英语中“effective and efficient”是非常常用的商业词汇,但是绝大多数人都会混淆它们之间的区别，因此我决定写这篇文章解释一下。

 首先你会发现在很多词典这两个词语的定义非常相信，但这只会让人更加糊涂。Dictionary.com里面的解释是我最喜欢的：Effective，致力于去完成目标或达到预期结果；efficient，可以投入最少时间最少努力的做事方式。

 有一种简单的方式让你掌握其中的差别，effective是形容做事有效果的efficient是指做事有效率的。 让我们来举个例子，假设马克和约翰分别要为自己的车换轮胎。 马克脱下外套放进车里，但他不能确定放在哪里，试了又试后终于满意开始换轮胎，每个步骤都用类似的方式让他花了20分钟才完成任务。你会发现，马克在做正确的事情，但是做的非常拖沓。我们可以说他在做正确的事，但没有用正确的方式做。 

约翰换轮胎前拿了个毛巾去清洁轮胎，他想要轮胎被换上前要更加清洁好看。必须说他清洁的过程非常快并且每个细微的部分都清洁的非常到位。应该说约翰是在用非常正确的方式在做事，因为轮胎清洁的非常快并且清洁的效果也非常棒，但他没有做正确的事，因为清洁轮胎对于换胎并不是必需的。 

现在假设有第三个人，彼得用正确的步骤换胎并且做的非常快，我们就会用effective and efficient去形容他做事既有效率又有效果。

 Effective and efficient are very common business/marketing terms. However, most of us tend to mix their meanings and usage occasionally (including myself), and that is why I decided to write on the topic.

 First of all if you look for both terms in most dictionaries you’ll find very similar definitions (which makes the matter even more confusing). Some dictionaries get it right, however. Here is the definition from Dictionary.com, which I like: Effective (adj.): Adequate to accomplish a purpose; producing the intended or expected result. Efficient (adj.) Performing or functioning in the best possible manner with the least waste of time and effort.

 If you want an easier way to memorize the difference, remember this sentence: “Being effective is about doing the right things, while being efficient is about doing the things in the right manner.” Let’s use a practical example to illustrate the concepts.

 Suppose that two guys, Mark and John, are trying to change a flat tire on their cars (each one has his own car).

 Mark starts by taking out the jack and placing it under the car. He quite doesn’t know where to position it, so he goes by trial and error and wastes a lot of time doing it. After 20 minutes he finally manages to fix it, so he proceeds to lift the car and change the tire. As you can see Mark was doing the right thing, but he was doing it poorly. We can say that he was being effective, but not efficient. 

John, on the other hand, starts by grabbing a towel and cleaning the tire. He wants to make the thing shiny before he changes it. And mind you he is very good and fast at cleaning every little detail of the tire. We can say that John is being efficient, because he is cleaning the tire fast and throughly, but he is not being effective, because cleaning is a step that is not required at all when changing a flat tire. 

Now if we had a third person, Peter, who could change the flat tire using the right steps and doing it quickly, we could say that he was both effective and efficient. 

原文地址：http://www.xinlingchuangfu.org/home.php?mod=space&uid=1&do=blog&quickforward=1&id=1409