You've dished it out before, and you've taken it。你肯定說過下面列出的某句話，而且曾承受過它所帶來的傷害。

• "He's always taking long lunches."“他午飯總是吃很長時間。”

• "Wish I could leave at 4:30 every day...must be nice!"“真希望我能每天4:30下班……肯定很棒!”

• "Seems like she uses all her sick days to go shopping."“她好像請病假去逛街了。”

• "Oh, she's home with a sick kid...again. I need to get myself a kid."“哇，她又回家照顧生病的孩子了。我得趕緊生個孩子。”

Do any of these phrases sound familiar? We call this "sludge."這些話聽著耳熟嗎?我們把它們叫做“負面言論”。

Sludge is the workplace chatter that reinforces the idea that people can't be trusted with autonomy. We identified sludge as one of the most powerful and persistent barriers to a productive, creative, and fulfilling workplace when we were developing the Results-Only Work Environment (ROWE). Sludge can be mean-spirited gossip or even friendly banter. We sludge for many reasons, but it's ultimately meant to either directly or indirectly shame a coworker for not approaching work the way it's "supposed" to be approached。負面言論就是工作場所的閑言碎語，而且它們會不斷強化這樣一種觀點——人們配被賦予自主權。我們在開發(fā)“只問結果的工作環(huán)境” (ROWE)時發(fā)現(xiàn)，對于一個高效、創(chuàng)意和令人滿意的工作場所來說，負面言論是最頑固、影響最大的障礙。負面言論可能是卑鄙的閑言碎語，也可能是友好的打 趣。我們會因為許多原因傳播負面言論，但這些言論最終會直接或間接地導致不按“常規(guī)方式”上班的同事感到羞辱。

Here are three things you can do to clean the sludges out of your lives。這里有三條建議幫你清除這些負面言論。

1. Listen for sludge留神負面言論

At first, you'll hear the obvious. You'll hear what seems to be an innocent

comment from a coworker ("How nice of you to join us today.") and you'll recognize it as sludge. Then you'll recognize in yourself what we call a "back sludge" conversation (as in, sludging behind someone's back). This is the sludge that's spewed about a co-worker who isn't within earshot:首先，你會聽到一些顯而易見的言論。你會聽到某位同事似乎毫無惡意的言論(“你今天加入我們，真是太好了。”)，你認為這是負面言論。進 而，你自以為發(fā)現(xiàn)了所謂的“背后負面言論”(即在某人背后發(fā)表負面言論)。這種關于某位同事的負面言論是在他不在場的情況下出現(xiàn)的。

One coworker: "How is Steve getting a promotion? He's never even here."同事甲：“史蒂夫怎么得到升職的?他連公司公司都沒來過。”

Another coworker: "I know and when he is here, he takes long lunches and comes in late."同事乙：“我知道，就算他來，他也總是遲到，而且中午飯吃很長時間。”

You: "And what about the jogs he takes after his long lunches on Tuesdays? That's getting ridiculous."你：“他每周二花很長時間吃午飯，完事之后還要慢跑，對吧?笑死人了。”

The more you listen for sludge, the more you'll start to hear all of the subtle versions of it not just around you, but from you。負面言論聽的越多，你會發(fā)現(xiàn)，各種微妙的版本不僅圍繞在你周圍，而且你正在成為這些言論的源頭。

2. Point it out勇敢指出

When you hear these toxic phrases pop up in conversation, politely point it out to the person saying it. Don't let yourself or someone else feel guilty or judged by an outdated standard. We live in an amazing time where many of us (one day, maybe all of us) can own our work and live by the results we achieve, not the desk-time we put in at the office. Stand up and rebel against the system, don't be a party to it. The accountant who has worked all night on a deadline shouldn't get shamed by their coworker for "coming in late" and the mom who leaves the office at 3 p.m. to attend her daughter's ballet recital shouldn't be questioned by nosy cubicle neighbors about why she's leaving "early."當聽到對話中出現(xiàn)一些有害的內容時，禮貌地向說這些內容的人指出問題。不要讓你或其他人因為過時的標準而感到愧疚，或者受到評判。我們生 活在一個神奇的時代，許多人(或許有一天是所有人)可以做好自己的工作，我們的生活依靠的是我們實現(xiàn)的結果，而不是我們在辦公室里待的時間長短。站起來， 反抗制度，而不是成為制度的幫兇。為了趕時間而工作到深夜的會計不應該因為“上班晚”而被同事羞辱，為了觀看女兒的芭蕾舞表演而在下午3點離開辦公室的媽 媽不該被愛管閑事的鄰桌質問她為什么“提前”離開。

An easy way to redirect

the conversation when you hear such negative talk is to say, "Is there something you need?" For example, someone sees you leaving at 2 p.m. and says "2:00? Where are you headed so early?" Your response: "Is there something you need?" Sludge is stopped dead in its tracks and the conversation is back to results. Or, if a coworker says to you, "Did you see Allison come in at 10 a.m. again today?" Your response: "Did you need something from her?" Back sludge averted. On to more important matters。聽到這種負面言論時，改變談話方向的一種簡單方式是說：“你有什么事情需要我嗎?”比如，如果有人看到你在下午2點鐘離開并說“2點鐘? 你這么早是要去哪兒啊?”你可以這樣回答：“你有什么事情需要我嗎?”負面言論便會戛然而止，談話會重新回到結果上�；蛘�，如果同事對你說：“你看到了 嗎?艾莉森今天又是10點才來上班。”你可以回答：“你需要她為你做什么嗎?”避免了背后負面言論。話題轉移到更重要的事情上。

3. Don't sludge to make yourself look good不要踩著別人來抬高自己

Sludge gives traditional office dwellers the chance to make themselves look like hard-working, valuable employees, regardless of how well they're actually performing. Don't be that guy who throws a coworker under the bus for being 15 minutes "late" or for not approaching work exactly like you do. Focus on results and if you need to make yourself look good, then own your work, think harder about your customers, your company, and making progress for them。傳統(tǒng)“賴班族”往往利用負面言論，借此讓自己看起來工作很努力，是重要的員工，卻根本不考慮他們實際表現(xiàn)如何。不要因為同事“晚到”15分鐘或 者沒有像你一樣上班，就對同事落井下石。專注于結果，如果需要讓自己看起來更好，就應該去努力完成自己的工作，多考慮自己的客戶、公司，以及如何進步。

Working on a team without sludge is liberating. Guilt evaporates. Productivity increases。在沒有負面言論的團隊中工作是自由的。負罪感消失不見。工作效率大幅提高。