职场双语:大胆的人不适合公职?

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.
我供职于一家大型公共部门机构。最近，一位善良且远比我资深的同事告诉我，我永远不会升职，因为我“太大胆，不会升到高层”。他坚信，只有那些永远不会与人争论、“安静得像老鼠一样的人”才能进入高层。他知道这点：他在这里已经工作了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“大胆”真的意味着“问题”而非“潜力”吗？我很想知道我现在是否应在更深的陷入这个沼泽之前放弃这份公共部门机构的工作。
Manager, male, 30s
经理，男，30多岁
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"?
如果我是你的话，我会请那个善良且资深得多的同事做出解释。他说的“过于大胆”是什么意思？
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.
大胆有好的，也有不好的。好的大胆无疑是史蒂夫?乔布斯(Steve Jobs)那种的大胆，那是一种无法动摇的决心，要做出一些与众不同的事情，而且在此过程中拒绝达成任何妥协。不好的大胆则更为普遍：太过招摇、轻率、头脑里有无数糟糕想法。
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.
我有一种不好的感觉，你的同事说的是不好的大胆。如果你确实像乔布斯那样大胆，我想象不出一开始是什么糟糕的职业选择让你进入了公共部门。但如果我说错了，你确实属于好的大胆，那么你必须现在就辞职，在你的车库里创办自己的企业，更好的利用这种大胆。
If you are bad bold, as I suspect, you need to try to find a way of being less so.
如果像我猜的那样，你属于不好的大胆，那么你需要设法变得不那么大胆。
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.
与试图跳槽到私营部门相比，这更为重要，因为在私营部门，不好的大胆同样也不会受到特别的重视。问问自己，你在公共部门做些什么。你在那里工作是不是因为与很多公共部门员工一样，你确实关心那里提供的服务？如果是这样的话，那么这是干任何工作的最好的原因，我建议你应拼命坚持住。或者你在那里工作是因为工作时间固定和工作相对稳定吗？这也是一个不坏的留在那里的原因。
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.
在将员工分为大胆和安静这两类的问题上，我觉得你那位年长同事的看法值得商榷。这似乎是一种相当无益的划分方法，因为几乎所有组织的所有员工都需要同时具备这两点。
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时该闭嘴并表示同意，何时该说出自己的看法。如果你想说你们单位所有人都非常压抑，没有人对任何问题发表任何看法，那么这是糟糕的。不过如果是这样的话，我想知道你为什么到现在才注意到这点。
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.
如果你对这份工作的其它方面还算满意，我建议你再问问你的这位前辈，如何在不与任何人产生不快的摩擦的情况下更好地表达你的看法。

Your advice
读者建议
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“公共部门机构”是什么样子；国有行业已经存在很久了。
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.
但它们往往是公用事业单位或准公用事业单位，事实上，我们不希望有很多有创意的人对我们的饮用水进行大规模试验：我们希望它们是安全的。如果你喜欢冒险，合适的公司有很多。跳槽到那些公司吧。
Anon, male
匿名，男
It is deadening
那种地方令人窒息
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.
当我在公共部门工作时，我发现那里非常难熬。那里经常有一种令人窒息的标准。离开那里去私人公司工作吧，在那里做一些了不起的事情，然后回到这里担任主管级别的职位。
Anon
匿名
Culture clash
文化冲突
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.
你的个性似乎与这种工作文化产生了冲突。如果是这样的话，那么这份工作并不适合你，你应该跳槽。
Attorney, male, 49
律师，男，49岁
"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.
在公共部门，福利无法衡量，而且肯定不会论功行赏。可是一丁点失误就可能让你的职业道路走到尽头。因此，升至最高层的公共部门官员是过去那种擅长避开风险的高手。
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)这部电视剧吧。看看你自己能否变成汉弗莱(Humphrey)爵士那样的人？能够利用花言巧语进入最高层，同时驾驭一个不断变化的同盟网络，以确保自己永远不可能成为被指责的对象，却总是让你的上司以为你在推进他们的议程。
It takes a very special set of skills. Being "bold" is not one of them.
这需要一套特殊才能。但“大胆”并非其中之一。
Public servant, male
公务员，男
Learn from mice
向那些安静得像老鼠一样的人学习
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.
或许你应该将你的争论精力用在把事情做好，弄明白为什么多数人会像老鼠一样处世而且喜欢这样。
Anon, male
匿名，男