A bit late coming, but here it is: I am now working full-time as VP, Communications & Marketing at Orchestrall, Inc. It’s an exciting new company, and for me a thrilling opportunity to help build something from the ground up — something that promises to bring the U.S. and China closer, which if you’ve followed [...]

My apologies to one and all for being absent for so long. I’ve been in a significant professional transition for a while now, which will continue through the Holidays. Early in the New Year I’ll have more about what’s coming next.
Meanwhile Happy Holidays to all who celebrate them!

On some level I have no right to complain about what I complained about in yesterday’s post. When I first went to China at 23, I was a roiling mess of self-righteous “concern” for China in its failure to be exactly like the U.S. It’s taken almost 20 years of learning for me to nuance [...]

In today’s online Wall Street Journal, this piece appeared. Reading it was an odd experience. The headline goes like this: “Obama, Hu Highlight Cooperation.” The first three paragraphs are right on point, with high-level summaries of the nature of Hu’s and Obama’s conversations. Then, suddenly, the fourth paragraph:
Mr. Obama’s statement also pointedly noted the U.S. [...]

A recent post on Dan Harris’s China Law Blog referred back to a 2008 post entitled “Chinese Cultural Awareness Simplified: Don’t Be an Asshole“. As a believer in, and blogger about, the business value of cultural consulting and training, I was intrigued. Essentially the post argues that as long as you avoid being an asshole, [...]

Back from a week of consulting in China. The organization is a new company looking to implement a new model of outsourcing. For many reasons I’m optimistic about the company’s prospects, not least of which is that the leadership combines experience from the Mainland, Hong Kong, Taiwan and the U.S. The multiple perspectives will play [...]

Tomorrow I head to China for some consulting work. I’m hoping to have the chance to post but I may not. If I don’t, then I’ll resume posting the week of November 2nd.
Until then…

One of the most hackneyed Western stereotypes is that “the Chinese are inscrutable.” I’ve never really been clear on what that’s supposed to mean. I think mostly people have meant that it’s hard for a Westerner to know what a Chinese person is thinking, based on what they say. Which makes sense, given the high-context [...]

What does it mean to trust someone? It means at least that:

You think the person has your best interests at heart, i.e. has good intentions toward you.
You think the person generally says what they believe.
You and the person share some set of values and/or objectives that are independent of either of your own personal agendas.

In [...]

American notions of truth and trust are founded on an underlying faith that more information is better, and that information, all things being equal, should be made available. This follows from Americans’ universalist perspective on the world, and also from our “Layer 1″ and “Layer 2″ perspective.
Information is treated differently in China. It tends to [...]