After I graduated from Stanford University with an MBA in 200 1 year, I decided to go back to China to join McKinsey Greater China Beijing Company as a corporate strategy consultant despite my friends' dissuasion. I remember I was very excited when I first returned to China. Walking on the streets of Beijing, I feel like a dream. I can't believe that I really returned to my motherland after leaving for seven years. It's my first time to have dinner with my colleagues in Xiaowangfu Old Beijing Restaurant next to Kerry Center. I'm very happy. I thought I couldn't eat such authentic and cheap Chinese food in America. The first four months after returning home are like honeymoons. I think China is good everywhere, but I don't have to suffer from the first generation of American immigrants. I thought I didn't need to go back to America in my life. I didn't expect the honeymoon to end. Four months later, I began to miss the United States and gradually discovered the cultural differences between myself and China. I remember that before returning to China, my friend warned me to be careful of "reverse culture shock" after returning to China, which meant that I needed to re-adapt to the culture of China. I didn't believe it at that time. I thought I'd always been China. In the United States for so many years, I have been consciously resisting Americanization, because I have a deep and heavy China complex, and I have kept my true colors of China. When I return to China, I will be able to blend in with the local factions. Do I still need to adapt to the culture of my own country? Unfortunately, I was told by my friends that I absorbed a lot of things from American culture, but I was not used to China culture. Let's talk about the anti-culture shock after I returned to China.
Language shock
I returned to China for more than two months, the first blind date. The other party is the son of my mother's colleague's neighbor, graduated from Beijing Normal University and got an MBA from the National People's Congress. He works in a private securities company in Beijing, one year older than me. He is a local, handsome and quite satisfied with his parents. I remember the first time we met and chatted, and the other party suddenly asked me what the Chinese English word "impressive" meant, and I was shocked. In America, I am used to speaking Chinese with English words. I never thought that I need to translate my English mantra into Chinese. Cold might as well ask, I don't know how to translate it at the moment, which is impressive. It's a literal translation, but it sounds lame. Chinese doesn't need such long adjectives. Make it good? It seems that the meaning is not fully expressed. Ask carefully, it turns out that he didn't understand many English words I unconsciously brought in the conversation, but he was embarrassed to ask. When I was studying Fortress Besieged in college, I remember that Mr. Qian Zhongshu compared the English word of returnees to "minced meat between his teeth" in Chinese. At that time, he applauded Mr. Qian's meanness and took this behavior of returnees seriously. Unexpectedly, ten years later, my speech became "meat crumbs caught between my teeth." I really want to say to Mr. Qian that Mr. Qian has been wronged. I have no intention of showing off fake foreign devils at all. I'm used to it. It is still difficult to blurt out, because you have to translate ready-made English words into Chinese first (and find the right Chinese words). This is the first time I realized that if returnees want to integrate into the local school, they must first overcome the language barrier.
When McKinsey first dealt with clients in China, my colleagues told me to pay attention to speaking Chinese, because clients don't like us to speak in English. So when I do a project for Lenovo, I have to be very careful what I say. Be sure to translate English into Chinese before you speak, but if you are not careful, you will blurt out English words (such as business terms such as strategy and competitive analysis). Fortunately, Lenovo's customers respect McKinsey very much and are willing to learn from McKinsey's advanced western management concepts. So under my influence, they unconsciously brought English words into their speeches. I'm sorry to think of it, Mr. Qian Zhongshu.
Life culture is shocked
The language shock encountered by returnees is easy to find and relatively easy to overcome, while the differences between Chinese and western cultures between returnees and natives are subtle, hidden in the dribs and drabs of life and cannot be easily changed. Remember to chat with a local friend and talk about the difference between cleverness and wisdom. He asked me, do you think you are smart or smart? I blurted out without thinking, "I'm smart, smart." My friend gave me a surprised look and said, you are not modest at all. I was puzzled at that time, and suddenly realized that in the eastern culture, even if others praise you, you should humbly say, "There is still a long way to go." Does it make sense for the old lady to sell melons and brag? After staying in America for a long time, I am used to saying what I think, but I forget modesty and humility. Western culture is straightforward. If you think you are excellent, you must say ten (if not twelve). Learning to sell yourself is a prerequisite for making a living in America. Oriental culture is more subtle, often beating around the bush, and what you say is not necessarily what you think. If you feel good, just say eight points and leave two points for the other party to guess.
