????五月的一個(gè)早晨，納迪姆?侯賽因開車去上班，參加每周銷售預(yù)測(cè)會(huì)議，與營(yíng)銷團(tuán)隊(duì)碰頭，并對(duì)廣告信息給出反饋。唯一不同尋常的是，這并不是他的辦公室，也不是他的工作，甚至都不是在他自己的公司。

????就像電視節(jié)目《交換夫妻》（ Wife Swap）一樣，侯賽因正在進(jìn)行高管職位互換。侯賽因是舊金山客戶評(píng)估服務(wù)提供商PowerReviews公司的營(yíng)銷副總裁，他與加州圣馬特奧市軟件公司Marketo的營(yíng)銷副總裁兼聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人喬恩?米勒互換職位一天，希望通過(guò)別人的工作，加深對(duì)自己的職位的認(rèn)識(shí)。

????這種方式確實(shí)發(fā)揮了作用。由于PowerReviews公司（目前已被顧客評(píng)價(jià)平臺(tái)Bazaarvoice收購(gòu)）是Marketo公司的客戶，因此，米勒對(duì)于首席營(yíng)銷官們面臨的問(wèn)題有更透徹的理解。而侯賽因返回PowerReviews時(shí)，則帶回了厚厚的筆記，其中記錄了如何激勵(lì)銷售團(tuán)隊(duì)，如何吸引大品牌，和如何開發(fā)新客戶等。他說(shuō)：“一個(gè)嶄新的環(huán)境經(jīng)常能很好地激發(fā)出新鮮的想法?！?/p>

????雖然工作交換可能還不太常見，但卻反映出時(shí)下公司領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者學(xué)習(xí)方式的轉(zhuǎn)變。越來(lái)越多的高管開始求助于公司外部資源，比如聘用高管教練，與同事合作，或互換工作一天等。人事服務(wù)公司Robert Half高級(jí)執(zhí)行董事保羅?麥克唐納德稱：“以前的做法是‘限制在內(nèi)部，要保守自己的秘密?！缃竦膬?yōu)秀高管則開始突破公司的界限，從外部尋求幫助。”

????工作互換的情況在普通員工中最為常見：據(jù)人力資源管理協(xié)會(huì)（Society for Human Resources Management）2012年的一份調(diào)查顯示，約38%的雇主會(huì)提供交叉培訓(xùn)。如今，高管們也開始通過(guò)這種方式提高自己的能力。哈米斯?沙哈便是如此。今年四月的一天，作為波士頓互聯(lián)網(wǎng)營(yíng)銷公司HubSpot.com的首席技術(shù)官，哈米斯?沙哈與波士頓旅游公司Kayak.com的首席技術(shù)官保羅?英格里斯互換了職位。沙哈希望更多地了解如何為其快速增長(zhǎng)的初創(chuàng)公司招聘優(yōu)秀的工程師。

????交換結(jié)束后，他根據(jù)自己在Kayak公司的所見所聞制定了一個(gè)大體類似的計(jì)劃。其中包括：“沙發(fā)規(guī)定”，即要求每一位員工要向坐在大廳的所有人致意，跟他們聊天。另外一條是“紅色電話規(guī)定”，即隨機(jī)將客戶支持電話轉(zhuǎn)到工程設(shè)計(jì)部；任何靠近電話的員工，不論他正在做什么，都必須立即接客戶的電話。沙哈和英格里斯計(jì)劃未來(lái)再次互換工作。沙哈說(shuō)：“我知道，在我以后的工作中，我會(huì)從中得到很大的好處?！?/p>

????然而，工作交換也伴隨著風(fēng)險(xiǎn)。很可能你自己的團(tuán)隊(duì)更喜歡與你交換的人，所謂“家花沒(méi)有野花香”。而且，工作交換確實(shí)耗費(fèi)時(shí)間：米勒就承認(rèn)，當(dāng)自己的公司在規(guī)劃項(xiàng)目時(shí)，自己卻離開團(tuán)隊(duì)，這讓他感覺很內(nèi)疚。

