Da Antonio Fonduca

La teoria di umore suggerisce che l'umore ed il laughter sono sensi primitivi di segnalazione delle notizie buone ed acconsente in un gruppo. Avere un buonsenso di umore può essere sperimentato come compartecipazione del codice segreto. L'umore inoltre dice che qualcosa circa la persona esprimere l'umore come riservatezza, intelligenza e cronometrare sono tutto richiesto per un'osservazione divertente disposta pozzo.

L'umore richiede la capacità di rispondere ad altre nel momento ed il relativo uso può essere efficace nelle situazioni difficili di trattativa. Per esempio, agganciarsi nella destra divertente di interazione dopo che un punto dell'ordine del giorno difficile sia stato indirizzato può funzionare come rilascio di tensionamento. Infine, l'umore può costituire un senso efficace di controllo del guanxi fra i partiti di negoziazione.

Quando viene ad umore cinese in particolare vorrei ripartire una coppia delle storia. Questo primo si è detto a me da un cinese:

Deng Xiaoping, quando era vivo, ha avuto un ospite - il presidente americano - che ha portato un regalo fantastico. Era un telefono da cui potreste denominare chiunque, morti o figura di fantasia e viva o persona reale. Deng Xiaoping ha fatto tre chiamate: quello primo al presidente degli Stati Uniti per ringraziarlo per il regalo; la seconda chiamata al C. Elai, uno dei politici più onesti che hanno vissuto mai in Cina (lui era nel cielo ai tempi della chiamata); la terza chiamata a Mao Zedong (nell'inferno). Più tardi, Deng Xiaoping ha ottenuto una fattura del telefono ed è stato sorprendo poiché non misura le sue aspettative. Ha denominato l'azienda del telefono ed ha detto che aveva ricevuto una fattura sconosciuta con soltanto due chiamate registrate. The lady said that she would go and check and soon came back to say that it was very simple really, “the call you made to Mao was a local call”

This second story, extracted from an interview with a Western director at a large firm in Nanjing, further depicts the characteristics of Chinese mentality and humor.

In a negotiation setting, my Chinese counterpart suddenly burst out, “I really like win-win situations. First I win, and then – I win again, ha ha”. The Chinese can often be quite straightforward in their behavior. They can look at you, really gazing you in the eyes and tell you the most unexpected things, just like that. In another occasion, my Chinese counterpart gazed at me and said, “The other suppliers have accepted to the terms and conditions and you have to comply, ha ha, otherwise your competitors will get the contract, ha ha”

What can we learn from these stories? To begin with, we need to dig deeper to really understand the underlying forces of the Chinese mentality. We also need to remain open minded as prejudice and taken for granted opinions can be quite deceitful.

The strategic uses of humor in the stories include:

- To make oneself appear stupid and weak
- To communicate the forbidden and unspoken
- To critique indirectly
- To mask threats

In the latter story, in the viewpoint of the Chinese, he is purely stating the obvious. His behavior is not necessarily rude, although it understandingly may be interpreted as such. He conveys his message, using humor as a tool to mention the forbidden. He might be laughing to hide his nervousness. He might be using humor as ways of releasing tension. He might not only be protecting himself, but also the Westerner’s feelings by conveying his statements indirectly. Certainly, the Chinese are well known to avoiding saying “no” straight out (rather they tend to use any of the plethora of ways of saying no indirectly).

How can we view his laughing, this seemingly rude behavior, in a different light? Many times, this behavior is about saving face. He might laugh since the matter is sensitive. He might feel uneasy and perhaps even be embarrassed, thus trying to hide this in his laughter. At the same time, his behavior might also be interpreted as an honest reminder of the power balance in the relationship, i.e. his bargaining strength.

Undoubtedly, there are several possible interpretations. In any case, try to avoid assuming the worst or the first thing that instinctively comes to mind. Remain open minded and try to really understand the underlying intentions.

Finally, how can we ourselves use humor to our advantage in our business relations? We can use it reactively and proactively:

- as an ice breaker
- to smooth and speed up the courteous phase
- as a way of fishing for information
- to say things that cannot normally be expressed (taboos, masked orders etc.)

Hence, humor not only provides a strategically effective method for argumentation, but also serves to mask true meanings and making direct statements appear indirect. Successful use of humor may also serve to express discontent, since it permits the speaker to express a problem while at the same time saving face.