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When I was a kid growing up in the U.S. Midwest, baseball and American football were very popular after school sports among my friends and schoolmates. Basketball was a close third.
在我小時(shí)候，棒球和橄欖球是當(dāng)時(shí)美國(guó)中西部同學(xué)朋友們放學(xué)后最喜歡的體育運(yùn)動(dòng)，其次才是籃球。
In primary school days, pick-up games of baseball and football were popular after school and on weekends. We were fortunate to have enough public parks nearby, available for anyone at no cost and without advance booking, accessible either on foot or by bicycle.
上小學(xué)時(shí)，我們課余和周末最流行的活動(dòng)就是學(xué)打棒球和橄欖球。當(dāng)年我們運(yùn)氣不錯(cuò)，周邊有很多公園，走路、騎車都能到，還不用花錢或提前預(yù)定。
These were “pick-up” games, spontaneously organized by kids, without adult supervision, referees, etc. There were also formal programs like Little League baseball and school-organized sports teams, but that’s not what I am talking about here.
作為孩子們自發(fā)組織的“入門”活動(dòng)，球場(chǎng)上既沒(méi)有大人指導(dǎo)，也不設(shè)裁判。當(dāng)然也有一些正規(guī)的組織，比如“少棒聯(lián)盟”和校隊(duì)，但這不是我要說(shuō)的。
A new style of baseball, called “whiffle ball” was introduced when I was a kid. It involved plastic balls and bats, which greatly reduced the risk of breaking a neighbor’s window, thus expanding the range of places where baseball games could be played, to include backyards and driveways.
小時(shí)候有種新棒球剛問(wèn)世，叫作“威孚球”，其實(shí)就是塑料做的空心球和球棒。它的出現(xiàn)大大降低了誤傷鄰居玻璃的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)，連帶也放寬了對(duì)場(chǎng)地的限制，甚至在后院和車道上都能打。
The participants in these games were local neighborhood kids and schoolmates. The group was somewhat fluid. Some guys — and it was a “guy” thing in those days — played more often than others; but there was room for a wide range of skill levels.
去打球的都是些鄰居家的孩子和同學(xué)，人員很不固定。有些小爺——那年月打棒球可是件挺“爺們兒”的事兒——打得比別人多，但技術(shù)水平卻相差甚遠(yuǎn)。
Prior to secondary school, I don’t recall having that much homework, and no one I knew was getting after-school tutoring or taking after-school lessons in music, ballet or other pursuits. This was, after all, the suburbs. In wealthier downtown neighborhoods, like parts of Manhattan, it would have been a different story.
上中學(xué)前，我?guī)缀鯖](méi)什么作業(yè)，也沒(méi)見(jiàn)過(guò)誰(shuí)要去上補(bǔ)習(xí)班或者興趣班學(xué)音樂(lè)、芭蕾之類。畢竟我們住在郊區(qū)，如果換作市里的富人區(qū)，比如曼哈頓，那情形肯定大不相同。
In other words, there were few scheduling issues getting in the way of childhood pursuits such as after school sports, so sports assumed a fairly large role in the play time agenda.
換句話說(shuō)，童年時(shí)沒(méi)有什么既定的日程能阻礙我對(duì)課余體育活動(dòng)的追求，所以運(yùn)動(dòng)就成為玩耍的主要內(nèi)容。
Since these were not fixed, organized teams based on school or neighborhood affiliations, the make-up of opposing teams was subject to discussion and decision each time.
由于人員不固定，球隊(duì)也不是按照學(xué)?；蜞徖镪P(guān)系成立的，所以每次都要臨時(shí)商議如何分隊(duì)。
The usual process of picking sides was to first nominate two ”team captains” and then let the both captains take turns choosing the members they wanted. Team captains were obviously respected as well as considered adept at the particular sport we were playing that day.
分隊(duì)的一般程序是先任命兩名“隊(duì)長(zhǎng)”，然后再由他們輪流挑選想要的隊(duì)員。當(dāng)然，隊(duì)長(zhǎng)肯定要受人尊重，并且擅長(zhǎng)我們當(dāng)年熱衷的這項(xiàng)運(yùn)動(dòng)。
During the selection process there was lively banter, with some of the waiting candidates lobbying the captains: “Pick me, I wanna be on your team…” and so on. The first ones to be picked were fortunate; the last ones not so.
