簡•朱伯特:走上MBA課堂的前兵王(2)

“You build such a strong connection with the country and with the people and your last 10 years of hard work . . . you become really passionate about it,” he says. “You want to see it through, you want to see it work.”

朱伯特說：“一旦你與這個國家、這個民族和你過去10年艱苦工作的成果建立了如此強大的聯繫……你就會深深地愛上它們。你希望看着它們發展，看着它們成功。”

Although Mr Joubert has long since swapped fatigues for a suit and tie, he still draws on his military training for everything from filing to finance.

儘管朱伯特早已脫下軍服、換上西裝和領帶，但在從歸檔到理財的一切事情上，他依然在從過去所受的軍事訓練中汲取營養。

“I use the military principles even today in a lot of my management systems, processes and policy procedures,” he says of his disciplined approach.

在談到他嚴格紀律化的生活方式時，朱伯特說：“即便是在如今，我依然在我的許多管理體制、流程和政策程序中運用軍事原則。

“The military has, over the centuries, developed systems that work for big organisations and they can scale it up or down. The administrative system that applies to a section also applies on a brigade level.”

“幾百年來，部隊發展出了一些對管理大機構行之有效的管理體系，這些體系的適用範圍也可大可小。對一個部門適用的管理體制，也適用於一個旅。”

Mr Joubert had no doubt about the MBA’s potential worth when he signed up to it. He first undertook a management diploma via distance learning in 1996, even as war in Sierra Leone raged around him. Three years later he began a long-distance MBA, via Henley’s South African campus, but abandoned it due to work pressures.

報名MBA課程時，朱伯特對MBA的潛在價值毫無懷疑。1996年，儘管當時的塞拉利昂還戰火隆隆，他還是第一次通過遠程學習攻讀了一個管理學位。三年後，他開始遠程學習亨利商學院南非分校的一個遠程MBA課程，但後因工作壓力中途放棄了。

“The fact that I didn’t complete the MBA always bothered me so in 2009 I decided to take a sabbatical.”

“沒學完MBA這件事一直讓我很焦慮，因此在2009年，我決定給自己放個長假。”

His year-long MBA proved the ideal place to develop his dream to expand production at the mine and two nearby sites. His thesis analysed how best to unlock their full economic potential over the next 30 years.

事實證明，這個一年期的MBA課程爲朱伯特實現提高Koidu和附近兩家礦山產量的夢想，提供了十分理想的場所。在學位論文中，他分析瞭如何在今後30年中最好地發揮這幾座礦山的全部經濟潛力。

On his return, he put the first part of the plan into action, building a new plant and increasing the workforce from 300 to 1,500. “The economic optimisation road map for Koidu . . . enabled us to raise about $200m [from banks and Tiffany].”

從MBA課堂重返公司之後，朱伯特就開始將計劃中的第一部分付諸實施。爲此他新建了一家工廠，並將員工數從300人增加至1500人。“Koidu的經濟最優化路線圖……讓我們得以（從銀行和蒂芙尼）籌集到大約2億美元資金。”

This year, for the first time, the mine should produce more than 500,000 carats, up from the 120,000 carats it produced before Mr Joubert studied for his MBA.

今年，Kuido礦的鑽石產量應該能首次突破50萬克拉，而在朱伯特參加MBA學習之前，該礦的鑽石年產量只有12萬克拉。

“I think had I not done the MBA or the thesis, we would have been reliant on consultants –- and consultants don’t always give you an objective analysis or solution,” he says. He believes studying for his MBA saved time, money and mistakes and only regrets not doing it sooner.

朱伯特說：“我想，如果我沒有念這個MBA，或沒有寫這篇論文，我們可能會依賴諮詢師的意見。而諮詢師並不總能爲你提供客觀的分析或解決方案。”他相信念MBA幫他省去了不少時間、金錢和錯誤，他只後悔沒有早點開始念。

“I should have done the MBA 10 years earlier when I had a lot less experience and I could learn more from others. But I also think that everybody who wants to move into very senior management positions in the corporate world must do an MBA.”

“我10年前就應該念MBA，那時候我的經驗要少得多，也可以從別人那裏學到更多東西。但我還認爲，若有志於進入商界頂級管理層，念MBA是必須的。”

He’s so sold on its effect he has sent one of his Sierra Leonean staff to the UK for the same programme. “That guy has got a huge future,” says Mr Joubert. “You don’t see the change [immediately]. It’s as projects or as problems arise; how you find solutions.”

MBA課程的效果令朱伯特如此滿意，以至於他又派了手下一名塞拉利昂員工去英國，唸了同樣的MBA項目。朱伯特說：“那傢伙前程遠大。你不會（立刻）看到改變。在面對項目或遇到問題的時候，你就會發現自己尋找解決方案的方式變了。”

While the focus on communal discussion initially rankled, it soon became the most important element of what he eventually found to be “an unbelievably powerful course”.

MBA課程把重點放在集體討論上。這種授課方式最初讓朱伯特痛苦不堪，但他最終認定，MBA課程是“極其有用的課程”，而促使他得出這個結論的首要原因，就是這種集體討論的授課方式。

“What I learnt the most . . . is the power of different views and opinions from different people, each one coming with his own perspective . . . that is, I think, the biggest power of doing an MBA.”

“我體會最深的一點……是不同人的不同觀點和看法蘊含力量，每個人都有自己的視角……我認爲這是MBA課程最大的魅力所在。”

One different perspective came from a 50-year-old graphic designer on the course, whose approach was initially anathema to Mr Joubert.

其中一個不同的視角來自課程中一名50歲的平面設計師，而起初他的思維方式令朱伯特深惡痛絕。

“His thought process [was] just completely all over the place; where I would like to see structure . . . he would just start vomiting ideas. I just couldn’t cope with that.”

“他的思維過程完全是天馬行空，而我則喜歡條理化思考……他會一股腦吐出各種想法。我根本無法招架。”

It was only after the fifth week he began to realise alternative views turned up “extremely valuable and powerful” ideas. They are still “very close friends” today.

直到5個星期後，他纔開始意識到，轉換視角能夠產生“極有價值、極爲有力”的想法。如今他們仍是“非常親密的朋友”。

“He writes emails that are very soppy and emotional and I will send him a one-liner or two words back . . .  He tells all his friends about this blunt, rude South African who helped him through his MBA and I tell everybody about my dreamer friend that did the MBA with me.

“他會寫非常傷感和煽情的電子郵件給我。而我會回覆他一封只有一句話或兩個單詞的郵件……他跟他所有的朋友說，他認識一個直言不諱、大大咧咧的南非人，幫助他完成了整個MBA課程。而我則告訴所有人，我認識一個跟我一起念MBA的夢想家朋友。

“He’s a bit more structured now because of the MBA and I’m a little bit more open to creative thinking.”

“由於這個MBA課程，他現在變得有條理一點了。而我對創造性思考的態度更開放一點了。”

Mr Joubert, who plans to stay in mining, says the MBA has changed the way he communicates and views others’ opinions for good.

朱伯特打算繼續從事採礦業。他說，MBA課程永久性改變了他與別人交流的方式、以及對別人意見的看法。

“Previously, if I felt confident that I’ve thought about something enough, and I’ve given an instruction, then I would expect people to follow that instruction. Now, I realise that you can never know everything.”

“過去，如果我信心十足地認爲我已充分考慮好某件事，並且已發出指令，我就會希望別人能遵循這一指令。如今，我意識到，人永遠無法知曉一切。”