如何在辦公室鬥爭中存活？7招就搞定！
There's no easy answer, but the mistake most people make is that they let their guard down. Supposedly "informal" environments are the most dangerous. The politics in these startups are often far worse than in conservative, larger companies. Often, permissions are given to do things that are actually harmful to a person's career. People (even managers) will egg you on up to and beyond the event horizon of a ruined career, because you're allaying their ennui.
針對如何在辦公室鬥爭中存活，並沒有什麼簡單的答案，但大多數人常犯的錯誤則是他們輕易卸下防備。很可能“非正式”的環境纔是最危險的。新創辦的小公司裏的辦公室政治往往比保守的大公司要複雜得多。通常情況是，額外地被准許去做某些事情實際上有損你的職業生涯。人們（甚至是一些管理者）會慫恿你去觸碰甚至逾越規定的條條框框以至於讓你毀了自己的事業，僅僅因爲你給他們乏味的生活帶來了一抹生趣。
1. Avoid activities that serve no purpose.
1. 避免沒有目的的活動。
The best-case outcome is that you establish that you put a low value on your time. When you're at work, always have a purpose, or appear to have one. The sideshows are for losers, to make existence at the bottom more bearable. Never take part in plebeian bullshit. The worst-case outcome is professional humiliation, because societies and substructures that have no purpose devolve into interpersonal nastiness. If you don't have anything else to do, figure out what you want to do and get better at it. Sit down at your computer and read. You'll probably never get fired for reading machine learning papers on your computer (you'll stay out of trouble, with your head down) but you will get pushed out or demoted (eventually) if you project low status, and putting a visible low value on your time has that effect.
最好的結果是你讓別人以爲你並不看重自己的時間。工作的時候，總是要有個目標，或者看起來似乎有一個。失敗者纔會去管一些雞毛蒜皮的小事，你應該要讓自己更經得起考驗。永遠不要參與他人的閒言碎語。最糟糕的結果是職業侮辱，因爲沒有任何目的聚在一起的羣體和組織很快就會變得污穢不堪。如果你沒有其他事情要做，那就弄清楚你想做什麼，並在這個方面做得更好。你可以坐在位置上用電腦看書。你可能永遠不會因爲在電腦上學習而被解僱（埋頭專研時你也會遠離紛爭），但是如果你沒啥地位，你將被牽扯出來或最終遭到降職，而你表現出並不在意時間的樣子就會產生這個效果。
2. "Informal" environments are a lie.
2.“非正式”環境就是一個謊言。
Most people wouldn't be comfortable with 20 strangers in their house, but we have to deal with the curse of having strangers in our careers. This is uncomfortable and stressful and many workplaces like to pretend that it's not the case, thereby encouraging people to behave in "laid back" (read: unguarded and socially unacceptable) ways. This makes it easier for management (it's easier to tell who to fire) but it's not for the worker's benefit. Never let your guard down. Complainers (even justified ones) and blowhards still get shot in the head, in these "informal" environments. It's just not publicized.
如果在家裏要面對20個陌生人，大多數人都會感到十分不舒服。但出於工作需要，我們必須得和形形色色的人打交道。這讓人不自在也充滿壓力，可是許多工作場所卻想假裝並非如此，因此它們鼓勵人們“放輕鬆”。當然這倒是讓管理變得更加容易了（更容易知道誰應該被開除），但這卻不利於員工。所以永遠不要卸下你的防備。在這些“非正式”的環境中，抱怨的人（甚至出於合理的原因）和那些吹噓的人仍然有可能成爲衆矢之的，只是不公開罷了。
3. Hear (some) gossip but don't generate it.
3. 可以偶爾聽些八卦，但別說長道短，散佈流言。
Be aware of what's going on, but don't get involved. You have to be above that nonsense. If you don't have actual work to do, you still want it to seem like you do. Don't ever be seen hearing gossip by anyone but the person telling you the news. Once the gossip gets repetitive, stop hearing it. You have better things to do.
