎样才能把生意做好。 只有这样我们才能改变世界，才能保持未来的可持续性发展。

Thank you.

感谢大家。

(Applause)

（热烈掌声）