冒職業自殺的風險說實話? Should I speak up the truth?

I work for a FTSE energy company and have just taken part in a leadership conference update call (called "One Big Gossip"), during which I counted no fewer than 90 pieces of management jargon used in an hour. The constant use of such phrases is creating a culture in which talking utter gibberish is the only way to demonstrate that you "see the bigger picture".

我在一家富時能源指數成分股企業工作，剛剛參加了一個領導力更新電話會議（有"大八卦"之稱）。我數了一下，會上一小時內講的管理學行話不少於90條。在頻繁使用這種語言的氛圍裏，你不胡說八道，就沒法展示自己“胸懷全局”。

The managing director, who is one of the worst offenders, frequently asks for direct feedback on the nature of these calls. Do I stay quiet or speak up and risk career suicide?

最喜歡搞這一套的是我們的董事總經理。他常常請我們對這些電話會議的性質作出直接反饋。我是該保持沉默，還是冒"職業自殺"的危險說實話？

Manager, male, 34

經理，男，34歲

Lucy's answer

露西的回答

I've spent the past 20 years telling business people to cut out the jargon and in that time I have failed to persuade one single person to do so. If you tell your boss to talk more elegantly, I guarantee it won't make any difference to what comes out of his mouth but it may make a big difference to how he regards you. As a nuisance, a pedant or a person who prefers style to substance, for instance.

過去20年裏，我不斷告誡商界人士，別再說行話，但從來沒有一個人聽我的。如果你告訴你的老闆，講話要簡潔一些，我擔保他的講話風格不會改變一絲一毫，但他對你的看法卻會大大改變。比如，他會認爲你很討厭，是個書呆子，或注重形式多過本質。

The problem with jargon is that though everyone complains that others talk it, no one will ever admit to speaking it themselves. So telling them to stop is hopeless as they don't think that they ever started.

行話的問題是，儘管每個人都抱怨別人說行話，但沒有人會承認自己也說。因此，告訴別人別說行話註定沒有用，因爲他們認爲自己根本沒說過。

There are lots of reasons why people start spouting this nonsense, all of them fairly insidious. It may be because they haven't worked out what exactly they want to say and talking twaddle masks this. Or because they think it makes them sound more important. Or because it is infectious and they've caught it from each other.

人們講行話的原因有許多，每一種都有點不可告人。可能是因爲他們還沒想好到底要說什麼，所以說些廢話來掩蓋這一點。也可能是因爲，他們認爲說行話能使自己聽上去更重要。或者是因爲說行話會傳染——他們互相傳染了。

But in your case, where a lot of colleagues are all going at it hammer and tongs together, it is probably because they are signalling to each other that they belong to the same club. In that case, the problem isn't how they talk, but how you do. By refusing to step up to the plate and put your skin in the game, you are showing that you don't belong. I'm not suggesting that you desecrate your own vocabulary, but that you acknowledge that you are a foreigner, and try to turn that to your advantage.

但在你說的這種情況下，許多同事一齊賣力地說着行話，或許是因爲這些人想顯示他們是一夥兒的。在這種情況下，他們怎麼說無關緊要，你怎麼說纔是問題所在。拒絕參與這場遊戲，就是在顯示你不屬於這個小圈子。我不是在建議你糟蹋自己的用詞，而是在建議你承認自己是個圈外人，並將此轉化爲自己的優勢。

In any case, I don't think the biggest problem with your boss is his jargon. It's the fact he wants to waste 90 minutes of everyone's time on a telephonic "One Big Gossip". This is two terrible ideas rolled into one: no gossip can ever take place in an official mass meeting. And to have such big conference calls is the best way to sap spirits and waste time simultaneously.

無論如何，我不認爲你老闆的最大問題是喜歡說行話。他想讓所有人浪費90分鐘的時間參加一個“大八卦”電話會議，纔是他的最大問題。八卦和電話會議本身就不是什麼好主意，把兩者合二爲一就更糟：八卦永遠都上不了正式會議的檯面。而召開這麼大規模的電話會議，則是同時消磨意志和浪費時間的最佳方法。

If you want to give more helpful feedback, can't you gently suggest canning the calls altogether? If no one was allowed to talk at all, this would have the excellent side effect that they wouldn't be able to use any of the 90 banned phrases.

如果你想給點有益的反饋，能不能委婉地提議乾脆取消此類電話會議？沒有這種場合，就沒人能把那90句行話說出口了，那豈不是很妙。

If you think this too radical, at least you have found the ideal way of staying awake during these interminable calls: playing your own version of bullshit bingo.

