at a pinch困难

But for the most part, this isn’t what the business community does. I have yet to meet a chief executive who reads regularly. Many skip newspapers, and magazines are a stretch. They don’t have time, they say. It’s inefficient; they can get the information they need from those around them. At a pinch, they might pick up a business book before a long flight, in the hope that, like a cookbook, it will provide a foolproof recipe. Some are drawn to what I think of as “business car crash” books — the stories of Theranos, Purdue, or WeWork. But outside those narrow pools of interest, a vast ocean awaits, bountiful with simmering ideas, mental adventure and imaginative refreshment.

但在大多数情况下，商界人士并不这样做。我还从未见过一位经常阅读的首席执行官。许多人不看报纸，杂志对他们来说也很勉强。他们说自己没有时间。阅读效率太低；他们可以从身边的人那里获得所需的信息。实在不得已时，他们可能会在长途飞行前拿起一本商业书籍，希望它能像食谱一样提供万无一失的秘诀。有些人被我所说的“商业车祸”类书籍所吸引——比如Theranos、普渡或WeWork的故事。但在这些狭小的兴趣池之外，一片浩瀚的海洋正等待着你，那里满是酝酿中的思想、心灵的冒险和想象力的焕新。