Don't even think about a brainstorm

头脑风暴？想都别想

Where: China, Malaysia, Singapore

国家：中国，马来西亚，新加坡

Backtracking or debating a topic can go against the traditional Chinese concept of "saving face", which is meant to avoid any mistakes or actions that could bring embarrassment. Laughing at even an obviously amusing answer, pointing out a potential mistake or even being too straightforward in an answer can derail the entire meeting.

试图改变或争论议题不符合中国传统的“留面子”理念，“留面子”就是指他们会避免任何错误或可能引起尴尬的行为。听到一个明显可笑的回答而发笑、指出潜在的错误，甚至回答得太直接，都会打乱整个会议。

Meetings in a number of Asian countries typically have a desired outcome, without much room for taking a new direction. Knowing the meeting's outcome saves participants from any confrontation or debates, but can be an odd experience for westerners.

很多亚洲国家的会议一般都有一个预期的结果，没有太多改变方向的空间。与会者已经知道了会议结果，就不会再争论或起冲突，但西方人会觉得这样非常奇怪。

"Some people will fly to attend a meeting that they hope to be a brainstorming session, but [in China] brainstorming doesn't take place in meetings," Friedman explained.

弗里德曼解释说：“一些人本以为他们飞去参加的是一个头脑风暴会议，但是（在中国）会议中并没有头脑风暴。”

Savour the interruptions

应对干扰

Where: Italy, France, Spain

国家：意大利，法国，西班牙

When Pascal Soboll meets with clients in Italy or Spain, he's no longer offended if they duck out early or arrive late. Rather than attend the entire three-hour meeting, the managing director at innovation and design firm Daylight Design, has learned that his counterparts there — and in some parts of France — attend based on their own timetable.

如果创新设计公司“日光设计”总经理斯卡尔∠伯尔会见意大利或西班牙的客户，他就不会再因为他们迟到或早退而生气了。因为他已经认识到，他在意大利、西班牙和法国一些地方的生意伙伴们是遵照自己的时间表参加会议的，而不是开完整整三个小时的会。

"People change their schedules very spontaneously," said Soboll. "They tend to come and go."

索伯尔说：“他们会随意更改行程，他们一般都是想来就来想走就走。”

For Soboll that means tweaking his own German-based expectations of client behaviour. Rather than expecting the same group to sit through his entire presentation (often analysing the company's existing strategy) he makes it easier for people to turn up as needed. Those who have missed a portion of the presentation can then review and ask questions to avoid information lapses, he adds.

对索伯尔来说，这意味着要扭转他对客户行为的德国式看法。他允许人们视情况需要来开会，而不再期待同样的一群人听完他整个陈述（通常是分析公司当前的战略）。他补充道，那些错过了一部分陈述的人可以在之后回顾会议内容、问问题，避免信息遗漏。