When I was working on a project in Shanghai, I made a boyfriend in Shanghai, Wei, who is a local. In fact, he is a sea returnee studying in China, but Japanese culture is more oriental than Japanese culture, so we often meet cultural differences between China and the West. One weekend my best girlfriend Miao came to Shanghai from Beijing to play and stayed in my hotel room. Miao has friends all over the world, and she also has friends in Shanghai, so I think Miao should know her when she meets her friends at the weekend. I asked Miao for a room card, so that we could move freely without affecting each other. After talking to Wei, he was very angry and said, how can you be so kind to your friends? China people say that "it's a pleasure to have friends coming from afar", so of course we should play with good friends. I feel very wronged. In America, even good friends are very independent. If they have time to meet, if they have their own affairs, then they can go their own way, and there is nothing to be polite about. In my opinion, it is natural for Wei to say "I don't want to be loyal to my sisters", but I can't explain it for a long time. Miao wants to play with her friends, and I want to play with Wei in Wuxi. As a result, the two of us accompanied Miao to Hangzhou (where I was just on a business trip), and we didn't play well either, because Wei and I quarreled, and all three of us were disappointed.
Corporate culture shocked
Cultural differences in life are like waves. It needs the impact of waves to generate electricity. Even if it happens, it is not necessarily a bad thing, and sometimes it will add some fun to a quiet life. Cultural differences at work are like a whirlwind, and there will be a feeling of being swallowed up by it.
Working in McKinsey Beijing Company, I feel that the responsibility on my shoulders is bigger and more challenging than in the United States. For example, I have worked on the development strategy of corporate headquarters for the world's top 500 multinational companies such as Microsoft or leaders of state-owned enterprises and private enterprises such as China Telecom and Lenovo, but the biggest feeling is that I am tired after working for a few months and my body is overdrawn. Go back to Stanford Business School to attend our first anniversary party of 200 1 MBA, and chat with classmates who work in McKinsey. I found that both of them worked in McKinsey, and I worked twice as long in China as my classmates in the United States. Alumni working in other foreign companies in China feel the same way. Working in China has doubled the working hours and intensity. Why? I think there are two reasons. First, the economic differences, China is still in the stage of rapid development, and the American economy is relatively mature, just like running a marathon. If you want to catch up with an opponent who runs two hours earlier than yourself, you will naturally run very tired. Second, cultural differences. American culture emphasizes the importance of individuals, individuality, personal interests first and group interests second. If you ask 100 Americans, which is more important, work or family? Ninety-nine people will answer, of course, family is important. The remaining one will be considered a workaholic. After seven o'clock in the evening and weekends are legal personal time. Occasionally, the boss makes you work overtime, and I'm sorry to tell you that I'm sorry to make you work overtime. Go home when you're done. In Asian culture, it emphasizes the importance of the collective, conformity, corporate interests first, personal interests second, and individuals obey the collective. The boss thinks that all your time is his, and overtime is a matter of course. Besides, China's culture advocates perseverance, and it takes 16 hours to work hard at McKinsey every day, but everyone is used to it. No one fired the boss for working long hours. Accustomed to individuality, I was suddenly involved in the whirlpool of conformity. After working selflessly for half a year, I suddenly felt a sense of loss.
Female returnees are shocked to make friends.
When I returned to Silicon Valley, I met a female compatriot my age who wanted to return to China and asked me how I felt about returning to China. The first thing I asked was, are you married? Do you have a boyfriend? If the answer is no, my next sentence is that it is best to find a boyfriend in Silicon Valley and then go back. I can't find a boyfriend when I return home. Why? Let me talk about the shock of my friends who returned to China.
