Hire an Anthropologist: 3 Reasons Why

Confused looks abound, whenever I tell people I am an anthropology major. After the looks and explanation that I do not study bones, the inevitable "what are you going to do with that?" comes up.  I imagine recruiters who look at my resume go through the same process.

Bronislaw Malinowksi
Father of Social Anthropology

And I do not blame them!  It is hard to understand how anthropology is practical given the lack of hard skills in the major.   Unlike a computer science major, I cannot say I learned Java in class and I directly use that knowledge in my developer job.  The drawing of direct connections from the social sciences to practical endeavors is not as clear cut as doing so with hard sciences or engineering.   In order to appreciate anthropology’s practical use, there must be a recognition of the uniqueness of anthropology’s conceptual framework, which changes how every student views the world.

Below, are three examples of how an anthropological framework helped me do my job:  

1) Holistic view

To be an anthropologist is to understand that people are the sum of their parts.  Analyzing people means taking into account multiple elements such as socio-economic status, culture and psychology. 

This holistic mindset leads me to analyze data and problems from multiple angles.  I am highly skeptical of one size fits all solutions preferring instead to tailor solutions according to differences.  With globalization and mantras such as "think global, act local" on the rise, a holistic mind set will only grow in importance. 

In my marketing campaign for the Undergraduate Investment Society's 7th Annual Financial Horizons Conference, I looked at the UCSD student body holistically.  This led me to see that economic students and Rady business school students due to factors such as age, work experience and socioeconomic status would have different motivations for attending a finance conference.  As a result, I tailored the ad copy towards the different students in an effort to appeal to their varied motivations for going to the conference.

2) Check biases

Logic is thrown around a lot as the catchall explanation for why people do or will do certain things.  What people view as "logical" and "rational" are often the result of ingrained biases, but few realize that.

Anthropologists are in a constant and ongoing battle to check their biases.  This is not to say that those who study anthropology have no biases, rather they are aware of them and take it into account in their analysis.  By being aware of their own bias, anthropologists allow themselves to be open minded while interpreting data.        

While studying abroad in China, I found that checking my biases helped me discover the culture.  I had a lot of baggage coming into China, from what my family had told or rather warned me about and portrayals of China in the American media.  Being aware of those preconceived notions, allowed me keep an open mind while experiencing the country and led me to better understand not only Chinese culture, but also American and Chinese diaspora culture as well. 

3) Insistence on social proof

Anthropologist hired by US Army in Afghanistan

Social proof has been a buzz word in the startup world ever since Lean Startup became the de facto philosophy for the industry.  The notion of going into the "field" and testing a hypothesis with customers/users/people has been a core tenant of Anthropology since its inception.

The study and practice of ethnographic fieldwork, has given me the sense of mind to take all my assumptions to the field. In addition, it has taught me how to find the relevant field site and effective methods to extract accurate information from it. 

When the Lean Startup Circle lunch club roll out to cities across the country produced lackluster results, I took a bootstrapping business trip to figure out what happened.  Drawing on my previous fieldwork experience, I surveyed the Los Angeles and San Diego startup scenes, which included meeting up with organizers and entrepreneurs on order to learn what they thought would get their community come out to lunch together. 

In closing

Studying anthropology has completely changed the way I think in a way that makes me different from most others.  The anthropological mindset gives me a fresh and arguably better way of using existing tools.  When I read IDEO's profile of the anthropologist in 10 Faces of Innovation:

"The Anthropologist is rarely stationary. Rather, this is the person who ventures into the field to observe how people interact with products, services, and experiences in order to come up with new innovations. The Anthropologist is extremely good at reframing a problem in a new way, humanizing the scientific method to apply it to daily life. Anthropologists share such distinguishing characteristics as the wisdom to observe with a truly open mind; empathy; intuition; the ability to "see" things that have gone unnoticed; a tendency to keep running lists of innovative concepts worth emulating and problems that need solving; and a way of seeking inspiration in unusual places."

I just thought to myself “YES! They get it!”

One day everybody will too.

Fun Friday: Interview with Andi

Once in awhile on a Fridays, I am going to start posting up things that show more of my personality, because quite frankly, this blog can get a little dull at times.  This first fun Friday post will be a reposting of  an interview that I just completed for Andi, a good friend that I met in Shanghai.  Andi writes her own blog titled Gullible's Travels (Pretentious Version) where she documents her life as an expat in Shanghai.  When I saw that she was posting interviews of her expat friends, I not so subtly hinted that I wanted to be interviewed too!

Andi was more than happy to oblige and below is what we came up with:  

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One freezing, rainy winter evening last year I went to a film screening at Café Vienna and I got seated next to Jonathan. Since we’ve both studied anthropology, lived in Shanghai and were struggling with Mandarin, we had quite a lot to talk about from the very beginning. Since then he went back to California and he’s greatly missed. All photos inserted are courtesy of his.

