Teamwork is a critical component to businesses, organizations and governments; likewise, it was an essential skill for successfully completing this capstone project. This project strengthened my understanding of a team on the macro-level of national laboratories and also on the micro-level within our capstone team. On the macro-level, I learned how the national laboratories interact with the government and the importance of having effective communication between two different groups. On the micro-level, I learned the importance of understanding the working style of other people (such as their strengths and weaknesses), what roles best works with their personalities, and how to motivate your teammates, Working in teams in modern society is inevitable; as a result, developing the skills required to work in an effective team setting is critical in facilitating your team's success.

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Topic: Nuclear Denial

Client: Sandia National Laboratory

Faculty Advisor: Dr. Andrew Ross

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The Project:

Replacing the traditional thesis that marks the end of most graduate programs, the capstone is a team based project where the students analyze real-life challenges posed by their clients. This project emphasizes camaraderie and teamwork in order for students to work efficiently to find results and produce a high quality deliverable for the client. 

 

Overview:

This capstone examines the question of how might North Korea be denied the benefits of having developed nuclear capability? The capstone research team developed a set of empirically informed options that address this central question. The capstone team examined policy questions from multiple theoretical and methodological approaches while considering alternative explanations, alternative policy recommendations, and the different perspectives of stakeholders.

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My Roles:

My roles in this capstone project were editor and briefer. As editor, I would sort through everyone’s work and evaluate it for clarity, accuracy, and ensure they produced a succinct analytical product. As the briefer, I was tasked the responsibility of providing an effective presentation in order to convey the information of our white paper.

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Teamwork:

The intensity and teamwork of the Capstone project forced students to combine strengths while also developing challenge areas. Before this project, I invested a lot of time in studying the East Asian region and had not had the opportunity to work with students that were not regionalists. As a result, I got the opportunity to learn how to collaborate with classmates who are not regionalists that contributed knowledge from their own areas of study.

 

Learning how to work in a team is not always a positive experience. First, the teammates need to be aware that friction can occur when members do not communicate and work together. For example, one time a team members misunderstood his responsibilities and produced the wrong product.  As a result, instead of explaining the problem, another team member thought the other person was lazy and trying to get out of work. It was not until they talked a week later that the first person understood what happened.

Second, members of the team need to be aware that the reality of teams and organizations requires members to develop an understanding of each other. For example, my team took Myers Briggs tests and StrengthsQuest and had an expert explain how we best interact with one another. Because of the nature of this project, it is necessary to continue a collaborative and positive attitude with my capstone teammates.

 

Skills Takeaways:

Aside from teamwork development, I saw my time management abilities flourish. Juggling academic, service, and professional responsibilities, I developed a method of physical lists to maximize my productivity and allocate my time efficiently. In addition, my research skills also flourished. Because North Korean culture and policy is not well understood, I had to think analytically, critically, and systematically about the country to consider denying it the benefits that accompany the development of nuclear weapons development. By developing this ability, I can now examine foreign cultures without projecting my own bias, allowing me to produce analysis that is not skewed by my personal experiences.

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