George Brutchen

These are some observations and thoughts I had during my visit to China during the month of March.

1. The thing that struck me when I got to China and travelled around visiting suppliers was the large amount of constructin that was taking place. It was not just buildings and factories but it was also infrastructure like roads, sewers, parks, etc. I had to think if they are spending this kind of money on infrastructure what kind of money is being spent on R&D, especially since China has a growing space program. I grew up in the '60s and know the effect our space program and R&D had on the ensuing years and have to wonder what the effect will be for China and on us.

2. I had the pleasure to work with many well-educated people and found that many are pursing graduate education locally just like over here in the US. The programs are through both local univerities and well known US, UK, Canadian, and other overseas universities. In fact, in the China Daily newspaper one of the Chinese universities founded by a successful Chinese businessman was well on track to realize the goal it had set of being one of the top ten business schools IN THE WORLD. From everything I saw I would say they are very serious about higher education.

3. Everywhere I went to visit suppliers the factory and offices were gated and guarded. So I had to ask myself, how to you play the game over here? I think the answer is simple, you have to know someone that knows how to play and can get you an invite in.

4. No tipping. I have to say that this took a while to get used to but the fact is that no tips are expected, just pay what you owe for the service rendered.

5. When you visit companies over there as a customer or potential customer they are your host for lunch or dinner. As the customer, the senior member of the party, which was me, is the honored guest and you find that you are expected to sit at the place indicated for the "honored" guest. I understand from talking about this with my local colleagues that this is not as important as it once was but that it is very good to show respect by abiding by the cultural rules.

6. I was surprised at the degree of Westernization of both the downtown areas of the cities and of the young people. There were several times when I was walking downtown in Suzhou the young teenagers seemed to be acting no different than my own, especially since they seemed to be dressed the same and supporting the same hair styles. Also, the teen clothing shops were blaring out American and British rock songs just like in the US.

7. The people everywhere I went were very friendly and courteous. I also think that I would have been able to at least function most places I went around China since a number of people seem to be able to at least be able to speak and understand some English. However, I do not think that the same can be said for the US, I am sad to say.

8. I was surprised to find that many people used English or English sounding first names. I inquired about this and was told that it is entirely up to the individual. Their legal name remains Chinese but whenever the person decides he or she wants to go by an English name they are free to do so and the choice of the name and spelling are up to them. I have to say that I encounterd a variety of names and spelling, some traditional and many others very inventive. I thought it was interesting how often the sound of the name seemed to relflect the personality of the individual.

9. Like the Japenses everyone in the factory wore a uniform of some kind. Sometimes the workers would wear jumpsuits, at other times company shirts and matching pants. Usually the managers or office people would wear smocks or jackets.

10. I found the restroom signs interesting. The signs I saw for the men's room were "Men's", Man's", "Male", "Gentleman", "a man's head in silhouette smoking a pipe", and "a pipe outline". For the women's restroom the signs were: "Women", "Lady's", "an outline of a high heeled slipper", "Female". The restrooms are not called that but they are toilets. I also have to say that many more women in China wear high heels than I see in the US so I think the use of the "high heel picture" on the women's restroom tells an interesting cultural story.

11. I found many people to be interested in Taiwan and especially what I thought about the Mainland China-Taiwan issue. I was honest about my answer which was "I think they will get together someday in the future because it makes good economic sense". However, if you are going to visit I would recommend knowing your answer because everyone was interested in this topic and it was discussed often.

12. One small observation I made was that the doors and chairs were smaller than the average sizes over here. Another observation I made was that the pen tips they use are finer than what is typical seen in the US. I wondered about this until I realized one day as I watched a colleague take notes in Chinese that to make the Chinese characters you need a pen that allows you to make marks in fine detail.

13. It is expensive to drive over there. Depending on which city you live in the license plates can be expensive and you also have restrictions on when and where you can drive. In Shanghai your regular plate only allows you to be able to drive on certain days at certain times. If you want more flexible license plate where you can drive anytime you have to pay a lot more. To put this in perspective, one plant manager said that his "drive anytime" car plates cost $7,000 and that is every year.

