Brought to you by Dr Helen Zhang from www.chinadvisors.com of Cambridge UK and Darren Fooks from Thomson Geer Lawyers of Australia.

In the Baker-Zhang Model of Chinese Business Culture, Yin Yang is the DNA of Chinese business thinking and actions.  Whist Mianzi is the PIN to the ATM of the Chinese Mind, Yin Yang is the Operating System of the Chinese Mind.  Just like the Socratic Method is the Operating System of the Western Mind. 

But before we try to shake Socratic Method out of your brain and give you an second, alternative Operating System, let's chat about the potential epistemologies (i.e. why we think like we do think) that the human mind can have...

This week we dive into why we think like we do think, and how that shapes everything we do... with the help of President George Bush.

And we give a little teaser of what Yin Yan thinking really is and how is shapes the Chinese Mind.

Enjoy Podcats!

Brought to you by Dr Helen Zhang from www.chinadvisors.com of Cambridge UK and Darren Fooks from Thomson Geer Lawyers of Australia.

This week we start our discussions of Yinyang, with an interview with Bessie Zhang from Shinewing Accountants.  ShineWing Australia is a leading international Asia Pacific accounting and advisory firm with more than 30 Partners in Australia and an 80 year history of servicing local and international clients.  Bessie, a CBA (Chinese Born Australian) is both an Australian and Chinese recognised Accountant (that's rare) and has spent her career developing successful business relationships between Chinese and Western companies. 

What is Yinyang?  Imagine waking up in a society that does not follow the Socratic Method of using deductive logic to distinguish between right and wrong, good and bad, right decision and wrong decision.  Instead, completely replace that cognitive thinking process with acting subconsciously as if everything is both good and bad and your best path is always to find balance between the good and the bad.  

That's the Chinese Mind folks ...

Find our written podcast notes at www.chinadvisors.com. 

Brought to you by Dr Helen Zhang of Cambridge UK and Darren Fooks from Thomson Geer Lawyers Australia ...

Miao Wang is a 20 year CBA (Chinese born Australian) who has skillfully developed her family's investment company, CNVM Investments, in combining Chinese finance, skills, manufacturing and innovation with Australian based opportunities.  This week you will hear lessons from Miao for Westerners and Chinese alike on how to make cross border business work.

Helen and Darren apply the Baker-Zhang cross border business model to Miao's wisdom to give you insights on how to understand the Chinese Mind ...

Find our written podcast notes at https://likechinese.co.uk/podcasts.

Brought to you by Dr Helen Zhang of Cambridge UK and Darren Fooks from Thomson Geer Lawyers Australia ...

Western communication follows deductive logic (premise + premise = conclusion), is sequential (i.e. each statement builds on the previous statement) and is direct (say what you think and think what you say), often referred to as "Speaker Dominant Linguistics".  Chinese communications can easily include internally conflicting views at the same time (Yin Yang), is multi-sequential or non-sequential (Rushidao) and is indirect and for may westerners, elusive (to accommodate mianzi, hierarchy, harmony and many other cultural requirements.

Today we use the Baker-Zhang model to compare these communication styles with example and war stories from the past for Dr Helen and Darren.

Sit back, relax, take your vertigo pills ...

FIND OUR WRITTEN PODCAST NOTES AT www.likechinese.co.uk/podcasts.

Brought to you by Dr Helen Zhang from www.chinadvisors.com in Cambridge UK and Darren Fooks from Thomson Geer Lawyers Australia ...

This is Part 2 of how to develop the most essential in succeeding in business with the Chinese mind.  Mianzi is like knowing the PIN number for your bank account when you are at the ATM.  There may be lots of money in the bank you can access, or there may not be.  But if you don't know how to develop and maintain Mianzi, you don't know the PIN number to the bank account so you will never find out.

In our Chinese Mind model (S1E5 to S1E7) Mianzi is one of the 5 conscious mind core principles, where you interaction can open up doors for your china business development.

