S7 Episode 25: Think Resolution - Towards a Global Culture of Mediation

And Singapore is probably a little bit more

like the US.

And of course, I was in a US company being in Beijing.

So there's a bit of a schizophrenic kind

of relationship going on right there because you have to deal with both ends of it,

right? When you report to head office, as well as relating to your colleagues in country in China.

That would have been a fascinating, both invaluable experience for you to both observe that, but to be in the midst of that and to navigate that situation.

I was very grateful

for the opportunity to do that because I was in Beijing at a time when The relationship between the US and China is at an all-time high.

And being in IBM in China, one of the leading tech companies in China, we were in a very privileged position to see how China grew.

I was there, you know, 2009 to 2016.

So really some of the golden years in terms of the relationship and how After China goes into the WTO and how China grew over the years, it was fascinating.

It was fascinating to see the culture, the technology, how millions of people were basically moved from a poverty line to really the kind of economic lifestyle that they have now, which is wonderful.

On reflection, you mentioned Sydney.

Did we have, as Australians, have a unique style of business? Or were we more aligned with, say, the United States?

I think you're very much aligned with the United States in terms of the way you approach a business relationship.

Except I would say that Australians have this unique ability to connect.

it is through football, or you call it footsie, I think, or through sports, all sorts of sports.

Or it is in the way that you have this wonderful, I would say a very expensive kind, well, expensive with an A, not an E.

Maybe it's getting more expensive as well, but an expensive lifestyle that is very broad and really being able to enjoy both the work as well as the fruits of your labor, right? So I remember during my time in Sydney, Friday afternoons were almost sacrosanct, right? You have to almost ensure that you have enough time To finish your work as well as to go out for drinks with your colleagues after that, as well as, you know, the whole sense of building this community and building this fraternity or this company relationship, which is just as important.

And weekends, again, it's for family, right? It's very much...

time for yourself as well as for your family.

So I think it's really a wonderful balance between hard work and also family as well as personal time and finding that balance with all the tensions that you see in modern lifestyle.

Well, you can't give a better endorsement for Australian life.

So thank you very much for that.