时间：2022-04-01 07:50:35
To become Google’s first female engineer in 1999—and， eventually， one of the most powerful women in tech—Marissa Mayer had to get comfortable with risk.
Mayer’s hiring as Yahoo’s CEO last summer， which according to Fortune made her the youngest head of a Fortune 500 company， came as a surprise， and her high-wire decisions since have spread far wider than Yahoo’s campus.
First， there was her brief 1）maternity leave after she gave birth to her son in September. When the Silicon Valley star first announced that she was pregnant， on the very same day Yahoo revealed she was the company’s new CEO， some saw it as a progressive move and hoped Mayer would set a new standard for mothers trying to balance the competing demands of their corporate and familial roles.
What they saw instead was a businesswoman eager to get back in the office and who said that having a new baby in her life wasn’t as difficult as she’d been told.
But over her nearly 14-year career in the tech world， Mayer has consistently shaken up expectations. If we’ve learned anything about this influential computer engineer-turnedcorporate executive， it’s that she plays the game of business by her own rules.
1. She doesn’t do 2）stereotypes
Part of the legend of Marissa Mayer is that she doesn’t fit into our 3）assumptions of what it means to be a tech geek.
Much has been made of her looks， which defy popular culture’s 4）assertion that the best computer scientists are “people with 5）pocket protectors and thick glasses who code all night，”Mayer told Glamour magazine jokingly in 2009.“I do code all night！ I am the stereotype， but I also break the stereotype.”
She also didn’t grow up 6）immersed in technology. Born in Wausau， Wisconsin， Mayer had a childhood filled with piano lessons， ice skating and ballet， plus debate and math club in high school. She didn’t even learn how to use a mouse until her freshman year at Stanford. When she happened to take a computer science class for non-majors and discovered a major called symbolic systems， she was hooked.
Soon she was climbing Google’s ranks， from programmer to vice president of Local， Maps and Location Services. But the press and public focused more on her posing for Vogue and reportedly shelling out $60，000 at a charity auction for lunch with 7）Oscar de la Renta. A geek who loves fashion？ Who would’ve thought？
But as Mayer told The New York Times in 2009， “I refuse to be stereotyped. I think it’s very comforting for people to put me in a box. ‘Oh， she’s a 8）fluffy girlie girl who likes clothes and cupcakes. Oh， but wait， she is spending her weekends doing hardware electronics.’ ”
2. Passion can trump gender
With two degrees from Stanford， including a master’s degree in computer science， and a successful career in a male-dominated industry， Mayer is often held up as a woman to 9）emulate. During her tenure at Google， Mayer’s been described as being a key influencer on products such as Gmail， Google Maps and Google’s minimalist search page.
As a result， Mayer is frequently asked how she made it in an environment that’s seen as a boy’s club.
“People will say， how can we get more girls into computer science？ And I think that’s a hard question， because just asking the question， I worry sometimes can handicap progress. I was really good at chemistry， biology， physics， 10）calculus in high school， and my teachers were genuinely really supportive of that and they never said anything like， ‘wow， you’re really good at this， and that’s unusual for a girl.’ They never really brought up the gender issue ...
And I think I’ve just always been very gender-unaware.”
Her advice to other women seeking to follow in her footsteps is to find something that drives them and push past their 11）preconceptions about gender roles. “I’m not a woman at Google， I’m a geek at Google. If you can find something that you’re really passionate about， whether you’re a man or a woman comes a lot less into play. Passion is a 12）gender-neutralizing force.”
3. Burnout？ She’s not really buying it
Mayer has long been seen as the employee who can outwork you on your most 13）caffeinated day. But she’s said that she doesn’t believe in burnout in the typical sense.
“I actually have a very different philosophy about burnout. I don’t think that burnout comes from not getting enough sleep or not eating enough 14）square meals. I think that burnout comes from resentment. ... It is possible to work ‘too hard，’ but you need to figure out what things it really is you need to stay fueled up， to stay energized， to not get resentful.”
