This article is from WeChat public account: Silicon Valley, home life (ID: silicon_valley_life) , author: Silicon Valley Weili, from the title figure: vision China
I have recently written several articles comparing the performance of Chinese and Indians in Silicon Valley, and they have become experts in studying Silicon Valley’s workplace culture. Friends get together and this topic is often raised for discussion. After discussion, there will always be someone who thoughtfully thought of a more important question: Will our next generation repeat our dilemma?
No one dared to give a negative answer to this question. Our children grew up in a tradition that values education. They have parents who put their studies first, and have been active in education and excellence since childhood. Many have attended prestigious universities. They will undoubtedly grow into outstanding young people and gain a place in society for themselves.
But if we want to keep up with the Indians, and hope that they will be more successful than their Indian colleagues and more successful than the children of our Indian colleagues, we are a bit afraid we will be disappointed.
From the description of the children, from the observation of the children’s friends, and from the performance of young people of different ethnicities we met in the company, we have actually seen some signs. Although not general, Indian children are generally more productive than our childrenExtremely proactive, more tossing and more able to speak. In other words, our Indian colleagues seem to have miraculously transplanted their advantages to the children.
Why? Aren’t they educated in the same society and the same school? Isn’t English also their mother tongue? Yes, that’s all right. But they come from different families and have different family cultures.
For example, we just had a discussion about workplace culture at the dinner table. No matter what topic we start from, unknowingly, corners and turns, conversations will be attracted by strong magnets like iron filings, and like rivers and streams always return to the sea, turning into words and voices for Indian colleagues Complaint of tears:
Indians just hold a group. People they know must be recruited no matter how bad. My son ’s Indian classmates join the robot team and do nothing. It ’s faster than anyone else. Indians are nothing extraordinary. Slippery, thick-skinned, and flattering; my Indian boss is the most annoying person in the world. He is evil to the subordinates, and smiles when he turns to the superiors.
Is there a problem with this discussion? Yes, at least three.
First, it lacks the spirit of self-reflection and blame all its losses on others.
Of course, there are people in India who have wrong intentions. I have seen examples from everyone. But there are also such Chinese people. I wo n’t talk about it in China, nor are we saints in Silicon Valley, but they are not brave enough, the language is not good enough, not enough people, the position is not important, the potential is far from being realized, and the performance is not enough.
But if we just stare at these phenomena, but do n’t learn the advantages of others, we can only sit at the dining table forever, like Xiang Lin, who is bitter and bitter and bitter, and the workplace situation will not be improved at all. . Indian success in Silicon Valley is not an isolated phenomenon. Looking at it, do so many architects, managers, and presidents all go up the wrong path? The Indian colleagues I know of course each have their own shortcomings, and the abacus is also very good, but almost every one has some admirable strengths.
Be IndianAfter the presidents of Google and Microsoft did not become Chinese, some people said that because of the competition between the United States and China, Americans did not trust the Chinese to sit in such a high position; there were still some people who were reluctant to compare with Nadella Yes, but immediately afterwards the conversation turned around, I can’t help but say that other Indian managers are nominal scammers and foolish.
But both have problems. The president of a large company does not jump out of the crack in the stone, but walks up step by step from the grassroots. If there are many people from a certain country at the middle level, there is a high probability that there are people from a certain country at the high level. This is a question of probability. Not only are we not presidents, we also have a small number of grassroots, middle and senior leaders. And no one believes that when you promote grassroots leaders, people will pay attention to whether your home country and the United States have a competitive relationship.
In contrast, Indians have formed a strong pipeline of talents, from the grassroots, middle, and high levels, and have a solid and stable pyramid. If you admit that the quality of the people at the top of the pyramid is okay, then you cannot make the logical inference that the people below occupy a favorable position through crooked paths and nepotism.
But the lack of self-reflection can also be said to be a general weakness of human nature; a unique problem for our Chinese people is also the second problem exposed by these discussions. We have a deep misunderstanding of leadership, so It is a cynical and cynical attitude towards leadership, and this misunderstanding of leadership hinders our progress in the workplace.
This question is already a cliché. Our shyness and ambiguity about leadership are related to our culture. The ideal leader in our culture is never the kind of person who is rushing to be the leader. That kind of person is either an ambitionist or a power mad. Only those who are immortal, desperate, want to be persuaded, and be regarded as high-minded people who deserve to be respected are worthy of respect. I thought these things had become feudal dregs, but if you look closely, you can see that the poison left over thousands of years is not so easy to remove.
What’s more, contrary to the fact that every year in the United States we see officials running around to draw votes for ourselves, the society we grew up has never shown us how to volunteer and be a leader.
Relatedly, we have a derogatory term to describe all the important components of leadership. We are known for our strong expression ability; we are said to be brave and daring; we are referred to as thick-skinned when we are strong; we strive to be aggressive in the drill camp that we have described as sharpening our heads; Flattering.
Every time I hear these words, I feel very sorry. Some things are obviously good when they are used properly, but we have to tell them to put a black label on them and then discard them in peace. Why? Or notWhen it comes to grapes, is it said to be sour?
Anyway, this mentality is not conducive to our progress in the workplace. Progress in the workplace is a process of gradually gaining leadership. If you have a negative view of leadership, if you pursue it with shame and guilt, it will be as if you sent a soldier to fight but you will be unnamed. Of course, you will lose to the starting line.
But none of this is the most worrying thing yet. What is even more worrying is the subject of this article and the third issue of these discussions. We will transmit our limitations, especially misunderstandings about leadership, to the next generation.
Imagine that at our dinner tables and parties, if children hear us every day, we use bitter tone, cynical attitude, dismissive expression to talk about changes in the workplace and the behavior of colleagues, using words such as exaggeration and pretentious Talking about the qualities that children need to progress in the workplace, and reducing all the pursuit of leadership to deceiving and deceiving, will it help them develop leadership?
Especially if Indians at their dinner tables and parties not only talk about leadership without negative language, but also use their own experience to educate children about leadership.
We also know that the Indian community is good at using the cultural traditions of birthday celebrations, graduation parties, and dance performances to provide children with opportunities to open their eyes, meet the world, organize, speak, and exercise leadership skills.
And we also remember that in the last election of the town ’s parliament, an Indian candidate knocked on the door from door to door, and sincerely talked to each family, leaving a good impression on everyone, and was elected with a high vote; the community was first in ten years. The neighbors of the Kaikai neighborhood eat, drink, and chat together to enhance their relationship. The organizers are a few Indian housewives who have moved into the community. Some Indian children have no doubt observed these leadership examples up close.
The misunderstanding of leadership caused by our unique growth environment affects our performance in the workplace; our children live in a society with a positive view of leadership, but it takes a huge and conscious effort to cultivate leadership This effort is one of the things that parents say and teach. And as a first step, can you spare no effort to discredit leadership at home?
Otherwise, it is tantamount to creating a small environment for children with negative views of leadership in a normal environment; it is as if they have contracted a virus that is not fatal but causes a lot of distress, Now it will be passed on to the next generation.
In fact, although Indians are inevitably enviable and jealous, they have a shallow foundation in the United States. TimeIt’s short, but it has achieved impressive results, showing that the United States is an open and fair society. We Chinese also have examples of success, and the large-scale and high-quality success of Indians should make us confident in the next generation: do not give them any fetters and burdens, let them work hard, they can achieve the same height.
This article is from WeChat public account: Silicon Valley, home life (ID: silicon_valley_life) , author: Silicon Valley Weili