????不過(guò)，最大的擔(dān)憂還是保密性問(wèn)題。涉及機(jī)密的擔(dān)憂就讓在線視頻初創(chuàng)公司MyPod Studios的CEO杰伊?米列茨基對(duì)外部互換望而卻步。米列茨基稱：“每家公司都會(huì)有自己的商業(yè)機(jī)密?！庇谑?，他最終選擇與自己公司內(nèi)的一名開發(fā)人員互換工作一天。

????手機(jī)廣告公司Velti的首席業(yè)務(wù)拓展官蘇尼爾?維爾瑪也采取了同樣的方式。他每個(gè)季度都會(huì)與管理層的高管們互換工作，以培養(yǎng)團(tuán)隊(duì)精神，促進(jìn)溝通。去年一月，他讓公司兩名銷售經(jīng)理互換工作一天，解決了兩人之間的矛盾?；Q結(jié)束后，他們都理解了對(duì)方面臨的需求；于是雙方重歸于好。

????One morning in May Nadim Hossain drove to work, sat in a weekly sales forecast meeting, met with the marketing team, and gave feedback on ad messaging. Only it wasn't his office, his job, or even his company.

????à la the TV show Wife Swap, Hossain, then vice president of marketing at San Francisco-based PowerReviews, was in the midst of an executive job swap. He traded roles for the day with Jon Miller, VP of marketing and co-founder of San Mateo, Calif., software firm Marketo, hoping to gain some insight into his own role by experiencing someone else's.

????It worked. Since PowerReviews -- now owned by Bazaarvoice -- is a Marketo customer, Miller came away better understanding the issues facing chief marketing officers. Hossain, for his part, returned to PowerReviews with pages of notes on ways to motivate his sales team, woo big brands, and identify leads. "A fresh environment is always a good way to generate new ideas," Hossain says.

????A job swap may not yet be commonplace, but it reflects a marked shift in how today's leaders learn. Executives are increasingly seeking outside help, whether it's hiring executive coaches, collaborating with peers, or trading jobs for the day. Says Paul McDonald, senior executive director at staffing services firm Robert Half: "Old school was 'Keep it in-house and keep your secrets to yourself.' Executives today, the good ones, are going out and getting help."

????Switching roles is most common among rank-and-file employees: An estimated 38% of employers offer cross-training of some kind, according to a 2012 survey by the Society for Human Resources Management. Now the C-suite is looking to build skills in much the same way. That was the case for Dharmesh Shah. The chief technology officer at Boston Internet marketing firm HubSpot.com traded roles with Paul English, the CTO at Boston travel company Kayak.com, one day in April. Shah wanted to learn more about how to recruit top engineers to his fast-growing startup.

????He came back to work with a plan to copy much of what he saw at Kayak. Among the ideas: "the couch rule," which requires every employee to greet and chat with anyone sitting in the lobby, and "the red-phone rule," which randomly sends customer-support calls to the engineering department; anyone nearby must answer the customer call regardless of what he's doing. Shah and English both plan to do swaps again elsewhere. "I know I will get mileage out of it for the rest of my life," Shah says.

????But job swapping comes with risks. There's the grass-is-greener threat that your own team might actually like your replacement better than you. Also, it's time-consuming: Miller admits that he felt guilty leaving his team when his company was planning projects.

????The biggest worry, however, is confidentiality. Concerns about privacy would squelch any external swap for Jay Miletsky, CEO of online video startup MyPod Studios. "Any company has its own little trade secrets," says Miletsky. Instead, he changed roles with a developer in his own office for a day.

????That's the same approach taken by Sunil Verma, chief business development officer at mobile-ad company Velti. He trades jobs every quarter with fellow C-level executives to boost teamwork and improve communication. He even used it to help solve a dispute between two Velti sales managers, making them switch roles for a day last January. They came away with an understanding of the demands the other person faced; that led to a truce.