Euroasia: Language, Culture and Travel

It’s a privelege to have my friend Mitchell Pham, Director of Augen Software Group, to be our guest blogger today. We share very similar views on how we should approach the current recession; and we’re both perennial optimists. Mitchell has just come back to NZ after having spent a month in Asia. Mitchell’s views on how Vietnamese entrepreneurs (and by extension many Asians) approach the recession vis-a-vis New Zealand entrepreneurs should be required reading for New Zealand managers.

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The common view of the cause for the global financial crisis has been largely held to be the over-exposure of the credit systems, with too much credit being handed-out too easily even where the risks of failure of repayment have been very high.

Governments around the world have been putting in place mechanisms to bail/underwrite the credit systems under their influence, so by and large, the ‘crisis’ seems to have been ‘managed’. However, the worry at the moment is that banks are still reluctant to lend as they have swung the other way and become ‘too risk-averse’ through the crisis. Without credit, it is difficult for businesses to develop/grow, which makes it difficult for economies to claw their ways out of the down-turn or recession that they are in. That seems to be the macro picture that we have been seeing.

At ground level where we connect with other businesses from large to small, we certainly see the effects of the crisis every day; from down-turn in demand for goods and services to cash flow crises from delayed payments, companies laying off staff, businesses scrambling, or restructuring, or diverting, or even dissolving. You name it, we have seen it in the market place. The crisis has certainly created a multitude of challenges for businesses to wrestle with. So, the economic down-turn has been noticed and even expected by many to last for the next 12-18 months, wherever we have been. However, in our own experience, what has been remarkable to observe is the difference in the way many Asian businesses seem to see and deal with the down-turn in contrast to that of many of their Western counterparts.

In Vietnam and other South-East Asian countries that we have been to, for example, most of the entrepreneurs we know have already gotten over the fact that there is an economic down-turn and that it will be around for another 12-18 months. They have already updated their business plans to reflect that, and is now more preoccupied with what they can do to exploit the situation, while it is ‘here for a limited time only’. Oddly (and pleasantly) enough, the mood is still positive as businesses aggressively seek out temporary but strategic opportunities to further themselves, even divesting and/or spreading into new areas of activities. Many South East Asian entrepreneurs seem to be in the ‘opportunity’ mind-space no matter what situation the economy throws at them. It is very encouraging to see and be surrounded by when we are there.

In contrast, few New Zealand entrepreneurs seem to be in the same mind-space right now. Despite the very real effects being felt, many of the businesses that we are surrounded by still seem to be either in denial (that the down-turn is really here and that it will be around for another 12-18 months) or in depression – still going through the emotional processes, with some businesses taking the ‘waiting to see what happens next’ approach to dealing with the situation. They are yet to go through the complete updating of their business plans, and are still a fair mental-distance away from the aggressive and intense focus on looking for temporary opportunities to exploit the down-turn while it is ‘here for a limited time only’.

The new New Zealand Prime Minister, John Key, is the first to have come from the private business sector. He has a lot of support from businesses, and the rest of the country also seems to have a lot of confidence in him. He has committed to refocusing government resources to push for growth towards 3%-4% for the New Zealand economy to recover from the down-turn and begin to go places again. As a modest group of companies, we are looking forward to taking part in that push and hopefully seeing the outcome in due course.

Another important effect of the economic down-turn, that we see as positive, is that businesses have been forced to streamline/optimise or evolve for the better.

Even the Augen Software Group has now become ‘leaner and meaner’ than we have been for many years.

We had a good run of growth and success in recent years and became complacent in a number of areas, and so now is a good time to ‘spring clean’ and ‘shape up’ for going forward.

As a New Zealand enterprise, we are very multi-cultural, with more than 15 different nationalities in our Auckland head office alone.

Our board of directors is also very diverse, and is made up of 40% Asian origin, 20% Kiwi origin, 20% European origin and 20% US origin.

