職場雙語:大膽的人不適合公職?

I work for a big public sector corporation. Recently, a kind and much more senior colleague told me I would never be promoted because I am "too bold to make it to the top". He was adamant that only the "quiet mice" who never enter a single battle can navigate their way into the higher echelons of power. He would know — he has been working there for 35 years.
我供職於一家大型公共部門機構。最近，一位善良且遠比我資深的同事告訴我，我永遠不會升職，因爲我“太大膽，不會升到高層”。他堅信，只有那些永遠不會與人爭論、“安靜得像老鼠一樣的人”才能進入高層。他知道這點：他在這裏已經工作了35年。
Does my "boldness" really spell "trouble" more than "potential"? It would be nice to know if I should be abandoning ship right now before I sink any deeper into this swamp that is a public sector organisation.
我的“大膽”真的意味着“問題”而非“潛力”嗎？我很想知道我現在是否應在更深的陷入這個沼澤之前放棄這份公共部門機構的工作。
Manager, male, 30s
經理，男，30多歲
Lucy's answer
露西的答案
If I were you, I'd ask that kind and much more senior colleague to explain himself. What did he mean by "too bold"?
如果我是你的話，我會請那個善良且資深得多的同事做出解釋。他說的“過於大膽”是什麼意思？
There's good bold and there's bad bold. Good bold is the sort of thing Steve Jobs had in spades — an unshakeable determination to do something differently and a refusal to settle with any compromises along the way. Bad bold is much more common: it's when you're too loud, brash and the source of endless bad ideas.
大膽有好的，也有不好的。好的大膽無疑是史蒂夫?喬布斯(Steve Jobs)那種的大膽，那是一種無法動搖的決心，要做出一些與衆不同的事情，而且在此過程中拒絕達成任何妥協。不好的大膽則更爲普遍：太過招搖、輕率、頭腦裏有無數糟糕想法。
I have a nasty feeling your colleague meant bad bold. If you were really bold in the way that Jobs was, I can't imagine what terrible series of disastrous career choices could ever have led you to the public sector in the first place. But if I'm wrong and you are really good bold you must get out now and start your own company in your garage and put that boldness to better use.
我有一種不好的感覺，你的同事說的是不好的大膽。如果你確實像喬布斯那樣大膽，我想象不出一開始是什麼糟糕的職業選擇讓你進入了公共部門。但如果我說錯了，你確實屬於好的大膽，那麼你必須現在就辭職，在你的車庫裏創辦自己的企業，更好的利用這種大膽。
If you are bad bold, as I suspect, you need to try to find a way of being less so.
如果像我猜的那樣，你屬於不好的大膽，那麼你需要設法變得不那麼大膽。
This is more important than seeking a transfer to the private sector, where the bad-bold are not especially valued either. Ask yourself what you are doing in the public sector. Are you there because, like quite a lot of public sector workers, you really care about the service that is being provided? If so, that is the best reason for being in any job, and I suggest you cling on for dear life. Or is it because of the fixed hours and relative job security? That's not a bad reason to stay either.
與試圖跳槽到私營部門相比，這更爲重要，因爲在私營部門，不好的大膽同樣也不會受到特別的重視。問問自己，你在公共部門做些什麼。你在那裏工作是不是因爲與很多公共部門員工一樣，你確實關心那裏提供的服務？如果是這樣的話，那麼這是幹任何工作的最好的原因，我建議你應拼命堅持住。或者你在那裏工作是因爲工作時間固定和工作相對穩定嗎？這也是一個不壞的留在那裏的原因。
I'd also like to take issue with your grey-bearded friend in dividing the workforce into the bold and the quiet mice. This seems like a pretty unhelpful division, as every employee in almost every organisation needs to be both.