選隊(duì)員的過(guò)程最熱鬧不過(guò)，有些人會(huì)向隊(duì)長(zhǎng)拉票，說(shuō)些“選我選我，我要和你一個(gè)隊(duì)……”之類的話。第一個(gè)被選中的往往比較幸運(yùn)，最后一名就不同了。
Once the selection was complete, the game would begin. Any disagreements about rule infractions or other disputes had to be settled among the players, since there was no adult supervision. There were arguments sometimes, but I don’t recall any very heated ones.
隊(duì)員一旦選定，比賽就馬上開(kāi)始。因?yàn)闆](méi)有大人監(jiān)督，所以即便對(duì)犯規(guī)或其他問(wèn)題產(chǎn)生分歧，也只能由隊(duì)員自行解決。雖然有時(shí)會(huì)起些爭(zhēng)執(zhí)，但我還真不記得發(fā)生過(guò)什么激烈過(guò)火的情形。
Thinking back on those days gives rise to two reflections.
遙想當(dāng)年，我有兩點(diǎn)感悟。
The first relates to the tremendous demographic and social change which has taken place in my home town and most other parts of America in the past 50 years.
首先，過(guò)去50年，我的故鄉(xiāng)和美國(guó)其他大部分地方的人口和社會(huì)結(jié)構(gòu)都發(fā)生了巨變。
My home town is a suburb of Chicago, and was then predominantly white and middle class.
我的老家在芝加哥郊區(qū)，那里曾是中產(chǎn)階級(jí)白人的聚居地。
In primary school, the entire student body lived in that town and was white, and included a handful of recent immigrants from Europe whose English was not yet fluent. Our teachers were mostly Catholic nuns, and in hindsight I’m not sure how many of them had college degrees.
上小學(xué)時(shí)，學(xué)生都是住在鎮(zhèn)上的白人，只有寥寥幾個(gè)歐洲新移民，而且英文還不太靈光。老師大多是天主教修女，事后想想也不知道她們有幾位上過(guò)大學(xué)。
My secondary school, located in the same town, had a student body of roughly 1500. We had a small handful of blacks, Hispanics and Asian Americans, but the vast majority were white. A fairly significant number of students lived in “the city” and commuted up to an hour by school bus. As a result, the student body was slightly more diverse socio-economically than that of my primary school. Compared to primary school, academics were much more demanding and competitive, as were extracurricular activities, including sports.
我念的中學(xué)也在鎮(zhèn)上，大約有1,500名學(xué)生，包括少數(shù)黑人、西班牙葡萄牙裔和華裔美國(guó)人，剩下絕大多數(shù)仍是白人。很多學(xué)生都住在“市里”，上下學(xué)需要坐1小時(shí)的校車，所以學(xué)生的社會(huì)經(jīng)濟(jì)構(gòu)成比我小學(xué)時(shí)更復(fù)雜些。和小學(xué)相比，中學(xué)的學(xué)業(yè)要求更高，競(jìng)爭(zhēng)更激烈，課外活動(dòng)包括體育運(yùn)動(dòng)也是一樣。
Today the demographics of the town and both schools is far more diverse racially and ethnically, and averages more in the upper middle class bracket. There are no nuns teaching in the primary school. Academic qualifications are much higher for teachers today. My high school, which was an all boys school, has been co-educational for quite a few years.
如今，無(wú)論是城鎮(zhèn)還是中小學(xué)的人口構(gòu)成在人種和民族上都更加多元化，而且平均都在中產(chǎn)偏上階層。小學(xué)老師中已見(jiàn)不到修女，對(duì)教師的資質(zhì)要求也大幅提升。我就讀的男子高中多年前也開(kāi)始男女同校。
I’m told by friends who stayed on in my home town and raised families there, that the type of spontaneous self-organized after-school sports which we enjoyed is basically a thing of the past.