FIND OUR WRITTEN PODCAST NOTES AT www.likechinese.co.uk/podcasts   

Brought to you by www.chinadvisors.com Dr Helen Zhang from Cambridge UK and Darren Fooks from Thomson Geer Lawyers Australia ...

Throughout the full array of Chinese teachings, from nursery rhymes taught as part of the formal mainland education system through to specific strategies in China Business Development plannings and execution, Mianzi is shown to be essential to success with the Chinese mind.  A definition of Mianzi is "How one creates, earns and maintains the position where others want to do business with us." 

Other descriptions are "Men can’t live without Face, trees can’t live without bark” and “Someone would rather die than lose Mianzi”.

This week we will investigate Mianzi through examples and stories as well as giving you the pragmatic basics of this all intrusive concept.

Happy listening Podcats!

This week we outline the final of the three levels of Chinese thinking.  

Last week we outlined the first two levels - Yin Yang and Rushidao. We learn that the most fundamental and all pervasive basis of Chinese thinking is Yin Yang.  Yin Yang is about balance as opposed to right and wrong. The next level, Rushidao,  is about the Chinese equivalent of the Judaeo-Christian Ten Commandments.  

This week we delve into the 5 Core Elements of Chinese thinking - the 5 most influential concepts that are taught by parents and schools throughout mainland China = Holistic Thinking, Zhong Yong, Connectedness, Guanxi/Renmai, and Mianzi.

Hang on to your hats Podcats ... laying out these concepts in 3 short podcasts is a hard slog, but learning a little about these concepts now will enable you to get "inside the Chinese Mind".

Brought to you by Dr Helen Zhang and Darren Fooks from www.chinadvisors.com ... 

This week we cover the first two levels of how Chinese think.  We outline the most fundamental level of Chinese thinking - YinYang.  To understand what Yinyang means to the Chinese culture is to understand the most basic and fundamental way in which Chinese thinking differs from Western thinking.  

Next we explore the basics of and the application of the next layer in Chinese thinking Rushidao.

Get a grasp of these two concepts this week ... in future weeks the concepts will be explained through lessons learned though much past heartache of your two hosts, Dr Helen Zhang and Darren Fooks from www.Chinadvisors.com.

Brought to you by Chinadvisors Dr Helen Zhang and Darren Fooks.

Science tells us that throughout almost all the world, the human brain is the same.  Our brains all operate (subject to normal human variation) with the same physical mechanisms of input from the same 5 senses, the same processes and meta-processes, and the same techniques of memory, interpretation and analysis.

But in the same situation, Chinese and Westerners tend to find very different ways of using their physical brains to give them sometimes markedly different world-views, ways of expression and interpreting, and ways of doing business.

The difference is culture ...

In this and the next 2 Podcasts, Dr Helen and Darren give a very simple overview of the main elements of Chinese culture that results in different patterns for succeeding in business. These two Podcasts are hard going, but will lay the foundation for the rest of Season 1 of Inside the Chinese Mind.  You might like to follow the Podcast by also reading through Chapter 3 - Chinese Thinking in Dr Helen's book Inside the Chinese Mind ...

From your hosts at Chinadvisors, Dr Helen Zhang from Cambridge University, United Kingdom and Darren Fooks from Thomson Geer Lawyers, Australia ...

Most Westerners who have negotiated with mainland Chinese, have heard the term  'Inscrutable Chinese Face'.  It reflects an common Western inability to read the true feelings of someone of Chinese or Asian origin.  Is that what Lady Gaga wrote about in her song "Poker Face?".  Add on to that, Receiver Dominant Linguistics, Language tonal differences, Chinese rules of communication and vertigo inspiring content patterning, and the opportunity to develop the most essential ingredient of trust, can be missed.

This week, Helen and Darren turn a light onto these issues and suggest ways to 'not miss the point' of why and what you are negotiating for ...

Further Reading: