Postcard from Bishkek

Every now and again people tell me that my approach to work is not the same as that of the locals.  These comments are usually accompanied by the advice: “When in Rome …”, or, “You’ve got to understand out mentality …”.

I am not sure I agree with the first, although the second is an important factor of survival in a foreign and strange environment, (at, least, an environment which is different to the one in which I grew up).

Although I think that “people are people” wherever they are born or live, subject to the same basic desires and needs, there are cultural differences and it is a very unwise person who doesn’t recognize this and make certain adjustments or allowances.

I came across two interesting articles in the Daily Telegraph last week:

• Chinese millionaire street sweeper refuses to give up work, and
• No gossiping in the office: interruptions double chance of making mistakes

 For the record: The Daily Telegraph is one of Britain’s leading newspapers, established in 1855 and published in London but with well over half a million copied distributed everyday throughout the UK and abroad.  According to market research, its readers tend to be conservative – and also Conservative, that is, supporters of the Conservative party … hence the depiction of it as the Torygraph in the satirical magazine Private Eye, which has become ubiquitously identified with the paper.   There is a “sister paper” published on Sundays, and although there is some liaison between the two, they are run as separate entities and have different staff.

The website, Telegraph.co.uk is the online version of the newspaper, and includes articles from the print editions of both The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph, as well as some web-only content such as breaking news, features, picture galleries and blogs.  It was the first web-based newspaper to be launched in Europe and has garnered a number of impressive awards.

To be honest, back in Britain, I was never a keen reader of the newspaper.  It always seem so staid and dry, compared even to the other “broadsheets”.  One of my colleagues used to take it, but, or so he said, that was because it had very good coverage of sport.   I started reading the website back in 2005, to see what was being reported  back in Britain about our Tulip Revolution.  I was quite impressed because they obviously had someone here on the spot who gave thoughtful and fair accounts of events – even if I had some issues with some of his conclusions … he was obviously writing about what he had experienced, seen, head and thought about the situation.

As a result, I would often go the website to see what breaking news stories there are.

Apart from the headlines, among the other features that I regularly peruse are the “Wierd News” section and some of the photosets.  I have to be selective in clicking on a headline, however, because it has now become a paysite … surfers are allowed to access just 20 free articles a month or pay a subscription to see more.

So, these two articles represented 10% of my monthly quota … but I think they were worth it.

 

The first tells of Mrs. Yu, aChinese woman who has worked for nearly 40 years as a farmer, cook, lorry driver and, (for the last fourteen years),  as a street cleaner.  In those 14 years, apparently, she has taken just three days off – to attend three funerals.

Five years ago, a plot of land that her family owned was bought up by the government for a property development.  Instead of using the money she received to retire or blowing it all travel or luxuries, she chose it to reinvest it in property … presumably conscious of the ancient tradition about the importance of the land which that forms the basis of Pearl Buck’s novel, The Good Earth, (which, incidentally, was the bestselling book in both 1931 and 1932, winning the Pulitzer Prize and the Howells Medal).

Since then her “property empire”, which now comprises 17 apartments, is worth some 10 million yuan, (that is, a million pounds) … she’s a millionaire!

Despite this wealth, she continues to clock on and work as a street cleaner, donning an orange jacket and collection her monthly salary of £142.  She’s not doing it for the money, she says.  The reporter suggests that her insistence to continue working is partly down to habit … she’s always worked and is used to the routine, how many people find themselves at a loss as to what to do when the first rush of retirement passes … and partly out of concern for her “feckless children”.

I thought that China operated a “one child” policy … well she apparently has two: a son and a daughter.  The article tells how the son has had a “chequered career”, which at times involved long periods when he had nothing to do apart from lounge around at home, sitting on the sofa.  She scolded him for his attitude, afraid that he would “hang out with bad people”, but at the moment he has a job … as does her daughter.

It was a short article, but the best part was the sentence: “Work is not just about the salary, it makes one focused. Laziness gives rise to all sorts of bad habits.”

She seems to be “too good to be true” – an employers dream employee.

When we have talked about incentives for our staff, some people seem to concentrate exclusively on salary … they tell me that people only work for the money; they need money to live and their salary provides them with the wherewithal to feed and clothe themselves and their family as well as providing for the other necessities of life … and hopefully a few “luxuries” along the way.   As one person put it: “If you want to motivate people, give them a pay rise, or at least a bonus!”

Now I agree that the salary is important … but it is not the only thing.  I have known people actually take a pay cut in order to take a post … for example, people who used to work in the “City”, earning good money who decided that they wanted to do something different with their lives … threw it all up and trained to be a teacher. I remember when one such person was asked “why?”, he answered with another question: “Ever heard of altruism?”  He was probably as rare a character as Mrs. Yu.

Other people, however, also have non-ficundary reasons for choosing a particular job: they may seek a working regime which fits in with their family commitments; or maybe it is a question of geography … being near to their elderly parents or their children’s school; some people want to be in a friendly working environment where they will be recognized for having done a good job – and be thanked, (either formally – such as in a Worker of the Month scheme – or informally).

 

The second was a report on some newly published research carried out by scientists from Michigan State University, and funded by the US Navy, which concluded that, “being interrupted for just three seconds can double the chances of making a mistake“, adding that this “could prove deadly in some professions”

The “sting in the the tail” was referring to people like doctors or those working on airplane engines; people for whom mistakes could cost lives.  It strikes me, however, that it could apply to almost anyone, such as drivers who are “interrupted” by a mobile phone call.

During the study, some 300 volunteers were give a fairly simple routine task to complete, and it was noted that even short interruptions, (lasting less than three seconds on average), led to an increase in mistakes.  Mistakes happened even when there were no interruptions … well, the volunteers were only human.  It was noticeable, however, that the number of mistakes increased substantially following an interruption … doubling in number.

Now, We get interruptions all day long and they take many different forms.  Even something as simple as “reading a text message, hearing a phone ring, or saying hello to a colleague”, can be enough to put someone off their stride while concentrating on a task.

This is something I have been saying for years … for example, when I am trying to concentrate on some and one of the kids comes in and wants instant attention … and I suppose it’s nice to know that there is some scientific evidence to back up this gut feeling.  I am not sure however, that it fully supports one of the other conclusions that the researchers apparently went on to make:

“It’s another reason why mobiles, background televisions and other potential distractions should be turned off completely during the times of concentration,” the researchers went on to say.

Now, I can hear lots of teachers and parents delightedly  echoing that as children say that the Rock Music they are listening to on their i-pod really does help to do their homework: “There you are … we told you so! Now even scientists have shown this to be the case.”

When I was a teacher, my answer whenever this issue came up was always: if they are listening to the music, then they probably can’t be concentrating on their homework.  On the other hand, I have always felt that not all background noise (for that read music) is disturbing … some music, for example, is soothing and can have a positive effect.  The important thing, it seems to me is the “interruption” is the crucial moment … the telephone ringing in the middle of concentrating.

I am not saying that surgeons in the middle of an operation, or aircraft technicians working on an airplane engine, should have Musak playing music as they work … I suppose it all depends on the nature of the task and the type of “background noise”.

 

Anyway, when I thought about the article, it got me wondering: How much did it cost to produce this information?,  Was the survey really necessary? and Why did the US Navy want to know this in the first place? … now they’ve got the results, what are they going to do with the information?

 

Tags: Business, Expat