Story: Cultural ignorance leads to "Fruitgate"

Here's a great story about a cultural faux pas from Deb Weidenhammer as presented in the New York Times You're The Boss blog. Weidenhammer is CEO of Auction Systems & Appraisers.

The day before “Fruitgate,” as we now term it in my China office, I hosted a luncheon at a famous restaurant in Shanghai. I invited members of my professional association, including government officials and several high-ranking private sector professionals.

Over a very pleasant lunch, we talked about the differences between business practices in America and China. While there were no breakthroughs, it was a fun few hours of cross-cultural sharing. I left the event feeling secure that I hadn’t made any major mistakes in my hostessing.

When I arrived at the office the following day to prepare for my return to the United States, the Chinese office manager told me that a call had come in from the association’s chairman with the message that I was invited to go fruit picking the next day with several of the other members.

Thinking the invitation a courtesy, I asked the office manager to let the chairman know I would be unable to make the event, as I was returning to America. The message was relayed, and I boarded my flight believing the invitation was evidence of the good job I had done at lunch.

When I returned to the Shanghai office a few weeks after the incident, I learned from my most senior Chinese manager that I had made a grave mistake — perhaps my biggest to date in China. In my Western view, I had a scheduling conflict. I had appointments in the United States and a precious seat on a flight home. An American business executive would have understood.

But in the view of my Chinese contacts — as it has been explained to me several times since — I came off as arrogant, believing myself too important to change my schedule to attend the event. There was clearly no ill will on my part, but perception is reality. I was dead wrong in declining the request....

The damage was done, and I am still paying the price. Since Fruitgate, I have heard tell of my reputation for being conceited and self-important from more than two dozen people who had no firsthand knowledge of the situation. Despite my ongoing efforts to patch things up, I heard yet again about my legendary arrogance just a few weeks ago.

What makes it worse is that I actually would have enjoyed the experience of picking fruit in China’s countryside. My inattention to my guanxi [network] in that single moment will take years to repair.

So here’s my advice: whatever else you do in China, always say yes to fruit picking.

There are several more cultural faux pas stories on the site, including this one from me and a comic story from Josh Neufeld.