TRUTH

profileCompassion in BusinessGABRIEL FAIRMAN ’02 BELIEVES THAT CORPORATE SUCCESS DEPENDS ON MORE THAN JUST A PRODUCT.Despite his facility with languages, Fairman describes himselfprimarily as an agent for social transformation. For moreinformation on his company, visit www.bureautranslations.com.aving been born in São Paulo, Brazil, Gabriel Fairman grew upHspeaking Portuguese. He also learned Spanish early on from hisArgentine father and picked up English attending Americanschools, where he was also taught French. At Swarthmore, helearned Italian during a semester abroad in Italy. And, in his senioryear, he began studying Mandarin Chinese, which he polished duringa 5-month stay in a Zen Buddhist monastery in Taiwan.So it’s not surprising that Fairman—now back in São Paulo—makes his living working with words, as executive director ofBureau Translations, where translators interpret in 20 languages.Beside his love of languages, Fairman has a penchant for philosophyand psychology—thanks to his College courses, he says, especiallythose taught by Frank and Gil Mustin Professor of PsychologyEmeritus Kenneth Gergen. Fairman graduated with a special majortitled The Death and Rebirth of Human Agency.“This is just a fancy name for the study of how people areimpaired in their decision-making by influences subconsciouslyengrained as a result of their culture,” he says. The rebirth of theseprocesses occurs when we become actively aware of this culturalconditioning of our modes of thinking and allow ourselves to beopen to alternative explanations for human behaviors, rather thanpassively seeing only one “right” explanation. “I could never reallyaccept any one way of thinking as the ultimate way,” Fairman says.MURILO RODRIGUESFairman’s route to his current job was not a direct one. Aftermonths of monastic routine “working as a gardener, meditating,teaching English to children at an orphanage inside the monastery,and practicing kung fu,” he worked at a New York consulting firmfor a while, followed by a year with his father in international tradeand 6 months in the export department of Brazil’s largest mineralexploration company.Back in São Paulo, Fairman was struck by the clash between theharshness of the business world in “this do-or-die, cut-throat city”and the insights he had gained in his pursuit of philosophy andpersonal inner exploration. “I was disillusioned by business practicesthat put the importance of human relationships in the background,so I took over the home business my mother founded 25years ago and turned it into a start-up company that had at its corean emphasis on relationships,” he says.In light of Fairman’s drive to reach beyond the limitations of culturallyimposed perceptions, his choice of profession—in which hemust strive on a daily basis to reconcile the cultural differences thatreveal themselves through language—seems entirely appropriate.His staff—experts at building connections through language—are expected to be equally adept in forming relationships based ontraits like tolerance of differences, understanding, and compassion.For example, Fairman describes being commissioned to translatea set of highly sensitive documents pertaining to a multimilliondollarcontract between a Brazilian company and Chinese company.“We had to understand the thought process of the Brazilian supplierand figure out how the wording in the original Chinese version ofthe contract would fit within this context. Brazilian texts are typicallynot concise and are often filled with flowery language. So, withthe help of consultants, we examined the language of the originalChinese document before translation. Then, after translation, weconsulted with lawyers in both countries and did more rewording orrephrasing before producing the final contract,” he says.Fairman’ s carefully chosen staff comprises 10 in-house consultantsand 15 translators. All spend a fair amount of time in the officeattending training sessions, seminars, or presentations. “I am lookingfor people who have the basic set of characteristics needed forworking in a company, such as punctuality, diligence, and thoroughness,”he says, “but above all, they should be able to understand andaccept differences and be willing to learn from these differences, notjust sit back and accept the status quo.”At weekly meetings, employees share ideas on topics such asproject management, health issues, and company-client relationships.“We have a continuous learning system,” Fairman says. “I’mtrying to balance my theoretical background with the pressingdemands for productivity to build a business based on harmoniousand evolving relationships rather than just a product.”—Carol Brévart-Demmmarch 2007: 77