職場中的兩類族群

李小川

當領(lǐng)導宣布一項即將開展的新業(yè)務(wù)時，有人會選擇主動請纓，敢于聞風響應(yīng)，有人卻寧愿退避三舍，安于歲月靜好。前者看到的是會議、項目、出差中蘊藏的機會與人脈，后者則嗅到了它們可能給自己帶來的聒噪與不安。公司的發(fā)展當然需要勇于創(chuàng)新的前者奔波于不同會場，不斷尋求和拓展關(guān)系網(wǎng)，但更不能缺少對公司不離不棄的后者，正是他們兢兢業(yè)業(yè)地將每一項業(yè)務(wù)落到了實處。

Perhaps they are two of the most welcome words in the English language： “Meeting cancelled.”When they cropped up in Bartlebys message the other day， he experienced a brief moment of elation.1 In truth， the meeting turned out only to be postponed for two weeks， but procrastination is an under-appreciated pleasure.2

Workers， and possibly all people， can be divided into two groups. Those who like to be involved in everything and can be dubbed3 “FOMOS” because they suffer from a “fear of missing out.” And then there are those who would ideally want to be left to get on with their own particular work， without distraction—the “JOMOS” （joy of missing out）.

When The Economist moved offices in London in 2017， the new building came with a set of meeting spaces. As was inevitable， there are a lot more meetings. It is hard to walk by these gatherings without wondering who these people are and what they are doing.（It mostly seems to involve them gazing earnestly at a projection of a computer screen.） Never once has Bartleby， who was born under the sign of JOMO， wanted to join one of the groups.

Readers will instantly know their tribe. If the boss announces a new project， do you immediately volunteer， thinking this will be a great chance to prove your skills？ If so， you are a FOMO. Or do you foresee the hassle4 involved， the likely failure of the project， and the weekend emails from all the FOMOS wanting to spend less time with their families？ Then you are a certified JOMO.

Another test is technology. FOMOS are early adopters， snapping up the latest gadgets and sending documents to colleagues via the latest file-sharing programme.5 JOMOS tend to believe that any tech upgrade will be initially troublesome and wonder why on earth their colleagues cant send the document as a PDF.

FOMOS relish the chance to take part in a videoconference call so that they can share fully in the dynamics of the meeting and not missing any clues about the participants long-term agenda.6 JOMOS deeply resent the video element， which prevents them from checking their emails or playing solitaire while Ted drones on about budgets for 20 minutes.7

Networking events are the kind of thing that gets FOMOS excited as a chance to exchange ideas and make contacts. When JOMOS hear the word “networking，” they reach for their noise-cancelling headphones. For them， being made to attend an industry cocktail party is rather like being obliged to attend the wedding of someone they barely know； an extended session of social purgatory8.

Similarly， FOMOS see a breakfast meeting as a chance to start the day on a positive note. They would hate to turn one down in case they lost business， or the chance of career advancement. JOMOS resent setting their alarm earlier and would rather breakfast at their kitchen table， grumbling9 about the news headlines to their spouse. If it is a work meeting， then hold it during working hours.

As for business travel， FOMOS cant wait to experience the delight of overseas conferences and visiting new places. It will all look good on their curriculum vitae10. JOMOS know that such travel involves cramped airline seats， jet lag and a long shuffle through immigration.11 The final destination tends not to be some exotic location but an identikit12 conference centre or hotel that they forget five minutes after they have departed.

JOMOS recognize that they have to attend some meetings and go on trips to get their work done. But they regard such things as a penance13 not a privilege. Something useful may come out of it， but best not to get their hopes up14.

It might seem obvious that employers should look to hire FOMOS， not their opposites. After all， in a company full of JOMOS， sales might suffer and there would be little innovation. But while FOMOS are racing from meeting to networking event， you need a few JOMOS to be doing actual work. If FOMOS are like dogs， barking excitedly and chasing their own tails， JOMOS are more feline15. They will spring into action if a mouse is in the vicinity16 but， in the meantime， they are content to sit by the fire.

The other reason why depending on FOMOS is dangerous is that they are naturally restless17. JOMOS will be loyal， for fear of ending up with a worse employer. But FOMOS may think that working for one company means they are missing out on better conditions at another. That is the point of most networking， after all.

1. crop up： 冒出，突然出現(xiàn)；Bartleby： 巴特爾比，是美國作家赫爾曼·梅爾維爾（Herman Melville）的短篇小說《抄寫員巴特爾比》（Bartleby， the Scrivener： A Story of Wall-Street）中的主人公，受雇于一位華爾街律師。起初他勤奮能干，但拒絕做抄寫以外的工作。不久之后，他開始拒絕做任何事情，只重復說“我不愿意”。在被解雇后，巴特爾比仍拒絕離開事務(wù)所，律師在忍無可忍之下只好搬走。最終，巴特爾比被辦公室的新主人送進監(jiān)獄，并在獄中絕食而死。小說反映了資本主義社會人與人之間的冷漠和疏離，以及商業(yè)化的美國社會對人的精神的壓抑、禁錮和摧殘?！督?jīng)濟學人》雜志借助該人物名字設(shè)置了專欄，文章主題聚焦職場與管理；elation： 興高采烈，歡欣鼓舞。