在將員工分爲大膽和安靜這兩類的問題上，我覺得你那位年長同事的看法值得商榷。這似乎是一種相當無益的劃分方法，因爲幾乎所有組織的所有員工都需要同時具備這兩點。
Everyone needs to know when to shut up and agree, and when to speak out. If what you are saying is that everyone at your workplace is so downtrodden that no one ever expresses any views on anything, that is bad — although if that were so, I wonder why has it taken you until now to notice?
所有人都需要知道何時該閉嘴並表示同意，何時該說出自己的看法。如果你想說你們單位所有人都非常壓抑，沒有人對任何問題發表任何看法，那麼這是糟糕的。不過如果是這樣的話，我想知道你爲什麼到現在才注意到這點。
If you are happy with your job in other ways, I would go straight back to your mentor for some advice on how to be better at expressing your views without rubbing everyone up the wrong way.
如果你對這份工作的其它方面還算滿意，我建議你再問問你的這位前輩，如何在不與任何人產生不快的摩擦的情況下更好地表達你的看法。

Your advice
讀者建議
Move on
跳槽
I'm not quite sure what a "public sector corporation" is; it's a long time since we had nationalised industries.
我不是十分清楚“公共部門機構”是什麼樣子；國有行業已經存在很久了。
But they tended to be utilities or near-utilities, and the fact is that we don't want a lot of creative people carrying out large-scale experiments on our drinking water: we want them to be safe. If you like taking risks, there are plenty of workplaces where this is regarded as appropriate. Move there.
但它們往往是公用事業單位或準公用事業單位，事實上，我們不希望有很多有創意的人對我們的飲用水進行大規模試驗：我們希望它們是安全的。如果你喜歡冒險，合適的公司有很多。跳槽到那些公司吧。
Anon, male
匿名，男
It is deadening
那種地方令人窒息
When I worked in the public sector I found it very trying. So often there is a deadening norm. Leave for the private sector, do some impressive things there, and then come back at director level.
當我在公共部門工作時，我發現那裏非常難熬。那裏經常有一種令人窒息的標準。離開那裏去私人公司工作吧，在那裏做一些了不起的事情，然後回到這裏擔任主管級別的職位。
Anon
匿名
Culture clash
文化衝突
It seems that your personality clashes with the workplace culture. If that's true, then the job is wrong for you, and you should move on.
你的個性似乎與這種工作文化產生了衝突。如果是這樣的話，那麼這份工作並不適合你，你應該跳槽。
Attorney, male, 49
律師，男，49歲
"Yes, Minister"
“是，大臣”
In the public sector benefits cannot be measured, and are certainly not rewarded. However, the slightest error can be career-ending. Accordingly, public sector officials who rise to the top are past masters at risk-avoidance.
在公共部門，福利無法衡量，而且肯定不會論功行賞。可是一丁點失誤就可能讓你的職業道路走到盡頭。因此，升至最高層的公共部門官員是過去那種擅長避開風險的高手。
Study the Yes, Minister TV show. Can you see yourself morphing into Sir Humphrey, double-talking your way to the top, while navigating a web of shifting alliances to ensure you can never be subject to blame, yet always appear to your superiors as advancing their agenda?
研究一下《是，大臣》(Yes, Minister)這部電視劇吧。看看你自己能否變成漢弗萊(Humphrey)爵士那樣的人？能夠利用花言巧語進入最高層，同時駕馭一個不斷變化的同盟網絡，以確保自己永遠不可能成爲被指責的對象，卻總是讓你的上司以爲你在推進他們的議程。
It takes a very special set of skills. Being "bold" is not one of them.
這需要一套特殊才能。但“大膽”並非其中之一。
Public servant, male
公務員，男
Learn from mice
向那些安靜得像老鼠一樣的人學習
Perhaps you should channel your battling energies into doing things well and understand better why most of us live in a mousy world and like it this way.
或許你應該將你的爭論精力用在把事情做好，弄明白爲什麼多數人會像老鼠一樣處世而且喜歡這樣。
Anon, male
匿名，男