Taming the beast

These past two weeks in Beijing, charged with guiding Americans with little or no exposure to China through their initial, often strong reactions, I was reminded so many times of my own initial struggles almost 18 years ago. Time had dimmed for me the power of my own reactions. As a hot-headed and very American 23-year-old, I could not have held any dearer or more obvious truth than that the world was ready to bow down before my American greatness and grandeur. Confronted by the certitude in those all around me, throughout the dusty northern Manchurian outpost of Qiqihar, of their own cultural superiority, I did what any threatened animal would do: dug in my heels. I sought out every possible flaw and broadcast them to all who would listen back home. I was completely on autopilot: reacting, reacting, and reacting more. Many words and phrases could be used to describe the sort of environment around me that resulted, but "curious," "open-hearted," and "conducive to learning" would not be among them.

I am caricaturing a bit here. Still, the point is central to everything having to do with intercultural understanding: if we don't understand our own, deep-seated, culturally-conditioned automatic reactions to difference, we cut off all chance of meaningful connection with those whom we perceive as different from us.

One of the few absolute certainties I have found in life is that people will react strongly to difference. Everyone. It's in the deepest core of our animal being. And thank goodness we do: it's the ability to make snap judgments that, as we evolved, allowed us to survive a host of dangers in a nasty, competitive world. Now we find ourselves in an ever-more interdependent world, and those reactions, while always present, may not always serve us in our pursuits. The question is: How will you handle it when you react?

The key to the whole thing is seeing that you're reacting, so that you know what you're dealing with. Only then are you able to choose how much to listen to your reaction, and how much to listen to the inner voices that reflect your higher nature.

How will you react to your Chinese partners' and counterparts' behavior? How strong will your reactions be? What about those of your team? Will you have the fleetness of mind to shift on the fly, so that you can get back to business and make something amazing happen with your Chinese colleagues?

This is a fundamental human struggle. Doing business in China will have you on the front lines every day. A challenge worth relishing.