Name: Jonathan Lau

Place of Origin: California

Time spent in China: 11 months

Once you invited me to a film screening, organized by a charity organization, at which you were one of the pillar members during your stay. Who are they and have you heard from them lately?

When I was in Shanghai I volunteered at a non-profit called Shanghai Young Bakers (SYB).  This amazing organization brings orphans aged 17-21 from rural China to Shanghai and trains them in French baking for a year, giving them practical skills for a better future.  I still get their monthly newsletter and the last thing I remember reading was Miss California swinging by the SYB baking center with the Pistachio Growers of American and a $50,000 check.  I think it is safe to say that they are doing very well since I left Shanghai.

You left Shanghai last July after spending almost one year here, studying Economics at Fudan University.

You left Shanghai last July after spending almost one year here, studying Economics at Fudan University. Why does a young undergraduate of anthropology choose to read Economics?

I used to be a double major in Economics not too long ago before I admitted to myself that it was making me miserable.  However, it is hard to separate economics from culture so I often found it in my anthropology.  Not to mention, it helped make sense of the cultural shifts that I was seeing happen in China.

What was your first impression of Shanghai when you first arrived and how has your perspective changed after one year?

Arriving at Pudong airport and driving to Fudan, I thought that Shanghai looked very much like Hong Kong.  A year later, I realized that only a few parts of Shanghai come close to looking as modern as Hong Kong.  Living in Shanghai, helped me see China as a developing country with a few cracks of modernity.  

What was it like to go back and leave everything behind in Shanghai after this long break from home?

Towards the end of my stay in Shanghai, I was very ready to leave.  Being from California, the lack of clean air and good weather was really getting to me.  In addition, my life in Shanghai had become routine and I felt that I was not really growing much anymore.  However, when I got around to packing I started getting choked up.  There is something about putting my life away into boxes or suitcases that just makes me realize the magnitude of what I am leaving behind.    

What was the most difficult to get used to in the first few months?

Daily interactions back home in San Jose took some getting used to.  Suddenly, it was no longer appropriate to push past people on the street, sleep walk through my day or speak Chinese.  Reacquiring manners was quite difficult, I kept getting caught off guard whenever strangers talked to me on the streets and struggled to remember to say thank you to shopkeepers.   A friend actually laughed at me because of how awkward I was being around waiters.

What do you miss the most from Shanghai?

It did not take much more than a couple of hours of home for the boredom to get to me.  Suddenly, there were no art galleries to visit, bars to frequent, events to attend or even metro to ride.  Leaving that Shanghai lifestyle behind was extremely difficult.

Once I heard there’s not enough hugs in this city. What’s the dating scene like here?

I would be the wrong person to ask as I never dated or tried in my year in Shanghai. Though I did talk to a few expats and locals about it and the scene seems to be lively but lacking quality.

Was your stay here successful? Did you achieve what you’d set out back in 2010, before you moved here?

I came to China really with three goals in mind, to learn Chinese, make Chinese friends and discover what Chinese culture is.  I failed fantastically on the first two goals, most likely because they fed into each other.  However, for the latter I got much more than I bargained for. 

3 things one has to pack when moving here

1. A camera - Shanghai is an incredibly photogenic city, especially at night.  To not have a good camera to capture the beautiful though sometimes tacky lights all around the city would be a sin.
2. Smartphone - Forget phrase books or maps! We are in the 21st century now! Bring your smartphone and preload it with a Chinese-English dictionary and relevant maps.  Watch out for the pick pockets though.
3. Leatherman/Swiss Army Knife/Multi-Tool - Because everything in China is broken or near broken especially in your apartment. My Leatherman saved my life many times and allowed me to capitalize on the many opportunities for mischief.

3 things one should never attempt to do if they are newbies here

1. Barter - No matter how much you have read about bartering you will get ripped off.  Best to go with a pro or local and learn first before attempting to do it yourself.
2. Leave the city - Resist the urge to hop on the plane to Beijing or Tibet your first month here.  Shanghai is a magical place in its own right and there is no way to fully explore it in just a month.  My philosophy has always been to know your own backyard before even attempting to leave it. 
3. Work or Intern - Don't jump at the first internship or job that you find as soon as you land in the city. Employers in China have a nasty habit of using somebody for all they are worth.  Take a little time and ask around to get know the employer situation before settling.

Something that really freaked you out in Shanghai

Once at a wet market, I saw these frogs being skinned alive.  The horrifying part was that after they were skinned, they were still alive! That box of skinless frogs jumping around was a pretty gruesome sight.

Is Shanghai expensive?