如果你認爲這樣的建議太過分了，至少你找到了在這些沒完沒了的電話會議上保持清醒的方法：玩你自創的數行話"賓戈遊戲"。

Your advice

讀者的建議

You can't win

你毫無勝算

Aldous Huxley said: "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you mad."

英國作家奧爾德斯•赫胥黎(Aldous Huxley)曾說：“你會知道真相，而真相會讓你瘋了。”

There is no way for you to succeed by being the only one speaking out. If you can't beat them, join them. Become the jargon expert. Add more to the lexicon. Keep adding. At some point, someone at the organisation will realise what utter nonsense it all is, or you will be king.

如果只有你一個人說實話，你成功的希望是零。如果無法打敗他們，那就加入他們。把行話說溜。自創一些行話。不斷添加。到某個時候，公司中會有人意識到說行話是多麼無聊，或者你已坐上王者之座。

IT director, male, 43

IT總監，男，43歲

Culture club

文化俱樂部

It is evident that the managing director has fostered this culture of using jargon, so to attack it directly might indeed be career-limiting. But do sift through the jargon to determine the real value of the call and the rather direct feedback on the issues raised, and whether they contributed to your understanding of the business strategy.

顯然，你們的董事總經理打造了一種愛說行話的文化，因此直接攻擊這種文化可能確實不利於你的職業前景。但請務必看透行話，確定電話會議的真實價值，以及會上提出的事項所得到的頗爲直接的反饋，看它們是否增進了你對業務戰略的理解。

Female employee, 35

女職員，35歲

They're all thick

都是些蠢人

I had colleagues who finished their emails off with jargon phrases such as "passionate about growth", which were meant to indicate energy, enthusiasm and loyalty. Actually, all it indicates is a lack of intellectual rigour. To make it plain: the users are thick.

我的一些同事寫郵件時通篇都是"對增長滿懷熱情"這樣的行話（這句話實際上想表達的是精力旺盛、幹勁十足、忠心耿耿）。事實上，寫出這樣的話全都是因爲腦子不靈。說白了就是：這些人蠢。

There is nothing you can do about that: they will always be thick. Using their limited intellectual ability to invent jargon means they have less time to spend on ruining the business. So leave it and be grateful.

在這個問題上，你做不了什麼：這些人會一直蠢下去。他們把有限的智商用在了發明行話上，意味着他們可用於糟蹋業務的時間變少了。所以，別管了，你還應該感到慶幸。

Anon

匿名

Confusion reigns

別搞混了

Jargon and gibberish are not the same. Shared jargon is an efficient way to communicate. I suspect all FT readers know what we mean by blue-sky thinking, walking the talk and taking it offline.

行話跟胡扯不是一回事。大家都說行話，是一種高效率的溝通方式。我猜英國《金融時報》的讀者們都知道這些說法：藍天思考（blue-sky thinking，指不受現實條件約束的自由思考——譯者注），走話（walking the talk，指履行說過的話——譯者注），帶下線（taking it offline，指會後再說——譯者注）。

Gibberish is something else entirely. Many people are able to talk complete gibberish without using a word of jargon. It sounds as if it ought to make sense but it doesn't. If your boss is guilty of this then you have a big problem and one that is not likely to be corrected by pointing it out.

胡扯則完全是另一回事。許多人即使不說行話，也能胡扯。胡扯就是聽起來似乎有道理，實際上毫無意義。如果你的老闆熱衷於胡扯，那問題就大了。而且這種問題你說了也沒用。

Anon

匿名

Why does my weakness matter?

爲什麼要問我有什麼弱點？

I've just been asked in a job interview to name my greatest weakness. This is such a feeble clichéd question – but still it took me unawares. I hummed and hawed for a bit and then said something like: I really don't think I can give an impartial answer – why don't you ask my wife, I'm sure she'll be able to help you out. It was meant as a joke, but the temperature in the room plummeted. Needless to say I didn't get the job. But I'd like to know: why do people ask this stupid question? And what is the right answer to it?

我剛剛在求職面試中被問到這樣一個問題：你最大的弱點是什麼？這個問題簡直老掉牙了，但我仍然不知道該怎麼回答。我支支吾吾了一會兒，然後說了類似這樣的話：我想我真的沒法給出一個不帶偏見的答案，你何不問問我太太，我想她肯定會給你一個滿意的答案。這本來是句玩笑，但卻讓談話氣氛陡然變冷。不用說，我沒通過面試。但我想知道：人們爲什麼要問一個這麼愚蠢的問題？這個問題到底該怎麼回答呢？

Unemployed, male, 52

失業者，男，52歲