4. She welcomes challenges
One of Mayer’s 15）mantras for making decisions in life is to a） work with the smartest people she can find， and b） go for a challenge that makes her feel like she’s in over her head. Say， for example， taking over struggling Web giant Yahoo.
Yahoo’s undoubtedly hoping for a turnaround in both its finances and its products， one worth that $1.1 million bonus that Mayer was given. Optimistic observers are waiting to see Mayer apply some of the smarts and 16）aesthetic sense she showed at Google.
“If Mayer were just another savvy Silicon Valley executive who’d spent most of her career at one outfit and never run a company， she might feel like a 17）quixotic choice for a big， troubled public company like Yahoo，”Time magazine wrote last July.
“But she’s Marissa Mayer. She played a key role in making Google into ... Google. She’s famous for her obsessive focus on pleasing experiences， and the lengths to which she’ll go to measure whether something’s working for users or not.”
5. If she needs to test 41 different shades of blue， she will
Mayer said she’s “a businesswoman first and foremost，” but her passion for perfection and focus on data hasn’t left everyone 18）starstruck.
The Times similarly picked up on Mayer’s data-driven habits and perfectionism， such as when she wanted to test out 41 shades of blue for the toolbar on Google pages to see which one appealed the most to the user. Her managerial style was said to be so 19）meticulous that Wired magazine put her on its 2012 list of“brilliant” but tough tech bosses.
Only time will tell if this obsessive attention to detail pays off for Yahoo， and Mayer—or whether her company’s problems are too big.
1999年，她成为谷歌首位女工程师，且最终成为科技界最有权势的女性之一，能做到这些，玛丽莎·梅耶尔必须对风险习以为常。
据《财富》杂志所述，梅耶尔去年夏天加入雅虎担任首席执行官，一举成为“财富500强”公司中最年轻的公司总裁。这个突如其来的消息以及她其后大胆的决策，所造成的影响力流传范围远比雅虎公司园区要广得多。
首先，她在九月诞下一子后只休了一个短暂的产假。当日这位硅谷明星初次宣布自己怀孕，而雅虎则在同一天透露消息称她将成为该公司的新任首席执行官，有人视这个事件为革命性的一步，并寄望梅耶尔成为职业女性在平衡家庭和事业发展问题上可参照的新榜样。
