There’s been a lot of talk about why the people of India seem to be so good at math, science and engineering. There’s also been a great deal of discussion about why many Indians have become outstanding entrepreneurs in a variety of fields.
Tim Ferriss, the author of The 4-Hour Workweek, has a post on his blog that addresses the difference. He quotes Bob Compton, the executive producer of the education documentary, Two Million Minutes and who explains his theory and offer tips on “How to Negotiate Like An Indian.”
You see, Indians bargain for everything. If you want to buy a bell pepper, you go to the vegetable market and bargain with the vendor. If you want to take a taxi, it requires bargaining to get a fair price.
For those of us who are from cultures in which prices are stated clearly and bargaining is rarely considered appropriate, the need to negotiate for everything in India can be overwhelming. I have come to love the bargaining process, but it’s awkward at first for those not accustomed to it.
For Indians, it’s a part of daily life. Tim’s post addresses this (via Bob’s writings) and suggests that the skill of negotiating is an extremely powerful tool for business.
Sure, that MBA degree might include a course in negotiation. But Indians spend years and years developing, exercising, and honing their bargaining skills.
We need to come up with innovative ways to teach our students how to negotiate in order to navigate in an increasingly diverse and complex world. A part of creativity training is learning how to express needs in new ways and collaborate in order to ensure that all players are satisfied with the outcome.
Read Tim’s post here.
2 Comments
December 15, 2007 at 7:42 pm
In this week’s webcast of Two Million Minutes, Bob Compton states that a question universal to Indian audiences of the film is “How do we get the self-confidence and risk-tolerance of Americans?”
Yes, the Indians are very good at negotiating but no so good at risk-tolerance. Both qualities are necessary for a successful entrepreneur. I find this very interesting since both traits are products of our cultures.
December 16, 2007 at 5:17 pm
Hi Lynn,
Well, it does seem that many Indian entrepreneurs have managed to develop both self-confidence/risk tolerance AND negotiating skills. And of course, there are plenty of Americans who have developed these as well.
It’s interesting that Americans are so self-confident and yet, in terms of skills (those measured by tests, anyway) they don’t have the goods to back up that confidence. We raise our kids differently in the US–we value self-confidence over learning. (Exhibit A: grade inflation). We give awards to every kid who participates on a team. We want our kids to feel good about themselves.
And there’s nothing wrong with wanting to help kids develop good self-esteem. It only becomes problematic in an increasingly global environment in which it emerges that our kids may not have the same knowledge or skills as students from other countries.