嘉文博译-写作中心原创写作案例

The cooperative manager understands the critical role of collaborative effort in successful organizations. Developing the ability to work effectively in diverse teams is a crucial element of a Tuck education. Please tell us when in your post- collegiate or professional experiences you have played a major role in moving a team toward a goal, and describe what you learned in that experience. How will this impact your time at Tuck? (500-1000 words)

In my current position, my main responsibilities lie with being in charge of the marketing department. As the head of the marketing department, I must identify the appropriate employees for various teams to accomplish specific projects for our company. These teams will vary according to whatever projects have been awarded to us. The best example of my ability to move a team toward a goal occurred during the “Beijing Centennial Celebration” at the end of the year 2000.

This particular celebration was designed to showcase the city of Beijing as well as to welcome the new millennium. A highly sophisticated, high technology stage show was planned to display the best qualities of our home city. Our company was chosen to supervise the completion of this massive project – to make sure that the entire stage show and overall effects went off without any problems. The group that I put together for this project was the largest and most complex that I had ever attempted to assemble. The overall group was made up of four subgroups: project technicians from my own company, a designing team in charge of stage lighting from a Beijing TV and film company, project technicians in charge of the outdoor lighting show from a well-known German company (Multimedia), and a Japanese fireworks company. As you can imagine with such a diverse group, there were multiple cultural differences and everyone had their own strongly held beliefs and viewpoints about what should be done. Because of the cultural problems, communication was difficult and parts of the project were thus being done according to each individual subgroup’s own particular ideas.

In the beginning, my plan was to proceed by making a completion schedule and designating one person from each group to act as a liaison to promote coordination and communication among the four groups. My plan called for a meeting every evening where each group’s leader could discuss questions and problems in a group setting so that all of the groups could be involved in solving these problems. This planned procedure turned out to be unworkable, primarily because the work timetable was overly simplified due to a lack of details from each subgroup. Each individual group wanted to keep the details of their projects at a minimum because they each wanted to retain absolute authority over their specialized fields. This problem was magnified by the fact that each group’s ultimate goal was publicity and recognition by the public, which inevitably led to fierce competition among the groups with a nearly total disregard for the best interests of the overall project.

We were on a very strict timetable for completion of the project, and with only three days left we were still far from being ready to stage this spectacular show. Although I had made painstaking efforts to get the groups to understand and cooperate with each other, it was just not happening. Finally, I convened a meeting and told them: “No matter what your previous outstanding individual accomplishments are, you are now here working as part of a team and we all have the same goal. If this project fails due to your unwillingness to cooperate and work together, we are entitled to pay only 60% of the total contracted amount. Only with teamwork can you earn the full 100%.” I then clearly explained the specific tasks that needed to be completed in order to make the celebration a success. I also told them to feel free to offer any suggestions and to ask for our help if they ran into difficulties with their individual responsibilities. By taking a stand, I made sure that the subgroups understood that this was a team effort and without cooperation they would definitely fail. The subgroups then began to communicate and cooperate with each other, as they now understood that the only way to receive full compensation was through teamwork. On the last day of the twentieth century, our successful cooperation brought a spectacular celebration to the people of Beijing with an unforgettable centennial night in China.

I often look back on this experience as a milestone in my personal career on the benefits of teamwork. I have realized that a common goal for a team is vital for our company’s different engineering projects. Previously, each time that our company started a project, I would organize the appropriate team by first asking them to take part in the project and hoping that everyone would be fully aware of his or her own role on the team. By understanding their individual roles they could then gain a better understanding of each other. I understood my task to be merely coordinating and creating more opportunities for them to communicate during the project. Perhaps I was going by the Asian outlook that the spirit of teamwork comes from an individual’s personal emotions. My experience with the millennium celebration gave me another perspective. Teamwork doesn’t just happen; there must be a leader that shows the way to reach the common goal. Leadership is an integral and indispensable part of a successful team. Although leadership generally falls on one individual, this individuality does not conflict with the idea of a team. A team without a leader can rarely reach its full potential. A successful leader can get the most out of each individual team member’s performance to most efficiently reach the overall goal.

As it enters the World Trade Organization, China will undoubtedly face fierce competition as its economy becomes integrated with that of the rest of the world. This competition will necessitate more international cooperation. Personally, in the future it is likely that I will encounter even more diverse teams of people from completely different cultural backgrounds. At Tuck I know that I will have the opportunity to work closely with my classmates from very different cultural backgrounds on projects and in classroom discussions. Tuck will provide me with the greatest opportunity to develop an even greater skill at achieving goals through teamwork.