大家看到的却是另一番境况：这位事业女性渴望重回职业岗位，并表示其生活中新添了一个小宝贝并不如人们所说的那么艰辛。
在过去近14年的科技行业生涯中，梅耶尔一如既往地超乎众望。倘若要问我们从这位富有影响力的、由计算机工程师转变而成的企业行政高管身上学到了什么，那就是她以自己独有的法则来参与商业游戏。
1. 她打破刻板形象
玛丽莎·梅耶尔的传奇色彩部分源自于——她跟大众心目中的极客不大一样。
她的外表形象是最为人所津津乐道的，打破了人们对顶尖电脑科学家形象的俗套臆想——“口袋衬套厚眼镜，通宵编程不休眠”。2009年，梅耶尔曾打趣地告知《魅力》杂志：“我确实通宵编程！我特老套，但我也会打破常规。”
还有她的成长并非一直就沉迷于科技之中。生于美国威斯康星州的沃索市，梅耶尔的童年排满了钢琴课、滑冰和芭蕾舞培训，而高中则参加了辩论和数学协会。在斯坦福大学上大一前，她甚至还没学过如何使用鼠标。一次偶然机会，她上了一堂面向非专业学生的计算机科技课，发现了一门叫做符号系统的专修课，从此她便迷上了这门课。
不久后，她就开始在谷歌公司扶摇直上，从程序设计师一直担任到谷歌本地、地图与定位服务的副总裁。然而媒体和公众则把目光更多地投射到这些事情上：她登上《时尚》杂志的彩页，另据报道称她在一慈善拍卖会上挥洒六万美元换取与奥斯卡·德拉伦塔共进午餐的机会。一个热爱时尚的极客？谁会料到？
但是正如2009年梅耶尔对《纽约时报》说的那样：“我不愿被传统框框所束缚。如果人们这样评价我，我会欣然接受：‘哦，她是一个喜欢漂亮衣服和纸杯蛋糕的肤浅小女人。噢，不过等等，别急着下结论，原来她周末的时间却是花在硬件电子工程那样的工作上。’”
2. 热情胜过性别
拥有斯坦福大学包括计算机科学硕士在内的双学位，并且在男性主导的行业闯出一番事业，梅耶尔常常成为女性竭力效仿的对象。在谷歌任职期间，梅耶尔被视为影响谷歌产品的关键人物，这些产品包括谷歌邮箱、谷歌地图和谷歌极简风格的搜索引擎。
因此，梅耶尔经常被问及如何在这样一个被视为男孩专属的领域中脱颖而出。
“大家会说，怎样才能让更多女孩加入计算机科学行列？我想那的确是个难题，因为仅仅提出这个疑问，我也担心有可能妨碍其发展。高中时，我的化学、生物、物理和微积分都学得很不错，我的老师们很支持，他们从不会说‘噢，你太厉害了，这对一个女孩子来说怪不寻常的。’他们没有刻意提起性别问题……
我想我也一直都察觉不到性别的差异。”
她对效仿她的女性给予的建议就是寻找能驱使自己前进并超越性别成见的事物。“我并不是谷歌中的一位女性，我是谷歌中的一个极客。如果你能找到你所热衷的事物，那么你是男是女这一点对你的影响就会少很多。热情是中和性别的力量。”
3. 精力殆尽？她并不认同
梅耶尔长期以来都被认为是精力过人的雇员，即使在你最热情高涨的那天，她也能完胜你。但她不认同对“精疲力尽”的一贯理解。
“事实上我对精疲力尽有着不一样的哲学理解。我认为精疲力尽并非源于睡眠不足或缺乏均衡饮食。我认为那是源于厌恶……工作‘过于狂热’是有可能的，但是你得清楚知道你为之全情投入、打起精神、免生怠倦的事情到底是什么。”
4. 她喜欢接受挑战
梅耶尔做决策的其中一道窍门是：1）与她能找到的最聪明的人共事；2）寻求一种令她感觉超出自己能力范围的挑战。比如说，接管挣扎求存的网络巨擘雅虎。
无疑，雅虎正希望扭转其财务及产品的现状，为此梅耶尔能获得110万美元的奖金。乐观的评论员正期待梅耶尔拿出她在谷歌时的智慧和审美观。
“如果梅耶尔像其他明智的硅谷高管一样在同一机构度过大半职业生涯，且从未经营过一家公司，那她可能会觉得投身到如雅虎这样大型、复杂棘手的上市公司会是一个疯狂的选择，”《时代》杂志于去年七月写道。
“但她是玛丽莎·梅耶尔。她对于谷歌取得如今的成就起着关键作用。众所周知，她痴迷于打造愉快的用户体验，而且她有自己的尺度去量度产品是否对用户奏效。”
5. 如果她需要测试4 1种不同的蓝色，她会这么做
虽然梅耶尔说她自己“首先是一个商业女性”，但是她力求完美、专注于数据的热情并不是人人都为之动容。
《时代》杂志同时也有提及梅耶尔以数据为主导的习惯和完美主义作风，例如：为谷歌页面的工具栏选取颜色时，她就想测试41种不同程度的蓝色以挑选出最吸引用户的一种。据说她的管理作风细密严谨，使得《连线》杂志把她载入2012年度“卓越”但却难以取悦的科技老板之列。
只有时间能检验这种细致入微的作风是否会对雅虎和梅耶尔有所回报——又或者是她的公司实在是积重难返。