14. Prices are increasing in the Shanghai area at around 10% per year and there is concern that some companies may pull out of China and go to lower labor cost contries like Vietnam.

15. Real estate is very expensive. I know one person I talked to said that the going price for a 100 m^2 (1076 ft^2)apartment in Shanghai was $140,000 and going up every day.

16. In addition to Taiwan, many people were interested in how they compared to India. From the discussions I had with colleagues who had been to Indai they said that China was doing a much better job of building infrasturcture and making a business friendly environment.

17. Take lots and lots of business cards. The proper way to give your business card is to orient it so that it can be read by the person opposite you, holding it with both hands between your forefinger and thumb you then bow slightly and offer your card which they will take in a similar manner and bow. You then repeat the process when they offer you their card.

18. One thing that surprised me at the airport was that they would not exchange a $50 because it had a very small tear in it. I would recommend if you go to China that you make it a point to get new bills to avoid this.

19. I found everyone one I worked with over there to have a can do tyoe of attitude and to be very proud of the way that China is growing and progressing. They are very proud of their country. Also, many people I met were concerned about working conditions and want to see them improve in the future. Everyone was very proud of China hosting the Olympics, in fact one of the projects I assisted with they had decided to name it Project Olympic.

20. In China in the Chinese companies the manager seems to hold the purse strings and so if he decides something needs to be done he can just go ahead and make it happen. Not the roadblocks to improvement we seem to have over here in the US.

21. I found it interesting that the plant in Suzhou had outings and did things lke pagents and parties very similar to the old social gatherings I remember that took place way back when I started my career. No longer done since our group is scattered in three states.

22. I found that I was working more in China that I was here at home. I would sppend all day visiting suppliers and then after a quick dinner I was in my room either answering emails or on conference calls since it was daytime in the US.

23. No seat belt laws and often times in taxis no seat belts. Never did feel comfortable about that, especially when you see the controlled chaos as your driver moves in and out of traffic. They make very iberaluse of the the car horn as well, both as a signal and a communication of .....let's say disdain.

24. I found the Korean companies I visited to be very similar to what was described in the one CI book. I also found one Korean company;s motto interesting and reflective of the Eastern philosophy. It was something like "We want everyone to be happy"

I am sure I have missed some things but overall I found it to be a very enlightening trip and look forward to being able to go back there again.

Posted by George Brutchen at 11:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

While the U.S. is still considered a technology leader I have to wonder how much longer we will continue to be when I think of the competitive disadvange that we have constructed for ourselves in the U.S. by fhaving an "English" only attitude.

I think of Dr. Jay Gillette's phrase "Information is knowledge in motion" and have to wonder by having this monolingual focus that we are putting big rocks, at least for us, on the information highway. I say this because today much of the scientific literature is published in English language journals, nearly all of which are usually very accesable electronically. Because many non-US scientists and engineers speak and read English and have access to the internet this means they can get to and use the information located in the US. However, I had to ask myself could I do the same thing if say I wanted to see what new technology the Chinese or Inidans were researching and reporting in their internal professional journals. The answer I belive is a resounding no and I would guess that the number of US engineers and scientists that could is not very large and this is assuming that one could get to Chinese or Indian professional jjournals over the internet. To me this raises serious competitie intelligence issues since not only does this "one and a half way highway" we have created keep us from knowing what advances are being made externally but may also allow these advances to only be shared amoung themselves. Hence, I would say that we are putting ourselves at a competive disadvantage relative to competive intelligence.

Posted by George Brutchen at 10:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In their book, The Social Life of Information, Brown and Duguid refer to Downes and Mui’s “Law of Disruption” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_disruption) which notes that “social, political, and economic systems change incrementally but technology changes exponentially.”

As Information Renaissance Leaders for the 21st century I believe that we need to understand and appreciate not only this concept but also other non-linear changes that can lead to disruption. Just remember that if you recognize a coming disruption in your industry, or even better if you are the one causing it, you have a competitive advantage to exploit.

The incremental change is easy to understand since it can be represented by a simple linear graph as shown below. Here it is easy to see that something slowly, consistently, and predictably changing over time. For the most part this is the kind of change as a leader you do not need to worry about since you can plan for it.