2. procrastination： 拖延，推遲（尤指不想做的事情）；under-appreciated： 未受到應(yīng)有重視的。

3. dub： 給……起綽號，把……稱為。

4. hassle： 麻煩。

5. snap up： 搶購，此處指搶先使用或產(chǎn)品一經(jīng)推出就迫不及待地想要立刻使用；gadget： 精巧的裝置。

6. FOMO一族很享受參加視頻電話會議的機會，這樣他們就可以在活躍的氛圍中充分交流彼此的觀點，而且不會對其他參與者提到的長期規(guī)劃有任何遺漏。relish： 享受，喜歡。

7. solitaire： 單人紙牌游戲；drone on： 喋喋不休。

8. purgatory： 受難，痛苦的經(jīng)歷。

9. grumble： 抱怨，發(fā)牢騷。

10. curriculum vitae： 簡歷，簡稱CV，通常為英式用法，美式英語常用résumé。

11. cramped： 狹小的，擁擠的；jet lag： 時差反應(yīng)，飛行時差綜合征；shuffle： 挪動，此處指在機場邊檢時乘客需要在各種通道里繞來繞去；immigration： 移民入境檢查站。

12. identikit： 千篇一律的。

13. penance： 自我懲罰。

14. get hope up： 使（對沒希望的事）抱有希望。

15. feline： 貓科動物的。

16. vicinity： 附近，鄰近地區(qū)。

17. restless： 不滿足現(xiàn)狀的，求變的。

閱讀感評

∷秋葉 評

選文作者將工作中的人分為兩類，一類是所謂的“樂于拓展社交關(guān)系網(wǎng)者”（those who love networking），另一類則為“希望不受干擾者”（those who want to be left alone）。前者熱衷于拋頭露面，一個機會都不愿落下，而后者的理想狀態(tài)是長時間地專注于自己的某項具體工作，不喜頻繁參會或出差。

這種分類，讓筆者不由得聯(lián)想起林語堂先生的類似說法。林語堂先生作為作家，在中西方都非常成功，是中國現(xiàn)代時期少有的能同時用中、英文創(chuàng)作并享有國際聲譽的作家。但他一旦擔任“要職”，很快就會主動請辭。屈指數(shù)來，他一生中至少有過四次“從政生涯”或擔任過“行政職務(wù)”：廈門大學文科主任（相當于現(xiàn)在的文學院院長，1926年）、武漢國民政府外交部英文秘書（1927年）、聯(lián)合國教科文組織（UNESCO）文藝組（巴黎）主任（1947—1948）、新加坡南洋大學校長（1954年）。其中，除了在聯(lián)合國教科文組織任職稍長，其他均不到一年甚至幾個月就草草收場。林語堂先生在聯(lián)合國教科文組織任職期間，對于整日要撰寫備忘錄及準備報告，還要出席各種會議，感到“苦不堪言”（frustrating and exhausting）。后來，他在英文版《八十自述》（Memoirs of an Octogenarian， 1975）中說：“There are two kinds of animals on earth. One kind minds his own business， the other minds other peoples business. The former are vegetarians， like cows， sheep and thinking men. The latter are carnivorous， like hawks， tigers and men of action. I have often admired my colleagues for their administrative ability. I have never been interested in that.”（這世界上有兩種動物。一種動物顧自己的事情，另一種動物忙于他人的事務(wù)。前者是素食者，譬如牛、羊與思想家。后者是肉食者，譬如鷹、虎與行動家。我常羨慕同事的行政能力，而我對此卻毫無興趣。）顯然，林語堂先生把自己歸入第一類，屬于“素食素心人”，可寧靜而致遠，卻難以轟轟烈烈。其實，這種情形在知識分子中絕不在少數(shù)。

季羨林先生在一篇回憶許國璋的文章里說，“我天生是一個內(nèi)向的人，我自謂是性情中人。在當今世界上，像我這樣的人是不合時宜的。但是，造化小兒仿佛想跟我開玩笑，他讓時勢硬把我‘炒成了一個社會活動家，甚至國際活動家。每當盛大場合，紳士淑女，峨冠博帶，珠光寶氣，照射牛斗。我看有一些天才的活動家，周旋其中，左一握手，右一點頭，如魚得水，暢游無礙。我內(nèi)心真有些羨煞愧煞。我局促在一隅，手足無所措，總默禱蒼天，希望盛會早散，還我自由?！蔽娜藢W者潛心文章學問，推崇個性與自由，自然更常有一份素心。錢鍾書先生就曾說過：“大抵學問是荒江野老屋中，二三素心人商量培養(yǎng)之事，朝市之顯學，必成俗學。”

當今社會，各行各業(yè)推崇的無疑多是那些“點子多，愛折騰”的“創(chuàng)新型人才”“領(lǐng)軍人物”。如果用動物來作比的話，那顯然是要求人人成為擊飛長空的鷹與汪汪吠叫的狗，而只知道埋頭苦干的牛與堅守本分、靜候一隅的貓，自然是不思進取的“時代落伍”分子了。就筆者觀察，在學術(shù)教育領(lǐng)域的某些機構(gòu)，領(lǐng)導通常會對下屬提出一致的要求，盡管由于機構(gòu)性質(zhì)不同，表述隨之會有所差別。有的是堅持“不換腦筋就換人”，在工作上因循守舊、不轉(zhuǎn)變思想就會被淘汰；有的是要手下的所有學者“鐵肩擔道義，妙手著文章”，比如做一些有高額項目資助的學術(shù)課題（即錢先生所謂的“朝市之顯學”），而很少顧及學者個人的學術(shù)興趣與專長。誠然，我們的時代確實需要一批不知疲倦的奔走者和振臂高呼的理想家，然而最終推動社會進步的，恐怕還是要靠那些思想者、實干家，而非宣傳家、活動家。