My colleague was ready to apply the Trump approach of bully, bluster and threats. He was going to walk away from a very lucrative offer unless he received a complete and unconditional agreement that the feature would be included in the software.
I recently left an American colleague with a bruised ankle from where I had kicked him under the table during a business discussion. Luckily, he took the hint rather than taking offence. The details of the discussion are not necessary except to say the purpose was to confirm with his Chinese business counterpart that a new feature would be included in the existing software. What is important is the difference in approach.
The Chinese “can do” response is very different from the American or Western “can do” commitment. My colleague expected to walk away from the discussion with a firm and clear commitment to incorporate the new feature. He expected, at the very least, a “we will do this”. Instead, he received what he perceived as a lukewarm agreement to “do our best”.
