Zach Skyles Owens

The other interesting topic the speaker spent time on was the importance of Guanxi.   My interpretation of Guanxi is that it’s very similar to Westerner’s business networking.  There are certainly more rules and subtleties then that but it’s certainly something to look into if traveling to China or doing business with Chinese.

As I mentioned in my post earlier I was really looking forward to the session about Chinese communication.  It totally met my expectations!  The most important thing that I got out of the session was the importance of high context communication within Chinese culture.

The speaker gave two examples which I thought explained her point very well.

Example 1
The Chinese professor may be hot and want the window opened.  Instead of asking her student to open the window she may ask the student, "Are you hot?"   Hopefully the student understands that what she was really asking in an indirect way was, "Will you please open the window?".

Example 2
An American visitor goes to a Chinese coworker’s house for dinner.  The American guest compliments what a beautiful painting that’s on the wall.  The next day the American finds the painting on her desk.  The Chinese visitor thought that the American’s compliment was a subtle request for the painting.

That’s exactly the type of critical understanding of a different culture which I think helps get along in new environments.

Has your experience in China been the same? 

I’m fascinated with the changes in economies and the role of economics and business on these changes.  I’m lucky enough to have a job which allows me to have an inside look at these changes and have the opportunity to play a part in this discussion.

Today, I’m at an internal Microsoft event related to doing business in China.  The session I’m looking forward to the most is related to the cultural aspects of working with Chinese partners.  Anytime that I have the opportunity to travel to another country I always buy the Culture Smart! travel book.  In my experience knowing the culture is the most important part of travel.

The title of this article pretty much sums it up… “Todo Tiene Su Finalâ€? translates to “Everything Has an Endâ€?. This is a really famous salsa song by Hector Lavoe. Today has been a big day for me. It was my last day at my current job and I ended the last class of my MBA about fifteen minutes ago.

None of it has really sunk in yet but I am full of conflicting emotions. The past year and half during my MBA at the Instituto de Empresa has been a time of deep personal evaluation and growth. Recounting some of the significant events:

• Accepted at one of the world’s best business schools
• Finished Lanzarote Ironman in the Canary Islands
• Attended PMI Global Congress in Madrid
• Attended IE Conference in Madrid
• Promoted to project manager position
• Attended PMI Global Congress in Seattle
• Attended IE Conference in Mumbai
• Visited Thailand
• Attended another IE Conference in Madrid
• Landed a dream job at Microsoft
• Completed my MBA

Wow… As I type it out, I really can’t believe it is coming to an end. Everything is packed and I moving off Maui to start the next chapter in three days.

I generally don’t share things quite this personal on this blog but I know that many of my classmates have gone through a similar transformation over the past couple of years and I hope some of these little things can help bring some closure.

I’ll miss my Friday evenings with my international crew from: China, India, Morocco, Japan, Germany, Russia, Dubai, South Africa, Colombia, Spain, Italy, UK, Bulgaria and Serbia.

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Do not be afraid of death.

Be afraid of a life half lived.