Shanghai can be expensive or as cheap as you want it to be, though I definitely lived on the more expensive side.  The expat lifestyle of your own bedroom and going out to bars will probably cost you many times the average income of a local.  However, for the same amount of money I spent in the US, I got much more bang for the buck in Shanghai. 

What would be the best location for a single newcomer, whirling in the urban mist, desperate for a coffee and a quiet corner to read their paper on a Sunday morning?

It depends.  If you have an arm or a leg to spare, you can go to Dan Cafe in Tianzifang.  Run by a retired professor from Japan, Dan most likely serves the best coffee in Shanghai, but you are going to have to pay 35RMB minimum per small cup and the sky’s being the limit for how much you want to pay. 

If you are not rolling in cash, I would probably go to GZ Cafe near the Nanjing Xi Lu metro station.  It's a small cafe run by a very friendly couple in the middle of this side street/neighborhood of shikumen houses.  The coffee is decent and reasonably priced.  The best part though is probably the kittens that they have running around that you can pick up and play with.  They are very helpful on a lonely day.

If you could use one word to describe your experience of living in a far-away country, what would be it?

Magical - Everything from the people I met, places I went and things I experienced was inexplicably amazing.  There were just so many moments that just filled me with awe that magical is the only word which does justice for my year in Shanghai.   

What Chinese word did you use most frequently?

Dui, because I could enthusiastically say it in rapid succession whenever someone understood my terrible Chinese, which was always a great feeling.

Are you planning on coming back one day? Why.

Of course! There is something about Shanghai that I just miss.  Perhaps it's the grittiness of the city, oxymoron that is China, or speed of life, I cannot put my finger on it, but something compels me to go back. 

Financial Horizons Marketing Campaign: Target segments

The Financial Horizons Conference organized by the Undergraduate Investment Society (UIS), a student organization here at UCSD holds a special place in my heart because it was the first time I got to organize my own marketing campaign.  I got the chance to be the conference marketing director through UIS’s UCSD wide poster design competition for the conference. 

My winning entry

After coming back from Shanghai, I was offered the marketing director position at UIS and I took it with some hesitation.  However, as this year's Financial Horizons Conference is coming up, I am glad that I did because all signs point to this year's conference to be the biggest and best ever.  The $1500 marketing budget, which I get almost free reign over is the biggest I have ever worked with.

I have decided to chronicle the Financial Horizons marketing campaign on this blog, breaking it up into a series of posts that will examine everything from planning to execution and of course results.  This post is going to be about the segments that I will be targeting with the campaign.

Target segments:

UCSD Economic Students

Economic students are a large and impressionable group, making it the obvious main target segment.  From my limited time as an economics major, I have found economic students that fall into two groups.  There is the undecided group, which consists of students who have little idea what they want to do after getting their degree and the finance group, who are the students that all seem to want to be investment bankers.  Curiously, both groups of economic students have little to no idea of what finance is. 

I intend to appeal to economic students through money, or rather the promise of big money that only a career in finance can give them.  Pushing the conference as a way to learn about finance as a potential lucrative career for the undecided group and how to get into finance for the finance group is my current plan. 

  

Rady Business School Students

As MBA students, Rady students most likely have a firm grasp of what finance is, meaning that the money angle probably will not have that much pull.  However, the Rady business school is a fairly new addition to UCSD meaning that their alumni network is weak and it does not show up on many recruiters' lists.  The young age of Rady means that the networking angle will have great pull with the its students.  Pushing the big speakers' names and sponsors will appeal strongly with the graduating MBA student. 

Other UCSD Students

In terms of targeting the rest of the UCSD student body, engineering students and other majors that have a heavy quantitative background seem to be the obvious segments due to the recent popularity of financial engineering. 

San Diego Universities ex: SDSU, USD

There are a number of universities in the city that are a 30 minute or less drive away.  Pushing the star power of the conference's speakers out to influencers at these universities could convince them to make the drive. 

Nearby California schools (2-3hrs drive)

Same tactic as for the San Diego schools, but due to limited man power, I will be focusing on only UC's and privates with strong business schools.

Out of state universities: 3 schools

Out of state schools are a long shot, however, last year a school from Utah flew out to the conference and that gave us a nice ego boost.  For club pride, I am going to reach out to 3 out of state schools and using our all-star lineup of speakers as the draw, hopefully one of them will come.  

2012 New Year’s Resolutions

It is that time of year again, when I make promises to myself to be better, smarter and more competitive.  Below, I have my three resolutions, which I tried to keep as S.M.A.R.T. (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Timely) as possible.

