????她沒(méi)開(kāi)玩笑,。2007年1月份,，谷歌公司錄用了我。我工作了8個(gè)月,，到秋天的時(shí)候,，我請(qǐng)了15個(gè)月假，去參加海軍陸戰(zhàn)隊(duì)的軍官培訓(xùn),。2009年差不多一整年,，我又回到谷歌工作。在此期間,，谷歌退伍軍人協(xié)會(huì)為我重新適應(yīng)環(huán)境、趕上工作進(jìn)度提供了莫大的幫助,。后來(lái),，我收到了赴阿富汗報(bào)到的命令，此行是為了培訓(xùn)阿富汗國(guó)民軍（ANA）,，幫助他們接管美軍撤離之后的防務(wù)任務(wù),。我知道，這跟我在谷歌公司的生活相去甚遠(yuǎn),。

????我在阿富汗南部的赫爾曼德省呆了7個(gè)月,。我學(xué)會(huì)了兩件讓我深有感觸的教益。

????其一是耐心,。阿富汗文化特別講究禮數(shù),。他們碰到一個(gè)人總想他們的身世，打聽(tīng)他們來(lái)自何方,。在美國(guó),，人們拿起電話，聊上15分鐘后就會(huì)自稱了解對(duì)方,。在阿富汗,，新結(jié)識(shí)的人們坐在一起品茶，談上幾個(gè)小時(shí),，逐漸了解彼此的家庭和個(gè)人歷史,。要適應(yīng)這一點(diǎn),，需要做出相當(dāng)大的調(diào)整，對(duì)于一位偏重于行動(dòng)的海軍陸戰(zhàn)隊(duì)員來(lái)說(shuō)尤為如此,。盡管我們的確提前做了一些文化適應(yīng)訓(xùn)練,，但就像生活中的許多事情一樣，除非親眼所見(jiàn),，否則真的無(wú)法為之做好準(zhǔn)備,。

????我學(xué)到的第二點(diǎn)教益就是包容。人們對(duì)軍隊(duì)往往有一種誤解,，認(rèn)為軍營(yíng)生活會(huì)扼殺一個(gè)人身上的個(gè)性,。并非如此。事實(shí)上,，團(tuán)隊(duì)協(xié)作的精髓就在于接受多樣性,。阿富汗軍隊(duì)生活的多樣性是我生平所未見(jiàn)。我們的“嵌入式合作團(tuán)隊(duì)”皆為男性（因?yàn)榘⒏缓箛?guó)民軍中沒(méi)有婦女）,。但這些成員有著廣泛的背景,。我們的隊(duì)長(zhǎng)在玻利維亞出生并長(zhǎng)大，十幾歲時(shí)移民到美國(guó),，隨后參軍,，并最終成為一名軍官?！昂?，谷歌小子！”他總是這樣叫我,。

????我學(xué)會(huì)了接受人們不同的特質(zhì),。我意識(shí)到，他們并不一定會(huì)用你預(yù)期或建議的方式完成某件事情,。沒(méi)有人會(huì)命令一位海軍陸戰(zhàn)隊(duì)員“把那個(gè)箱子搬起來(lái),，再?gòu)腁點(diǎn)挪到B點(diǎn)?！敝灰渥幼罱K被移動(dòng)了,，軍隊(duì)并不關(guān)心移動(dòng)箱子的方式。相反,，軍隊(duì)只會(huì)訓(xùn)練海軍陸戰(zhàn)隊(duì)員做出明智的決定,，以符合道義的方式采取正確的行動(dòng)——要在當(dāng)時(shí)的環(huán)境及其掌握的背景知識(shí)下，做到最好,。軍隊(duì)提供反饋意見(jiàn),，并再次培訓(xùn)——打肥皂、漂洗,、再重頭來(lái)一遍,。我們當(dāng)然不能要求阿富汗人按照我們的方式去做事情,。他們會(huì)用自己的方式做事——對(duì)他們來(lái)說(shuō)行得通的方式。畢竟,，阿富汗是他們的國(guó)家,。

