I had the benefit on the Invest in Australia Mission of being introduced to Geoff Baker, originally an Australian lawyer and investment banker, who co-authored with his Chinese born wife, Helen Zhang (both pictured below onwith IIA tour leaders Caroline Hong and David Thomas) , a book titled "Inside the Chinese Mind: A Guide on How the Chinese Think".
For anyone doing business, working with or sharing experiences with people originally from China, I highly recommend this book as an essential, well laid out and easy to read fast track guide to start to understand the many centuries of influences on the current culture which has shaped the Chinese people.
Some key concepts which are covered in the book, with the Chinese terms well described, include: - The Five Core Elements of Chinese Thinking
- Language that Shapes the Mind
- Yin and Yang
- Chinese Connectedness
- Midstream Living
- Face "mianzi" - More Important than Life Itself
- The different types of Enterprises in China - State, Private and Foreign
- The difference between leaders and decision makers
- The work ethics of the different generations - with particular emphasis on some changes coming through with Generation Y
- Communication and relationships in China - including "guanxi", what "Yes" actually means and the various "Circles of Influence"
- Both the Big Things and the Little Things that matter
- How the Rule of Law works and how agreements and conflict are actually handled.
(Geoff Baker, Helen Zhang, Caroline Hong, David Thomas)
PB
Copyright: Peter Black 2015 | 
