(来源：EnglishCN.com)

I've been fortunate in working in meritocracies most of my life, but that's not the norm. Among fictional examples, consider the television comedy "The Office": Who in his or her right mind would promote the cold, manipulative Angela Martin over the amiable Jim Halpert? The popular paper salesman proves the study's point, rising fast on the Dunder Mifflin organization chart with his smart "people skills", despite his indifference to his job.

我很庆幸自己大多数时间都工作在唯才是举的环境，但这不是普遍现象。如果要找个虚构的例子，可以想想电视喜剧《办公室》里的情况：思维正常的人谁会提拔冷漠苦干的安吉拉·马丁而不是和善亲切的吉姆·哈本特？这位广受欢迎的纸品推销员以自身经历验证了上述研究结果：尽管对工作漠不关心，但哈本特却以聪明的“为人处事”在Dunder Mifflin公司迅速窜升。

In fact, what these researchers call popularity, career coaches might call savvy office politics the art of getting people in your corner. And it's clearly a big deal in many workplaces. A Salary.com survey last fall found dealing with office politics was one of the top two time-wasters at work, after "fixing someone else's work".

实际上，这些研究人员所谓的人际关系，职场教练可能会称之为“办公室政治”──让人站到你这边的技巧。这在很多工作场所显然非常重要。Salary.com去年秋天的一项调查发现，应对办公室政治排在“替他人收拾烂摊子”之后，成为职场第二大分散工作精力的烦心事。