ATLAS Interviews Jason
Check out this brief interview I gave with this exciting new company. [Historical note: ATLAS has since morphed into LeadersAtlas.]
To Succeed in China, Challenge Your Assumptions
ATLAS Director of China Operations Abe Sorock spoke with the Hopkins-Nanjing Center’s American Co-Director, cross-cultural consultant, blogger, author, and ATLAS Board of Advisors Member Dr. Jason Patent about developing cross-cultural business skills and sensitivities.
Abe: Dr. Patent, you started your China career in Heilongjiang. What was that formative cultural experience like for you?
Jason: I was completely bewildered by the degree of difference between my own default ways of thinking and those of people around me, and the behaviors that flowed from that. Having received no cross-cultural training before going, I was a typical, hotheaded, 23 year old American with a self-aggrandized view of myself. Most of my expectations were that the people would almost – this is a bit of a caricature – worship me as an American who was going to lead these poor, oppressed people to a bright future. What I found were people extremely proud of their heritage and curious about the United States, but not even thinking about dropping their beliefs. There was a mismatch between expectations and reality.
Abe: What lesson did you draw from that experience?
Jason: That you have to be ready at all times to reexamine your assumptions. All organizations in order to survive have to be constantly asking questions. It’s a real leadership skill to be willing to challenge your assumptions about yourself, other things and people, and the culture of an organization. My experiences in Heilongjiang forced me to step outside myself and examine different viewpoints because they were real to me; they were not abstract.
Abe: So a willingness to examine one’s assumptions is a decisive factor in forging a cross-cultural career or having a successful business in China. You don’t last long there by thinking, “They do things so differently, it’s so backward.” Is there something we could pinpoint or recommend that would help people process their cross-cultural experiences more positively?
Jason: In terms of professionals, companies are not going to hire anyone who hasn’t turned a corner on this already. They will be working under very difficult conditions with a lot being demanded of them, materially and mentally. Expat professionals will not be able to do the work if they have not already committed themselves to reexamining their own assumptions and being the kind of person who is able to adapt on the fly to different realities. Companies need to do this organizationally. If they want to succeed in China or elsewhere, they have to adapt to the local realities on the ground. Otherwise they will fail.
Ultimately, it’s the same as in life. What are you committed to? Is it to a certain outcome or your own beliefs? For most human beings in most circumstances, it’s a no brainer; literally, we don’t use our brains. We are mostly loyal to our own beliefs. That’s the human condition, so it really takes an internal or organizational drive to reevaluate our own beliefs. In the end, it’s about success – commitment to success over commitment to being right.