職場兵法：如何破解老闆讓你背黑鍋

In too many workplaces, when something goes wrong, people waste far more time and energy assigning blame for it than trying to find a solution," observes Ben Dattner, adding that the recession exacerbated the problem, so that finger-pointing is now more widespread than ever.
本-達特納發現：“在職場上，一旦某件事出了差錯，人們會把更多的精力用於相互指責，而不是努力找出解決方案，這樣的情況太常見了。”他補充道，經濟衰退加劇了這個問題，所以現在轉嫁責任的做法比以前更要普遍。

An organizational psychologist and consultant, Dattner wrote a book called The Blame Game: How the Hidden Rules of Credit and Blame Determine Our Success or Failure. You don't mention whether you've ever talked with your boss about his habit of throwing you under the bus but, if not, it's time to start. "Confronting him is risky, but saying nothing and letting this go on is risky too," Dattner notes.
達特納是一位組織心理學家和顧問，曾寫過一本書，名爲《責備遊戲：榮譽潛規則和責備如何決定我們的成敗》。關於你的上司經常把你推下火坑這件事，不知道你是否與他交流過，如果還沒有，現在是時候了。達特納表示：“直接與他對質會有風險，但沉默和逆來順受同樣有風險。”

The key is in how you approach the conversation. Dattner suggests asking lots of questions about exactly why your boss believes a mistake was someone else's fault. Pinning him down on the details -- in a calm, non-accusatory way, of course -- will put him on notice that you're tired of being a scapegoat and you want to prevent it in the future. You may also learn something useful about how he perceives your role, and his own.
關鍵是如何發起對話。達特納建議，問一些具體的問題，比如你的上司爲什麼認爲錯誤是別人造成的。跟他討論出問題的細節，以此迫使他停止誣陷——當然要以平靜、而不是責難的方式。這會讓他意識到，你已經受夠了繼續做他的替罪羊，你希望在未來阻止這樣的事情再次發生。你還可能瞭解到一些有用的東西，比如他如何看待你的角色和他的職責。

"Try to get to the bottom of what's really going on here," Dattner advises. Is it possible, for instance, that who was accountable for which parts of a given project wasn't clear at the outset, so your boss genuinely believes you or a teammate dropped the ball? "The biggest mistake I've seen people make is reacting to a situation, usually angrily, without really understanding it first."
達特納說：“儘量弄清楚事情的真相。”比如，有沒有可能是因爲在最開始，大家並沒有明確誰應該負責某個項目的哪個部分，所以你的上司真的以爲是你和你的同事犯了錯誤？“我遇到過人們犯的最大的錯誤，是非常憤怒地對這種情況做出反應，而並沒有首先了解事實的真相。”

Robert Hosking, executive director of staffing company OfficeTeam, agrees. "You need to know exactly how the blame for a problem got assigned to you," he says. "Then steer the discussion toward how to prevent the same thing from happening again."
員工安置公司OfficeTeam執行董事羅伯特-霍斯金同意達特納的觀點。他說：“必須弄清楚，到底是什麼使你因爲某個問題而受到責備。之後再去討論如何防止同樣的事情再次發生。”

One way to head off future finger-pointing, Hosking says, is to start documenting everything you and your teammates do. "Often everyone is so busy that things get overlooked or slip through the cracks," he says. "So begin each project with a written outline of who is responsible for what, and make sure everyone, including the boss, has a copy and signs off on it." Detailed accountability might even prevent mistakes from happening in the first place.
霍斯金表示，防止未來被嫁禍的一種方法是，開始記錄你和同事做的每一件事。他說：“通常情況下，人們太忙了，忽視、錯過了許多事情。所以在每一個項目開始之前，用書面方式列出每個人的職責，同時確保所有人，包括上司本人在內，人手一份，並在上面簽字。”詳細的責任分配甚至可以防止錯誤的發生。

As you already suspect, going over your boss's head to complain is so likely to backfire that it has to be a last resort. "If you're being unfairly accused of something that could seriously damage your career, do take it upstairs, and think about involving someone from human resources as well," Hosking says. "But warn your boss first, so he's not blindsided. Invite him to sit in on the meeting. Frame it as a chance to clear the air."
正如你所懷疑的，越過自己的上司提出投訴，可能會適得其反，所以這隻能作爲最後的手段。霍斯金說：“如果你因爲某件事受到不公平的指責，而這件事會嚴重損害你的職業發展，這時候可以考慮向更高層投訴，並可考慮由人力資源部出面解決。但首先要警告你的上司，以免他會措手不及。邀請他參加會議。把這作爲消除誤會，澄清事實的一次機會。”

Small consolation though it might be, Hosking points out that the people your boss reports to are probably already aware that something's amiss. "If this manager has shown a pattern over time of never accepting responsibility for problems, higher-ups are going to notice that," he says. "Don't assume they're oblivious. Eventually, someone will call him on it."
雖然這麼說只能作爲一個小小的安慰，但霍斯金指出，你上司的上級或許早已察覺到事情不正常。他說：“如果你的上司表現出從來不肯承擔責任的態度，高層肯定會注意到這一點。不要假設他們對此並不在意。最終，肯定會有人找他清算的。”

In the meantime, Ben Dattner has one additional suggestion for you: Concentrate on building a strong network. "A boss who denies you credit and unfairly blames you may change [his] tune when he realizes that others, both inside and outside the organization, recognize your talent," he writes in The Blame Game.
此外，本-達特納還有另外一條建議：集中精力建立一個強有力的人際關係網絡。他在《責備遊戲》中寫道：“如果你的上司否認你的功勞，還對你橫加指責，等他意識到公司內外都認可你的才能時，他或許會改變自己的態度。”

A robust network of fans can make you more likely to be offered other jobs, inside and outside the company, Dattner notes, and "even the most credit-hogging and blame-dumping boss will not want to be viewed as out of step with others in the organization, or to be blamed for being the reason why a talented, hard-to-replace employee left."
達特納表示，強有力的粉絲網絡讓你更有可能從內部和外部獲得其他工作機會，即便是“最貪圖功勞和熱衷嫁禍他人的上司，也不希望自己被認爲與公司其他人步調不一致，也不希望因爲一位優秀的、難以替代的員工離職而受到指責。”

Once it's in your boss's own best interest to stop scapegoating you, in other words, he probably will.
一旦停止拿你當替罪羊成爲對你上司最有好處的事情，他自然就會改變之前的做法。