Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
People may promise to meet a deadline that they have no hope on earth of making. Others
will simply tell you that they don't have the thing you need, when the real point is that they
don't know what it is you're talking about. It can be an extremely frustrating thing to deal
with and something you'll need to adapt to. Trying to structure your questions or the situ-
ation in a way as to let them save face may be a way to get the information you need.
At times you might want to point out a flaw in a boss's reasoning, shout out a disagree-
ment, or put forth an idea that no one else seems to have had the imagination to come up
with. Stop right there before you utter a word and bite your tongue. One, you don't want
to make your boss look bad by disagreeing or saying something that he or she should have
thought of. Two, it's not good to point out another's faults in front of others.
This indirectness may also at times come because the considerate person is trying to stop
you from losing face. If you're falling short of standards they may hint so subtly at your
lapsed judgement that you really don't know what they're talking about or that you miss it
altogether. If you suspect this is happening to you, simply ask them to speak directly to you,
telling them you want to do the best work for them and that you will feel respected rather
than offended if they point out an issue to you.
Generally, non-Asian foreigners are given a fair amount of liberty, and a cultural faux
pas or two will usually slide. If you're of Chinese origins, however, any ignorance is less
likely to be laughed away, even if you clearly don't speak a word of Chinese. Those who
do speak the language will be at an advantage when trying to interpret the nuances of the
culture, and for those that don't, the best you can do is to launch into business here with
enthusiasm, an open mind, patience, and a willingness to socialize.
The key to successful business in China is understanding
rénmài, gu
ā
nxi,
and face.
Rén-
mài
is your networks and connections—the friend who knows someone at the local PSB,
the buddy of someone on an approval committee;
gu
ā
nxi
is the relationships you have with
people; and face usually relates to something that either attacks or bolsters pride. Doing or
saying something that results in an associate's loss of face can be a sure way to damage
business.
Gu
ā
nxi
takes time to build in China, and you won't succeed here without it. Conse-
quently, business can often seem painfully slow at the start. Your associates will need to
build trust with you, and this can mean doing everything but business at the outset. It's a
little like dating—you go out, you get to know each other, and then you start committing a
bit more. People in China want to know you and to see you, and to be able to eat and laugh
with you, even go hiking together first thing on a Sunday morning.
