I was quite good at mathematics during school, but my sister was just ok in the numbers game. She loves cooking, and I love the mouth watering dishes she makes, but I can’t tell the difference between soy sauce and cola!
As you grow up you notice differences between yourself and friends and siblings and when you visit or start doing business with other cultures, you also notice differences. Habits differ and so can even fundamental things, like how to measure right and wrong. The Chinese have a different culture, different customs, different manners and a completely different way of seeing things compared with many other cultures.
“If you look at Chinese as a puzzle to solve, a mystery to figure out, you will fail! Why? Because if you start out looking at the Chinese as a mystery you will find what you are looking for, a mystery, and the more you try to solve the Chinese mystery the more mysterious the Chinese will become.”
Greg Bissky has been part of several funny incidents over the years where he has been puzzled by the mystery of Chinese. He has penned his experiences in a book titled ‘Wearing Chinese Glasses: How (not) to Go Broke in Chinese Asia’.
“Chinese do things differently than you do, often very differently, but they are just people who want the same things you do. The key to success is just that simple, looking at Chinese as people, not as mysteries or puzzles.”
His book is an excellent insight for any non-Chinese that wants to view and understand things from a Chinese perspective, a skill that’s very valuable for building strong and lasting business relationships.
