什么样的工作是好工作

Asked what job they would take if they could have any, people unleash¹ their imaginations and dream of exotic places, powerful positions or work that involves alcohol and a paycheck at the same time.

如果能选择，你会做什么工作？对于这个问题，人们会充分施展想象力，幻想在异国他乡身居高位，或从事一边喝酒一边拿工资的事情。

Or so you'd think.

大概你也这么想。

None of that appeals to Lori Miller² who, as a lead word processor, has to do things that don't seem so dreamy, including proofreading³, spell checking and formatting⁴. But she loves it.

可是这些全都没有让首席文字处理员Lori Miller心动。她的工作似乎不那么美妙，比如校正、拼写核对及整理格式。可是她却乐在其中。

"I like and respect nearly all my co-workers, and most of them feel the same way about me," she says. "Just a few things would make it a little better," she says, including a shorter commute⁵ and the return of some great people who used to work there. And one more thing: She'd appreciate if everyone would put their dishes in the dishwasher.

她说：“我喜欢并尊敬所有同事，他们多数人对我也是一样的感觉。只需一点点改进就能让这份工作更好了。”她所指的包括：上班距离更近；过去跳槽的好职员能回来；另外，她希望大家都把用过的碗碟放入洗碗机内。

It's not a lot to ask for and, it turns out, a surprising number of people dreaming up their dream job don't ask for much. One could attribute it to lack of imagination, setting the bar low or "anchoring," the term referring to the place people start and never move far from. One could chalk it up to rationalizing your plight⁶.

这要求不算高。让人惊讶的是，很多做着白日梦的人们实际上也没有太高要求。有人会将此归结为缺乏想象力、要求太低或是“守旧”——愿意停在一开始的地方，永远都离它不远。有人说，愿意“守旧”其实是为自己的窘境找借口。

But maybe people simply like what they do and aren't, as some management would have you believe, asking for too much -- just the elimination⁷ of a small but disproportionately powerful amount of office inanity⁸.

但也许人们就是喜欢自己的工作而且不会要求太多（正如一些管理人希望让你相信的那样），只要去除掉办公室里为数不多却能量惊人的愚蠢行径就行。

That may be one reason why two-thirds of Americans would take the same job again "without hesitation⁹" and why 90% of Americans are at least somewhat satisfied with their jobs, according to a Gallup Poll.

这也许就是为什么Gallup调查发现，有三分之二的美国人愿意毫不犹豫地投奔老东家， 90%的美国人至少对工作有一些满意的原因。

The matters that routinely rank high on a satisfaction scale don't relate to money but "work as a means for demonstrating some sort of responsibility and achievement," says Barry Staw, professor of leadership and communication at University of California, Berkeley's Haas School of Business. "Pay -- even when it's important, it's not for what you can buy, it's a validation¹⁰ of your work and approval."

按Barry Staw教授的话说，对工作满意程度影响大的因素都和钱无关，“人们认为工作是一种展示责任和成就的方式”。Barry Staw在加州大学伯克利分院Haas商学院开设领导及沟通课程。他说：“薪酬的重要性不在于你能用它买到什么，而是对你工作和认可的证明。”

So, money doesn't interest Elizabeth Gray as much as a level playing field. "I like what I do," says the city project manager who once witnessed former colleagues award a contractor¹¹, paid for work he never completed, with the title of "Contractor of the Year."

所以对Elizabeth Gray来说，相对金钱，一个机会平等的平台更让她感兴趣。作为城市规划管理人员，她目睹之前的同事们将“年度承包商”的头衔授予一位根本没有完成任务的承包商。“我喜欢我所做的。”

Thus: "My dream job would be one free of politics," she says. "All advancement¹² would be based on merit. The people who really did the work would be the ones who received the credit."

她说：“我的理想工作没有办公室政治。所有的奖励都根据表现。真正付出劳动的人应该获得嘉奖。”

Frank Gastner has a similar ideal: "VP in charge of destroying inane¹³ policies." Over the years, he's had to hassle with the simplest of design flaws that would cost virtually nothing to fix were it not for the bureaucracies that entrenched¹⁴ them. So, the retired¹⁵ manufacturer's representative says he would address product and process problems with the attitude, "It's not right; let's fix it now without a committee meeting."

Frank Gastner的想法也类似：“副总裁负责消灭愚蠢的政策。”常年以来，他和那些最简单的设计缺陷做斗争，如果不是因为官僚作风，修补这些缺陷不花什么钱。因此这位曾经的制造商代表说，他会将产品、流程和态度联系在一起：“这不对。我们现在就纠正它，不需要开什么委员会”。

Monique Huston actually has her dream job -- and many tell her it's theirs, too. She's general manager of a pub in Omaha, the Dundee Dell, which boasts 650 single-malt scotches¹⁶ on its menu. She visits bars, country clubs, people's homes and Scotland for whiskey tastings. "I stumbled on my passion in life," she says.

Monique Huston用有一份理想的工作，而且许多人告诉她这工作也是他们所梦想的。她是奥马哈市一家酒馆的总经理。这家名为Dundee Dell的酒馆供应650种单麦芽苏格兰威士忌。为了推销威士忌，她走访了酒吧、乡村俱乐部、民宅。她说：“我这个激情是偶然发现的。”

Still, some nights she doesn't feel like drinking -- or smiling. "Your face hurts," she complains. And when you have your dream job you wonder what in the world you'll do next.

不过有些时候她也不喜欢品酒或微笑。她抱怨：“脸会疼。”当你拥有了一份理想工作，你会想，接下来还有什么可做的。

One of the big appeals of a dream job is dreaming about it. Last year, George Reinhart saw an ad for a managing director of the privately¹⁷ owned island of Mustique in the West Indies.

白日梦本身就是一件幸福的事。去年George Reinhart发现位于西印度群岛的Mustique私人岛在招聘总经理。

He was lured¹⁸ by the salary ($1 million) and a climate that beat the one enjoyed by his Boston suburb. A documentary he saw about Mustique chronicled the posh playground for the likes of Mick Jagger and Princess Margaret. He reread Herman Wouk's "Don't Stop the Carnival," about a publicity¹⁹ agent who leaves his New York job and buys an island hotel. In April of last year, he applied²⁰ for the job.

他被1百万美元的薪水和比波斯顿市郊宜人的气候所吸引。他看过有关此岛的一部纪录片，那是上好的休闲胜地，专门服务Mick Jagger及Princess Margaret这类名流。他重读了Herman Wouk的小说《不停狂欢》，书中讲述一位纽约的宣传代理人辞职买下了一个岛屿旅店。在去年四月他申请了这份工作。

He heard nothing. So last May, he wrote another letter: "I wanted to thank you for providing the impetus²¹ for so much thought and fun." He didn't get the job but, he says, he takes comfort that the job hasn't been filled. "So, I can still dream," he adds.

但是却没有音讯。于是去年五月他又写了一封信。在信中他称：“我想感谢你给我带来这么多的思索和乐趣。”他表示虽然自己没有获得工作，但是却感到安慰，因为也没有其他人获得这职务。“所以，我还能继续梦想。”

I told him the job had been filled by someone -- but only after he said, "I need to know, because then I can begin to dream of his failure."

我告诉他有人已经获得这份工作了。在这之前，他说：“我想知道，因为那样我能开始幻想他会失败。”