Team Dynamics

Wouter and I were sitting in a nice hole in the wall diner today on the other side of Beijing and remarked how when our campus was in Changping, we didn't even know places like this existed. Since moving to the heart of the Haidian District in Beijing, our knowledge of the city has increased in direct proportion to the decrease of money in our wallet. Haidian has it all: American fast food, mammoth electronics stores, and markets that sell practically everything under the sun. Just in case they don't, the street vendor will have it for sale on a rug out front. The bus is right out front and the subway is a hop, skip, and a jump away ready to take you anywhere. Four star restaurants and something-on-a-stick. World class entertainment and street performances. Traditional teashops and Starbucks. Madam Chen's 1000 year old family recipe for dim sum right next to the Colonel's secret recipe for chicken.

Changping had none of this.

We were more then in the boonies. People in the boonies made fun of us. National Geographic sent photographers to capture our lifestyle and make documentaries.
So we stayed in our dorm a lot more often. Like all the time.
This led to a much much closer team. And I believe, a much more bonded and efficient workforce. Because we couldn't go out that much, we were forced to stay in and interact with each other. When the occasional clash happened, and they did, we couldn't just up and leave and chill out at Starbucks for a few hours venting to family back home over a nice wifi connection. Nobody was going anywhere, so it was resolved in a much quicker times. There were no cliques or "well that restaurant is really kind of our private hang out spot."
Now don't get me wrong, I love our team here and I love the Haidian district, but I think being able to go out in the city as we please with all these great attractions is a bit of both a blessing and a curse. This team has been together since August and we don't know each other as well as if we had stayed cooped together in Changping.