DOING BUSINESS IN ASIA: THE PERSON IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE PROCESS, LEONARDO GON REPORTING FROM CHINA

13/01/2013

"If there's a will there will be a road", this I was told a few months ago in South Korea and, in my view, it reflects the spirit of the culture here, in this part of Asia. 

To my considerations in the Asia Pacific Area, l feel that Japan, South Korea and China share most of the common attitudes in business.
There are a lot of books about doing business in this part of the world and many say that it's easy to give up or to become stressed out trying to find a way. 

What I noticed is that most of the western people try to "organize" and "linearise" the process, which is a typical efficient way of working, but their main assumptions are wrong! 

In most of the cases, here, the person is more important and that's why, in my opinion, to do business here we need to learn to use our feelings instead of trying to see this part of the world with the paradigm of our culture. 

Having feelings is not rational or logical and it's really personal, it belongs to you. It means that you can really make the difference in good and bad.  

What I also found out is that "faith" should be present during dealings in this part of the world. I'm not really an expert on this, even if the Pope lives in my home country... I am talking about a different kind of definition of faith, one that goes more like "something is going to happen". In this part of the world people are more driven by signs and they are actually looking for "telltale signs" that will spark their feelings and will drive them to do business in their complicated way of doing things. 

Just think about what could happen if you say something about feelings or faith during a business meeting in Europe or in the U.S.! 

If there is a will (and it sparks a feeling), there will be a road ... if you have faith. 

So, you can continue to fight your way or adapt, but this will be one of the next posts! 

Ciao from china! 

Leonardo Gon