Saying "NO"

决不妥协, 拒绝背锅

I saw this cartoon in a tweet today. It’s the story of how a boss corrupts the work of a professional. It’s a funny cartoon, and a sad story that happens all too often in our profession. But who, exactly, was at fault?...

今天在tweet上看到一幅有趣的漫画: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/design_hell。说的是上级领导是怎样坑死一个专业设计师的。 漫画很有趣, 而且在实际工作中也经常发生这种悲剧。

到底应该是谁来背锅 ?

The difference between a laborer and a professional is that a laborer takes orders from his boss, and a professional provides input to his superiors. Laborers are hired to take direction. Professionals are hired to ensure that the direction chosen makes sense.

普通员工和专业人士的区别, 在于普通员工需要别人指挥着干活, 而专业人士能够为BOSS提供各种决策建议。招聘普通员工的关注点主要是执行能力, 要听指挥, 还能出活。 聘请专业人员的目的, 则是为了能够把控正确的方向。

Imagine this conversation between a patient and a doctor:

比如, 假设病人和医生之间, 有一场对话:

Patient: "My arm hurts."
Doctor:  "What would you like me to do about it?"
Patient: "Make my arm stop hurting."
Doctor:  "Do you want me to cut it off?, I can do that."
Patient: "No, I just want it to stop hurting."
Doctor:  "I could cut all the nerves to your arm.  That’ll stop it."
Patient: "Isn’t there something less drastic you could do?"
Doctor:  "Ooops, sorry, time for my break."

患者: "医生, 我胳膊受伤了。"
医生: "想要我帮你做点什么?"
患者: "有点疼, 能不能帮我止止疼。"
医生: "是要把胳膊锯掉么? 放心, 锯手这活我很在行！"
患者: "不不不,我的意思是帮我止痛就行了。"
医生: "止痛的话, 将手臂上的神经都阻断, 可以有效止疼。"
患者: "难道, 就没有危害小一点的治疗办法吗?"
医生: "哦哦哦~~抱歉抱歉~我今天的下班时间到了,下周我坐诊的时候你再过来让给你看看！"

Clearly we don’t expect doctors to behave this way. Even though the patient is the boss, the patient expects the doctor to have the answers and help set the direction.

看到这个医生在坑人, 是不是有点想揍他? 即便将对话中的患者换成你的上级, 肯定也是希望医生能够给个好办法, 以确定合适的治疗方式。

Here’s another version of the conversation:

下面换一个版本:

Patient:  "I want you to cut my arm off."
Doctor:   "What’s wrong with your arm?"
Patient:  "It hurts.  I’m tired of it.  Just cut it off."
Doctor:   "Let me see your arm.  Hmmm.  Looks like you’ve got a sprain or perhaps a hairline fracture.  We should take some X-Rays."
Patient:  "No, just cut it off."
Doctor:   "Sir, I do not cut off healthy arms."
Patient:  "But I’m paying you.  You have to do what I say!"
Doctor:   "No, sir, I don’t.  Cutting off your arm would violate my oath."

患者: "医生, 帮我把胳膊给锯了吧。"
医生: "你胳膊怎么了, 哪里不舒服?"
患者: "胳膊受伤了, 我实在是讨厌这胳膊, 所以请将它锯掉吧。"
医生: "让我看看, 嗯, 看起来好像是骨折了, 也可能有一点点骨裂。 最好是先照个X光片！"
患者: "不用照了, 直接锯手就行了。"
医生: "抱歉, 我绝不可能开这种处置措施的, 你这手还是好好的。"
患者: "但顾客是上帝呀！我付钱就行了, 你只要听我的就行！"
医生: "不行不行。这样会掉节操, 我是不会干的！"

Which of these two doctors would you rather be? Now project these two doctors into your own profession, and which would you rather be?

你希望碰到哪种医生? 假设你就是医生, 那你想做哪一种医生呢?

Programmers are professionals. They know more about designing and implementing software systems than their bosses do. Indeed, they are hired for this knowledge and expertise. And they have a solemn duty to prevent their managers from doing things that would be harmful.

程序员作为软件行业的专业人士, 比管理人员掌握更多的系统设计知识与开发经验。事实上,就是因为需要你的设计和开发经验才把你招进来. 你天然有一项神圣的义务, 防止项目经理干蠢事, 把你们团队带进坑里。

All this boils down to one simple thing. Professionals are willing to say “No”. When their managers come to them with direction that makes no sense, a professional programmer will refuse the direction.

将这一切归结为一个简单的道理。那就是, 如果管理人员乱指挥, 专业程序员就会拒绝执行。

Is this risky? Sure. But part of being a professional is the willingness to stand on principle. There are lines that a professional will not cross.

如果你真的拒绝执行, 那会有风险吗? 是的, 失业的风险。但作为专业人士, 你应该坚持原则, 不能没有底线。

Of course saying “No.” is only one side of the coin. Professionals are also expected to explain their positions, and come up with viable alternatives. Professionals negotiate with their superiors until both parties are satisfied with the chosen direction.

当然, 拒绝只是第一步。 专业人士会展现自己的职业素质, 提出可行的替代方案. 并与上级进行争取, 直到得出双方都满意的解决方案。

The poor web-designer schmuck in that cartoon was not behaving as a professional. He was behaving as a laborer. The fiasco at the end was his fault. He should have said “No.” and started a negotiation with his customer instead of just doing everything the customer said.

漫画中那个可怜的网页设计师看起来有点蠢, 不像是一个专业人员的行为。作为一个只会听别人指挥的打工者, 最后的结果当然是变成背锅侠。他应该勇敢地拒绝妥协, 从一开始就与客户进行有效的沟通谈判, 而不是完全听客户瞎掰扯。

The cartoonist painted the web-designer as a wise but impotent victim, and the boss as the overbearing dufus. The reality is that the web-designer took the role of the victim voluntarily and shirked his responsibility to refuse direction that he considered harmful.

漫画中塑造的是一个聪明却软弱的受害者设计师, 他的上级却是一个专横霸道的人. 事实上这个设计师也是咎由自取, 因为他逃避责任, 没有指出错误的地方。

If you are a professional, you never allow yourself to be put in the role of the victim.

如果你是专业人士, 就不应该干这些蠢事, 让自己变成受害者。

Posted by Uncle Bob on 12/04/2009

原文作者: Uncle Bob, 2009年12月04日

原文链接: https://sites.google.com/site/unclebobconsultingllc/blogs-by-robert-martin/saying-no