The blind pursuit of happiness
When doing business in China, sometimes the most "obvious" things can trip us up the worst. In his classic book Beijing Jeep, Jim Mann tells the long tale of American Motors Corporation's Jeep-building joint venture in Beijing, including many an anecdote with cultural lessons. One such lesson involved Ed Schulze, head of production and maintenance at Beijing Jeep.
Two years into his tenure, Schulze recommended reducing the work week for Chinese workers from six days to five. In an internal memo, he reasoned: "The employees will gain more time for their housework and still have time for rest and social activities." (p. 257)
From an American perspective it's easy to see the appeal: reduced costs from one more idle day per week, plus rested and rejuvenated workers. Why wouldn't workers want more time away from the factory, to do "housework," pariticipate in "social activities," and such?
It turns out there were plenty of reasons Schulze's proposal didn't fly, and was never implemented. Here we'll take a look at one major cultural factor.
Deep in our American bones is a belief that, when we're not consumed with life's usually unpleasant necessities like work, we should be off doing fun, fulfilling things — in short, pursuing happiness, just like the Declaration of Independence says is our unalienable right.
People the world over want happiness; there's nothing particularly American about that. What sets Americans apart is our quasi-religious belief in our right to pursue happiness, and our often absolute prioritization of the pursuit of happiness over other things.
In China other concerns often take precedence. I've already looked at this in earlier posts on following dreams. Pursuing happiness is closely related to this; the stakes are just lower than they are with dreams, because we aren't talking about the entire purpose of someone's life.
In the case of Beijing Jeep, Jim Mann's own words best capture the cultural miscalculation. Schulze's proposal "recommended for China the American ideal of regularly alternating hard work and leisure." (p. 258) To an American it's natural to assume this ideal; to the Chinese workers and management, there were countless practical obstacles, including the factory being thrown off kilter with other Chinese factories (all of which were at that time on a six-day work week), and calling, in Mann's words, "for fundamental changes in the entire rhythm of Chinese life." (p. 258)
Beyond some frustration on the part of Ed Schulze, the repercussions for Beijing Jeep were minimal. It's not hard to imagine other scenarios, though, where a cultural miscalculation like this could cost real time, money and goodwill. It's crucial that we remain mindful of our own cultural assumptions and their impact on our success.