When researchers probed into why people put up with the strain that meetings place on their time and sanity，they found something surprising—those who resent and dread meetings the most also defend them as a "necessary evil" ，sometimes with great passion.True，research suggests that meetings take up vastly more of the average managers time than they used to.True，done badly，they're associated with lower levels of innovation and employee wellbeing.But that's just office life，right? It's not supposed to be fun.That's why they call it work. Underlying this attitude is an assumption that's drummed into us not just as workers but as children,parents and romantic partners：that more communication is always a good thing.So suggestions abound for communicating better in meetings—for example，hold them standing up，so speakers will come to the point more quickly.But even when some companies consider abolishing meetings entirely，the principle that more communication is better isn't questioned.If anything，it's reinforced when such firms introduce "flat" management structures，with bosses always available to everyone，plus plenty of electronic distraction.In fact，constant connectivity is disastrous for both job satisfaction and the bottom line.
And anyway，once you give it three seconds' thought，isn't it clear that more communication frequently isn't a good thing? Often，the difference between a successful marriage and a second-rate one consists of leaving about three or four things a day unsaid.At work，it's surely many more than four，though for a different reason：office communication comes at the cost of precisely the kind of focus that's essential to good work.Yet we're so accustomed to seeing talking as a source of solutions—for resolving conflicts or finding new ideas—that it's hard to see when it is the problem.
What is the author's argument about office communication?无全文翻译
每个办公室工作人员都讨厌会议。但这是一种奇怪的憎恨，类似于伦敦人对北线的憎恨，或纽约人对于走路太慢的游客的憎恨：不喜欢是真的，但是如果被鄙视的东西消失了，那就会像是失去了一部分灵魂一样。
当研究人员调查为什么人们会忍受会议给他们的时间和理智造成的压力时，他们发现了一些令人惊讶的事情——那些最怨恨和惧怕会议的人也是辩解称会议是“必要的邪恶”的人，有时甚至充满激情。诚然，研究表明，与过去相比，现在的会议占据更多普通管理者的时间。当然，搞不好的话，会议还会造成创新水平和员工福祉的降低。但这就是办公室生活，对吧？它本就是无趣的。这就是称它为工作的原因。
这种态度源于一个假设，这个假设不仅灌输给上班族，也灌输给孩子、父母以及爱人，即更多的沟通永远是一件好事。因此，有大量关于如何在会议中更好沟通的建议，例如让发言者站起来，那么他们会更快地说到重点。但是，即使有些公司想要完全废除会议，沟通越多越好这一原则也不会受到质疑。
更可能的是，当这些公司引入“扁平式”管理结构时，这一原则还会得到加强，每个人都可以随时找到老板，此外，众多电子设备也让员工分心。事实上，随时保持联系对工作满意度和工作底线来说都是灾难性的。无论如何，一旦你思考三秒钟，难道不清楚更多的频繁沟通并不是一件好事吗？通常情况下，成功的婚姻和平庸的婚姻之间的区别在于前者每天留下大约三到四件事情不说。
在工作中，肯定会有超过四件事不说，但却是出于另一个原因：办公室沟通恰恰是以牺牲对工作至关重要的那种专注为代价的。然而，我们如此习惯于将谈话作为解决方案的来源——用于解决冲突或寻找新的想法——因此当其本身就是问题时则很难被人察觉。