送給年輕人的擇業建議
Last week I stumbled upon an article by the chief executive of Boston Consulting Group telling twentysomethings how to “accelerate” their careers. Rich Lesser has based his advice on his own splendid, if safe, one — a few years at Procter & Gamble followed by an MBA from Harvard and then 28 years at BCG. Along the way he has spoken to thousands of young people and felt moved to tell them where they were going wrong — and how they could become more like him.
近日我偶然看見一篇由波士頓諮詢集團(BCG)首席執行官裏奇•萊塞(Rich Lesser)寫的文章，講的是20多歲的年輕人該如何“促進”自身事業的發展。萊塞的建議是基於他自身輝煌（也四平八穩）的職業經歷提出的——在寶潔(Procter & Gamble)工作了幾年後，他從哈佛取得了MBA學位，隨後在BCG工作了28年。一路走來，他對無數年輕人講過話，併發自內心地覺得應該告訴他們哪裏做得不對——以及怎樣他們才能變得更像他。
The piece was on LinkedIn months ago but BCG is so taken by Mr Lesser’s insights that it is still trumpeting them on social media. However, when I read the article through to its conclusion — “with self-reflection, focus, and a commitment to investing in yourself and making a difference, you can find the place that is right for you” — boredom gave way to alarm. This was very bad advice indeed and I needed to protect twentysomethings from trying to follow it.
這篇文章發表在領英(LinkedIn)上已有數月，但BCG對萊塞的見解推崇備至，因此至今仍在社交媒體上推送着這篇文章。開始讀這篇文章時，我原本只是覺得有些無聊，然而通篇讀完後，無聊轉爲憂慮。文章的結論是：“憑藉自省、專注、努力自我投資、努力帶來改變，你就能找到適合自己的舞臺。”這是非常糟糕的建議，我得阻止20多歲的年輕人試圖照他的建議做。
His first tip is to choose “something you find truly energising and satisfying”. This sounds OK, but there are three things wrong with it. It is vapid — no one would recommend a job that was enervating and frustrating. Second, it is unhelpful, as when you are in your twenties it is hard to know if you are going to find a job satisfying until you have tried it. Third, it sets expectations far too high. Even the best jobs are only intermittently energising or satisfying. For a lot of the time they are boring or frustrating or both. The gap between expectation and reality is the biggest problem for millennials, and Mr Lesser ought not to widen it.
他的第一條小建議是，選擇“能真正爲你帶來活力和滿足感的事情”。聽上去不錯，但這條建議有三點錯誤。首先它空洞乏味——誰也不會推薦一個讓人喪失活力、感到挫敗的工作。其次它毫無用處，因爲20多歲時，不試一試，很難知道一份工作能不能爲自己帶來滿足感。最後，它把期望值設得太高。即便最好的工作也不總是能帶來活力和滿足感。很多時候，它們或枯燥乏味，或讓人挫敗，又或兩者兼備。理想和現實的差距是千禧一代面臨的最大問題，萊塞不應將這種差距擴大。
Next he suggests going for an employer where you will learn things. “Your twenties are a unique period to build a set of capabilities that will last a lifetime.” No, they are not. No set of capabilities, as he puts it, lasts more than a decade or two apart, possibly, from the ability to form a sentence, add up and get on with people. Skills and experience get out of date.
接着他建議年輕人去一個能學到本事的地方工作。“20幾歲是一段獨特的時期，此間你掌握的一整套技能將讓你受用一生。”不，並非如此。也許除了造句、算數和與人融洽相處的能力，沒有“一整套技能”（如他所說）可以讓你持續受用10年或20年。技能和經驗是會過時的。
His next criterion — can I make a difference? — is more problematic still. Not only is this the wrong thing for 20-year-olds to ask, as no one makes a difference when starting out, it is wrong for people of any age. I am not sure why we have become so hooked on difference-making per se. Surely it all depends what the difference is. The palliative care nurse at the Whittington hospital who nursed my father in the last days of his life made a difference I will never forget. Equally Sir Philip Green made a difference that the pensioners at BHS won’t forget in a hurry either.
