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We’ve always been fascinated by the idea of Sherlock Holmes, the eccentric but brilliant English detective. From Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories to the Robert Downey Jr. film, to the most recent three-part mini-series, Sherlock, that aired last summer on BBC, Sherlock Holmes has always had a firm grip on our imagination.
我们总是被福尔摩斯，这位古怪但才华横溢的英国侦探的想法深深吸引。从阿瑟•柯南道尔爵士的系列小说到小罗伯特•唐尼主演的电影，再到最近BBC去年夏天拍摄的三集迷你剧《神探夏洛克》，夏洛克•福尔摩斯一直牢牢占据着我们的脑海。
His success, however, does not rest its laurels solely on his innate talents. Of course, he is known for his power of deduction, and a number of quirks that seem to come with the territory, like drug binges and indoor target practice. But it is the congregation of his other qualities with his talent –in spite of his vices –that make him successful.
然而他的成功并不仅仅归功于他的天赋。当然，福尔摩斯因为他的推理才能闻名天下，与此同时他的一些小怪癖同样为世人所知，比如沉迷于麻醉药物，喜欢在室内练习射击。不过尽管他有种种缺点，让他如此成功的还是他的许多优良特质以及天赋。
As any professional knows, you cannot just rely on talent to make your way in the world. By taking a few pages out of Sherlock Holmes’s book, we can learn a few lessons that will help you to be successful in your work.
所有专业人士都知道，你不可能只依靠天赋来取得成功。从夏洛克•福尔摩斯的故事中我们可以学到不少东西，对我们工作上的成功将会有所帮助。
1. Details matter
细节很重要
Whatever incarnation Sherlock Holmes appears in, his best quality is his exacting eye for detail. Nothing gets past him. He can often tell, the moment a person walks into a room, where they have been, what they have been doing, and at least some partial knowledge about their history or their habits, simply by observing them.
不管福尔摩斯乔装成何种形象出现，他的最佳优点都在于有一双专注于细节的敏锐双眼。没有什么可以逃过他的眼睛。当一个人走进房间时，他仅凭观察一般就可以说出这个人去过哪里，做了些什么，至少可以判断出此人的部分经历和习惯。
If you pay as much attention to detail in your work as Holmes does, you will find that little will get past you. For example, you may be able to anticipate your bosses’ expectations or your clients’ questions by observing their daily habits, or their history. It takes time to acquire the patience and the eye for this kind of deductive reasoning, but the more you do it, the easier it will become. Not only will it be worth the effort, but it will certainly benefit you by making your job easier in the long run.
如果你在工作中也像福尔摩斯一样注重细节，你会发现自己不会错过任何细小的事物。比如说，你可以通过观察你的老板或客户的日常习惯和经历，来对他们的期望或问题作出预判。想要获得这种演绎推理的耐心和能力是需要时间的，但是随着你的尝试越来越多，这就会变得越来越容易。 这种努力不仅是值得的，而且从长远来看它无疑会使你的工作变得更轻松。
2. Some mysteries are never solved
有些难题是无法解决的
In the stories, more than the films or TV shows, the endings to many of Holmes’s cases leave as many questions unanswered as problems solved.
福尔摩斯处理的许多案件中，最后在解决问题的同时也留下了许多未解之谜。这种情况在小说里比电影和电视剧中出现得更多。
In crime, as in life, there are often more questions than there are answers. But for Holmes, this is not a bad thing. It doesn’t bother him that he can’t find the answer to everything. Instead, he finds it fascinating and files the information away for future use. To Sherlock, the puzzle is the main thing. If every case were so neatly resolved, he would probably lose interest, being prone to boredom as he is without a puzzle at hand. The infinite nature of the puzzle keeps the fun alive in his work.
如同生活一样，问题永远要比答案多。但对于福尔摩斯来说，这未必是一件坏事。无法找到每一个问题的答案并不会对他产生困扰。相反的，他很陶醉于这个过程，而且会把相关信息收集起来供以后使用。对福尔摩斯来说，谜团是最重要的事情。如果每个案件都得到了圆满的解决，他也许反而会失去兴趣，甚至开始厌倦，因为他没有值得冥思苦想的难题了。无穷无尽的谜题让他保持着对工作的乐趣。
That’s how it should be in your work, too. It should be a puzzle to solve, a question to answer. It should fire your brain to find new, creative solutions for your problem. If your work doesn’t interest you like that, you’re either in the wrong field or you’re not being challenged enough.
这也应该是你对待工作的态度。工作中应该一直有一个难题等待解决，有一个问题等待回答。你要想尽办法为你的问题寻找新的、有创意的解决办法。如果你的工作对你而言并不是这么有趣，那你要么入错了行，要么还没有遇到足够的挑战。
