Day 12 #Trust 30 - Surprise by Ashley Ambirge

I will not hide my tastes or aversions. I will so trust that what is deep is holy, if we follow the truth, it will bring us out safe at last. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Think of a time when you didn’t think you were capable of doing something, but then surprised yourself. How will you surprise yourself this week?

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Since after today my week will be filled with at least 5 days of jet lag, I might accomplish more or less than a normal week! However, I really want to work on a strategy and plan to get this potential new opportunity started. My mind is forming a big to-do list, but I haven't had the right amount of effort concentrated on how to get this information focused. I hope the new keyboard for the iPad (thanks Tom) makes it easier to type for long lengths of time!

Day 11 #Trust 30 - Fear by Lachlan Cotter

These are the voices which we hear in solitude, but they grow faint and inaudible as we enter into the world. Society everywhere is in conspiracy against the manhood of every one of its members. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Is fear holding you back from living your fullest life and being truly self expressed? Put yourself in the shoes of the you who’s already lived your dream and write out the answers to the following:

Is the insecurity you’re defending worth the dream you’ll never realize? or the love you’ll never venture? or the joy you’ll never feel?

Will the blunder matter in 10 years? Or 10 weeks? Or 10 days? Or 10 minutes?

Can you be happy being anything less than who you really are?

Now Do. The Thing. You Fear.

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Fear of making bad decisions is hard for me to overcome. Especially by Day 11 of this project! But on I plod! I feel that the last question, can I be happy being anything less than who I really am, is a timely question. I have learned through the stripping away of career responsibilities that while I am not defined by the career my work efforts gave me, I was complete. The problem solving, the analysis, the logical organization of tasks. That really makes my mind happy. Without this type of activity, I feel disconnected and slightly spacey. I think the challenge that I am now facing is how to add back the activities I loved and NOT add back the aspects that carried too much stress along with them.

If I take this on and FAIL, at least this year, it won't matter. So, tick-tock, let's see what I can done this summer...

Day 11 #Trust 30 - Divine Idea by Fabian Kruse

Imitation is Suicide. Insist on yourself; never imitate. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Write down in which areas of your life you have to overcome these suicidal tendencies of imitation, and how you can transform them into a newborn you – one that doesn’t hide its uniqueness, but thrives on it. There is a “divine idea which each of us represents” – which is yours?

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20 days left? Harder and harder. Though this is not that difficult. I have been feeling this imitation feeling for awhile. Well, I did take a break from this behaviour by NOT WORKING for a year. But not sure that this was the method that Mr. Emerson would suggest we utilize to eliminate imitation. No worries, I HAVE A PLAN! 

I spent a lot of my career working with Business and IT executives. I was lucky enough to work with many, many intelligent individuals. How to align IT to business goals. How to ensure IT supports the business directions. How to ensure spending on IT is appropriate and value-driven. Years spent trying to ensure that technology was supporting the business. Looking at IT Benchmarks and aligning to the companies that were spending the "right" amount on IT. Imitation. Not innovation. Imitating the best companies. Not creating new models or changing the paradigm.

Since I have put myself out on the limb and committed myself to doing something on my own, I see that eliminating imitation from this new self-reliant direction will by definition make me both happy and successful. Of course I am a huge Seth Godin fan (or I wouldn't be participating in this #Trust30 project!), and one of his favorite quotes of mine is "We succeed when we do something remarkable." And isn't this only possible if you choose not to imitate? So, I am going to take on IT Business Alignment. I want to transform this into Business Alignment and eliminate the need to classify with the Information Technology in front of it. It doesn't make sense. We do that because that is what most executives ask for. So, I don't need to detail it out here. But I do think I might have found a way to get really excited about the opportunity I am now publicly committed to.

Working in China

Last week, I had a chance to go to travel for work. We had a 3-day management meeting in Hangzhou, which is about a 3 hour bus ride from Shanghai. Let us just say that it was a total immersion into Chinese culture! In the group, I was the ONLY western face! There were a few American Born Chinese (ABC), but you can't tell they have more of a western background. Also, 95% of the meeting content was in Mandarin. I exhausted quickly trying to comprehend the conversation. I quickly learned that comprehending casual conversation, which I typically can at about 50%, is much harder when listening to business presentations. The words they use are definitely NOT in the small vocabulary list I have in my head!