Now the exponential change is also not hard to understand and it can also be shown by a simple graph as illustrated below. The key difference in this graph is that the rate of change increases with time. As a leader this is a kind of change you need to pay attention to and gage or benchmark what you are doing against others so you know where you and your competitors are on the graph. However, notice that even though the change is becoming greater with time (and potentially more disruptive) it is still for the most part predictable so you can still plan for it. The key thing though is you have to recognize that the rate of change shortens your planning horizon, i.e., if you take too long to plan or make a decision, the rate of change may cause you to be behind the game. So as Tom Peters notes, you have to learn to love change.

In looking at both of the above graphs one thing that stands out is that they are continuous curves. Being continuous is a nice property since it makes things predictable. But what about curves that are discontinuous like the one shown below? What do they mean and why should we, as leaders, be concerned about them?

The important feature of this graph is that at some point in time the line stops and suddenly experiences a large jump all at once. Why is this important to us as leaders? I would suggest that a change like this is very disruptive because it can represent a drastic change in an industry. For example, this would have been representative of the effect of the change in transportation technology that took place back in the 1840’s and 1850’s when canals were essentially put out of business by the invention of the steam locomotive. This would also be illustrative of what futurist Joel Barker (http://www.joelbarker.com/) refers to as a paradigm shift. As an Information Renaissance leader this is the type of change we have to be on the look out for because it can occur very quickly and almost without notice but can have the effect of a tsunami if you cannot adapt to the change it represents.

So where does competitive intelligence enter into this? Well, for the continuous cases CI can provide information on what the changes are and how fast they are happening so as a leader you can develop a strategic plan to adapt to the change. So for these instances, CI essentially functions to keep you informed. For the discontinuous case CI becomes very important but also more difficult. The reason CI is very important in the discontinuous case is because it can act as the “tsunami” or “tornado” warning system so you can at least have some time to react if you are not the one causing the “wave”. The reason that CI is difficult in this instance is because you never know from what direction the wave will be coming so how do you detect it before it overwhelms you? This means that you have think about creating a paradigm shift of your own relative to doing CI. As information leaders this means that we have to look at not only information in new ways and how we make new knowledge connections with it but we also have to think of new and novel ways and places to look for it. For example, to have an idea of what new disruptive direction computers will take in the future we will need not only to look at conventional semiconductor technology but also areas of molecular biology or organic chemistry and to make things even more complicated we will need to do this all over the world.
So what does this mean for strategic planning? As an information leader it means is that CI becomes an important input to your strategic plan and that you are continually updating the strategic plan based upon your interpretation of the CI information. Also, as an information leader it also means that if you see a paradigm shift (a discontinuity) occur you have the courage and foresight to abandon your existing strategic plan and develop a new one that addresses the effect of the “tsunami-like” change that is happening.

Posted by George Brutchen at 10:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As leaders we need to always be seeking to view problems or issues in a new context so that by reframing them we can see solutions or paths that we were blinded to before. I think this item that was found on the web by a co-worker of mine serves to illustrate this point. It is titled: The Problem of the Square Watermelon and I believe it is well worth taking a look at.

Please follow this link: http://www.financialhack.com/2007/12/04/10145_lessons-of-the-square-watermelon.html

Posted by George Brutchen at 07:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In chapter 59 of Wren's text, The Leader's Companion, Roger Smith's speech titled Talent and Training for Leadership is given. While the chapter makes a number of good points and if one had never worked for General Motors during Smith's tenure one would think that this was written by a good leader; however, this is not the case.

First, my guess is that this speech was more likely written for Mr. Smith. Second, I find it extremely ironic that Roger Smith talks about "people issues" being one of the key issues for a business leader of the 1990's given my experience as a GM employee during his reign as Chairman. The reason I say this is because Mr. Smith was a poor leader and his actions and policies have significantly contributed to the difficulties that GM and the spin-offs have had and are still experinencing. To illustrate the point that he was not a true leader I still clearly remember the day that the memo was posted back in the early '80s not too long after he took over GM. I can still see the memo pinned on the bulletin board with the top part announcing how bad business was and so everyone was going to have their vacation time immediately cut in half and all raises were frozen while the section at the bottom stated how iit was important that we keep our executive "talent" so the incentive compensation formula was being changed so that they even though business was getting worse and the revenue going down the executives would be getting more money. And the memo waa signed by Roger Smith. Consequently, I hope one can see why I view this chapter in Wren that is attributed to Roger Smith as being ironic. To me the lesson here is that leadership is more than saying what sounds good, leadership is something you live and breath and demonstrate by your example in all the things that you do.

