Not that long ago, I was in a meeting with an American client who was taking exception to my pro-China views on business.
Don’t get me wrong, there are many things that annoy and frustrate me – however by the same token, I have great respect for the ability to get things done both interms of deviousness and effectiveness.
Anyway, mid-way through our chat, he said:
“Remember China is only the 2nd largest economy in the World, the US is still #1”.
To be honest, I was quite taken aback at just how aggressive he was being so to add some petrol to the flames, I replied:
“Given China currently owns 1.7 trillion dollars of US debt, I would argue they are already bigger than your nation”.
I won’t go into what happened next, but suffice to say is involved a bit of silence, a bit of swearing and a very forlorn look – and not from me.
The purpose of this post is not to show I’m a bastard, but that we often say/discuss/believe things that come from only one perspective of reality … so if we want to be able to actually change behaviour or opinion, we need to make sure we understand more than just the areas we feel comfortable in, but the areas that our audience base their ‘truth’ on.
Remember it’s not just about depth, it’s also about breadth.