• I thought it would be interesting to highlight some of the main business differences between China and the US.
  When travelling for business events like this type of meeting, it is very common for businesses to book two travellers into a single room. This is the second time I have had to stay in a room with another co-worker. I NEVER in the U.S. did the same thing. Americans are such private people, I don't think the whole room-share thing would go over well. My roommate, who thankfully I actually knew, ended up leaving a day early, so I had the room back to myself for one night. Whew...


• There were no name tags and no effort into introducing the employees. Keep in mind that this event was for Roche more senior employees (150 or so) from all over China, so many employees did not know each other. Nor did it seem there was effort to get to know them. Not one person asked me who I was or where I worked! I think in the U.S. it is much more common to use meetings like this to get to know each other and that starts with names and organizations.
• The Senior Management team for China presented overviews of the results and upcoming activities, but there was NOT 1 ORGANIZATION CHART in any presentation! I find that really weird. There is not a real sense of organizational awareness here.
• The Chinese workers tend to have interactions ONLY with their own small departments. During the three days, I observed very little interactions between the various business areas. Contrast this to the US where may individuals embrace the networking opportunities associated with a get-together like this.
• There were many secretaries who appeared in the hotel. Hmmm... In the U.S. most managers do not even have secretaries supporting them, let alone the flexibility to have them travel with them! And the implication of observing a manager who had to have his secretary come with him was that she was travelling with him for more "aesthetic" reasons!
• The idea of team building is a bit reversed here. The smaller break out groups I participated in had more trouble expressing individual ideas then they did expressing a group opinion. Asking a person for the thought on something almost always resulted in them looking around the table for an ally, who was usually sitting next to them, and then they collaborated on the answer. Weird. In talking to some Hong Kong-born Chinese, they shared that this is normal.
• I don't feel that the younger employees have a real sense of what it would take to be deemed successful in the long-term. Right now, it is all about the money. they define success in terms of how much they make or can make. Contrast that with the U.S. where we really are made to understand that our career decisions have to about the end-game. I would guess that if you asked many Chinese employees where they want to be in 5 or 10 years, it would have nothing to do with the company they are working for! It would be about money and status. When I was younger, I felt that that I needed to find ways to move up the ladder and worked to get that next big opportunity, but usually it was inside the same company. Maybe the younger American generation has the same view as their Chinese counterparts!
• Professionalism is totally different here. From the clothes to the behaviour in meetings. Women in particular do not seem to be particular interested in dressing in a Western-style professional way. Now, the standard dress for the event had been determined to be "Smart casual". Their 4 inch stilettos and short skirts did not exactly call out "future executive" to me! However, there were a handful of women in very smart suits and conservative shoes! And many employees chatted away during most of the meetings. That drove me crazy! several got up and actually just started having a normal volume level conversation right in the meeting rooms! In the U.S., many speakers or presenters would have asked for some respect. But the speakers at the event just tolerated it.
• Our dinner events involved going to a restaurant and eating a Chinese meal. That meant groups of 8-10 sitting around big tables. And of course, the same people sat together for both meals! There was no Happy Hour, which is more conducive to mixing and getting to know everyone.

I think that some of this differences probably sound negative, but really, it is just in contrast to the U.S. I am betting that if I had worked in the U.S. in the 60's and 70's, the contrast would not be so great. China business will mature rapidly, they know they have to to survive. But I hope I don't get another immersion for a few months...

One week and Three days

Meant to get this out here this weekend, but this weekend just seemed to be filled up. Anyway, it gave me some time to gain perspective on the events of the week and to see if this week was also going to be as interesting!
Day 1
I covered some of the first day already, but thought I would share some thoughts. The week started with Tom flying to Beijing at 6:00 a.m. That meant that my first few dys of my new job were spent flying solo with Natalie. But that turned out to be no problem. Plus it meant the driver was available to take me to work and pick me up and night. Much more convenient. We headed off to Puxi around 7:30 after dropping Natalie at the gate to catch the bus. It was a bit melancholy to see all of the mother’s walking their kids. But, it was a decision I made to give up so I have to learn to adjust to it. Then there was the minor accident on the way to school. Check that summary out here.. So, the first day was interesting as it always is when you start at a new job. HR takes 2 hours of your life away by explaining all the things you can’t do, how not to get fired, and that your annual salary is so high already you will never a pay increase on their current compensation programme. Different country, same story! Sorry to all my HR-professional friends out there!

