描述一个遇到难题时，你提议的创新解决办法

[Prompt: Describe an innovative solution that you devised in response to a problem.]

Overcoming IT Roadblocks

Working as a sales engineer at Onlink Technologies, I quickly recognized that individual initiative was essential to the success of a growing company. Within my second month of employment, I found my resourcefulness tested in a crucial sales opportunity at Sony Corporation.

Sony wanted to create an online search engine to help customers find the Sony PC that best suited their requirements. We had successfully presented Onlink’s technology to Sony’s management team as a solution to their business requirements, but to close the deal, Onlink had to demonstrate integration with Sony’s existing Microsoft e-commerce application. Unfortunately, the Sony IT group denied our request to use their systems for the demonstration. Further compounding this difficulty, Microsoft viewed Onlink as a competitor and would not provide us with trial software.

With a deadline drawing near, it seemed inevitable that Onlink would lose the business due to the IT roadblock, but I continued to attack the problem even as others had given up hope. After poring through publicly available Microsoft documentation and consulting extensively with our engineering team, I devised a solution from approaches we had not before considered. By modifying key software components, I was able to connect our demonstration to Sony’s live e-commerce website and successfully place an order for a laptop computer. One day before our deadline, I presented the solution to Sony management and was rewarded with an enthusiastic endorsement of our solution. Sony was truly impressed with Onlink’s initiative and awarded us with our largest contract to date. This application is successfully running today on Sony’s website.

点评：

作者很明显的一点就是坚持不懈以及创新的思维及勇气。正如他所提到的，当遇到了普通人都会放弃的时候，在现有的资源已经无法调配的时候，作者想到的是如何去创造一种新的资源，通过对一些现有的东西进行改进，从而制造出一种新的“产物”。敢想敢做，这是美国的大学普遍提倡的一种理念，为何我们在遇到实际问题的时候很多人会徒步不前？除了不敢想，很多时候想到了还是不敢做，宁愿自己找借口做“阿Q”——自圆其说。更多的时候，成功的到来正像作者的行为方式，遇到问题，除了在正常思维去寻找解决办法，还需要思考更有效的，或者更便捷的方法去完成目标。