The Tw o Tribes of Work ing Life

Perhaps they are two of the most welcome words in the English language: “Meeting cancelled.”

When they cropped up in Bartleby's message the other day, he experienced a brief moment of elation.1. crop up: 冒出，突然出現(xiàn)；Bartleby: 巴特爾比，是美國(guó)作家赫爾曼·梅爾維爾（Herman Melville）的短篇小說(shuō)《抄寫員巴特爾比》（Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall-Street）中的主人公，受雇于一位華爾街律師。起初他勤奮能干，但拒絕做抄寫以外的工作。不久之后，他開始拒絕做任何事情，只重復(fù)說(shuō)“我不愿意”。在被解雇后，巴特爾比仍拒絕離開事務(wù)所，律師在忍無(wú)可忍之下只好搬走。最終，巴特爾比被辦公室的新主人送進(jìn)監(jiān)獄，并在獄中絕食而死。小說(shuō)反映了資本主義社會(huì)人與人之間的冷漠和疏離，以及商業(yè)化的美國(guó)社會(huì)對(duì)人的精神的壓抑、禁錮和摧殘。《經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)人》雜志借助該人物名字設(shè)置了專欄，文章主題聚焦職場(chǎng)與管理；elation: 興高采烈，歡欣鼓舞。In truth, the meeting turned out only to be postponed for two weeks, but procrastination is an under-appreciated pleasure.2. procrastination: 拖延，推遲（尤指不想做的事情）；under-appreciated: 未受到應(yīng)有重視的。

Workers, and possibly all people, can be divided into two groups. Those who like to be involved in everything and can be dubbed3. dub: 給……起綽號(hào)，把……稱為。“FOMOS” because they suffer from a “fear of missing out.” And then there are those who w ould ideally w ant to be left to get on w ith their ow n particular work, without distraction—the “JOMOS” (joy of missing out).

When The Economist moved offices in London in 2017, the new building came with a set of meeting spaces. As was inevitable, there are a lot more meetings. It is hard to w alk by these gatherings w ithout w ondering w ho these people are and what they are doing. (It mostly seems to involve them gazing earnestly at a projection of a computer screen.) Never once has Bartleby, who was born under the sign of JOMO, wanted to join one of the groups.

Readers will instantly know their tribe. If the boss announces a new project, do you immediately volunteer, thinking this will be a great chance to prove your skills? If so, you are a FOMO. Or do you foresee the hassle4. hassle: 麻煩。involved, the likely failure of the project, and the weekend emails from all the FOMOS wanting to spend less time with their families? Then you are a certif ied JOMO.

Another test is technology. FOMOS are early adopters, snapping up the latest gadgets and sending documents to colleagues via the latest f ile-sharing programme.5. snap up: 搶購(gòu)，此處指搶先使用或產(chǎn)品一經(jīng)推出就迫不及待地想要立刻使用；gadget: 精巧的裝置。JOMOS tend to believe that any tech upgrade will be initially troublesome and wonder why on earth their colleagues can't send the document as a PDF.

FOMOS relish the chance to take part in a videoconference call so that they can share fully in the dynamics of the meeting and not missing any clues about the participants' long-term agenda.6. FOMO一族很享受參加視頻電話會(huì)議的機(jī)會(huì)，這樣他們就可以在活躍的氛圍中充分交流彼此的觀點(diǎn)，而且不會(huì)對(duì)其他參與者提到的長(zhǎng)期規(guī)劃有任何遺漏。relish: 享受，喜歡。JOMOS deeply resent the video element, which prevents them from checking their emails or playing solitaire while Ted drones on about budgets for 20 minutes.7. solitaire: 單人紙牌游戲； drone on: 喋喋不休。

Networking events are the kind of thing that gets FOMOS excited as a chance to exchange ideas and make contacts. When JOMOS hear the word “netw orking,” they reach for their noise-cancelling headphones. For them, being made to attend an industry cocktail party is rather like being obliged to attend the wedding of someone they barely know; an extended session of social purgatory8. purgatory: 受難，痛苦的經(jīng)歷。.

Similarly, FOMOS see a breakfast meeting as a chance to start the day on a positive note. They would hate to turn one down in case they lost business, or the chance of career advancement. JOMOS resent setting their alarm earlier and would rather breakfast at their kitchen table, grumbling9. grumble: 抱怨，發(fā)牢騷。about the new s headlines to their spouse. If it is a work meeting, then hold it during w orking hours.

As for business travel, FOMOS can't wait to experience the delight of overseas conferences and visiting new places. It will all look good on their curriculum vitae10. curriculum vitae: 簡(jiǎn)歷，簡(jiǎn)稱CV，通常為英式用法，美式英語(yǔ)常用résumé。. JOMOS know that such travel involves cramped airline seats, jet lag and a long shuラe through immigration.11. cramped: 狹小的，擁擠的；jet lag: 時(shí)差反應(yīng)，飛行時(shí)差綜合征；shuff le: 挪動(dòng)，此處指在機(jī)場(chǎng)邊檢時(shí)乘客需要在各種通道里繞來(lái)繞去；immigration: 移民入境檢查站。The f inal destination tends not to be some exotic location but an identikit12. identikit: 千篇一律的。conference centre or hotel that they forget f ive minutes after they have departed.

JOMOS recognize that they have to attend some meetings and go on trips to get their work done. But they regard such things as a penance13. penance: 自我懲罰。not a privilege. Something useful may come out of it, but best not to get their hopes up14. get hope up: 使（對(duì)沒(méi)希望的事）抱有希望。.

It might seem obvious that employers should look to hire FOMOS, not their opposites. After all, in a company full of JOMOS, sales might suffer and there would be little innovation. But while FOMOS are racing from meeting to networking event, you need a few JOMOS to be doing actual work. If FOMOS are like dogs, barking excitedly and chasing their own tails, JOMOS are more feline15. feline: 貓科動(dòng)物的。. They w ill spring into action if a mouse is in the vicinity16. vicinity: 附近，鄰近地區(qū)。but, in the meantime, they are content to sit by the f ire.

The other reason w hy depending on FOMOS is dangerous is that they are naturally restless17. restless: 不滿足現(xiàn)狀的，求變的。. JOMOS w ill be loyal, for fear of ending up with a worse employer. But FOMOS may think that working for one company means they are missing out on better conditions at another. That is the point of most networking, after all.