Cross posted at http://blogs.sun.com/syw

Humor me. Have a piece of paper and draw the productivity curve of yourself over the next 15 years. Most people’s curve steeply go upward during their younger years (30 to 45) and flattens out as they age (50+).

Humor me again. Draw a curve of China’s economic growth over the next 15 years. If you think the break-neck speed will continue forever, you are crazy. Most people predict a gradually flattening curve after about 10 years.

If you are 27 to 35 years old in China, do you see the amazing similarity of your curve and the country’s? Do you realize this overlap happens once and only once? China will not have the same growth rate again. Therefore, the opportunity is reserved only for one generation, and that’s you. Not me, a geezer, not those who are still in college or just graduated.

Or, we can reverse the angle of the conclusion, if this generation does not answer to the call, China will not grow as fast for the next 15 years. History has forged you and China together. Isn’t that exciting?

Be entrepreneurial, take risks, innovate. Whatever you do, don’t fail China. Don’t fail yourself. Don’t fail history.

Seattle is a nice city with many friends. But, as a tourist, what?

Space Needle! The famous silhouette on Fraziers. It costs more than its worth to go up to the observation deck. Capturing the sunset was nice. The romantic can have a some wines or coffees and spend hours surrounded by the bay view. I am, however, on a family-plan. Kids are bored easily with views, no matter how breath-taking they are.

The underground tour is very entertaining. The guide turned a moldy historical artifact into a good story: how early Seattle businesses and government dealt with the simple water-table problems.

Foods are excellent. Elliott Oyster Bar is expensive, friendly, and reasonably tasty. The steakhouse at the hotel is worthy of its franchise name. The Olympic Sculpture Garden consumed a couple of leisurely sunny hours in the afternoon. I cannot imagine being a tourist here during the dark and wet winter days. This June holiday is absolutely agreeable.

The public transportation system is surprisingly well done. All downtown transportation are free. A route 99 runs up and down the water-front without charge. A tunnel that cut through downtown makes buses go faster without congesting the normal traffic. It increases ridership, since they are fast and cheap. The 30-minute ride to the airport, no longer than a taxi, costed only $1.50 per person. Maybe the 9% sales tax is a good deal to get those services.

I must conclude that Seattle is an excellent city for living, but not a tourist destination. Maybe I can fill another day with museums? Or I will just jump off to Banff or Victoria Island?

Cross posted at http://blogs.sun.com/syw

No. It is useless to counts people’s ethnic origins. What turns diversity into a competitive advantage is the difference in philosophy, perspective, or approaches to problem solving. In “The Wisdom of Crowds” James Surowiecki made a point that individuals in a group must be different and independent otherwise the wisdom disappeared.

And I also found the peril of global thinking. Too many company thinks globally by insisting the same policies, strategies, or business processes for all their global presences. This actually turns globalization into a burden: management either simplifies by sinking to the lowest common denominator or complicates by creating bureaucratic machines to handle all differences. Both make globalization a liability. Observe how Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, and too many companies failed on capitalizing China.

Companies must carefully choose what should be the same globally and what can be different for each locale. This choice requires courage and a team that knows both the soul of the company as well as the uniqueness of each region, or at least the regions that matter. Does having a large employee base in China help? Or they simply become nuisance in management because they are so far away and so difficult to manage?

Don’t confuse an American company with global presences with a company that is globalized. Similarly, don’t confuse a staff with only diverse ethnic origins with a diversified staff. In both cases, the former is a competitive disadvantage and the latter an advantage.

No, it is not easy at all. Neither is making money. Are you an American company trying to make money in China, or India? Talk to me.