为什么在工作中可以不完美？（上）

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Bartleby: The perils of perfectionism

巴托比：完美主义的危险性

A backlash against the tyranny of high expectations

苛刻的高期望引起的强烈反对

It is the world’s most tired interview question: what is your greatest weakness?

“你最大的缺点是什么？”这是世界上最陈词滥调的面试问题。

And Rishi Sunak, one of the two remaining candidates in the race to become Britain’s prime minister, gave the world’s most tired answer—perfectionism—when he was asked it at an online hustings earlier this month.

本月早些时候，英国首相竞选中剩下的两位候选人之一里希·苏纳克在一次网上竞选中被问及这个问题时，给出了世界上最陈词滥调的答案--完美主义。

No interviewee would answer this question with an unambiguous negative (“stupidity”, say, or “body odour”).

没有一个面试者会在回答这个问题时给出一个明确的缺点(比如“糊涂”或“体臭”)。

Like all those who have reached for it before, Mr Sunak will have intended his reply to signal that his flaws are virtues, especially compared with the shambolic style of Boris Johnson’s outgoing government.

就像之前所有这么回答的人一样，苏纳克的回复意在表明，他的缺点也是优点，这与即将离任的鲍里斯·约翰逊混乱的管理风格形成了尤其鲜明的对比。

But this classic response is riskier than it once was.

但这种经典回答比从前风险更大了。

In Mr Sunak’s case that is because the job of prime minister is largely to triage problems and make decisions at a relentless pace; even his supporters worry that his deliberative style would be a problem.

拿苏纳克的例子来说，这是因为总理的工作主要是对问题进行分类，并迅速做出决定；所以就连他的支持者也担心，他的慎重风格会是一个问题。

More generally, perfectionism is increasingly out of step with the ways that products are developed, employees are treated and workforces are organised.

从更广泛的意义上来说，完美主义与产品研发、员工待遇和员工组织的方式愈发不合拍。

Start with product development.

先来说产品研发。

Lots of digital types embrace the concept of the minimum viable product (MVP), in which companies ship prototypes that can be refined, or indeed scrapped, on the basis of feedback from early adopters.

许多数码公司都信奉最简可行产品(MVP)的概念，即公司推出产品原型，再根据早期用户的反馈改进原型，甚至废弃原型。

The essence of the MVP approach is anti-perfectionism: don’t procrastinate, don’t spend time sweating the tiniest details, get your product into users’ hands and see how it does.

MVP策略的本质是反完美主义：不要拖延，不要花时间去操心最微小的细节，先把产品送到用户手中，看看效果如何。

Fussing about font sizes and nice-to-have features is a waste of time; the market will hone things for you, dispensing its judgments cumulatively and dispassionately.

纠结于字体大小和可有可无的功能是在浪费时间；市场会为你打磨产品，不断给予你客观评价。

A growing emphasis on employees’ well-being is another reason why perfectionism is out of favour.

对员工心理健康的日益重视是完美主义失宠的另一个原因。

The trait is on the rise: a study published in 2017 found that it had been steadily increasing among American, British and Canadian college students between 1989 and 2016 (before you blame Instagram, one big reason is rising parental expectations).

这种追求完美的趋势正愈演愈烈：2017年发表的一项研究发现，1989年到2016年间，美国、英国和加拿大的大学生在心理健康方面追求完美的这一特征一直稳步上升(先别急着指责Instagram，父母的期望不断提高是很重要的一个原因)。

The tyranny of excessively high expectations is not good for you: a big literature review in 2016 concluded that perfectionism is associated with a string of mental-health disorders, from depression and burnout to stress and self-harm.

期望过高带来的苛刻对你没有好处：2016年的一个长篇文献综述得出结论，完美主义与一系列心理健康障碍有关，包括抑郁、崩溃、压力和自残。