Learnt from China 1: Personal Relationships

There are some cultural differences about China that many people know - but it's difficult to see the practical implications of these differences until you really experience them, for example:

"Personal relationships are really important in China"

But how do you do this? Months of successes and mistakes in doing this have led to one key learning: you need to spend an intense amount of time building these relationships. For example, if you have a new team of uni students around you, before you do any work maybe you should...

... start off by getting them together and do something unusual with them (like fishing, cooking together, going to the great wall of china) ...

... then maybe over dinner you can share some personal things about yourself, so that the group feels more open to sharing, then you can start discussing what they are like, what their families are like, what they're passionate about, and share their dreams. This builds a sense of trust and family, so after this (and maybe some karaoke!) ...

... and then you can start to work together - hopefully with a happier relationship with people who are more willing to help you get results.

Knowing that 'personal relationships are important' is useful info, but knowing how to build personal relationships is key. It's a bit different to what usually happens in Europe!