Recently, at the 60th Security Forum, Chinese Foreign Minister Wai Yi concluded his speech with an interesting saying:
一个人的努力是加法，一个团队的努力是乘法。
One person’s efforts are addition, and a collective’s efforts are multiplication.
“Те, кто работают в одиночку — прибавляют, те кто работают вместе — умножают.”
As is appropriate for such forums, the speech was protocol and for the most part the position of the PRC was diplomatic, and in some places exactly what they wanted to hear from the PRC.
But let’s put politics aside and examine the depth of the phrase itself. Firstly, it’s cool that the cultural context of the venue was respected: the saying is German, and the forum’s location is Munich, Germany. It turns out to be a very wise call to national wisdom.
Synergy phenomenon
Also for myself personally, I saw in it a wise message about the synergy of interaction. Synergy is a phenomenon when the combined action of several elements leads to a result that exceeds the sum of the results that each of the elements could achieve separately. Thus, when people are united by common values, they create new opportunities and ideas that could not arise through individual work.
How to translate 团队: collective or team?
The most correct is collective, cuz this term emphasizes a group of individuals working together toward a common goal, without necessarily implying a structured or formal organization like a team might. It can encompass a broader range of collaborative efforts beyond specific team dynamics.
The word “collective” has its roots in Latin. It comes from the Latin word “collectivus,” which is the past participle of the verb “collegere,” meaning “to gather” or “to collect“. In Latin, “collegere” is a compound verb formed from “com-” (together) and “legere” (to gather).
The word “team” originated from the Old English word “team“, which referred to a group of draft animals, such as horses or oxen, harnessed together to pull a vehicle or plow. This Old English term itself came from the Proto-Germanic word “taumaz,” which meant “bridle” or “reins.”
This sense of coordinated effort and cooperation among a group of individuals or animals later evolved to describe any group working together towards a common goal. The term has been used in this broader sense since at least the 16th century. The concept of teamwork and collaboration is inherent in the word “team,” reflecting the collective effort and synergy of individuals working together towards a shared objective.