「別給我問題，給我解答」的問題 - 1
「純翻譯」一直是我覺得不是很"盡責"的內容，因為不算是「消化輸出」。但從以前到現在，幾次測試下來，我都覺得逐句的認真翻譯，才是讓我對所讀的內容有更精確理解的方式。也許這些內容現在不是我的，但我很確定最終它們還是會被我消化輸出到別的文章去。
雖然說確實是翻譯，不過至少我對自己的翻譯品質有一定的自信。希望也能帶給大家一點新思維的啟發。
The Problem with Saying “Don’t Bring Me Problems, Bring Me Solutions” (hbr.org)
It’s time to retire the saying “Don’t bring me problems, bring me solutions.” Even though advocates of this approach believe it reduces whining[^1], increases empowerment, helps employees manage up, and boosts careers, it’s fraught with[^2] challenges.
是時候該停止說「別給我問題，給我解答」的時候了。雖然提出此建議的學者相信，這能減少尖銳的報怨，增加更多賦能，幫助員工向上管理，甚至有加速職涯成長的效果，但要停止這種要求，仍是充滿許多挑戰。
Not every problem has an easy solution. Tackling the complexity of most significant business issues can take a pool of talented people with diverse points of view. What’s more, according to Wharton professor Adam Grant, solution-only thinking creates “a culture of advocacy instead of one of inquiry,” where each person comes into the situation locked into their way of solving the problem and lobbies[^3] hard for that particular solution rather than considering multiple perspectives.
不是每個問題都有簡單的解法。要解決複雜的，重要的商業問題，可能會需要一缸子，不同領域的天才，以不同的角度切入，才有可能提供解答。更何況，華頓商學院的教授Adam Grant指出，只要求解答的思維，會造就出「倡議文化」。也就是說，每個人都只想要鎖定一個可成為解法的方向，然後汲汲營營的去尋求支持，而不是從一開始就以多元不同的角度去思考問題。
The “bring me a solution” approach can also cause employees to shut down in fear, breed a culture of intimidation[^4], and prevent some problems from surfacing until they’re full-blown crises. Consider the example of one of my clients, James (not his real name), who is the president of a company working on a disruptive service in his industry. He often has an unpleasant reaction when staff raises problems. His team members told me that if they raise an issue or risk, James often hears failure and reacts by losing his temper and raising his voice. The outbursts hurt morale and often cause his team members to lose enthusiasm toward projects and become hesitant to mention problems to James. As a result, James’s team only provides him with good news about initiatives they’re working on, leaving James blind to any potential issues. They also spend a lot of time in each other’s offices, licking their wounds after James’ outbursts, instead of being productive.
「給我答案」的思維方式，也會造成員工因害怕而閉上嘴。是最適合創造恐嚇文化，也是讓問題無法浮上水面而直接爆炸的最佳環境。我的一個客戶James(化名)在他所屬的產業中，從事一項顛覆性的服務。當下屬回報一些問題時，他總是有很不爽的反應。他的下屬告訴我，如果他們提報一個問題或是風險，James聽到的往往是「失敗」，而且會有失去耐性，提高音量等反應。他這種失控的反應嚴重傷害了團隊士氣，而且也讓他的團隊成員，失去了對這份工作的熱情。後續若要向James回報問題，他們會有更大的疑慮。之後，他的成員開始只回報好的消息，或是他們正在進行的部分，這讓James對任何潛在的問題渾然不知。這些下屬也會花不少時間在彼此的辦公室互相取暖，完全沒有生產力可言。
If saying “don’t bring me problems” is so troublesome, why do so many managers continue say it? A key reason is because they want to avoid a culture of complaining. But communicating about the potential pitfalls and roadblocks for an initiative[^5] is different from complaining, and it can take a more positive form. When issues are communicated properly, it creates an environment where people feel safe to bring you bad news early, giving you precious lead time to avert a crisis.
如果說「別給我問題」是會帶來更多麻煩的，那為什麼那麼多的管理者都一直這麼做？一個關鍵的理由是因為管理者們要避免團隊陷入一種「抱怨」的文化。但討論和評估潛在的問題或是現有的障礙，和抱怨是不一樣的事情，而且這應該是一個正向的溝通。若這種溝通能妥善進行，就能創造出一種環境，能讓人們對「回報壞消息」有安全感，也能為管理者帶來更多的處理時間，避免事情變成一場無可挽回的災難。
Here’s how you can encourage your team to bring up problems in a more productive way:
Make it safe. Modify your behavior so that people aren’t afraid to bring you bad news. When I worked at Microsoft, our reviews with Bill Gates often included detailed discussions about problems. Gates says in his book Business at the Speed of Thought that one of his most important jobs as CEO was to listen for bad news so that he could act on it. Discussing potential issues with him and others in the company also helped us to see problems in a new light[^6].
James, on the other hand, equated someone bringing him a problem with a lack of ownership. After discussing this in a coaching session, James began to understand the part he played in creating a culture where people only brought him good news — or, worse, covered up bad news. To combat this, James is learning to pause, paraphrase the concern, and then ask questions about the problem. Doing so has helped him to discover things the rest of his leadership team had known for a while but had been too afraid to bring up to him.
以下是你可以鼓勵你的團隊，給你帶來「更有建設性」的壞消息的重點：
讓這件事更安全點。控制好你的行為，好讓人們不害怕告訴你壞消息。在我在微軟工作的時候，我們和比爾蓋茲的覆審討論中，通常就會包括細節的問題討論。蓋茲在他的著作《Business at the Speed of Thought》提到，身為CEO，他最重要的工作就是來聽壞消息的，這樣他才有辦法做出應對措施。不管是和他，或是公司裡的其他人，討論潛在的危機，都能幫助我們以更正面積極，或是更新的方式去看事情。
相反的，James總是把帶壞消息來的人，認定為缺乏當責意識。在之後對他的教練課程討論中，James開始瞭解到，他是創建「報喜不報憂」這種有毒文化的一份子。為了修正這個問題，James學習怎麼把自己的情緒按下暫停鍵，然後重塑另一種表達關注的方式，理性的詢問回報上來的問題的細節。這麼做之後，他開始發現一些事情和問題了，而這些事是他的領導團隊中早就知道，但卻一直害怕讓他知道的事。