Who's in charge here?

While we're on the subject of Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner's seven dimensions (in earlier posts we've looked at specific/diffuse and universalism/particularism), let's have a look at another of these dimensions that's relevant to topics addressed in the blog: internal versus external "locus of control." In the authors' words:

Societies which conduct business have developed two major orientations towards nature. They either believe that they can and should control nature by imposing their will upon it, as in the ancient biblical injunction "multiply and subdue the earth", or they believe that man is part of nature and must go along with its laws, directions and forces. The first of these orientations we shall describe as inner-directed.…The second [as] outer-directed.… (Fons Trompenaars and Charles Hampden-Turner, Riding the Waves of Culture: Understanding Diversity in Global Business, Second Edition, New York: McGraw Hill, 1998, p. 145. Emphasis in original.)

Differences between the U.S. and China show up starkly in responses to the following:

A. What happens to me is my own doing.

B. Sometimes I feel that I do not have enough control over the directions my life is taking.

The percentage of people answering A is 39 for China (second only to Venezuela, at 33) and 82 for the U.S. (fourth highest after Norway (86), Israel (88), and Uruguay (88)). That's a pretty big difference, and it plays out all across the board when Americans are doing business in China. To take but one major example, see these earlier posts on contracts: it's hopeless and counterproductive to think we can control the future, which is in essence what a contract seeks to do. This difference also shows up frequently in people's explanations for why things do or don't happen.

For instance, one of our children's caregivers once didn't show up at a certain place and time to meet our family. Frustrated, I called her to find out what had happened. Her explanation was that "Beijing has a lot of intersections." How could she be expected to find the right one? Of course my "inner-directed" American brain went nuts, seeing this as merely an excuse, and a lousy one at that.

The problem for the American in China is that our inner-directedness is just one particular way of thinking of things. Be ready for explanations that seem odd, even maddening. Using words like "unaccountable" or "irresponsible" will get you nowhere. Showing anger will only set you back. Instead, work hard to see an outer-directed orientation as a legitimate way of viewing the world, on equal footing with yours.

There are no quick and easy prescriptions here. One thing is certain, though: your chances of success will be much greater if you're ready for this than if you're not.