It seems somewhat awkward to introduce myself over the web. I feel some need to approach this as if I were writing my resume, but then you would know more of what I have done and less about who I am. If I were to pick one word to describe me it would be "fortunate". I have met many wonderful people, enjoyed an exciting career, been blessed with good heath and find that I am able to learn many things that I set my mind to learn.
My father had hopes that his only son would be a doctor. However, knowing that I became faint at the sight of my own blood, I felt that would not likely be good for my future patients. But my passion was to be like my father, a businessman. So in my third year of university studies, I switched from all that math and science toward a pursuit of a business degree. Being somewhat mathematically inclined, I majored in Operations Research. Pretty much statistics in the business world.
Hopefully my father was not too disappointed in his son. Unfortunately, both of my parents passed while I was in my early 30's. I think my biggest misfortune was to not have their love and counsel as I matured. Perhaps that is some explanation as to why I am a somewhat private person, often keeping things to myself......not easily sharing. Perhaps here I will be able to share things that will be valuable and useful to others.
I enjoy so many things I wouldn't know how to begin to list them. In coming articles I will try to spend some time on interesting business experiences, travels, hobbies and of course my passion for golf. Over that last few years I have spent a fair amount of time learning woodworking skills. I have a garage full of tools and even know how to use a few of them. Last year my wife returned to China when her father passed away and while she was gone I made her a jewelry box. She was so happy with it that I have made many more. I enjoy experimenting with different types of wood and different designs. I will share some photos in the near future.
My graduate studies were in both finance and law. Combined with my bent for statistics and mathematics, I had a somewhat unique approach to business. My early career was in manufacturing and came at a time when Japan was beating the U.S. quite badly in the quality arena. My early mentor, Tom Petrocini, put me in charge of a very large manufacturing plant while I was in my mid-20's. Our primary customer was Ford Motor Company and their demands of "Quality is Job 1" translated into many challenges. I was promoted to VP of Operations over multiple plants before the age of 30. It was actually quite frightening to supervise plant managers with more experience than I had years!
As the times required, I was a student of Deming and Juran. I had breakfast with Dr. Juran in New York City before a seminar that he was teaching. I was amazed at his enthusiasm and depth of knowledge. Since he was getting up in years, I had expected one of his understudies to make most of the presentation, but he took the stage and presented for two full days. Two days I hope to never forget.
But perhaps a lesser known guru of the time caught my attention. H. James Harrington wrote several books on business process improvement. The clarity of his methodology has allowed me to solve business problems in nearly every arena. I have perhaps fine-tuned it with thoughts of others like Michael Hammer and James Champy, as well as the application of analytical tools that include simulation modeling. I became intrigued with the use of simulation modeling when a consultant to Ford Motor Company in the early 80's. The tools have advanced significantly since that time and writing and running simulation models is, I think, very straightforward. The Charleston VA Hospital cut the amount of time that patients wait for prescriptions from over two hours to less than 15 minutes with the insights gained from a fairly simple model.
The world of consulting was challenging and exciting. I met so many interesting people, visited so many amazing cities and witnessed so many manufacturing and service technologies. I smile every time I am in Home Depot and see a sheet of plywood. I think perhaps I am the only one in the store who knows how that piece of plywood was actually made. As a consultant, there was always the pressure to be the expert, even though the most that you could hope for was to be at least one chapter ahead of your client in the most recent book on business improvement or employee motivation. I remember interviewing the VP of Purchasing at Ford New Holland and asking "How many vendors to you have?" He said, "Son, vendors sell hot dogs at baseball games.......here, we have suppliers!" So much for being the expert in his world!
My travels have taken me to Europe, South America, China, Mexico and Canada. The challenges of dealing with different languages and different cultures is more than I could ever hope to clarify. Even the folks in London speak a different form of the English language. I think my most interesting experience occurred in Nanning, China. I had a somewhat unexpected press conference with the Vice Mayor and several of Nanning's government leaders. There was a translator who was hidden from my view who did an excellent job of translating both sides of the conversation. I had taught classes in Mexico where I had used a Spanish translator, but that was generally only one-way communication. In this two-way exchange of Chinese and English it was difficult to stay focused. After returning to Beijing, my wife and I went to dinner and the family at a nearby table became very excited and kept looking at us. The waitress explained that they had seen the press conference on CCTV and thought that I was some sort of dignitary. It was nice to be in a foreign country and not be just another "Ugly American".
If you have not guessed by now, my wife is Chinese. She is wonderful beyond words. Perhaps someday I will write a book about her and what she means to me. She has taught me so much about what is necessary to deal with people and life. Understanding business is only part of the solution. Understanding history, culture, language, economies and so much more are necessary. I have stood on the Great Wall and sailed the Li Jiang. While I have been amazed at the shops on Wang Fu Jing Da Jie, I have been even more amazed at the things I have seen in the small shopping markets where the "locals" shop. My greatest challenge is learning the Chinese language. While I can say and understand many words and phrases, I am frustrated that I cannot converse with a Chinese person in a way that I can truly understand who they are and what they feel. I want them to understand me and know that I am more than just another foreigner who has learned a few phrases of their language, but nothing more. Because of that, "Wo meitian xue Chongwen."
East-West Economic Center was formed as a dream to help people understand each other. If one American is able to learn a few things that makes his or her trip to China easier or more interesting, that is a success. If one Chinese family is able to fulfill a dream of sending their child to a university in the U.S., that is a success. Everyone we meet is a potential friend. And when that friendship is made, that is truly a success.
In future articles, I will focus on more specific issues with the hope of sharing many of my wonderful and exciting experiences. But for now I hope that you have learned "a few things about me". Perhaps one day soon we will have an opportunity to meet, share a cut of tea (or perhaps a glass of wine, my favorite is Merlot for Southeast Australia) and become friends.
Jerry