要注意周圍發生了什麼，但不要涉身其中。你要知道這些閒言碎語並不是最重要的。如果你沒有實際的工作要做，仍然要讓自己看起來在做着重要的事情。不要偷偷聽別人聊八卦，除非說的人主動告訴你。一旦八卦被重複得天花亂墜，那就別再聽了。因爲你還有更重要的事情要做。
4. Up or diagonal. Always have a goal and a purpose.
4. 向“上”看或向“斜對角”看。要始終心存目標。
Be aiming for better things. But don't necessarily fixate on one vector. If your goal is to take your boss's job, then you're competing with him and you won't win. You're better off to keep an open eye for up-and-left and up-and-right. Once you can find a vector that doesn't conflict with anyone else, follow that. Put 3 hours per day, if you can, into work that advances your own career goals (learning new skills, networking) but avoid doing it in a showy or threatening way.
以更好的事情作爲自己的前進方向。但不一定將視線固定在一個方向上。如果你的目標是替代老闆的位置，而你只知和他競爭，那麼你很可能不會贏。你最好能關注“左上方”和“右上方”的其他位置。只要你能找到一個與其他人不衝突的位置，就可以朝着這個目標努力了。如果可以，每天花3個小時的時間來靠近自己的職業目標（學習新的技能，學習使用網絡），但是一定不要向別人炫耀，或給人造成威脅感。
5. Don't mistake fake enthusiasm for support.
5. 要分清別人的假熱心。
People will readily show enthusiasm for ideas and activities that are actually harmful to your career. If you stand up in a town hall meeting and tell the CEO that your company's health benefits or stock option plan are shit, you'll get a lot of high-fives and congratulations (from people who don't matter, mostly; and, sometimes, malevolently from people who do). They "like" you because you're (stupidly) fighting their battle, but they won't have your back. Don't put yourself out there without genuine support (i.e. people will take career risks to defend you, and would possibly follow you if you had to change companies).
對於一些實際上無益於你的事業的想法和活動，人們總是很容易會表現得熱情滿滿。如果你在一個市政廳的會議中站起來告訴首席執行官，你公司的醫保福利或股票期權方案糟得一塌糊塗，你會得到很多慶賀（大部分人這麼做並無所圖，可有時候一些人卻心懷惡意）。他們“喜歡”你，因爲你正在（愚蠢地）爲他們出頭，但他們卻不會真心支持你。所以不要在沒有得到真正支持的情況下，傻傻地什麼都豁出去（也就是說，人們會冒着職業風險捍衛你，如果你不得不換公司，他們也很有可能會跟着你）。
6. Many people are slimeballs, but don't be one.
6. 工作中有很多“混蛋”，但你最好不要成爲其中之一。
There are plenty of unethical people who do very well in business, if you are unskilled enough in office politics that you need to read advice on the internet, you're not going to become one of them. Better to develop a reputation as a straight shooter by being one.
有很多人雖然不道德卻很擅長做生意，如果你在辦公室政治上還不夠熟練，應該多去看看一些網上的意見，這樣你就不會和他們同流合污了。做一個坦白正直的人更能樹立你的信譽和形象。
7. Occasionally be intimidating. Don't overdo it.
7. 適當展示威懾力，但是不要過度了。
You don't want to be seen as weak, but don't try too hard to appear strong, because the latter will have the opposite effect. If you work in an environment where you wouldn't be the only person wearing a sport coat or even suit, then wear one. A tie is a socially acceptable way to wear a sword (a symbol of freedom). A suit means you are properly armored. It's not comfortable, but you shouldn't be too comfortable at work.
你一定不想被別人看輕，但也不要表現地太過強硬，因爲後者可能會產生相反的效果。如果你工作的環境中，你不會成爲唯一一個穿運動衫或平整的西裝的人，那麼就嘗試一下這個風格。劍是自由的象徵，而領帶就是當今社會所認可的另一種劍。若是穿着一整套西裝在某種程度上就似乎意味着你已經裝甲完備了。雖然這並不舒服，但也許在工作場合你也不能太過愜意了。
（本文首發於滬江商務英語公衆號，掃碼關注，即可獲取更多商務英語資訊。轉載請“滬江商務英語”後臺聯繫！）
