USA vs. China Ways (3)

How to get to the Way It is?

What’s the biggest challenge in understanding and handling international and inter-cultural issues? It’s about how to get to know truly the other parties. The easiest trap we can get into is to use our own experiences, background and assumptions to assess and judge the other parties. We often forget the other parties’ experiences, background and assumptions may go very different ways.

Using the US vs. China case as an example, in order to work, deal or even compete with each other effectively, the side who can achieve better know-how on the other side will enjoy the upper-hand advantages.

One 3-step working formula to bridge true understanding in certain key field, is to first find out what China embraces, then compare with what the US upholds in parallel, and then figure out the main differences and impacts.

But this is easier said than done. Finding what China flows in depth is tough enough for the Americans, and then gaining insight on how the US operates culturally and system wise is equivalently tough for the Chinese. Hence such difficulties can often topple the 3rd step, making things really misleading, challenging and even conflicting.

To make this 3-step formula really work, the key is for one side to grasp the core concepts and practices of the other side. This is…