Teamwork. The team is the core unit of business school education, as it's meant to mirror what we will all face when we go back to the workplace. In American business schools, as in American business, everything gets done as a team. Though Americans value entrepreneurial spirit and individual drive, for whatever cultural reasons we believe teamwork is the Holy Grail for well-functioning businesses and organizations. I think it's the sense of cooperation and give-and-take, which most of us learned even in our family units that translates into how we learn and work. And though we all worked before coming to Yale, the heavy reliance on teamwork here is structured to teach us how to balance strengths, interests, and working styles for the good of the whole.

團(tuán)隊(duì)合作。學(xué)習(xí)團(tuán)隊(duì)是商學(xué)院教育的核心組成部分，因?yàn)槲覀冎械拿總€(gè)人在未來工作中都將面對(duì)類似的情形。在美國(guó)商學(xué)院，就好比在美國(guó)商業(yè)文化中一樣，幾乎所有的功課都由團(tuán)隊(duì)完成。我們堅(jiān)信團(tuán)隊(duì)合作是成功商業(yè)運(yùn)作中的“圣杯”，且與我們推崇的創(chuàng)業(yè)家精神以及個(gè)人奮斗并不矛盾。我認(rèn)為團(tuán)隊(duì)合作體現(xiàn)的是一種“有付出才有回報(bào)”的合作精神，這與我們?cè)诔砷L(zhǎng)道路上所學(xué)到價(jià)值觀相吻合。很多課業(yè)本身要求團(tuán)隊(duì)成員能夠?yàn)榱俗罱K共同的利益去主動(dòng)平衡互相之間的優(yōu)劣勢(shì)、職業(yè)興趣以及工作風(fēng)格，以期達(dá)到最佳狀態(tài)。

My study team was a typical blend of backgrounds, industries, and future goals. We all had different ways of working and part of the challenge (and lesson) was learning how best to work together. Teamwork here does differ from most workplace scenarios, because there is no hierarchy, no boss calling the shots. Leaders may naturally emerge or this position might rotate throughout the course of the year. But since no one can fire anyone else, the team really does need to reach harmony through cooperation and respect.

我的學(xué)習(xí)團(tuán)隊(duì)就是最好的例子。我們八個(gè)人背景各異，志趣與工作方式也不盡相同。所以在組隊(duì)之初，我們面對(duì)的最大挑戰(zhàn)便是如何去協(xié)調(diào)，找出最佳合作模式。而學(xué)校小組又與真實(shí)的工作團(tuán)隊(duì)不同，因?yàn)榻M員間沒有級(jí)別之分，也沒有絕對(duì)的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)。團(tuán)隊(duì)領(lǐng)袖往往會(huì)自然產(chǎn)生，然后就在一年間的不同項(xiàng)目上輪換。但由于沒有誰(shuí)能開除誰(shuí)，這樣的團(tuán)隊(duì)的確更需要足夠的合作精神及互相尊重來達(dá)到和諧一致的狀態(tài)。

According to friends from China and other countries, teamwork can occasionally be challenging or viewed as an inefficient use of time. The amount of discussion and debate that occurs can hamper the outcome. I don't think this complaint is unique to international students″it's one I sometimes share″as do others. But having worked in companies with meeting-heavy, team-oriented cultures, I know that the test of my time and patience is helping to prepare me for the post-MBA world. If anything, we can use our time here at Yale to learn how to make better and more effective use of our teams.

很多國(guó)際同學(xué)告訴我，團(tuán)隊(duì)合作有的時(shí)候?qū)λ麄兒茈y或是讓他們覺得是在浪費(fèi)時(shí)間，因?yàn)橛行┯懻摵蜖?zhēng)辯對(duì)最終結(jié)果并無直接幫助。其實(shí)，這樣的抱怨并不只是國(guó)際學(xué)生才會(huì)有，我本人有時(shí)候也有同感。但因?yàn)槲疫^去所在的公司文化極為強(qiáng)調(diào)以密集會(huì)議為載體的團(tuán)隊(duì)作用，這份經(jīng)驗(yàn)告訴我商學(xué)院里這種多元文化碰撞下的新型團(tuán)隊(duì)合作模式對(duì)我將來的管理工作大有裨益，這些寶貴的經(jīng)歷將幫助我進(jìn)一步提升駕馭團(tuán)隊(duì)的能力。

Socializing and Networking. Business school is not just about the classes. And depending on who you ask, it's not even mostly about the classes. Networking within the student body is a key piece of the experience, and the one with the most potential future benefit. In our tightly knit community are future CEOs, CFOs, Presidents of companies, government officials, and board members. It's to our benefit to get to know each and every member of the class. This was certainly the attitude I had coming into Yale, and among the people I was most eager to get to know were the international students. Learning about other cultures is one of the reasons.