留在老家成家立業(yè)的朋友告訴我，我們最愛(ài)的自發(fā)性課余體育活動(dòng)早已時(shí)過(guò)境遷。
Kids today have less time available for free activities after school due to increased homework and more formally organized after-school activities. Parents also tend to worry more about their kids’ safety than in the “good old days,” so the kind of pick-up games we used to play are often considered off-limits.
如今，小孩們放學(xué)后作業(yè)太多，有組織的課余活動(dòng)也多，所以很少有時(shí)間自由活動(dòng)。和當(dāng)年的“好日子”相比，家長(zhǎng)們也更擔(dān)心孩子的安全，所以我們以前常玩的游戲現(xiàn)在都被禁止了。
So that first reflection is more or less a local one.
這點(diǎn)感悟或多或少與美國(guó)相關(guān)。
The second reflection I would share has to do with teamwork, and how we learn about it; and this is more of a global one.
第二點(diǎn)感悟主要與團(tuán)隊(duì)合作及如何學(xué)會(huì)團(tuán)隊(duì)合作有關(guān)，更具有全球性。
Unlike many American schools today, teachers in my day rarely gave school assignments to teams of students. So after school sports was a relatively important place to learn about teamwork, because that really didn’t happen in the classroom.
和現(xiàn)在美國(guó)學(xué)校的情況不同，我當(dāng)年的老師很少給學(xué)生布置集體任務(wù)，所以課余體育活動(dòng)就成為學(xué)習(xí)團(tuán)隊(duì)合作比較重要的地方，因?yàn)檎n堂里確實(shí)學(xué)不到。
In hindsight, I learned a few things about teamwork from this experience, which I am grateful for.
后來(lái)我才發(fā)現(xiàn)，從這段經(jīng)歷中我學(xué)會(huì)很多團(tuán)隊(duì)合作的東西，對(duì)此我十分感恩。
You don’t have to be the best at something to be picked for a team. You need determination and the desire to win; to try your best against whatever odds you’re up against. You need to be accountable for your mistakes; and at the same time, willing to risk making mistakes. You need to be able to pick yourself up after getting knocked down. Obviously, you also need to balance your own interests with that of the team, no matter how talented you think you are.
能被隊(duì)長(zhǎng)選中不見(jiàn)得非要技術(shù)過(guò)人，但必須具備求勝的欲望和獲勝的決心，能力排一切險(xiǎn)阻，勇于承擔(dān)錯(cuò)誤并敢于犯錯(cuò)，被打倒了再爬起來(lái)，百折不撓。當(dāng)然還要平衡個(gè)人與團(tuán)隊(duì)的利益，不管自認(rèn)為個(gè)人的能力有多么突出。
Demographic and social change is continuous.
人口和社會(huì)的變革永不停歇。
Even against the backdrop of dramatic social change, we somehow need to learn how to be picked for, and to function effectively, within a team.
即使是在社會(huì)劇烈動(dòng)蕩的背景下，我們也要學(xué)會(huì)如何被隊(duì)長(zhǎng)選中，并且在隊(duì)伍中發(fā)揮有效作用。
Parents and teachers should bear in mind that although test results and grades are important, some lessons — like learning how to work in teams — are not measured in school exams. Yet they are crucial to success in life and careers.
父母和老師應(yīng)該牢記，成績(jī)和級(jí)別固然重要，但某些課程——比如在團(tuán)隊(duì)中如何工作——是不能通過(guò)學(xué)校考試衡量的，但這些恰恰是人生和職業(yè)成功的關(guān)鍵。
As the world continues to shrink, becoming ever more globalized and closely interconnected on a real time basis, teamwork-related skills and qualities become even more crucial.
隨著世界不斷變小、全球化加劇、實(shí)時(shí)互動(dòng)更加緊密，團(tuán)隊(duì)合作的技巧和水平也變得更為重要。
Last time I looked, there was no SAT, AP or GMAT exam for teamwork. Maybe there oughta be.
上次我看了一下，團(tuán)隊(duì)合作還沒(méi)有SAT、AP、GMAT考試，也許應(yīng)該考慮增設(shè)一下。
