英国华威大学遐想

前途出国外联部总监、美国哈佛大学人类发展与心理学专业硕士 本文作者 萧明颢

The Drama of Business: Where the stage meets the boardroom

All the world's a stage,

And all the men and women merely players.

True to form, William Shakespeare may have had it right when he wrote this now famous monologue from his comedy As You Like It.

2014 marks Shakespeare’s 450th birthday (anniversary). While resting peacefully in the Church of the Holy Trinity, I am confident he never imagined the breadth and depth of his fame, and the torture he would eventually bestow upon us poor high school students in our English lit(erature) classes memorizing and regurgitating his lines of woes and triumphs…in iambic pentameter no less – and, in my case, wearing old prom dresses belonging to my English teacher, standing on our desktops pretending to be the love-stricken Juliet seeking our out-of-reach Romeo. Yet, Shakespeare continues to mesmerize and inspire generation after generation with his words of poetry and prose now showing up in places where one might never think…beyond the stage and on in the training grounds for the business elite.

华威大学学生服务的管理工作中心大堂

华威商学院艺术品

Left photo: Main entrance and lobby area of University of Warwick University House, the administration hub of the University and student services. The University was established in 1965 and has consistently ranked in the Top 10 Universities in the UK.

Right photo: Artwork (bust) in the Warwick Business School, symbolic of the schools focused on innovation and creativity as a core value

Take the University of Warwick (Warwick). In a matter of less than 50 years – the university is celebrating its golden anniversary in 2015 – it has essentially closed the gap with some of the world’s most prestigious and most ancient universities. Walk into the Warwick Business School (WBS) and you instantly feel the familiar sense of the modern surrounding and think that this is just another business school touting its ability to train the next generation of capitalists, er…leaders. With a Dean emphasizing on creative output and a department dedicated to generating curriculum focused on deriving creativity out of its students – a highly lacking trait of new graduates (see McKinsey’s report on talent gap from June 2013) –you will realize that it is with this mission and mantra which keeps Warwick at the top of its game.

Beyond the standard case study method so familiar in the business classroom, WBS is pushing for more interaction as students are now acting out cases versus passively reading and espousing their views. Placing them directly in the hot seat as the case protagonist gives them opportunity to directly understand the challenges and dilemmas faced, according to Ashley Potter, Press and PR Executive at WBS. WBS has even gone as far as incorporating Shakespeare into its graduate business programs.

Wait…what??? Shakespeare? Tough and hard-nosed. Steely-faced and no-nonsense business executives reciting Woe-is-me and To-be’s-or-not-be’s? Hard to imagine that Shakespeare would be involved in the training of Type A wannabe executives.

Joking aside, drama class is a well known method for building confidence and of course, enhancing communication skills. Show me one organization or individual which would not benefit from this. WBS is formalizing this by collaborating with the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust to develop curricula for its faculty and students focused on increasing and instilling creativity.

在莎士比亚故居博物馆位于Stratford-upon-Avon肖像威廉·莎士比亚

威廉莎士比亚出生和长大的房子，现在变成了莎士比亚故居博物馆

Left photo: Portrait of William Shakespeare in the Shakespeare Birthplace Museum in Stratford-upon-Avon.

Right photo: The house where William Shakespeare was born and raised, now turned into the Shakespeare Birthplace Museum.

Now, in the first two weeks of its full-time MBA program, students are learning Shakespeare in the form of a bootcamp, upon which, at the end, they will, in groups, need to pitch a business plan to the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust about how they would go about increasing the organization’s financial viability. An odd pairing one would think, but once you realize that Stratford-upon-Avon is merely a short drive away, it then all makes sense. WBS also offers a module in its general business curriculum, “Leadership and the Art of Judgment” which includes acting out scenes from Hamlet – becoming the ruminative prince and figuring out how one would go about solving his problems. Revenge or not. To thine own self be true.

Certainly unconventional, and hardly without skeptics, it cannot be questioned that this approach taken by University of Warwick’s Business School is a bit risky, certainly different, perhaps innovative, and requires an immense amount of discussion and group work. Seems quite reflective of the workplace…don’t you think?

Even Harvard is taking notice. Now, that’s staying on top of the game. Well done Warwick, well done.