Before I took my vacation in Iceland in August, I went to Warsaw for a few days on a business trip. I didn’t know much about Warsaw (or Poland in general) before last October, and I never thought I would visit one day. It was a truly eye-opening experience, and I am very thankful for my 10 months on this special program.
It all started last fall, when our CTO announced that he wanted to build a new Technology and Product hub in Europe as part of our growth strategy. Our team was tasked with coming up with the best location for this new hub. Through this initiative, I got the opportunity to work with senior leadership and deliver a lot of good results for them. Just as I thought my involvement would end when our recommendations were delivered, like any other strategy consulting projects I did in the past, we went full steam ahead into implementation, and I was in charge of running the day-to-day show.
When I joined Visa as a program manager last March, I had the aspiration to bring cross-functional teams together to accomplish big things that we wouldn’t have been able to do otherwise. Standing up our new hub in Warsaw was exactly that. Since it was a new initiative, we didn’t really have a playbook to follow. I had to come up with a structure for the program, map out all relevant stakeholders, help orient all teams involved, and build out a high-level roadmap on how we will get to where we want to be. It was not an easy process, and I didn’t get everything right the first time. However, it was an incredible learning journey. I got to partner with my manager very closely as we figured things out together. I was able to see how he came up with creative ways to solve problems and get things done when there was no clear procedure to follow. I learned a lot about the important things to consider when building out a new hub from scratch. I also learned how to navigate a large company like Visa, and how to get things done more effectively under the corporate framework. When I moved on to my new role in October, I looked back at what I accomplished in the past 10 months. I think I have truly built something incredible — I am very grateful for this experience and very proud of what I have achieved.
I also learned a few things the hard way while working on this program. When I was on the train from Schiphol to Groningen in August, I vented to Matt about all the struggles I had over the summer. Through our conversation, I realized that I have been quite spoiled since high school. Every place I have been in since then — TCGS, Northwestern, Amgen R&D, Stanford, APT, Mastercard Advisors — I have been more or less surrounded by self-motivated people who are good problem solvers, willing to challenge the status quo, and eager to get things done. As I got more into the operations side of Visa, I realized that there is a big part of the company whose job is to maintain the status quo, since that is what makes the company so successful. There is certainly value in that, but it is a completely different mindset and way of working from what I am used to. I didn’t quite understand that at the beginning, and I had to work very hard to make sure I knew how to collaborate with that part of the company effectively as we built something new. It was a very good exposure and I believe it will give me a more comprehensive view of my options as I continue to develop my career at Visa.
Although I only got to spend a few days in Warsaw, I felt like I got several months’ worth of input. Meeting with my Polish colleagues and listening to the pain points they experienced locally as we establish the hub was invaluable. I really appreciate our Polish team’s bluntness, how they get straight to the point, and their strong desire to build something big. Warsaw is a growing city. Just like the skyscrapers that are being stood up in the Central Business District, our Polish team has the ambition to reach the sky. I absolutely love the motivation and drive I saw there — it further shows that building our new hub in Warsaw is the right choice.
My days in Warsaw were packed, but I still tried to get a taste of the city at night. I didn’t get a chance to go to any museum or any major landmark because they were all closed by the time I finished working. However, I was able to do a self-guided audio tour in the Old Town. Walking around in Warsaw by myself at night was a little scary, but I am glad that I got to see how the Old Town was rebuilt from ashes just 5 years after being completely destroyed during WWII. Throughout its history, Warsaw has been destroyed and rebuilt many times, and it is impressive to see how it always comes back to life stronger. The city is tough and vibrant, just like its people, and I am so thankful for the opportunity to see it with my own eyes.
Now that I am over a month into my new role, I hope I can continue my momentum and build something great for my new team, just like what I did for my previous team in Warsaw.
