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Bartleby: The perils of perfectionism
巴托比：完美主義的危險性
A backlash against the tyranny of high expectations
苛刻的高期望引起的強烈反對
It is the world’s most tired interview question: what is your greatest weakness?
“你最大的缺點是什么？”這是世界上最陳詞濫調的面試問題。
And Rishi Sunak, one of the two remaining candidates in the race to become Britain’s prime minister, gave the world’s most tired answer—perfectionism—when he was asked it at an online hustings earlier this month.
本月早些時候，英國首相競選中剩下的兩位候選人之一里?！ぬK納克在一次網上競選中被問及這個問題時，給出了世界上最陳詞濫調的答案--完美主義。
No interviewee would answer this question with an unambiguous negative (“stupidity”, say, or “body odour”).
沒有一個面試者會在回答這個問題時給出一個明確的缺點(比如“糊涂”或“體臭”)。
Like all those who have reached for it before, Mr Sunak will have intended his reply to signal that his flaws are virtues, especially compared with the shambolic style of Boris Johnson’s outgoing government.
就像之前所有這么回答的人一樣，蘇納克的回復意在表明，他的缺點也是優點，這與即將離任的鮑里斯·約翰遜混亂的管理風格形成了尤其鮮明的對比。
But this classic response is riskier than it once was.
但這種經典回答比從前風險更大了。
In Mr Sunak’s case that is because the job of prime minister is largely to triage problems and make decisions at a relentless pace; even his supporters worry that his deliberative style would be a problem.
拿蘇納克的例子來說，這是因為總理的工作主要是對問題進行分類，并迅速做出決定；所以就連他的支持者也擔心，他的慎重風格會是一個問題。
More generally, perfectionism is increasingly out of step with the ways that products are developed, employees are treated and workforces are organised.
從更廣泛的意義上來說，完美主義與產品研發、員工待遇和員工組織的方式愈發不合拍。
Start with product development.
先來說產品研發。
Lots of digital types embrace the concept of the minimum viable product (MVP), in which companies ship prototypes that can be refined, or indeed scrapped, on the basis of feedback from early adopters.
許多數碼公司都信奉最簡可行產品(MVP)的概念，即公司推出產品原型，再根據早期用戶的反饋改進原型，甚至廢棄原型。
The essence of the MVP approach is anti-perfectionism: don’t procrastinate, don’t spend time sweating the tiniest details, get your product into users’ hands and see how it does.
MVP策略的本質是反完美主義：不要拖延，不要花時間去操心最微小的細節，先把產品送到用戶手中，看看效果如何。
Fussing about font sizes and nice-to-have features is a waste of time; the market will hone things for you, dispensing its judgments cumulatively and dispassionately.
糾結于字體大小和可有可無的功能是在浪費時間；市場會為你打磨產品，不斷給予你客觀評價。
A growing emphasis on employees’ well-being is another reason why perfectionism is out of favour.
對員工心理健康的日益重視是完美主義失寵的另一個原因。
The trait is on the rise: a study published in 2017 found that it had been steadily increasing among American, British and Canadian college students between 1989 and 2016 (before you blame Instagram, one big reason is rising parental expectations).
這種追求完美的趨勢正愈演愈烈：2017年發表的一項研究發現，1989年到2016年間，美國、英國和加拿大的大學生在心理健康方面追求完美的這一特征一直穩步上升(先別急著指責Instagram，父母的期望不斷提高是很重要的一個原因)。
The tyranny of excessively high expectations is not good for you: a big literature review in 2016 concluded that perfectionism is associated with a string of mental-health disorders, from depression and burnout to stress and self-harm.
期望過高帶來的苛刻對你沒有好處：2016年的一個長篇文獻綜述得出結論，完美主義與一系列心理健康障礙有關，包括抑郁、崩潰、壓力和自殘。
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