What I Learned from Three Months in China... and how my MBA Prepared Me for It

I spent the last three months on an MBA exchange to Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management in Beijing. It was the fulfillment of a lifetime dream. It was my first time in China, or anywhere in Asia for that matter, and my first time living abroad from the U.S. The experience is so fresh, the realizations so numerous, and the feelings so strong while there, that it's difficult to begin to unravel exactly what I learned. But all that can be done is begin. So here goes.


One of the things that struck me the most about China was something very simple. In fact, it's something that I used to doodle on my 7th grade notebooks. So simple that it was staring me right in the face for years without my knowing the meaning of it.

The yin yang.

The ancient Taoist symbol that symbolizes that things that seem to be polar opposites are actually interconnected. Things are not always black or white. In every black, there is some white. In every white, there is some black.

As such, the Chinese are high on exceptionalism.... the idea that for every rule, there are exceptions to rules. The most popular exception for rules is relationships... Relationships come first. In the US however, rules come first. Certain "unalienable" rights and rules rise above even the closest of relationships.

I think, whether the rule or the relationship is more important to the culture, the concept of the yin yang is one that should be respected. Look twice. Think twice. Things are not always what they seem. Sometimes there is black in the white. Sometimes there is white in the black. This was the best preparation I could have had for China. And thanks to my good friend LC, who prepared me for China with this gem: "Sometimes when they say yes, they really mean no."

Besides that little nugget of wisdom, I think the best preparation I could have had for China came from--get this, and skeptics stand corrected-- my MBA education. The first year of the Babson curriculum has a goal of preparing students to be ready, and even comfortable, in a state of utter uncertainty. How do you teach this? One of the ways Babson does it is through what they call the creativity project-- a team project the first month of school that is designed to intentionally create uncertainty....and also induces a nervous, anxious, linear-thinker business student to rethink herself, her capacity for dealing with the world, in addition to wondering WTF she quit her job to come to b-school.

And then I went to China, where the entire experience is an exercise in uncertainty and patience. From, will they accept my proposal?...to...Will there be toilet paper? And overall, I found myself prepared for the uncertainty. I'm definitely not saying I didn't have my days when I shook my fists at China (ie, Silk Market Day with my pal TC whose poor patience was split between a hot-headed me and an aggressive saleswoman). But overall, I found myself prepared to stare uncertainty in the face, smile, and even--strange--enjoy the not knowing! Definitely can't say that's natural for me. And it certainly wasn't the me I was in college, or in my career. It's what I had to learn in business school, and it's awesome to say... I can feel the change.