So it came as a bit of a shock, when I attended my 15th reunion last summer, to learn how many of my former classmates weren’t overjoyed by their professional lives — in fact, they were miserable.
当我去年夏天参加第15次同学会时，我感到有些震惊。因为我发现，以前的同学中有许多人对自己的职业生活并没有欣喜若狂——事实上，他们很痛苦。

Most of us were living relatively normal, basically content lives. But even among my more sanguine classmates, there was a lingering sense of professional disappointment. They talked about missed promotions, disaffected children and billable hours in divorce court. They complained about jobs that were unfulfilling, tedious or just plain bad.
我们中的大多数都过着相对正常、基本满足的生活。但即使在我那些比较乐观的同学中间，职业上的失望情绪也挥之不去。他们谈论着错失的晋升机会、疏远的孩子以及离婚法庭的可计费时数。他们抱怨工作没有成就感、单调乏味，或者干脆就是糟糕。

Why? Based on my own conversations with classmates and the research I began reviewing, the answer comes down to oppressive hours, political infighting, increased competition sparked by globalization, an “always-on culture” bred by the internet — but also something that’s hard for these professionals to put their finger on, an underlying sense that their work isn’t worth the grueling effort they’re putting into it.
为什么会这样呢？根据我跟同学的对话，以及开始查阅的研究，答案可以归结为难以忍受的工作时数、政治内耗、全球化带来的竞争加剧、互联网孕育出的“永远在线文化”——但还有这些职场人士也说不清的原因，那是一种隐隐的感觉——他们的工作不值得他们投入那么多辛苦。

For those who do find themselves miserable at work, it’s an important reminder that the smoothest life paths sometimes fail to teach us about what really brings us satisfaction day to day. According to studies, additional salary and benefits don’t reliably contribute to worker satisfaction. Much more important are things like whether a job provides a sense of autonomy — the ability to control your time and the authority to act on your unique expertise. People want to work alongside others whom they respect (and, optimally, enjoy spending time with) and who seem to respect them in return.
对于那些感觉在工作中很痛苦的人来说，这是一个重要的提示：一帆风顺的人生道路有时并不能教会我们，什么才是每天都能带来真正满足感的东西。根据多项研究，一旦你能为自己和家人提供经济上的支持，额外的工资和福利并不一定会提高员工的满意度。更重要的事情是，诸如工作是否能提供自主权——能够控制时间的能力，以及根据自己的独特专长行事的权力。人们希望与他们尊重的人一起工作（最好还能一起消磨时间），以及对方似乎也尊重他们。

And finally, workers want to feel that their labors are meaningful. We want to feel that we’re making the world better, even if it’s as small a matter as helping a shopper find the right product at the grocery store. You can be a salesperson, or a toll collector, but if you see your goal as solving people’s problems, then each day presents 100 opportunities to improve someone’s life, and your satisfaction increases dramatically. Finding meaning, whether as a banker or a janitor, is difficult work. Usually life, rather than a business-school classroom, is the place to learn how to do it.
最后，员工想要感到他们付出的劳动是有意义的。我们想要感到我们在让世界变得更好，即便只是像帮购物者在杂货店找到对的产品这样的小事情。你可以是一名销售，或收费员，但如果你把你的目标看成是帮人解决问题，那么每天都会有100个机会帮助他人改善生活，而且你的满足感会大幅提升。无论是银行家还是清洁工，寻找人生意义都是一项艰难的工作。这通常要在生活中去学习，而不是在商学院的课堂里。