Carol Sormilic, the IBM VP vsee champion :)  mother of a single 9 year old (now studying in shanghai), started as a top student in US to bottom of the class in Shanghai.  Shanghai school is about 6 months a head. now spends 2 hr per night tutoring him.

James McGregor, former chief of Wall Street Journal China

Jane Ying, head of UI research Lenovo.  stanford PhD in HCI.

---

after moving from US to Shanghai on jan 1, 2011, only 1/2 as productive.  information come too late, and decisions are not made at the appropriate time due to communication barriers (long phone numbers, poor bandwidth).  she changed from a reputation of always being on time to always late on meeting - communication barriers drag on decision efficiency - carol

lenovo worked on a policy where everyone will call others by their first name.  ceo stands at company entrance, doesn't say anything but shake hands w/ you until you call him by his first name.  titles are barrier to productivity/innovation.  count the frequency the word "boss" is used in your company - it negatively impacts team productivity/innovation.  eliminate the word boss - jane

when i speak a different language, i get a different personality.  when you speak in their native dialog - you can learn their "truer" self.  the words you use define what you can talk about - your thinking.  technology defines what we talk about.  IM shapes "conversation" to be superficial, awareness, like i am going to lunch there, etc.  to have a conversation, you pick up the phone - james

people are loyal to other people, not companies.  when companies bring in folks from a particular culture, they tend to become a clique if they are allowed to hire folks like them, it will be a disaster for companies - james

when the lenovo ceo is late to any meeting even by a few min, he is fined (the money goes toward team social events).  all senior management follow this for their team as well.  the goal is to make everyone respect other team members' time (especially management to staff - to show that management's time is not more important than anyone else's).  - jane.

when looking at a fish tank, americans tend to notice the biggest fish in the tank, asians tend to notice the entire tank - jane

lots of people are not like you - a key challenge for designers - jane

people are the same everywhere - but profound differences from historical legacy.  in US, near 100% trust when you first meet someone, and gradually lose.  while in China, trust starts at zero, and build up over time.

graduates from top universities in China tend to be arrogant, but often less open minded.  companies successful in US tends to be less successful in China.  must foster a culture of open mindedness - jane