今年八月，我去冰島度假之前，先去華沙出了一趟差。在去年十月之前，我對華沙（甚至是波蘭）所知甚少，也從未想過有一天我會親自造訪。雖然這趟華沙之行只有短短數日，但是卻令我大開眼界。我很幸運，能在過去十個月中參與如此特別的項目。
去年十月底，做為我們成長策略的一部分，我們的首席技術官提出了在歐洲建立一個新的技術與產品中心的構想，並任命我們的小組推薦最理想的地點。透過這個項目，我獲得了和公司高層領導合作的機會，並讓他們對我的工作能力留下良好的印象。我原本以為這個項目在我們向首席技術官提出我們推薦的地點之後就會告一段落，一如我以前做過的策略諮詢項目。沒想到我們直接從策劃進入了執行階段，而我成了這個項目日常運作的負責人。
去年三月加入 Visa 成為技術項目經理時，我希望能帶領跨領域的團隊一起完成重大的項目。在華沙建立起一個新的技術與產品中心正是這種需要跨領域的職能團隊協同合作、對公司的成長策路又有重大影響的項目。這是一個全新的項目，所以我們幾乎沒有既定的流程可以參考。我必須為這個項目建立起一個清晰的框架、找出所有的利害關係人、協調所有參與項目的團隊，並制定一個能幫助我們達成目標的計畫。這不是一個簡單的過程，我也不是沒有犯過錯誤，但是我不斷在嘗試和錯誤中學習。十個月下來，我成長了許多——我和我的老闆密切合作，齊心協力地為我們的項目打造出框架，我也看見了他是如何在沒有既定流程或正確答案的情況下，發揮創意解決問題、推進項目。我學到了當一個大公司要建立一個新據點時，需要考慮哪些事，我也更加了解像 Visa 這樣的大公司是如何運作，以及在公司的各種規範和流程的限制之下，該如何更有效率地完成我的工作、推進我們的項目。十月初，我在 Visa 轉崗。當我回顧過去十個多月的成果時，我認為我確實為公司創造了超乎預期的價值。我非常感激這段時間的學習經驗，也以自己的成長為榮。
在推進這個項目時，我也撞了不少次南牆。我記得在從阿姆斯特丹的機場到格羅寧根的火車上，我向 Matt 大吐苦水、抱怨我整個夏天在工作上碰到的種種挫敗。透過我們的對話，我意識到從台中女中開始，每一個我去過的地方——西北大學、安進的研發部門、史丹佛大學、APT、萬事達卡顧問服務——我身邊的人基本上都主動又上進、善於解決問題、勇於挑戰現狀，並且渴望把事情做好。隨著我更深入地了解 Visa 的各個營運部門，我發現公司有一大部分人的工作就是維持現狀，因為對 Visa 這種已經很成功的大公司來說，維持現狀是我們的商業模式成功不可或缺的一環。這些人對公司來說很重要，但是他們的思考模式和做事習慣卻和我大相徑庭。我一開始不明白，後來意識到這種差別之後，我便努力設法和這些部門有效率地合作，因為不論是我之前做的併購整合項目，還是眼下華沙的新技術與產品中心，我所做的事都是在改變公司的現狀。雖然過程勞心勞力，但是我對公司有了更全面的認知，我相信這對我日後職涯的選擇和發展都會有所助益。
雖然我在華沙只待了短短幾天，但我似乎得到了好幾個月的進展。其中最有價值的大概就是跟波蘭的同事見面，並深入了解他們在建立新中心的過程中所碰到的困難，以及遠在美國的我們該如何幫助他們。我非常欣賞波蘭同事們的坦承爽快、碰到問題時開門見山的態度，以及他們對於開創新業務的強烈渴望。華沙是個生機勃勃、快速成長的城市，就像市中心正在拔地而起的嶄新摩天大樓一樣，我們的波蘭團隊也有著凌雲的志向。我非常喜歡我在華沙見到的能量和動力，這也進一步印證了我們當初選擇華沙是正確的。
我在華沙的每一天都行程滿檔，但是我還是盡量在工作結束後的夜晚一窺這座城市的丰采。我沒能參觀任何一座博物館或是主要的地標，因為它們在我工作結束時都已經關門了，不過我還是在華沙的舊城區進行了一次自助語音導覽。我一個人晚上在華沙四處走動時，心底總是毛毛的，但是我還是很享受看到舊城區是如何在短短的五年間，就從二戰後的廢墟之中浴火重生。綜觀其歷史，華沙曾多次被摧毀，但是它總是能很快地被重建，並一次比一次強大繁盛。這座城市就像它的人民一樣，堅韌又充滿活力，而我何其幸運，能有機會親眼目睹它的風華。
現在我在我的新崗位已經一個多月了。我希望我能延續之前的戰績，為我的新團隊創造巨大的價值，就像我為了我前一個團隊在華沙所做的一切一樣。