Eight Questions in Eight Minutes — What an Interesting Format
I was both surprised and honoured a couple of weeks ago when, out of the blue, I received an invitation to appear on a podcast called Wealth Without Borders https://www.wealthwithoutborders.net/podcast I took a look at the site and found an unusual array of podcasts, some of which were very close to the kind of work I’ve done in the past. The Founder and interviewer, Howard Whiteson is an English guy with a lot of experience in different parts of the world but now based in Shanghai. Having watched a few of the podcasts there was something very unusual about them — they are based on an 8-minute interview with 8 questions asked. Allowing for a couple of minutes of introduction, none of the podcasts last much longer than 10 or 11 minutes, some less. This is something I like — we can learn a lot in a short space of time by listening to people who are experts in their field answering questions under pressure and never taking up too much of our time.
I don’t claim to be an expert in my field, but when it comes to China, I’m probably a little more expert than many people who DO claim to be experts — people who advise governments, assist in the formulation of policy and get onto TV to tell the world what they think is happening in a country they’ve either never been to, or not visited in many years.
My experience comes from a range of different aspects. Firstly, I never set out to be an expert or policy advisor, I came to China to be a teacher, hoping to finish one 10-month contract then leave. That was nearly 17 years ago. Secondly, I met and married into a very smart family. My wife, (and her father) although relatively uneducated are about the most intelligent people I know. She would probably make the world’s greatest diplomat and is a great teacher, advisor and mentor to me — through her and her family, I’ve learnt more than any university could ever teach me. (for the record, both my wife’s parents are members of the Party, although, I knew them 12 years before I learnt that fact. I’ve never seen them use their membership to gain any influence and they certainly have not benefited financially; they live a very modest life on modest pensions in a modest house). And this goes on to prove one very important thing I’ve learnt about China and that is, unlike famous quotes from people in America, you can’t hate the Party and love the people. The people are the party and the party is the people.
Where much of my knowledge of China comes from is that I love to travel, but, unlike some “experts”, I don’t fly from place to place and ensconce myself in the local international hotel. I often travel by bike. So far, well over 25,000 kilometres by bike — I’ve cycled from the border of Macau to the border of Kazakhstan, I’ve cycled from Harbin in the Far Northeast back to the border with Hong Kong and I’ve cycled from Urumqi, back to my wife’s hometown in Guangdong. In doing so, I’ve slept on the floors of restaurants, I’ve slept in bus shelters and under bridges, I’ve camped in deserts and on mountains, I’ve been to 5-star luxury resorts and I’ve stayed in the meanest of binguan (guesthouses) which might rent a room for as little as $4 USD a night.
I did some work for different organisations in the past which included training, consultancy and even examining. Through this, I got to travel even more, working one to four days every week in different cities, sometimes remaining in a city for up to one month, sometimes leaving the following day — In that capacity, I’ve stayed in some of the best hotels in China, I’ve travelled first class on trains and premium economy on planes. I’ve also used the old-style green trains to criss-cross the country. If I have to guess, I think I’ve stayed in more than 100 cities and now, there are only 4 provinces I haven’t been to. I think it’s fair to say, I’ve seen more of China than most Chinese people.
I also managed to study part time here and got myself a Master Degree focused on Cross Cultural Change Management, with a particular emphasis on Chinese workplace psychology under Western management philosophy. And it was this qualification that Howard wanted to discuss, in order to ask questions that his viewers might need answers to.
So, when I watched some of the podcasts, I noticed the questions are always the same format, the questions remain the same but because of the diversity of the guests, the content is totally different.
Once I logged on to accept the date of the interview, I was sent the list of questions which gave me some time to prepare. Off air, Howard told me it would be sometime before the video was released onto the website so, I thought, it might be an idea, since I prefer the written word, to write them into an article and post them. So, with Howard’s permission here they are. I can’t guarantee my answers were word for word, because I wasn’t reading when I replied, but our 8-minute chat went something like this:
HW: Who is your ideal client?
