Knowledge Management in Chinese Society
This post comes from a discussion I had with my MBA Professor and classmates over knowledge management. For my current assignment, I have chosen to write on knowledge management in Chinese society.
I am an overseas Chinese, and as a young boy learning Chinese, I remembered an interesting point my Chinese teacher (bless this gentleman) brought across.
He noted that we Chinese tend to look only to our own interests. Idioms like 自扫门前雪 (to clear the snow only off our own doorsteps) and 肥水不流外人田 (the fertile waters should not be allowed to flow into an outsider’s field) abound.
He raised the issue of why the Japanese could be stronger than the Chinese, taking only a war to unite them. I still remember what he mentioned – a Chinese is a dragon, a Japanese is a pig. Three Chinese are three pigs, while three Japanese is a dragon.
His final story sets the stage for my topic in this DB. He noted how a master would teach his disciple 9 out of 10 strokes, in order to keep 1 for himself, because of the Chinese saying 教好徒弟、饿死师父 (raising a good disciple would make the master starve). His disciple, with only 9 strokes, would teach his disciples only 8, for the same reason. And so some powerful discovery becomes increasingly diluted over the years, unlike the western societies, which share knowledge freely.
I encountered a lot of similar cases here in China, which has been my home for the last 6 years. Unless there is a pledge of allegiance (over several incidents which allowed the upcoming mentor to see the allegiance), very few senior staff is prepared to be a mentor to new staff. Assigning mentors to new staff always break down, and I have learnt to just let nature take its course and allow the staff to seek their own mentors.
In the same way, there is a reluctance for managers to share their knowledge. My writing of several Standing Procedures, Administrative Procedures and Guidelines for the company was seen as something surprising and deviant, for I am actually giving away my knowledge for anyone to easily replace me.
It was thus a “revelation” to some of them that I *am* exactly seeking someone to replace me. To me, I need to be able to move on easily, up or out, and it is simply professional of me to ensure that the one replacing me can easily take over. Not to the Chinese – a fear of being replaced means knowledge is zealously guarded, so that they can be viewed as indispensable.
I noted, though, that unlike my previous management training, the typical Chinese manager does actually have his way of ensuring knowledge passes on. He is likely to have his own mentor, who will recommend him for promotion once he moves on. He is still given total access to his mentor, who will pass to him the necessary knowledge to do his new job well. He, in the same way, is approached by his “disciple” when he faced problems, to tap upon his expertise in his previous position.
It is an interesting change of perspective, to see knowledge management done in a different way. It makes me understand very well why Chinese companies are run so differently from western ones, and why knowledge dies out easily in China – legend tells of superior sword-making or medicinal knowledge in the past, and I am inclined to believe them.
He noted that we Chinese tend to look only to our own interests. Idioms like 自扫门前雪 (to clear the snow only off our own doorsteps) and 肥水不流外人田 (the fertile waters should not be allowed to flow into an outsider’s field) abound.
He raised the issue of why the Japanese could be stronger than the Chinese, taking only a war to unite them. I still remember what he mentioned – a Chinese is a dragon, a Japanese is a pig. Three Chinese are three pigs, while three Japanese is a dragon.
His final story sets the stage for my topic in this DB. He noted how a master would teach his disciple 9 out of 10 strokes, in order to keep 1 for himself, because of the Chinese saying 教好徒弟、饿死师父 (raising a good disciple would make the master starve). His disciple, with only 9 strokes, would teach his disciples only 8, for the same reason. And so some powerful discovery becomes increasingly diluted over the years, unlike the western societies, which share knowledge freely.
I encountered a lot of similar cases here in China, which has been my home for the last 6 years. Unless there is a pledge of allegiance (over several incidents which allowed the upcoming mentor to see the allegiance), very few senior staff is prepared to be a mentor to new staff. Assigning mentors to new staff always break down, and I have learnt to just let nature take its course and allow the staff to seek their own mentors.
In the same way, there is a reluctance for managers to share their knowledge. My writing of several Standing Procedures, Administrative Procedures and Guidelines for the company was seen as something surprising and deviant, for I am actually giving away my knowledge for anyone to easily replace me.
It was thus a “revelation” to some of them that I *am* exactly seeking someone to replace me. To me, I need to be able to move on easily, up or out, and it is simply professional of me to ensure that the one replacing me can easily take over. Not to the Chinese – a fear of being replaced means knowledge is zealously guarded, so that they can be viewed as indispensable.
I noted, though, that unlike my previous management training, the typical Chinese manager does actually have his way of ensuring knowledge passes on. He is likely to have his own mentor, who will recommend him for promotion once he moves on. He is still given total access to his mentor, who will pass to him the necessary knowledge to do his new job well. He, in the same way, is approached by his “disciple” when he faced problems, to tap upon his expertise in his previous position.
It is an interesting change of perspective, to see knowledge management done in a different way. It makes me understand very well why Chinese companies are run so differently from western ones, and why knowledge dies out easily in China – legend tells of superior sword-making or medicinal knowledge in the past, and I am inclined to believe them.
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