Show me some attitude

LIVING IN SHANGHAI IS LIKE being in the middle of a continuous improvement project, a never ending cycle of change, a constant seeking after something better. It presents a stark contrast to what we have been used to.

After nearly four months in Shanghai, my family is starting to settle down nicely. Not that the emotional roller coaster has come to a stop, but there is the beginning of an inkling of a hint of normality in our lives.

I consider my family to be quite adventurous, but the kids keep astounding me. They’ve taken to life in Shanghai to an extent I would never have believed and are willing to try anything and everything. Within a week they were both eating with chopsticks and trying different Chinese dishes, some of which I wouldn’t even look at. The experimentation has not been without consequence and on occasions they have struck disaster. Taxi to the restaurant: 10 yuan. Six course meal for four: 280 yuan. Expression on my son’s face when he learnt his desert had been jelly fish mixed with jello and watermelon: priceless, of course.

The mishaps have not dissuaded them from adventure. Not yet. But my kids are not insane. It’s just their approach to life, their attitude, that makes them stuff ghastly looking things into their mouths.

And so my children, by doing what children do, have taught me something about China.In China, people adopt a very particular approach to new challenges. They just know there is always a different way, a better way, a more efficient way forward. The prevailing attitude is that every problem presents a larger opportunity, an opportunity to perform better than before. This obviously has a spillover effect in business.

Take our quest for linen. After spending nearly a whole day with the catalogue we found something almost right, but in the wrong style. And the shop doesn’t have the size we require. Problem? What problem? They had it made in the style and size we required, had it delivered in ten days and sent someone to come and make the bed. Hell, I still got a 20 percent discount.

I am not saying every worker in the economy has an unbelievably, absurdly positive can-do approach. As anywhere, you find negative people. But, on the whole, I have found most people exceptionally energetic, with a drive to continuously improve. That can make an amazing difference.

For the foreigner, this trait can be handily exploited. The positive Chinese love an improvement project, and an under-educated foreigner (with a language barrier to boot) presents a treat. Come here to learn and you will be taught.

Shanghai is a fusion of cultures with business principles borrowed from all over the map. People here, expats and locals alike, continue to adapt to new things and actually get quite excited about keeping up as the economy evolves around them. This still astonishes me each day.

The people of China, and especially those of Shanghai, understand the value of the positive. And how can they not? It is helping to rapidly turn their country into a financial superpower...