JG: I don’t have an ideal, or any other kind of client as I no longer work full time but am happy to answer questions and help people resolve their issues. If I get questions on LinkedIn or Twitter, I tend to answer them as best I can and point people in the direction of some research paper might help them. I don’t charge businesses or individuals for this, but if a company wants me to visit and look into a specific issue, I’ll ask for my costs to be covered and a small daily fee — I’m more of a guide, maybe mentor than a consultant
Potentially, these clients would be any manager of a business which has cross cultural issues — this may be a foreign business in China, or a Chinese business wanting to break into a foreign market. The reason being that there are very wide gaps between Western business philosophy and Chinese workplace psychology
HW: What is the problem you solve?
JG: Sometimes a manager will ask staff to do things, then, a week later as the deadline approaches, the manager finds it hasn’t been done. They often wonder why — At the same time the Chinese employee is wondering what the manager really wants — it’s these misunderstandings which often come from cultural differences or, more likely the use of language
A good example of what I call Culturo-linguistic difficulties is simply the use of the word “holiday”. Ask any Chinese person what’s the best holiday you’ve had and they’ll tell you it was Spring Festival, ask a European the same question and it would be a fortnight on an island somewhere. Simple use of a word that isn’t processed in the same way causes fundamental differences
Many people are aware of “workplace culture” and the issues it causes, but what foreign business managers often forget, there is a totally different culture in a Chinese workplace, it may be related to language, hometown, classmates, even families who have a grouping in the company that might affect the dynamics in unexpected ways.
HW What are the typical symptoms people experience with that problem?
JG Communication problems, morale issues, production failures, legal problems
The symptoms could be catastrophic, leading to complete failure of the business and loss of investment, or they could just be confusing and even amusing — Chinese employees have different expectations of their managers while, at the same time the managers have a completely different expectation of their employee. There are things that do work and things that won’t work in HR management in China
If an employee in China knows his manager is wrong, they will drop hints, but probably not ever openly criticise.
HW What are the common mistakes people make when trying to solve that problem?
JG: Attempting to resolve an issue in China with the same methodology as one would in any other country — it won’t work — everything we learnt in “Management 101” Maslow’s Pyramid, Herzberg’s two factors — the very fundaments we learn about in business studies are all different
HW: What is one valuable free action that the audience can implement that will help them solve that problem?
JG: This is a great question. I would strongly suggest employing HR managers with cross cultural experience, perhaps a local with an overseas education or overseas experience. If the HR Manager is a foreigner, that person will need guidance, even if they have the appropriate experience. HR in China is not the same as HR in the West.
HW: What is one valuable free resource that you can direct people to that will further help with that problem?
JG: A website called Insights — run by a Dutch psychologist called Geert Hofstede. This site allows you to look at the national psychology of many different nationalities and compare them to your own — for example, if you’re a German manager and you’ve got problems with a Chinese workforce, you can take a look at both of these national “cultural identities” and establish some similarities and in what ways you’re different.
HW: What concept/book / program / talk has been most impactful in your experience?
JG: I read a book called “Beyond the Chinese Face” by Michael Harris Bond, he’s a Canadian born psychologist who worked many years in Hong Kong. I’m pretty sure it was the turning point and lead to my greater understanding of Chinese people.
HW: What’s the one question that I should have asked you that would give great value to our audience?
JG: Where should a potential investor in China go to get the best advice?
Very simply put, China is nothing like you expect if you’ve read news reports and if you’ve watched TV. There is a great deal of disinformation and misinformation from many different sources including quite recently, the State Department of the USA under the Trump Administration.
Go to China, meet with the local government departments, each city has a department dealing with foreign investment and they really do want to help, it’s as good for their city as it is for your business.
And, find a consultant who is already in China with a track record of doing business here. Ignore about 90% of what you read in MSM.
