I’ve been given a 22-year-old to manage who has a first-class degree from Cambridge — and is a first-class pain in the butt.

公司讓我去管理一個22歲的年輕人，他是劍橋的優等畢業生——也是個一等一的刺頭。

I’ve asked him to work on some slides for a presentation, which he has done carelessly.

我讓他做幾張演講用的幻燈片，他給我敷衍了事。

When I pointed out all the fonts and colours were not our house style he had the cheek to say that he did it that way because it looked better.

我說他用的字體和顏色都不是我司的風格，他居然有臉說他那樣做更好看。

Pep talks don’t work; he just shrugs and looks condescending.

對他進行勵志無濟于事；他只是聳聳肩，露出不屑一顧的神態。

How can I make him buckle down and get on with it?

我怎樣才能讓他踏下心來好好干活？

Manager, male 51

經理，男，51歲。

Lucy Kellaway’s answer

露西的回答

People with first-class degrees from Cambridge are not usually well suited to the corporate world.

劍橋的優等畢業生們大都不太適合職場生活。

In his short life this young Turk has been very successful at one thing.

在他年輕的生命里，這個憤青只干成了一件事。

Now he is being asked to do something else for which not only does his degree not help, it un-helps.

現在讓他去干點別的，他的學位幫不上忙不說，還敗事有余。

Getting a first means slogging away amassing a lot of knowledge and then doing something original with it.

成為優等生意味著埋頭苦學積累大量的知識，再用知識去做一點獨創的事情。

Big companies cannot really deal with originality; for all their talk of creativity, they only work if everyone does everything more or less the same way.

而大公司不能真的把握好獨創力；盡管他們大談創造力，但只有在每個人都差不多步調一致的情況下，公司才能運轉。

That’s why they make a big deal of their fonts all being the same.

這就是為什么他們在意字體的統一。

Equally, getting a first involves spending a lot of time in a library on your own.

而且，成為優等生要花大量時間在圖書館里自習。

There is no need to cultivate anyone, or even to be minimally polite.

用不著應酬誰，連最基本的禮貌都用不著。

This is the worst possible preparation for corporate life, which demands that everyone goes through the pretence of liking all the people they are forced to work with.

而以這種狀態應對職場生活是最糟糕的，職場要求人們對自己被迫共事的所有人都假裝喜歡。

There’s another thing too. Possession of a first-class degree means that your ageing managers who are not similarly endowed are likely to resent you.

另外，作為優等畢業生意味著你那些沒有類似學歷的年長上司們很有可能看不慣你。

That is what has happened in this case.

這個案例就是這樣。

You see this young man as a spoilt, lazy pain in the butt — and in return he doubtless sees you as a pedantic and stupid old man who personifies everything he has already learnt to hate in his job.

你認為這個小伙子是個被人慣壞的、懶惰的刺頭——但反過來他也一定認為你是個迂腐的笨老頭，是他對這份工作已經討厭的一切的化身。

I’m expecting him to write to me complaining about his intolerable situation any day now.

我隨時期待他來信向我吐槽他的各種不能忍。

He needs a pep talk but so do you.

他需要有人對他勵志，而你也需要。

Yours goes like this.

下面是對你的勵志。

You have been given this man to manage, so manage him.

既然你被指派去管理這個人，那就好好管理他。

It is your job to find out what his skills are (apart from writing essays) and see if you can give him something more interesting to do.

你的工作是弄清他擅長干什么（除了寫論文），然后看看能否讓他做些更有意思的工作。

Equally you have to explain to him how the system works.

同樣你得給他解釋體制是如何運作的。

As he is starting out he may have to do some tasks that he thinks are beneath him.

鑒于他剛剛踏入職場，他可能不得不做些讓他覺得不屑的工作。

Tell him about the importance of office politics and help him understand how to play the game better (for example, by doing what he’s told, looking less snooty, and so on).

告訴他辦公室政治的重要性，并幫他弄明白怎樣才能更好地打成一片（比如，依照吩咐行事，別流露出目中無人的神態等等）。

Explain to him why fonts matter.

給他解釋為什么字體很重要。

Explain why it matters that your presentation is correct and why it is his job to correct it.

為什么你的演講一切正確很重要，而他的工作就是做出正確的幻燈片。

When you have explained it all, if he is as recalcitrant as ever, you can stop managing him.

如果你把這些都給他講明白了，他還一如既往地拎不清，那就隨他的便。

He won’t stay long and so he isn’t worth bothering with.

