You've dished it out before, and you've taken it.

　　你肯定说过下面列出的某句话，而且曾承受过它所带来的伤害。

　　• "He's always taking long lunches."

　　“他午饭总是吃很长时间。”

　　• "Wish I could leave at 4:30 every day...must be nice!"

　　“真希望我能每天4:30下班……肯定很棒!”

　　• "Seems like she uses all her sick days to go shopping."

　　“她好像请病假去逛街了。”

　　• "Oh, she's home with a sick kid...again. I need to get myself a kid."

　　“哇，她又回家照顾生病的孩子了。我得赶紧生个孩子。”

　　Do any of these phrases sound familiar? We call this "sludge."

　　这些话听着耳熟吗?我们把它们叫做“负面言论”。

　　Sludge is the workplace chatter that reinforces the idea that people can't be trusted with autonomy. We identified sludge as one of the most powerful and persistent barriers to a productive, creative, and fulfilling workplace when we were developing the Results-Only Work Environment (ROWE). Sludge can be mean-spirited gossip or even friendly banter. We sludge for many reasons, but it's ultimately meant to either directly or indirectly shame a coworker for not approaching work the way it's "supposed" to be approached.

　　负面言论就是工作场所的闲言碎语，而且它们会不断强化这样一种观点——人们配被赋予自主权。我们在开发“只问结果的工作环境”(ROWE)时发现，对于一个高效、创意和令人满意的工作场所来说，负面言论是最顽固、影响最大的障碍。负面言论可能是卑鄙的闲言碎语，也可能是友好的打趣。我们会因为许多原因传播负面言论，但这些言论最终会直接或间接地导致不按“常规方式”上班的同事感到羞辱。

　　Here are three things you can do to clean the sludges out of your lives.

　　这里有三条建议帮你清除这些负面言论。

　　1. Listen for sludge

　　留神负面言论

　　At first, you'll hear the obvious. You'll hear what seems to be an innocent comment from a coworker ("How nice of you to join us today.") and you'll recognize it as sludge. Then you'll recognize in yourself what we call a "back sludge" conversation (as in, sludging behind someone's back). This is the sludge that's spewed about a co-worker who isn't within earshot:

　　首先，你会听到一些显而易见的言论。你会听到某位同事似乎毫无恶意的言论(“你今天加入我们，真是太好了。”)，你认为这是负面言论。进而，你自以为发现了所谓的“背后负面言论”(即在某人背后发表负面言论)。这种关于某位同事的负面言论是在他不在场的情况下出现的。

　　One coworker: "How is Steve getting a promotion? He's never even here."

　　同事甲：“史蒂夫怎么得到升职的?他连公司公司都没来过。”

　　Another coworker: "I know and when he is here, he takes long lunches and comes in late."

　　同事乙：“我知道，就算他来，他也总是迟到，而且中午饭吃很长时间。”

　　You: "And what about the jogs he takes after his long lunches on Tuesdays? That's getting ridiculous."

　　你：“他每周二花很长时间吃午饭，完事之后还要慢跑，对吧?笑死人了。”

　　The more you listen for sludge, the more you'll start to hear all of the subtle versions of it not just around you, but from you.

　　负面言论听的越多，你会发现，各种微妙的版本不仅围绕在你周围，而且你正在成为这些言论的源头。

　　2. Point it out

　　勇敢指出

　　When you hear these toxic phrases pop up in conversation, politely point it out to the person saying it. Don't let yourself or someone else feel guilty or judged by an outdated standard. We live in an amazing time where many of us (one day, maybe all of us) can own our work and live by the results we achieve, not the desk-time we put in at the office. Stand up and rebel against the system, don't be a party to it. The accountant who has worked all night on a deadline shouldn't get shamed by their coworker for "coming in late" and the mom who leaves the office at 3 p.m. to attend her daughter's ballet recital shouldn't be questioned by nosy cubicle neighbors about why she's leaving "early."

　　当听到对话中出现一些有害的内容时，礼貌地向说这些内容的人指出问题。不要让你或其他人因为过时的标准而感到愧疚，或者受到评判。我们生活在一个神奇的时代，许多人(或许有一天是所有人)可以做好自己的工作，我们的生活依靠的是我们实现的结果，而不是我们在办公室里待的时间长短。站起来，反抗制度，而不是成为制度的帮凶。为了赶时间而工作到深夜的会计不应该因为“上班晚”而被同事羞辱，为了观看女儿的芭蕾舞表演而在下午3点离开办公室的妈妈不该被爱管闲事的邻桌质问她为什么“提前”离开。

　　An easy way to redirect the conversation when you hear such negative talk is to say, "Is there something you need?" For example, someone sees you leaving at 2 p.m. and says "2:00? Where are you headed so early?" Your response: "Is there something you need?" Sludge is stopped dead in its tracks and the conversation is back to results. Or, if a coworker says to you, "Did you see Allison come in at 10 a.m. again today?" Your response: "Did you need something from her?" Back sludge averted. On to more important matters.

　　听到这种负面言论时，改变谈话方向的一种简单方式是说：“你有什么事情需要我吗?”比如，如果有人看到你在下午2点钟离开并说“2点钟?你这么早是要去哪儿啊?”你可以这样回答：“你有什么事情需要我吗?”负面言论便会戛然而止，谈话会重新回到结果上。或者，如果同事对你说：“你看到了吗?艾莉森今天又是10点才来上班。”你可以回答：“你需要她为你做什么吗?”避免了背后负面言论。话题转移到更重要的事情上。

　　3. Don't sludge to make yourself look good

　　不要踩着别人来抬高自己

　　Sludge gives traditional office dwellers the chance to make themselves look like hard-working, valuable employees, regardless of how well they're actually performing. Don't be that guy who throws a coworker under the bus for being 15 minutes "late" or for not approaching work exactly like you do. Focus on results and if you need to make yourself look good, then own your work, think harder about your customers, your company, and making progress for them.

　　传统“赖班族”往往利用负面言论，借此让自己看起来工作很努力，是重要的员工，却根本不考虑他们实际表现如何。不要因为同事“晚到”15分钟或者没有像你一样上班，就对同事落井下石。专注于结果，如果需要让自己看起来更好，就应该去努力完成自己的工作，多考虑自己的客户、公司，以及如何进步。

　　Working on a team without sludge is liberating. Guilt evaporates. Productivity increases.

　　在没有负面言论的团队中工作是自由的。负罪感消失不见。工作效率大幅提高。

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（实习编辑：高奕飞）