Posted by George Brutchen at 12:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

During my recent trip to China while touring one of the beautiful Suzhou gardens I came across what was termed a 9-turn bridge. I asked my host about this and her answer intrigued me. She told me that the reason for the nine

turns was so that one can view the garden from the bridge from a new and different perspectives as you walked across it.

I believe this same concept can be related to leadership. As a leader we walk across the bridge of time and view our garden of vision and like on the 9-turn bridge we need to strive to look and see this garden we have created from a new perspective not only to better appreciate and understand it but to also try to see it in a new way each time.

Posted by George Brutchen at 12:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Introduction
With the advent of the 21st century now upon us leadership has taken on new importance as McFarland, Senn, and Childress note “Leadership, in fact, needs to be redefined for the next century.” (Wren 1995, p. 457) This is not something new since Peter Senge back in 1990 in his book The Fifth Discipline said that “Learning organizations demand a new kind of leadership.” (Senge 1990, p. 339) In concert with this clarion call Jay Gillette in his paper Leadership for the Information Renaissance states that: [ “All you need to do to succeed and prosper in the information renaissance is to be Leonardo Da Vinci or Vittoria Colonna.” A tall order. And thus a modern requirements specification—the necessary changes being made—for information renaissance leadership.] (Gillette 2006, p. 9)
Finally, Frydman, Wilson, and Wyer present a dim view of the current state of leadership in the business world when they state: “Today I’m afraid that we’re not producing great leaders in our graduate schools. We may even be producing great plunderers—people who know how to siphon off the wealth others have created.” (Frydman et al 2000, p. 204).
So what is the solution? For me, as a leader, this means I need to examine my theory and practice of leadership and determine how I can become a 21st century leader that can, as Dr. Jay Gillette likes to emphasize, “add value to everything I touch”.
Consequently, I will present my theory of leadership and then discuss how I see my leadership role in knowledge management and competitive intelligence.

My Theory of Leadership
To me leadership is a continuum like that shown below. On the left side we have a simple, direct type of leadership and on the right there is an enlightened kind of leadership.

This continuum concept is consistent with Frydman, Wilson, and Wyer who note that “Leadership is not the same in all situations. When there is a fire in a chemical plant, for example, you don’t want any participative leadership. Instead you want General Patton there saying “Do this. Do that.” Conversely, when you are up against complex problems that are not given to straight forward, known solutions, that requires a very different kind of leadership.” (Frydman et al 2000, p. 196). As a leader I believe I move back and forth along this continuum many times during a day but hopefully most of my time is spent on the right side.
Why do I say that I hope most of my time is spent on the right side? This is because I believe an effective leader for the 21st century needs to be as described in the Tao Te Ching which states “Enlightened leadership is service, not selfishness” (Wren 1995, p. 69). I also say this because I feel strongly it is important to practice “interactive leadership” where the leader actively works to make the leader-follower interactions positive for everyone one involved as is described in “The Way Women Lead” essay in Wren’s book (Wren 1995, p. 150). Finally, I say this because as a leader I have a responsibility to be both a learner and a teacher so I can help others grow since, as Frydman, Wilson, and Wyer state so well, “All of us are potentially leaders at any time; likewise, all of us are potentially followers at any time as well” (Frydman et all 2000, p. 196).
In addition to this leadership continuum I also see leadership as being coupled with a management continuum as described by Dr. Steve Seteroff and as illustrated by the following diagram from his book, Beyond Leadership to Followership. (Seteroff 2003, pp. 16-18).

