2022年经济学人 为什么在工作中可以不完美？（2）

It matters what kind of perfectionist someone is.

区分完美主义者的类型也很重要。

Psychologists distinguish between a “self-oriented” version, in which people put pressure on themselves to perform flawlessly; an “other-oriented” type, in which people hold their colleagues to the highest of standards; and a “socially prescribed” version, in which employees think they will only get on if they meet the impossible expectations of those around them.

心理学家区分出了三种类型：“自我导向型”，即给自己施加压力，以求表现得完美无瑕；“以他人为导向型”，即以最高标准要求同事；以及“社会规定型”，即员工认为，只有达到了周围人不可能达到的期望，他们才能继续工作。

People in the last camp seem to be especially prone¹ to stress.

最后一类人似乎特别容易感觉到压力。

A recent Italian study found that, whereas having extremely high standards for your own performance was not a predictor of burnout, being afraid of making mistakes was.

意大利最近的一项研究发现，虽然对自己的表现有极高的要求并不会引发崩溃，但害怕犯错会。

Perfectionists may also hurt team cohesiveness².

完美主义者也可能会破坏团队凝聚力。

In a study conducted in 2020, Emily Kleszewski and Kathleen Otto of Philipps-University of Marburg asked people to rate potential co-workers based on descriptions of their levels and categories of perfectionism.

在2020年进行的一项研究中，马尔堡-菲利普大学的艾米丽·克莱谢夫斯基和凯瑟琳·奥托让人们根据未来同事对自己的完美主义程度和类型的描述给他们打分。

Perfectionists were regarded as being less socially skilled and less likeable than non-perfectionists.

人们认为完美主义者的社交能力不如非完美主义者，也没有非完美主义者讨人喜欢。

You don’t have to like your colleagues for them to be effective: in that same study, perfectionists were rated as more competent than non-perfectionists.

你喜不喜欢同事与他们的工作能力无关：该研究发现，人们认为完美主义者比非完美主义者能力更强。

But when more and more work is organised around small groups working together, it can help not to loathe³ each other.

但当小组有越来越多的工作要共同处理时，组员不厌恶彼此会有所帮助。

By now your inner curmudgeon⁴ may well be frothing at the mouth.

说到这里，你内心的暴躁小人很可能已经气到口吐白沫了。

Nit-picking micro-managers are deeply annoying but they are nowhere near as bad as people who don’t have any standards.

吹毛求疵的微观管理者固然非常令人讨厌，但他们远不如没有任何标准的人糟糕。

Demanding bosses can be the difference between good products and superb ones: “that’ll do” was not the mantra that made Steve Jobs successful.

苛刻的老板可能会让“好”产品升级为“卓越”产品：史蒂夫·乔布斯能成功可不是靠把“差不多”当成准则。

Some jobs actively⁵ require perfectionism—copy editors, say, or medicines regulators.

有些工作确实要求完美主义--比如文案编辑或药品监管。

And since when did being exacting⁶ become a health risk?

从什么时候起，严格要求也成了一种健康风险？

Fortunately, discouraging perfectionism does not mean sacrificing high standards.

幸运的是，打击完美主义并不意味着舍弃高标准。

In a paper published last year, three academics at the University of Ottawa found that people who strove for excellence⁷ did better on tests of creative thinking than people who sought perfection.

在去年发表的一篇论文中，渥太华大学的三名学者发现，追求卓越的人在创造性思维测试中比追求完美的人表现得更好。

Managers can explicitly⁸ define what counts as high-quality work.

管理者可以明确定义什么是高质量的工作。

Deadlines can prevent endless procrastination⁹.

设置最后期限可以防止无休止的拖延。

Mr Sunak’s call not to let the perfect be the enemy of the good came as he sat in front of a poster that misspelled the word “campaign”.

苏纳克在呼吁“不要让完美成为优秀的敌人”时，身后海报上的“campaign”一词却拼错了。

That took things too far.

这就太过分了。

1 prone   

adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的

参考例句：

• Some people are prone to jump to hasty conclusions.有些人往往作出轻率的结论。
• He is prone to lose his temper when people disagree with him.人家一不同意他的意见,他就发脾气。

2 cohesiveness   

n. 粘合，凝聚性

参考例句：

• The Bogor Goals concern APEC's credibility, cohesiveness and future development. 茂物目标事关亚太经合组织的信誉、凝聚力和未来发展。
• One of the most important properties of a work team is cohesiveness. 工作小组的最重要特征之一是凝聚力。

3 loathe   

v.厌恶，嫌恶

参考例句：

• I loathe the smell of burning rubber.我厌恶燃着的橡胶散发的气味。
• You loathe the smell of greasy food when you are seasick.当你晕船时，你会厌恶油腻的气味。

4 curmudgeon   

n. 脾气暴躁之人，守财奴，吝啬鬼

参考例句：

• The old curmudgeon found a new scapegoat and that let me out.那个老守财奴找到一个新的替罪羊，这样我就脱身了。
• The old curmudgeon was talking about the smothering effects of parental duty on creative lives.那些坏脾气的老人们喋喋不休于父母生儿育女之责任的妨碍性效应。

5 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

6 exacting   

adj.苛求的，要求严格的

参考例句：

• He must remember the letters and symbols with exacting precision.他必须以严格的精度记住每个字母和符号。
• The public has been more exacting in its demands as time has passed.随着时间的推移，公众的要求更趋严格。

7 excellence   

n.优秀，杰出，(pl.)优点，美德

参考例句：

• His art has reached a high degree of excellence.他的艺术已达到炉火纯青的地步。
• My performance is far below excellence.我的表演离优秀还差得远呢。

8 explicitly   

ad.明确地，显然地

参考例句：

• The plan does not explicitly endorse the private ownership of land. 该计划没有明确地支持土地私有制。
• SARA amended section 113 to provide explicitly for a right to contribution. 《最高基金修正与再授权法案》修正了第123条，清楚地规定了分配权。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

9 procrastination   

n.拖延，耽搁

参考例句：

• Procrastination is the father of failure. 因循是失败的根源。
• Procrastination is the thief of time. 拖延就是浪费时间。