The Western Elite from a Chinese Perspective

(From the Stanford GSB website)

Ever since Alexis de Tocqueville's Democracy in America became a best-seller, Americans have been fascinated by visitors' opinions of America. A recent example of this genre is Puzhong Yao's essay The Western Elite from a Chinese Perspective. Now 32, he dismisses any comparison with the French chronicler (who was 33 when the first volume of Democracy was printed):

I don’t claim to be a modern-day Alexis de Tocqueville, nor do I have much in common with this famous observer of American life. He grew up in Paris, a city renowned for its culture and architecture. I grew up in Shijiazhuang, a city renowned for being the headquarters of the company that produced toxic infant formula. [Blogger's note: ok, be on the look out for ironic observations and amusing asides.] He was a child of aristocrats; I am the child of modest workers.

Despite the sweeping title, the essay is more of a journal along the lines of "what I have learned about life so far."

Puzhong Yao describes himself as "an average student in an average school" who happened to show (a lot of) math aptitude, found the competition in China to be too tough, then settled for an easier scholastic path at Trinity College, Cambridge(!). In 2007 Goldman Sachs hired him as a bond trader. After being promoted, he realized that he needed to learn the soft skills of emotional and social intelligence to become truly successful in Western business, so with Goldman's encouragement off he went to Stanford Business School.

Though he plays the naïf, Mr. Yao shows doubt about some of which passes for elite business education. And, dear reader, if you think that the humor in the first paragraph below is unintentional, you must learn to read more carefully:

One class was about strategy. It focused on how corporate mottos and logos could inspire employees. Many of the students had worked for nonprofits or health care or tech companies, all of which had mottos about changing the world, saving lives, saving the planet, etc. The professor seemed to like these mottos. I told him that at Goldman our motto was “be long-term greedy.” The professor couldn’t understand this motto or why it was inspiring. I explained to him that everyone else in the market was short-term greedy and, as a result, we took all their money. Since traders like money, this was inspiring. He asked if perhaps there was another motto or logo that my other classmates might connect with. I told him about the black swan I kept on my desk as a reminder that low probability events happen with high frequency. He didn’t like that motto either and decided to call on another student, who had worked at Pfizer. Their motto was “all people deserve to live healthy lives.” The professor thought this was much better. I didn’t understand how it would motivate employees, but this was exactly why I had come to Stanford: to learn the key lessons of interpersonal communication and leadership.

On the communication and leadership front, I came to the GSB knowing I was not good and hoped to get better. My favorite class was called “Interpersonal Dynamics” or, as students referred to it, “Touchy Feely.” In “Touchy Feely,” students get very candid feedback on how their words and actions affect others in a small group that meets several hours per week for a whole quarter.

We talked about microaggressions and feelings and empathy and listening. Sometimes in class the professor would say things to me like “Puzhong, when Mary said that, I could see you were really feeling something,” or “Puzhong, I could see in your eyes that Peter’s story affected you.” And I would tell them I didn’t feel anything. I was quite confused.

He will probably make a lot of money in quantitative finance, maybe even trading bitcoin, but I hope he continues his writing. De Tocqueville was interesting but not very funny. Puzhong Yao is both. (H/T Tyler Cowen for the link.)