So it has been an interesting range of cultures and perspectives in the mix as we take on the current challenges and set direction for the future.

“The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one.”
- Elbert Hubbard

In such perilous times, a common response is for people to hunker down and not try anything new, waiting for the storm to pass. I came across some McKinsey research that I found interesting. One key conclusion is that only 60% of companies that were top-quartile before the recession retained their leadership position after the recession. My guess is the 40% of companies that lost their foothold were the ones that chose to hunker down and not do anything extraordinary in the fear that a wrong move would sink the ship.  In reality, it is in such times that opportunities abound.

In the Aeneid, Virgil writes Audaces fortuna iuvat. Fortune favours the brave. One example of how to capitalise on the current recession is to look for opportunities to export. There are always new niche markets waiting to be tapped. If traditional European and American markets are slowing down, how about looking at the Chinese, Indian and ASEAN markets? Is there another way of packaging your product to deliver more value to the customer at the same price?

Chapter 1, Sun Tzu Art of War comes to mind: Generals must be assessed according to the following characteristics: wisdom, trustworthiness, benevolence, courage and discipline.

Leaders would need to summon all these attributes in order to navigate the recession and to capitalise on the opportunities.

I’ve just finished reading Jeffery Archer’s “The Fourth Estate”; a recommended novel in the tradition of Kane and Abel, if you haven’t read this. I can see some key learnings for business. The dominant thought for me today is that fortune favours the brave.

OK you know spaghetti. And lasagne. How about Agnolotti and Bigoli? The Italians have just about as many words for pasta as the Eskimos have for snow. If you’re like me, you get really confused with the pasta listed on the menu when you eat out. If you’re not too embarassed to ask the waitress to describe the pasta, you then have the problem of the waitress giving you an accurate description. How do you describe shapes if they are all vaguely similar?

Check out the definitive pasta guide here (thanks to Italylogue.com and Wikipedia):

• Agnolotti
• Bigoli
• Bucatini
• Cannelloni
• Cavatappi
• Cavatelli
• Conchiglie
• Farfalle
• Fusilli
• Gemelli
• Gnocchi
• Lumaconi
• Orecchiette
• Pappardelle
• Pici
• Radiatore
• Rigatoni
• Stringozzi
• Strozzapreti
• Tortellini
• Trofie
• Vermicelli
• Penne
• Orzo

The team at Euroasia has put together a short video message, wishing you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. You’ll have to guess who’s saying what. If you’re playing this at the office, try not to laugh too hard ok. We don’t want to get you in trouble.

p/s:If you can’t see the video here, check out the youtube clip at http://nz.youtube.com/watch?v=tzGqluc0kNs – Don’t miss the outtakes ok

Our office closes on 19 December, and will reopen on 5 January for the 2-week intensive programme (2 weeknights + Sat half day).

At the start of next year you have 3 intakes to choose from:
5 Jan and 19 Jan for Fasttrack programmes
2 Feb for the standard courses.

Enrol online now, or talk to us about buying a gift voucher for a loved one. Looking forward to having you back next year.

OK this settles it.  In the Yup’ik Eskimo Dictionary published by the Native Language Centre at the University of Alaska, and found in schools throughout Alaska’s Yukon Delta, there are 37 ways of referring to snow.

When snow falls from the sky, an Eskimo can say “it’s snowing” in four different ways: aniu, cellallir, ganir or qanunge.

Once the snow is on the ground, things can get more complicated. Light snow is kannevvluk, soft and deep snow is muruaneq and drifting snow is called natquik.

Crusted snow, corniced snow and fresh snow all have their own word too.

Check out this video, where Grant Kashatok, an Eskimo principal in Alaska, explains one reason there are so many words for snow. “When we say a word, instead of saying ‘That is not safe snow!’ we say one word and people know if it’s safe or not.”

The word to look out for is “Mingqutnguaq!”. It means “rotten ice”. So the idea is if you’re tramping through Alaska and you hear someone yell this word, be very still as you could be about to fall through the ice.