????去年秋天我重返谷歌，這是一個(gè)艱難的轉(zhuǎn)變,。突然間,，我唯一需要擔(dān)心的一個(gè)人就是我自己。我又開(kāi)始寫代碼,，而不是運(yùn)營(yíng)護(hù)送隊(duì),。我已不再是一位指揮官了，因此我必須重新訓(xùn)練自己如何跟同事相處,。幸運(yùn)的是,，谷歌退伍軍人協(xié)會(huì)再次給予我支持，幫我學(xué)著適應(yīng)公司的生活,。拿著薪酬,，做自己喜歡的事情，也挺不錯(cuò)的,。我想,，“哇，這是世界上最棒的事情了：整天寫軟件,，還有免費(fèi)午餐吃,！”

????阿富汗的軍旅生活讓我懂得了團(tuán)隊(duì)協(xié)作的價(jià)值，也讓我明白了個(gè)體的貢獻(xiàn)如何融入一個(gè)更宏大的圖景之中,。戰(zhàn)場(chǎng)上的日子也讓我開(kāi)始思考，除了寫代碼外,，我還能在谷歌公司做些什么,。最近，我一直在跟我的經(jīng)理討論如何把我在阿富汗的經(jīng)歷和教訓(xùn)分享給全公司的管理者,。我們?cè)谲婈?duì)就干過(guò)這個(gè)的——為什么不在公司里也嘗試一下呢,？

????譯者：任文科

????She was not kidding. Google hired me in January 2007. I worked eight months, and by fall I was off for 15 months of Marine Corps officer training. Google had me back again for practically all of 2009 (and VetNet, the employee resource group for Google veterans, helped me enormously to reacclimate and catch up). Then I received activation orders to report for duty in Afghanistan, to help train the Afghan National Army (ANA) to take over after the withdrawal of U.S. troops. This, I knew, would be a far cry from my life at Google.

????I spent seven months in Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan. And I learned two big lessons that have stuck with me.

????The first is patience. Afghan culture is incredibly civilized. When you meet someone, they want to assess you and understand where you come from. In the U.S., people jump on the phone and profess to know each other after 15 minutes. In Afghanistan, new acquaintances drink chai, talk for a few hours and gradually learn about each other's family and personal history. This was quite an adjustment, especially for a Marine, as we have a bias toward action. While we did have some cultural immersion training, like so many things in life, nothing can really prepare you until you see it.

????The second lesson I learned is acceptance. There's a misconception about the military--that it strips away individuality. Not true. In fact, teamwork is all about accepting diversity. And I've never seen so much diversity as in Afghanistan. Our "embedded partnering team" was all men (since there are no women in the ANA). But it was a mix of guys with a broad range of backgrounds. Our team leader was born and raised in Bolivia and moved to the U.S. as a teenager, enlisted, and later became an officer. "Hey, Google!" he called me.

????I learned to accept people for who they are. And I realized that they're not necessarily going to do things the way you might expect--or advise. You don't tell a Marine to "take that box from point A to point B by picking it up…." The military is way less concerned with how you move the box, as long as it gets moved. Instead, you train your Marines to make good decisions, act morally and do the right thing--as best they can given the circumstances and their knowledge at the time. You offer feedback and train again--lather, rinse, repeat. And you certainly can't tell the Afghans to do things the way we would. They're going to do things their own way--the way that works for them. After all, it is their country.

????Returning to Google last fall was quite a transition. Suddenly, the only person I had to worry about was myself. I was writing code again, not running convoys. And I wasn't a mission commander, so I had to retrain myself on how to interact with my peers. Fortunately, VetNet was there once again to back me up and help me learn to fit in again. And it helped that I was getting paid to do what I love. I thought, "Wow, this is the greatest thing in the world: I get to write software all day...with free lunch!"

????Afghanistan made me understand the value of teamwork and how individual contributions fit into a larger picture. My time there also made me wonder whether I can and should do more at Google than produce code. Recently, I've been talking with my manager about how I can share my experiences and lessons with managers across the company. This is what we do in the military--why not try it at home?