Then to my desk. Which didn’t exist. Nor any equipment. Oh, and no supplies. Luckily I brought a pen and my “professional management note taking device” (known as an account book for those of you in the know). And I was off and learning! I will admit that I had a huge headache at the end of the first day. I probably should have stretched my brain out a bit more before I made it run for 8 hours. Home to the house and Natalie. Oh, and the Ayi. She had dinner ready and Natalie had already eaten. So we ate together while Natalie chatted on about her day. Natalie did ok that day though she told me she missed me. Truthfully though I think she tells me that because she hears me say that to her. Anyway, we both survived. And we were both in bed by 8:00. I was so tired. And I slept like a log!

Tuesday was more of the same, but no headache this time. I did realize that navigating the roads at rush hour in Puxi is not a fun thing to do. But I knew that I was moving transportation mediums soon anyway! It is hard to describe the mass of humanity that exists the businesses here to head home at the end of the day. So few people live near where they work. But more on that later..

The third morning I had the driver drop me at one of the subway stations that is not too far from our house. It was about 7:45 when I got there. I got my ticket and headed downstairs. . I have ridden the subway quite a few times, but never at this time of day going to the heard of Shanghai. Not too many people waiting around, so I felt good about maybe it not being too crowded I was lucky enough to get behind one other person waiting, so I was pretty close to the front. Then the train came. OH MY GOD. There was so many people already on that train. I felt there was no way that the the 10 of waiting to get into that particular car would never fit. But then the rush of the other 8 behind me pushed me right into the car. I have no idea how it happened, but soon I was crammed into the middle of the car. No need to hold onto anything to keep from falling since you are so jammed in, there is no way to fall. And it got worse. We had three more stops before we even crossed the Huangpu river and 5-10 crammed into our car at each stop. The good news was getting from Pudong to Puxi in 15 minutes. Finally we got to People’s square, where I had to change trains from line 2 to line 1. I have decided that streaming of people moving from one train to another would be fabulous to watch from above. The throngs of people ebb and flow and rarely do large collisions happen. Anyway, two more stops on Line 1 Shaanxi Lu. It took me only 40 minutes from subway station to subway station to get a block and half away from my building. Pretty nice! Plus there is a Starbucks across the street from the subway so I treat myself to an American favorite as a reward for transporting myself in a very Chinese method! Don’t get me wrong. The first few days of riding put my personal space issues to the test. But, it is not too bad and it really was a matter of finding the right times of day to take advantage of it. After I got into the office Wednesday I had a laptop. So another half day of figuring out how to change some of the applications language to English.

Tom returned Wednesday night and Thursday Natalie had Student-led Parent / Teacher conferences. So, after three days at the grindstone, I took a half a day! What a life, right? After her conference I had plenty of time to take the subway at a much better time of day! I ordered my supplies. This consisted of looking at pictures of supplies that the admin took with a camera. The pictures all have the product number and description in Chinese on them and I just copied that file info into a form. So, it was not too hard for me, though I accidentally ordered a case of coke!

Friday morning, the driver dropped me at a different station where I purchased a transportation card (called Jiao Tong Ka). Now I felt like an official Chinese worker. I just scan my card and it automatically debits against the amount I placed on it. I keep it in my purse and I just wave my purse over the reader. Also, we changed to this other station for pick-up and drop off as it is much smaller and quicker. Though on the other hand the other station also had a large fake market in it where I could shop a bit after a hard day of work (Ok, I only bought 2 bags that week).

First week was pretty good. I love my job and what I am doing. The people are nice, though I feel uncomfortable about my inability to speak their language. Probably 95% of the communication among the rest of the staff is in Chinese. And I miss my girlfriends here. I am still on the email chains and see all of the fun places they are going and things they are doing.

Visa or Not to Visa, that is the Question
This week started with another visit from HR. Apparently there is “minor” issue with my Visa. The HR manager asked me if I could fly to Hong Kong this week and get “a Hong Kong” visa. Needless to say, I was more than a little unsettled. I was actually so confused, I wasn’t able to get stressed out. I always keep in mind that this is China, and you never hit a wall, you just have to be prepared to meander through situations. So, I listened to HR and told them I needed to check with Delphi as my visa is currently being sponsored by them. Anyway, long story short: I am now getting an official work visa, but it by no means resolved yet how I am going to do that. And yes, I keep coming to work anyway!