他呆不了多久，所以不值得在他身上費心思。

I’ve been given a 22-year-old to manage who has a first-class degree from Cambridge — and is a first-class pain in the butt.

公司讓我去管理一個22歲的年輕人，他是劍橋的優等畢業生——也是個一等一的刺頭。

I’ve asked him to work on some slides for a presentation, which he has done carelessly.

我讓他做幾張演講用的幻燈片，他給我敷衍了事。

When I pointed out all the fonts and colours were not our house style he had the cheek to say that he did it that way because it looked better.

我說他用的字體和顏色都不是我司的風格，他居然有臉說他那樣做更好看。

Pep talks don’t work; he just shrugs and looks condescending.

對他進行勵志無濟于事；他只是聳聳肩，露出不屑一顧的神態。

How can I make him buckle down and get on with it?

我怎樣才能讓他踏下心來好好干活？

Manager, male 51

經理，男，51歲。

Lucy Kellaway’s answer

露西的回答

People with first-class degrees from Cambridge are not usually well suited to the corporate world.

劍橋的優等畢業生們大都不太適合職場生活。

In his short life this young Turk has been very successful at one thing.

在他年輕的生命里，這個憤青只干成了一件事。

Now he is being asked to do something else for which not only does his degree not help, it un-helps.

現在讓他去干點別的，他的學位幫不上忙不說，還敗事有余。

Getting a first means slogging away amassing a lot of knowledge and then doing something original with it.

成為優等生意味著埋頭苦學積累大量的知識，再用知識去做一點獨創的事情。

Big companies cannot really deal with originality; for all their talk of creativity, they only work if everyone does everything more or less the same way.

而大公司不能真的把握好獨創力；盡管他們大談創造力，但只有在每個人都差不多步調一致的情況下，公司才能運轉。

That’s why they make a big deal of their fonts all being the same.

這就是為什么他們在意字體的統一。

Equally, getting a first involves spending a lot of time in a library on your own.

而且，成為優等生要花大量時間在圖書館里自習。

There is no need to cultivate anyone, or even to be minimally polite.

用不著應酬誰，連最基本的禮貌都用不著。

This is the worst possible preparation for corporate life, which demands that everyone goes through the pretence of liking all the people they are forced to work with.

而以這種狀態應對職場生活是最糟糕的，職場要求人們對自己被迫共事的所有人都假裝喜歡。

There’s another thing too. Possession of a first-class degree means that your ageing managers who are not similarly endowed are likely to resent you.

另外，作為優等畢業生意味著你那些沒有類似學歷的年長上司們很有可能看不慣你。

That is what has happened in this case.

這個案例就是這樣。

You see this young man as a spoilt, lazy pain in the butt — and in return he doubtless sees you as a pedantic and stupid old man who personifies everything he has already learnt to hate in his job.

你認為這個小伙子是個被人慣壞的、懶惰的刺頭——但反過來他也一定認為你是個迂腐的笨老頭，是他對這份工作已經討厭的一切的化身。

I’m expecting him to write to me complaining about his intolerable situation any day now.

我隨時期待他來信向我吐槽他的各種不能忍。

He needs a pep talk but so do you.

他需要有人對他勵志，而你也需要。

Yours goes like this.

下面是對你的勵志。

You have been given this man to manage, so manage him.

既然你被指派去管理這個人，那就好好管理他。

It is your job to find out what his skills are (apart from writing essays) and see if you can give him something more interesting to do.

你的工作是弄清他擅長干什么（除了寫論文），然后看看能否讓他做些更有意思的工作。

Equally you have to explain to him how the system works.

同樣你得給他解釋體制是如何運作的。

As he is starting out he may have to do some tasks that he thinks are beneath him.

鑒于他剛剛踏入職場，他可能不得不做些讓他覺得不屑的工作。

Tell him about the importance of office politics and help him understand how to play the game better (for example, by doing what he’s told, looking less snooty, and so on).

告訴他辦公室政治的重要性，并幫他弄明白怎樣才能更好地打成一片（比如，依照吩咐行事，別流露出目中無人的神態等等）。

Explain to him why fonts matter.

給他解釋為什么字體很重要。

Explain why it matters that your presentation is correct and why it is his job to correct it.

為什么你的演講一切正確很重要，而他的工作就是做出正確的幻燈片。

When you have explained it all, if he is as recalcitrant as ever, you can stop managing him.

如果你把這些都給他講明白了，他還一如既往地拎不清，那就隨他的便。

He won’t stay long and so he isn’t worth bothering with.

他呆不了多久，所以不值得在他身上費心思。