firefighters?

desk when the phone rang. It was a potential client,

calling on a referral: "We're making a presentation to

Toyota tomorrow; what do we need to know?" (Ahem,

how long ago was this meeting booked? And how much

is this potential relationship worth?)

My heart went out to them, because I knew they had no

idea what they were in for. Without advance preparation,

they didn't stand a chance. There would be no new

business here.

How do I get the message across that Westerners' lack of

strategy works against us with Asian customers and

suppliers?

In my work in training engineering teams, I notice a

marked reluctance to take the time to plan ahead for client

meetings. Even when millions of dollars are at stake, my

new clients think they can wing it. Nothing is further from

the truth.

Most of my clients are firefighters. They love the

challenge. They think that's their job. In fact, they're so

good at what they do that if there isn't a fire somewhere,

they're apt to feel that they're not earning their keep.

It reminds me of a person I worked with in my second

corporate job with a privately owned manufacturing firm.

The general manager was the type of person who was at

his best solving crises. That was his highest skill. After I

had worked there for a while, I began to see that not only

was he a good crisis manager, he was good at causing the

crisis in the first place. I think it made him feel valued,

alive, and in demand.

Like many of my clients.

We're quick on our feet, good at winging it, quick at

making tactical decisions on the spot. A problem erupts

and we move right in. The problem is that, in practice, all

these strengths are at odds with Asian ways of doing

business, for various reasons.

Informal meetings do three things: They break Asian

taboos on business meeting protocol; they put us at a

disadvantage because Asians are strategic thinkers,

focused on the long term; they ignore the fact that Asians

do not tolerate mistakes for all sorts of cultural reasons.

In the West, we call informal meetings to thrash out ideas,

to brainstorm, to solve a problem. In the East, informality

and lack of preparation mean we're not taking the

business seriously. It signals disrespect for Asians' time,

and that's a serious insult.

I believe that this is one reason so many Western firms

find it difficult to make headway with Chinese, Japanese,

and Korean firms.

Firefighters have to deal only with the situation at hand.

They do not need a long-term plan of action. It's day-to-day

survival.

During an executive retreat with a Tier 1 automotive

client a few months ago, participants told me about their

first meeting with an Asian original equipment

manufacturer. The folks at Toyota had my client's entire

history and critical information in front of them—neatly

summarized on one page. They had already drawn up a

master plan of action. "It blew us away because we had

never seen this sort of preparation before," one Westerner

said.

Asians don't have the mentality that if something goes

sideways in a meeting, they'll fix it on the spot. They

they're taught to avoid mistakes at all cost. (Toyota's

"obsession with improvement" is another topic

altogether.) They are afraid of making mistakes because

that causes loss of face. So they look to avoid fires.

Moreover, the person who makes a mistake is not to be

trusted. And mistakes are more likely to happen when we

work without a blueprint.

So if your technical people feel most alive and valued

when they solve a crisis, I have to ask you this: Have you

ever stopped to think how much it's costing you with your

Asian customers and suppliers?

Planning allows us to approach any meeting or

negotiation from a position of strength. It lets us set the

direction of the meeting. If we are not well prepared, the

other side will sense our lack of preparation and this will

weaken us. Since every conversation with Asians has an

impact on our company's history, any lack of preparation

will diminish our ability to negotiate effectively in the

future.

We can never plan too much for a meeting with our Asian

colleagues. It is probably safe to say that we can never

outflank them in strategy.

One of the best ways for us to stand out from the

competition is to come to meetings prepared to do

business the Asian way. There are five steps to follow: 1.

Plan ahead with the long term in mind. 2. Spend time on

the details. 3. Come prepared to discuss potential

problems. 4. Project potential risks into the future. 5.

Build consensus with others on your team prior to the

formal meeting to present a common front.