I think I’ll blog about the number of Italian words for pasta next week. I usually get confused when I look at the restaurant menu…

In the context of the current economic situation we’re in, I often hear it mentioned that the Chinese word for “crisis” (wēijī) consists of two syllables that are written with two separate characters, wēi and jī. The idea behind this is that whenever there’s a crisis, there’s an element of danger, but also an element of opportunity.

Sounds good in theory, but like many other urban myths, there’s little truth in it.  Victor H. Mair, professor of Chinese language and literature at the University of Pennsylvania, wrote a detailed article explaining the flaws in this line of reasoning, but I’ll just summarise this for you.

Chinese character wei 危
Chinese character ji1 in simplified form 机
Chinese character ji1 – in traditional form 機

Prof Mair’s contention is that the definition of jī as “opportunity” is flawed. While it is true that wēijī does indeed mean “crisis” and that the wēi syllable of wēijī does convey the notion of “danger,” the jī syllable of wēijī most definitely does not signify “opportunity.” According to Prof Mair:

The jī of wēijī, in fact, means something like “incipient moment; crucial point (when something begins or changes).” Thus, a wēijī is indeed a genuine crisis, a dangerous moment, a time when things start to go awry. A wēijī indicates a perilous situation when one should be especially wary. It is not a juncture when one goes looking for advantages and benefits.

Those who purvey the doctrine that the Chinese word for “crisis” is composed of elements meaning “danger” and “opportunity” are engaging in a type of muddled thinking that is a danger to society, for it lulls people into welcoming crises as unstable situations from which they can benefit. Adopting a feel-good attitude toward adversity may not be the most rational, realistic approach to its solution.

In such perilous times, we must confront the brutal truth, but at the same time not give up hope. If Warren Buffett is buying now, surely we have to stand up and take note.

I’m a firm believer in the idea of buying when others are selling, and capturing opportunities in times of crisis. Unfortunately we can’t use the Chinese word for “crisis” (wēijī) to support this line of reasoning.

Ken @ entrance to Taj Hotel

I’ve just been thinking about the Mumbai terrorist attacks. It’s most unfortunate that once again this act of terrorism was perpetrated by Muslim extremists. I say unfortunate not just because of the many people that died, and the damage caused to the economy. More importantly, the fragile relations between Muslims and Hindus in the world’s second most populous nation will be once again put to the test. No doubt the terrorists want the Muslims and Hindus to be killing one another.

When people are angry, they can’t think straight. There’s now much talk about retaliatory attacks on Pakistan and other Muslim targets. The victims of this terrorist attack were not only the foreign tourists, but the locals. The terrorists want to strike fear and stir hatred in the hearts of ordinary Indians.

Leopold's Cafe

I really like India. I wonder if it’s because I have some good Indian friends or simply because I thrive in chaos. In any case, I am saddened to see Mumbai icons such as Leopold’s cafe and the Taj Hotel attacked.

My good friend Sam showed me around Mumbai 2 years ago. We went to Leopold’s cafe twice, once for breakfast, and a second time on New Year’s Eve, just to see how the classy Indians and foreigners celebrate the New Year. We were lucky to get a table. Being at Leopold’s was certainly more fun than the night club we went to before Leopold’s. I still remember vividly the scene at the packed club, where 90% of the patrons were male (Sam pointed out that the few girls who were there looked like call girls). Apparently, many girls are not allowed out at night.

Ken with Sam + mum @ Leopold

From walking around the streets, I can confirm that at night time there were certainly not many girls hanging out.  The Indians at Leopold’s were certainly not your everyday Indians. You can tell that they are the classy ones. The Auckland equivalent would be the trendy Ponsonby-types; cool and chic, going out to see and to be seen.

We’re lucky to be living in a country where the closest you get to a terrorist is when you play a game of Soldier of Fortune with your mates on Playstation 3. Sometimes I feel we need to start being more thankful for what we have and stop complaining about trivial things.

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