組建團隊挑人時 你會被選中嗎

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.
在我小時候，棒球和橄欖球是當時美國中西部同學朋友們放學後最喜歡的體育運動，其次纔是籃球。

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.
上小學時，我們課餘和週末最流行的活動就是學打棒球和橄欖球。當年我們運氣不錯，周邊有很多公園，走路、騎車都能到，還不用花錢或提前預定。

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.
作爲孩子們自發組織的“入門”活動，球場上既沒有大人指導，也不設裁判。當然也有一些正規的組織，比如“少棒聯盟”和校隊，但這不是我要說的。

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.
小時候有種新棒球剛問世，叫作“威孚球”，其實就是塑料做的空心球和球棒。它的出現大大降低了誤傷鄰居玻璃的風險，連帶也放寬了對場地的限制，甚至在後院和車道上都能打。

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，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，但技術水平卻相差甚遠。

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.
上中學前，我幾乎沒什麼作業，也沒見過誰要去上補習班或者興趣班學音樂、芭蕾之類。畢竟我們住在郊區，如果換作市裏的富人區，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，童年時沒有什麼既定的日程能阻礙我對課餘體育活動的追求，所以運動就成爲玩耍的主要內容。

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.
由於人員不固定，球隊也不是按照學校或鄰里關係成立的，所以每次都要臨時商議如何分隊。

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.
分隊的一般程序是先任命兩名“隊長”，然後再由他們輪流挑選想要的隊員。當然，隊長肯定要受人尊重，並且擅長我們當年熱衷的這項運動。

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.
選隊員的過程最熱鬧不過，有些人會向隊長拉票，說些“選我選我，我要和你一個隊……”之類的話。第一個被選中的往往比較幸運，最後一名就不同了。

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.
隊員一旦選定，比賽就馬上開始。因爲沒有大人監督，所以即便對犯規或其他問題產生分歧，也只能由隊員自行解決。雖然有時會起些爭執，但我還真不記得發生過什麼激烈過火的情形。

Thinking back on those days gives rise to two reflections.
遙想當年，我有兩點感悟。

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，過去50年，我的故鄉和美國其他大部分地方的人口和社會結構都發生了鉅變。

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，那裏曾是中產階級白人的聚居地。

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.
上小學時，學生都是住在鎮上的白人，只有寥寥幾個歐洲新移民，而且英文還不太靈光。老師大多是天主教修女，事後想想也不知道她們有幾位上過大學。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.
我念的中學也在鎮上，大約有1,500名學生，包括少數黑人、西班牙葡萄牙裔和華裔美國人，剩下絕大多數仍是白人。很多學生都住在“市裏”，上下學需要坐1小時的校車，所以學生的社會經濟構成比我小學時更復雜些。和小學相比，中學的學業要求更高，競爭更激烈，課外活動包括體育運動也是一樣。

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，無論是城鎮還是中小學的人口構成在人種和民族上都更加多元化，而且平均都在中產偏上階層。小學老師中已見不到修女，對教師的資質要求也大幅提升。我就讀的男子高中多年前也開始男女同校。

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.
留在老家成家立業的朋友告訴我，我們最愛的自發性課餘體育活動早已時過境遷。

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，小孩們放學後作業太多，有組織的課餘活動也多，所以很少有時間自由活動。和當年的“好日子”相比，家長們也更擔心孩子的安全，所以我們以前常玩的遊戲現在都被禁止了。

So that first reflection is more or less a local one.
這點感悟或多或少與美國相關。

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.
第二點感悟主要與團隊合作及如何學會團隊合作有關，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.
和現在美國學校的情況不同，我當年的老師很少給學生布置集體任務，所以課餘體育活動就成爲學習團隊合作比較重要的地方，因爲課堂裏確實學不到。

In hindsight, I learned a few things about teamwork from this experience, which I am grateful for.
後來我才發現，從這段經歷中我學會很多團隊合作的東西，對此我十分感恩。

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.
能被隊長選中不見得非要技術過人，但必須具備求勝的慾望和獲勝的決心，能力排一切險阻，勇於承擔錯誤並敢於犯錯，被打倒了再爬起來，百折不撓。當然還要平衡個人與團隊的利益，不管自認爲個人的能力有多麼突出。

Demographic and social change is continuous.
人口和社會的變革永不停歇。

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.
即使是在社會劇烈動盪的背景下，我們也要學會如何被隊長選中，並且在隊伍中發揮有效作用。

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.
父母和老師應該牢記，成績和級別固然重要，但某些課程——比如在團隊中如何工作——是不能通過學校考試衡量的，但這些恰恰是人生和職業成功的關鍵。

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.
隨着世界不斷變小、全球化加劇、實時互動更加緊密，團隊合作的技巧和水平也變得更爲重要。

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，團隊合作還沒有SAT、AP、GMAT考試，也許應該考慮增設一下。