他的下一條準則——我能帶來改變嗎？——更有問題。這不僅不是20多歲的人應該提出的問題（因爲沒有人在起步階段就能帶來改變），任何年齡段的人都不應問這個問題。我不確定我們何以變得如此癡迷於帶來改變本身。毫無疑問應該看具體是什麼樣的改變。在我父親最後的時日裏爲他提供安寧護理(palliative care)的惠廷頓醫院(Whittington hospital)護士帶來的改變，我將終生銘記。同樣，菲利浦•格林爵士(Sir Philip Green)帶來的改變，英國百貨公司BHS的養老金領取者們也不會輕易忘記。
For most wage slaves it is hard to say what difference we make, but that does not render our jobs pointless. Do management consultants make a difference? Do I? It all depends on your starting point. I imagine today I will make a minor difference to Mr Lesser — though perhaps not a positive one.
對大多數工薪族而言，很難說我們帶來什麼改變，但那並不表示我們的工作毫無意義。管理顧問們帶來什麼改變嗎？我帶來什麼改變嗎？這完全取決於你從哪裏算起。我想今天我將爲萊塞帶來些許改變——雖然可能不是正面的改變。
His final question is the worst of all: can I find balance? The answer to this is no, as there is no such thing as balance. Instead all workers have a choice: working all the time, or not working all the time. It would be better if the CEO of one of the grandest management consultancies in the world told 20-year-olds that he ran a sweat shop for the elite and that working there would mean having to cancel all dates, all birthday parties and all fun outings at a moment’s notice.
他最後的那個問題最糟：我能找到平衡嗎？答案是不能，因爲不存在所謂的平衡。相反所有打工者都有一個選擇：要麼一直工作，要麼一直不工作。作爲全球最大的管理諮詢公司之一的首席執行官，萊塞若能這樣告訴20多歲的年輕人也許更好：BCG是一家血汗工廠，只不過在裏面賣命的是精英人士；在那裏工作意味着一聲令下，你就不得不馬上取消所有安排，不管是約會、生日派對、還是外出遊玩的計劃。
Like Mr Lesser, I have had a safe, unimaginative sort of career involving just two employers: JPMorgan and the Financial Times. But since my day, and since Mr Lesser’s, two big things have changed. For us, the corporate life was more or less compulsory if you were interested in business; now it is optional as there are start-ups instead. Some people are suited to life in big corporations, others less so. It is hard to know until you try it, so my advice is to take a corporate job early on to find out how much you (dis)like it.
像萊塞一樣，我的職業生涯安穩、乏味，只經歷過兩任僱主：摩根大通(JPMorgan)和英國《金融時報》（簡稱FT）。不過與我那年代以及萊塞那年代相比，當今時代發生了兩個重大改變。對我們來說，如果對商業感興趣，或許就必須選擇職場生活；如今則不然，因爲你也可以選擇去創業。一些人適合在大企業工作，其他人則未必。你不親自試試就很難知道，所以我的建議是早一點兒找份公司裏的工作，再搞清楚你有多喜歡（或不喜歡）它。
The second change is that working life is now so long, there is no hurry to get it right first time — which leads to my second point. If you take a few bad turns, it does not matter.
第二個改變是如今工作生涯非常長，不必急於一開始就找對工作——由此引出我的第二條建議。走些彎路，也不要緊。
In deciding to go for P&G and then BCG Mr Lesser drew up spreadsheets — only in the end to go with his heart. I did no such thing. I went for JPMorgan and later for the FT because they were the only companies offering me a job. It seemed a great reason to pick them then. It is still a great reason today.
在做出去寶潔及後來去BCG的決定過程中，萊塞繪製了電子表格——只是他到頭來還是聽從了內心的選擇。我沒做過這種事。我去摩根大通和後來去FT是因爲只有它們錄用了我。之所以選擇它們，當時這似乎是很重要的原因。現在依然如此。