I jumped the queue in the United States for seven years, and when I returned to China, I was a young woman in her late thirties. My marriage problem has become my parents' biggest worry. When I was in the United States, I thought that China1300 million people should have 650 million male compatriots. The market is big enough and my conditions are good, so it is not a problem to find a husband. I don't know. I'm all wet. After returning to China for more than half a year, I didn't even have a date (blind date is not counted). I can't believe it myself. Think about seven years in America, when will I worry that no boys will ask me out? If I want to date, I will go to a dance or an outing organized by the China Engineers Association in Silicon Valley. Naturally, you can meet several single men, so dating is not a problem. There is an imbalance between men and women in Silicon Valley. Girls are giant pandas, so don't worry about no one chasing them. Unexpectedly, after returning home, all of a sudden, I was left out in the cold. Returnees also go to dances, outings, or parties. I know many people, but it seems that no one has ever called me. Occasionally, a man asks me out, thinking that the other person likes me. After dating for a while, I found that the other party was married and even had children. I wanted to find a confidante outside marriage, but I didn't want to be the third one-the first one hasn't landed yet, so how can I have time to be the third one? I think this is wrong. By analyzing McKinsey's 2X2 market attraction and enterprise competitiveness matrix, I suddenly found that my attraction and competitiveness in the dating market were zero, and I was at the original point of being recommended by McKinsey to withdraw from the market. Why? Let's talk about the attractiveness of the target market first. My target market is returnees. I think everyone has the same background. They all cut in line and returned to the city. There should be many people speaking the same language. I didn't expect Mr. Haigui not to find Ms. Haigui. He earned enough money by himself. Why should he find another strong woman? Better find a local wife and mother. Then expand the target market and turn to local schools. It's a pity that I got two master's degrees from two famous universities in the United States, with an annual salary of100000 dollars, which is enough to deter the local beauty queen. I once tried to make friends on Sina. After I told each other my education and experience by email, the other party only replied four words, and the mountain stopped. When I was in college, I saw a female master doctor looking for an anti-aircraft gun in a magazine, but she couldn't find the target. Now I understand the truth. The market attraction has disappeared. Look at your own competitiveness. You are neither young nor particularly beautiful. You may not be gentle enough. In America, you are used to being independent. You make your own decisions and never depend on anyone. The obedience and humility of oriental women have been forgotten. Compared with those young, beautiful, gentle and virtuous local girls, it seems that they are not competitive. What do we do? Can we really quit the market according to McKinsey's matrix theory? You can't be alone all your life.
When there was no hope of making friends, I did a project interview in Shanghai and met Wei by chance. Wei is one year older than me, grade 88. After graduating from college, he caught up with the tide of going abroad, went to Japan to study for five years, and worked as a salesman in a Japanese company after returning home. When I was consulting on China market strategy, I came across a multinational company in Shanghai. Wei was invited to lunch because of his work, and we hit it off very well, so we made an appointment to go out to play together at the weekend. I have been on a business trip in Shanghai for several months, but I haven't played well in Shanghai. Every time I come and go in a hurry, I fly from Beijing to Shanghai on Sunday night and fly back to Beijing on Friday night. I decided to spend the weekend in Shanghai this time. Anyway, the company reimbursed the room rate of a five-star hotel. On Sunday, Wei took me around Shanghai, tasted tea in Yu Garden, ate Nanxiang steamed buns, took a ferry on the Bund, and boarded the top floor of Oriental Pearl Tower to see the night view of the Bund. The night view of Shanghai is beautiful, comparable to San Francisco, but more emotional than San Francisco, because the wind in Shanghai is warm and soft in summer night, like a lover's hand, unlike the sea breeze in San Francisco, even in summer, it blows your heart cold. The days with Wei passed quickly and happily, which was the happiest time in my year back home. I thought about finding a job in a foreign company in Shanghai and taking root in China, so I gave up the United States. This is also my parents' wish. But somehow, there is always a sense of loss in my heart, like a black hole that increases dissatisfaction. Actually, I know why I spent seven years in America, which was the most crucial decade in my life, from twenty to thirty. Although I have always resisted American culture, American culture and American values have become an inseparable part of my thoughts. My half of America has become the biggest obstacle between Wei and me. There will always be conflicts between Chinese and western cultures. I know Wei will never understand my other half, who grew up on the other side of the world. At the age of 30, I found that love alone is not enough. I need to find a soul mate, a bosom friend who can really understand and share all of me. I've been thinking for a long time, and I don't think Wei and I will have long-term happiness. After the passion fades, the differences between us will be reflected in the little things in life. Wei also knows this, so he has been reluctant to let me give up America for him. Before I returned to China, my friends advised me to stay in America. This time, my parents and sisters advised me to stay at home (because the American economy was too poor at that time), but I knew in my heart that if I didn't go back to the United States, I would regret it for the rest of my life. So in the cold winter of 2002, I summoned last ounce of courage and bid farewell to Wei, and returned to Silicon Valley alone when the economic downturn in Silicon Valley and the company's layoffs were all over the place.