????你肯定說過下面列出的某句話，而且曾承受過它所帶來的傷害。

????? “早上好。你終于來加入我們了，真好！”

????? “他午飯總是吃很長時間。”

????? “真希望我能每天4:30下班……肯定很棒！”

????? “他在自己的工位上呆過嗎？”

????? “每周五在家工作肯定棒極了。”

????? “她好像請病假去逛街了。”

????? “哇，她又回家照顧生病的孩子了。我得趕緊生個孩子。”

????這些話聽著耳熟嗎？我們把它們叫做“負面言論”。

????負面言論就是工作場所的閑言碎語，而且它們會不斷強化這樣一種觀點——人們不配被賦予自主權。我們在開發“只問結果的工作環境”（ROWE）時發現，對于一個高效、創意和令人滿意的工作場所來說，負面言論是最頑固、影響最大的障礙。負面言論可能是卑鄙的閑言碎語，也可能是友好的打趣。我們會因為許多原因傳播負面言論（既是名詞，也是動詞），但這些言論最終會直接或間接地導致不按“常規方式”上班的同事感到羞辱。

????負面言論是維持現狀的一種強大的力量，意味著只有朝九晚五呆在辦公室里才叫工作。負面言論依據下面的公式：

????結果 = 時間 + 實體存在

????這種公式實際是工業經濟時代的產物。在工業經濟時代，個人被當作可以替換的工廠部件對待。而在創意經濟時代，新的公式應該是：結果 = 結果。句號。

????令人難以置信的是，這種觀念到現在依然是一種革命性的理念。領導者可能會說，他們希望公司所有人都充滿想象力、精神飽滿、富有激情，但他們卻很少會去清除這些有害的負面言論。負面言論在不斷強化這樣的觀點——不按常規方式工作的人要么是沒有盡職，要么是在利用制度漏洞。而在只問結果的工作環境中，每一位員工都擁有同樣多的自主權和責任。像個成年人一樣做好自己的工作。就是這么簡單。

????以前塵土飛揚的工作場所可能正在慢慢消失，但即使是出于最好的本意，我們也可能會形成一些有害的趨勢，結果為工廠思維提供了生存的土壤。如何清除這些有害趨勢？這里有三條建議。

????1. 留神負面言論

????首先，你會聽到一些顯而易見的言論。你會聽到某位同事似乎毫無惡意的言論（“你今天加入我們，真是太好了。”），你認為這是負面言論。進而，你自以為發現了所謂的“背后負面言論”（即在某人背后發表負面言論）。這種關于某位同事的負面言論是在他不在場的情況下出現的。

????同事甲：“史蒂夫怎么得到升職的？他連公司公司都沒來過。”

????同事乙：“我知道，就算他來，他也總是遲到，而且中午飯吃很長時間。”

????你：“他每周二花很長時間吃午飯，完事之后還要慢跑，對吧？笑死人了。”

????負面言論聽的越多，你會發現，各種微妙的版本不僅圍繞在你周圍，而且你正在成為這些言論的源頭。

????You've dished it out before, and you've taken it.

????? "Well, good morning. Nice of you to finally join us!"

????? "He's always taking long lunches."

????? "Wish I could leave at 4:30 every day...must be nice!"

????? "Is he ever at his desk?"

????? "Sure must be great to work from home every Friday."

????? "Seems like she uses all her sick days to go shopping."

????? "Oh, she's home with a sick kid...again. I need to get myself a kid."

????Do any of these phrases sound familiar? We call this "sludge."

????Sludge is the workplace chatter that reinforces the idea that people can't be trusted with autonomy. We identified sludge as one of the most powerful and persistent barriers to a productive, creative, and fulfilling workplace when we were developing the Results-Only Work Environment (ROWE). Sludge can be mean-spirited gossip or even friendly banter. We sludge (it's a noun and a verb) for many reasons, but it's ultimately meant to either directly or indirectly shame a coworker for not approaching work the way it's "supposed" to be approached.

????Sludge is a powerful force in maintaining the status quo and implies that work only happens at the office between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. It follows the formula:

????Results = Time + Physical Presence.

????That formula is a relic of an industrial economy that treated individuals as interchangeable factory parts. In the creative economy, the new formula is: Results = Results. Period.

????It's hard to believe that this is still a revolutionary concept. Leaders might say they want the full imagination, energy, and passion of every person in the organization, but they do little to clear out the toxic sludge that reinforces the idea that anyone who operates outside of the prescribed norms is either goofing off or taking advantage of the system. In a results-only work environment, every employee has equal parts autonomy and accountability. Own your work and get it done like an adult. It's that simple.

????The dusty workplace of old may be slowly crumbling, but even those of us with the best intentions still have some toxic tendencies that keep the factory mentality alive. Here are three things you can do to clean it out of your lives.

????1. Listen for sludge

????At first, you'll hear the obvious. You'll hear what seems to be an innocent comment from a coworker ("How nice of you to join us today.") and you'll recognize it as sludge. Then you'll recognize in yourself what we call a "back sludge" conversation (as in, sludging behind someone's back). This is the sludge that's spewed about a co-worker who isn't within earshot:

????One coworker: "How is Steve getting a promotion? He's never even here."

????Another coworker: "I know and when he is here, he takes long lunches and comes in late."

????You: "And what about the jogs he takes after his long lunches on Tuesdays? That's getting ridiculous."

????The more you listen for sludge, the more you'll start to hear all of the subtle versions of it not just around you, but from you.