Eat Drink Man Woman. What a wonderful movie! This Taiwanese movie is about a father who tries to show his love for his family through the food he takes the time to select and prepare for them. He is a poor oral communicator in the traditional sense, he struggles to show feelings and emotion, so he tries make up for this trait by showing love for his family through food. Yet, initially his children are too self absorbed to notice his love for them in this regard; but in time they come around and unite as a family. And, of course, they eat some amazing food along the way.
The opening scene from this movie is the father preparing a meal (click HERE to watch the clip). This opening scene is also a metaphor for part of the business world in China.
How, you say? Notice how many different things and tasks he takes on to prepare the meal. Also notice that during much of the scene he uses the same, big knife, to do the chopping, basic cutting, then the fine cutting and mincing, etc.
When we visit China you may see that many (not all, to be sure) Chinese business people tend to be more generalists and a “jack of all trades” than their counterparts in western firms. In the West, we tend to focus on what we specialize in (e.g., “Go talk to marketing, I only handle finance”, or “Look, I just do _____[fill in the blank], you tech guys needs to fix the problem with the product” or “That’s not my area, I deal with the SEO stuff”).
Your thoughts and experiences on this issue? The same? Different? What have you seen and experienced out there?
Really interesting that in Chinese business culture they are more generalized. I can definitely see the benefit of being a bit more resourceful. It probably helps open up lines of communication within the structure of their business as well.
I agree with Alex. It is interesting how Chinese culture have a broader range of abilities. It must definitely be a helpful tool knowing many different skills.