France Sucks
Also this week there was an email circulated by a department employee (for all I know he sits right next to me!) that contained pictures of the protests occurring around China at the Carrefour stores. I heard a little about that from Tom, but was not that familiar with the whole issue. Everyone in the office stood around and chatted about it all day. I couldn’t really understand what they were saying, but I picked up a lot of angry tones. For or against, I do not know. I will admit to currently being immersed in a culture that I do not always understand. This sense of nationalism is just not something that we experience in the U.S. At least not on the scale that they do here.

Natalie’s Emergency
And finally, Tuesday came. Natalie has gone to school now for 8 months. And in that 8 months never once did I receive a call from the school nurse. But today, on my 7th official day of working, the nurse calls at 2:55 to tell me that Natalie has fallen in P.E. and acquired a large bump on her head. I am at last an hour away. School is out in 15 minutes. Do I send her home on the bus and have the Ayi deal with it? Do I call Tom and see if he can get her? Do I run out to the street to catch a cab to head there? Whew. I talked to her on the phone and she said she could ride the bus, but then she started to cry again. She was trying to be sooooo brave. What a trooper. I decided to call Tom, and he of course was able to leave work and get to the school in 30 minutes! I also headed home a bit early as everyone know that father’s can’t be trusted to truly assess a child’ health. But she was fine. She talked at dinner as much as she always has, so I took that as a good sign that she felt alright.

Summary
Going back to work was the right thing for me to do long-term. So far the hardest adjustment is missing the extra time with Natalie and not getting to see my friends very often. I feel like I am growing personally by making myself use the public transportation and to try and be as self-sufficient as possible. Don’t get me wrong. It was wonderful to have a year off and to totally de-stress. It is up to me now to keep that balance and try to learn how to work without letting stress build up!

First Day of New Job for Shelly

Today was my first day of work at Roche Diagnostics Shanghai Limited. Yes, I have finally gotten my lazy self back to the grindstone. I am helping Roche start up a PMO within the Shanghai business area. I came upon this opportunity through a friend's husband (xiexie Mike!) and was lucky enough to be qualified for it. I have known for a few months that I really needed to get back to work. Not that I was not having fun with my friends, but I came pretty quickly to the realization that I was not ready to give up my career permanently and so I felt I needed to take any good opportunities seriously. Ideally I would have gone part-time, but that didn't work out this time.

My office is in Puxi on HuaiHai Lu. That is pretty far from Pudong. This morning Tom had to fly to India so I am lucky enough to have the driver available these first few days. So this morning, I dropped Natalie at the gate to catch her bus and headed on the long ride to work. Right before we crossed the Nangpu bridge, a car slightly brushed our van. Man, was Zhong Biao pissed! He told me later that the other driver was newly licensed and didn't know anything about how to drive. So of course after the van was hit, he put the van in the park right there in the middle of the bridge entrance and started arguing with the other driver. Too funny! In the U.S. you would exchange insurance, take a picture and be on your way. These two guys argued about how much the other guy needed to pay. Zhong Biao wanted 800 RMB. But he ended up settling for 600 RMB. It was just so funny to watch the exchange. We had one and a half of the two lanes blocked for at least 15 minutes before they pulled to a median. It took a total of about 20 minutes to resolve since the Police showed up. Which meant that I was 5 minutes late to my first day of work! Ta da. How to really impress your new company on the first day of work: be late! But it turned out to be no big deal as HR was still making some final tweaks to my final contract terms. Of course I feel bad now about the car and feel like I need to pay the 200 difference. Though later this evening when I looked at the mark, I could barely even see a scratch!!! Such is life here in Shanghai...

When I got home, the house was totally clean, the Ayi cooked my dinner, and then picked up all the dishes. Needless to say, that made transitioning back to work WAY easier than it would have been in the states. I did have to spend most of last week working with the Ayi to transition cooking responsibilities! Of course in reality she is probably a better cook them me, so I really have no worries there. In fact, Tom is excited about eating Chinese more nights during the week. Natalie usually dictates our meal content, but I have decided that she too must learn to adapt her palate. And Natalie behaved well for the Ayi which I guess I expected though 5 year-olds are very good at MANIPULATION. Just ask her grandparents...

Well, I am pretty tired, so I guess I better get this posted and up to bed. More to come....