We live in a transitional period in geopolitics and world history. In the abstract, the Thucydides Trap is converging with the race for AI general intelligence in the post-COVID new normal of great power competition between the United States and China. Information is the only currency and weapon...

Has the nature of Guanxi changed in the post-COVID era of doing business in China?

Thirteen years ago, my personal driver in Shanghai invited my wife and me to a lavish, relatively speaking, dinner party to celebrate my birthday with his relatives. This dinner celebration is unusual for any...

History is woven from different narratives, perspectives, and interpretations, and there is a saying that "History is written by victors." Perhaps more poignantly, Hermann Göring, Churchill's enemy in World War II, is recorded as saying at the Nuremberg trials, "The victor will always be the...

Regardless of your opinions about China, you are undoubtedly aware of our collective challenge to improve cross-cultural communication and work more collaboratively. Prior misunderstandings that could more easily be forgiven or even funny are more contentious today and require a higher level of...

"Once upon a time Martians and Venusians met, fell in love, and had happy relationships together because they respected and accepted their differences. Then they came to Earth and amnesia set in: They forgot they were from different planets."

Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus is a classic...

As we internalize the Guanxi engine metaphor and grasp that it needs 'fuel' to run, we will also recognize that, like any well-designed system, its inertia will continue running off alternative sources regardless. Chinese rituals were refined over the past five millennia, and every Chinese person...

Every interaction in China can either improve a relationship or activate a cloak of deception called goodwill extraction. While this might sound dramatic, it simply contrasts the possible outcomes of every engagement you'll encounter doing business in China. Once you understand your interactions...

Jack Ma's Ant Financial (rebranded as Ant Group) IPO debacle encapsulates a complex interplay between China's rapidly evolving tech sector and an opaque and reactive regulatory framework hierarchically disincentivized against market-oriented decisions. It's a Guanxi-based paradox disguised to...

When opposing perceptions interact, deceptive illusions begin festering in the mind's eye, and our natural biases reinforce false narratives with real consequences. Perceptions, by definition, are created using senses to form insights and intuitions that are prone to be misleading, which is why...

As a Western leader in China, should you be concerned that promoting someone invariably leads to others feeling apprehensive (焦虑 Jiāolǜ)?

Managing Chinese employees is simple: tell them what to do.

Leading Chinese employees is complicated for Western leaders, requiring a deep understanding of...