Ranked #1 in the World
By Frederick Andresen
Author of Walking on Ice, An American Businessman in Russia
“Their starting-point is different, and their courses are not the same; yet each of them seems to be marked out by the will of Heaven to sway the destinies of half the globe.” Alexis de Tocqueville had it right in 1831 about America and Russia. And his perspective is right today. How does the United States interact with its closest neighbor next to Canada and Mexico? Many Americans have worked hard at this. Some have failed and others have succeeded. Based on one of those successes, this nine-part series focuses on the issues and practices that make success happen in Russia today.
Part 4: The Burden of Yes
An early reply I remember hearing in Russia to any request was, “Nyet, it can’t be done.” It was a common challenge with deep cultural roots. Then I learned how to respond. “I realize it is difficult,” I said, “but if you were to do it, how would you do it?” Then the eyes lit up and the solution emerged.
It is understandable that the Russian automatically says no. “Yes” burdens him with responsibility, a character trait in short supply amongst Russians. Commonly heard was Eta ne moya otvetstvennost. It means, “It is not my responsibility.” They laugh when I say that to avoid something.
The Russian knows from experience that even if in theory it can be done, something will happen to screw it up. So why bother and then take the blame?
In Russia, everything is difficult and everything is possible. So appealing to the “how” of a problem at once appeals to a Russian’s sense of resourcefulness, a character trait in great abundance. The Russian spirit has for centuries struggled against adversity.
Their inherent penchant for survival has prepared them for getting around the obstacles of life and supplying solutions, sometimes unusual Russian solutions, to get the job done. That explains why the girls in the office were always looking for a “clever” man.
One Saturday night late, returning home from a country drive, I pushed the button for the elevator to go to my seventh-floor apartment. I fumbled the keys from my pocket and watched in amazement as they dropped and slid across the well-worn cement floor and disappeared through the wide crack between the elevator and the floor. It was midnight. What could be done?
My landlord was at her country dacha with no phone. My driver hadn’t a clue and was anxious to return to his family. The babushka attendant wrinkled her brow. I decided to sit on the wooden bench, to pray, to sleep there if I had to, and wait for a solution. Soon it came.
My driver, who had left for home, returned in an hour with a friend who produced a horse-shoe magnet the size of a dinner plate and a long string. Slithering the magnet down the crack between the elevator and the floor, with a flashlight to spot the keys twenty feet below in the dirt, up they came.
“That’s not my responsibility,” is often what you get. But if he likes you and you have challenged his ability to solve the problem, the Russian will call on his innate resourcefulness to help. That is why relationships are everything in Russia.
Today the aggressive young man or woman may well respond to a request requiring personal responsibility with an unqualified assurance of success. And today many have MBAs from American universities or connected local institutes.
My partner in Russia, a woman I hired even while she was still a student at Moscow State University, always had a goal of an MBA. She got it -– from Duke — and is one heck of a valuable and important leader in Russian telecom today. In her Duke Executive MBA class, five of the 30 students were Russians.
Today the drive is there but so are the blocks in the road.
>> Read Part 1: Three Sides of the Coin
>> Read Part 2: Walking on Ice
>> Read Part 3: Quest for Global Status
>> Read Part 5: Tollgates, not roadblocks
>> Read Part 6: The Rule of Thumbs
>> Read Part 7: Deciphering the Culture
>> Read Part 8: Power of Human Capital
Title: Walking on Ice: An American Businessman in Russia
Author: Frederick R. Andresen, a 1958 graduate of Thunderbird School of Global Management, specializes in general business management, marketing, entrepreneurship and relationship building in Russia and other emerging markets.
Endorsement: This book “is mandatory reading for all who contemplate a tour of duty whether government or business in Russia or who have worked there … it brings back memories and reality. With insight, understanding, and a rare degree of humor, Fred Andresen tells us about working with the Russians,” Richard Weden, general director, American Express Russia, 1995 to 2004.
ISBN: 978-1432713522
Publisher: Outskirts Press (September 2007)
Information: www.fandresen.com
November 19th, 2009 at 9:15 am
Fred’s posts on doing business in Russia read almost like a Martin Cruz Smith novel! His cultural acumen is so T-bird! He was able to take what could have been negatives and stumbling blocks and, with cultural sensitivity, turn them in to positives and building blocks. Good job, Fred!
Suzy