Is Gengjai good for business?

A while ago I asked a member of staff (her name is Alitta) what she would do if she was in my shoes running the company. My aim was twofold, to have a better understanding of how she thinks about business and secondly, to get feedback on what she doesn’t like in regards to how I operate the business. As I have always said, feedback - good or bad, is crucial to improve ones business.

I’m constantly reminding myself that I’m working with people that don’t share the same culture and to a fair extent, values as myself. This means it’s even more vital that I get feedback. I do find it difficult. One of my biggest worries is that one day I’ll loose my cool - I’ve been lucky so far in that I have gritted my teeth when I’ve wanted to bite someones head off. The consequences of loosing my cool, in my opinion, would be servier. Working in the UK, it’s normal for people to get angry, have arguments and generally disagree about things. I really miss that working environment, in particular the high pressure working environment.

When I first asked Alitta what she would change, I could tell she didn’t want to speak up. After making her feel comfortable she started to open up and gave me some great ideas. I was very impressed. I could tell she didn’t enjoy it but I learnt a lot from what she said.

The reason why she didn’t want to express her thoughts and opinions is because of a common trait amoung all Thai’s - It’s called Gengjai. In Alitta’s words, gengjai means:

Krengjai’ is a common habit of the Thais who dare not speak out or do something since they care and are afraid it could hurt someone’s feeling.

That sums it up pretty well.

Later that night Alitta sent me an SMS apologising for her openness. I replied telling her that without people telling me the truth, I could not improve myself as a manager. I also thanked her for the opportunity to learn how I can improve myself.

Today myself and Alitta exchanged a few emails and Gengjai popped up (our chat in the office happened a few months ago) and promoted me to write this post, as I wanted to publish my reply:

It’s not that I don’t like gengjai - in a lot of situations is a very good thing for people to be gengjai. The thing I don’t like about people being geng jai is that in the business world, it can stop ideas flowing because people are worried what the boss, or other people think. I also really believe in being “straight” with people - what you see with me is what you get. Being gengjai can put a cover on true feelings, which is bad for business in that people worry about the problem rather than trying to solve it. If there is a problem I prefer people to face it head on rather than sit and think about the problem for a long time. I need people to have this mind set for business, which will ultimately let people (and the company) grow as they can speak their mind.

Now don’t get me wrong, I love how Thai people are, which is why I choose to make Thailand my home. Which is why I think covering Gengjai outside of business is for another day. However I do acknowledge that it isn’t easy for Thai’s to switch. It is a hard nut to crack!

Was I right in making her doing something she was not comfortable doing? I think so, she choose to work in business and in business you need to be direct. This incident also shows me that she is willing to learn new things and adapt to new environments. Not many people are willing to do that, which is why I respect, and value her on a very high level.

What do you think? What are your thoughts about Gengjai in the workplace? How do you handle Gengjai? I’ve got a lot to learn!