This diagram shows that as a leader I move back and forth not only on the leadership continuum but also back and forth on the management continuum as well which is required in this complex world we live in. Support for this is also demonstrated by the quote by my colleague Amanda Haskett who states “Despite the differences between management and leadership, both roles are equally important in the real world and the business world. A good leader or manager analyzes the situation or problem at hand and then finds the appropriate balance between leading and managing.” (Haskett, April 1, 2008) This diagram also shows an important function of a leader and that is creating a vision. This is also thought to be important by my colleague Joshua Cox who states that “Creating ideas and vision are must have characteristics of a leader” (Cox, April 1, 2008). I see creating ideas and vision as making connections which I feel to be an important aspect of a leaders role in KM.

My Leadership Role in KM and CI
To me a leader has a very important role in Knowledge Management (KM). Jay Gillette in his papers (Gillette 2000 & 2006) describes the practice of information networking as being how we move and use information and illustrates this in the form of a table as shown below.

However, in evaluating the original table while I felt that it definitely described how information networking occurred I did not see how the leader fit into this networking until I realized that a key step was not being included and this is represented by the row added to the table in bold capital italics.
I believe that in developing vision and in making the “quantum leap” type of adaptations a leader must make making new connections with information is a keystone step. The substeps describe how this is done. First, the leader recognizes a new type of connection or pattern exists within the information. Second, the leader then defines what this connection is. Third, the leader then verifies that this newly defined connection is stable and can be used for future actions. Finally, the leader captures this new connection so that it can be used in the future, preferably for competitive advantage. I have to say that I feel this connecting step is something that could be easily overlooked since with existing information that we have already “connected” we quickly pass through this step without any thought and probably do not even realize that we have done this.
Thus, for me being a leader in knowledge management means that I must be looking to make these “connections”.
This extends over to competitive intelligence (CI) as well which in my opinion is just a specialized branch of KM. I believe that the text that Blenkhorn and Fleisher edited supports this when it is written: “Now , more than ever, competitive advantage in global markets is intelligence driven. Competitive intelligence that targets foreign-based companies, whether state or privately owned businesses, joint ventures, or foreign subsidiaries, requires a through understanding of the local country’s unique business culture and environment.” (Blenkhorn & Fleisher 2005, p. 5)
I also believe that the book Prescott and Miller edited also indicates this by this quote: “Differentiate report generation from actionable intelligence.” (Prescott & Miller 2001, p. 32).

Conclusion
By recognizing that there is a need for a new approach to leadership for the 21st century I hope the sharing of my theory of leadership, which emphasizes enlightened leadership, and what I see as my leadership role and function in knowledge management and competitive intelligence will provide insight to the reader as to what I feel this new leadership approach should be. May we grow as leaders and followers together in this new millennium.

References

Blenkhorn, D.L. & Fleisher, C.S (eds.) (2005). Competitive Intelligence and Global Business. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers.

Cox, J. (April 1, 2008). Leadership 2 [On-line]. Available: http://www.cicsworld.org/blogs/jlcox2/2008/02/leadership_part_2.html#more

Frydman, B., Wilson, I., & Wyer, J. (2000). The Power of Collaborative Leadership. Woburn, MA: Butterworth-Heinemann.

Gillette, J.E. (2000). “Information is Knowledge in Motion”: A Practical Framework for Understanding Knowledge Management. Unpublished manuscript.

Gillette, J.E. (2006). Leadership for the Information Renaissance: Clarity, Challenges, Opportunity. Unpublished manuscript, Ball State University.

Haskett, A. (April 1, 2008). Focusing on Leadership: Utilizing Historic Perceptions to Create a Definition of Leadership [On-line]. Available: http://www.cicsworld.org/blogs/amhaskett/2008/01/focusing_on_leadership_utilizi.html

Prescott, J.E. & Miller, S.H. (eds.) (2001). Proven Strategies in Competitive Intelligence. New York: Wiley. (pp. 26, 32)

Senge, P.M. (1990). The Fifth Discipline. New York: Doubleday.

Seteroff, S.S. (2003). Beyond Leadership to Followership. Victoria, BC: Trafford Publishing.

Wren, J.T. (1995). The Leader’s Companion. New York: The Free Press.

Posted by George Brutchen at 06:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)