Develop my own copy writing process

Ever since I started blogging regularly, I have thought of writing as one of my strengths.  I had previously believed that my writing skill meant that I could write good copy.  That is until I picked up a copy of Copy Hackers and realized that I knew nothing about writing copy.  Time and time again, I find myself in positions where I need to write “call to action” literature.  The need for my own solid copy writing process that allows me to quickly and efficiently crank out copy is becoming apparent.  Over the next year, I resolve to develop my own copy writing process.

Join a professional group

In Shanghai, I had made great connections while attending Toastmasters.  Coming back to the states, I missed that bonding that occurs in an organization.  In addition, while at school, I am finding it hard to regularly meet and talk with professionals.  This is why over the year, I resolve to join a professional group and stay active in it for the remainder of my stay in San Diego.  Currently, I have my eye on either Toastmasters or the National Association of Asian American Professionals (NAAAP).    

Finish up Codecademy

While working at Wednesdays.com, I became aware of how limiting it was that I knew nothing about code.  As the site is still a work in progress, a lot of the functionalities do not have a front end meaning that whenever I needed something done that required going into the database, I had to hassle the founders.  Most of the time it is something small like changing the price or calling up a list of emails, things that I would think are easy to do.

It was under these circumstances that I started the Codecademy lessons.   I reckon if I learn enough code to be able to read it, but not necessarily write it, I could be a lot less intrusive around the office.  I have been playing with Codecademy on and off for the last couple of months, without making too serious of an effort.  However, that is all going to change for the new year as I resolve to get through at least one course a month.  

Lunch with Hackers & Founders

One of the perks of working at Wednesdays.com is that I get to go to the lunches I organize for free.  Last week, I decided to attend a lunch run by Hackers & Founders (H&F), a startup club with a huge membership in the Valley.  H&F lunches usually draw a predominantly developer crowd, meaning that I get lost in most of the conversations. 

However, that week in Berkeley it seemed everybody had a very different backgrounds.  At the table was an owner of a co-working space, a financial advisor from Merrill-Lynch, a German who had just come to SF three days ago after working in Shanghai for five years, a founder of an early stage startup, a recent TechStars admit and me the Galactic Emperor/Ops guy from Wednesdays.com.  This diverse crowd had some of the most insightful conversations about startups that I have ever been part of.  Too many topics were covered for this blog post, so I will limit it to the two things that stood out.

How to hire a developer

It is no secret that the Valley has a huge shortage of developers/coders.  I have heard much about the high salaries and extravagant perks that companies have been offering to bring in talent.  As of last Wednesday, I did not think there was a way out of the status quo, besides perhaps dramatically increasing the amount of developers via education or immigration.  Enter Kyle the tech stars admit.  As a talented developer himself, Kyle had a fresh and most important of all, a credible solution to the problem. 

Kyle’s solution was to hire developers to work part time.  He explained that developers love side projects, and are willing to work on them if given the chance.  The problem is that no company is giving them that chance because they only want the developer full time via a 40+ hour work week.  Kyle believes that employers should settle to hire developers for 10-15 hours a week rather than try to monopolize all their time.  He admits that this does have limitations, but to him it is the difference between having some talent to build product versus none at all. 

I can think of a couple of pitfalls to his idea, but none that could not be resolved given time.  The idea of more using part time developers is very interesting to me and I hope it will be further explored.  God knows, there are a lot of great ideas out there that are simply not able to be built due to a lack of technical expertise.

Silicon Valley Lingo

The Valley’s lingo was on full display at the H&F lunch.  After six months on the job at Wednesdays.com and spending countless hours on startup blogs, I finally have gotten a hang on the startup lingo. 

At lunch, I felt like I was in the “in” crowd, throwing around technical terms like NFC (Near Field Communication), GUI (pronounced: Gooey) as well as name dropping luminaries and accelerators such as Eric Ries, Brad Feld, and YC.  Glad to know that after leaving the Valley for three months, that I had not missed a beat.    

At times, the German from Shanghai had trouble understanding us.  Whenever he asked us to clarify a term or name, it just reminded me of how much of a bubble Silicon Valley can be.   And I have to say it is a great bubble.  

Closing Thoughts

The quality of these lunches just keep increasing and I was thankful I got a chance to attend one, while I was on vacation.  Here's to the new year and may there be many more enlightening lunches for this group of Hackers & Founders.

My Networking Story

Last Monday, I got an email from my boss

Hey – this just came out. Big kudos to Jonathan for helping!

http://www.slideshare.net/bowei/the-china-startup-report-a-15min-crash-course-by-bowei-gai

-H

It was a link to a presentation on the startup scene in China and on the “Special Thanks” slide was my name.

Is that really my name there?

Looking at this slide with my name tagged with 500 Startups, I am amazed by how far I have come. To think that while still in college, I would have meaningful professional connections that could help someone. It just leaves me speechless.

Just a year ago, I could not drop a name to save my life. There were no relationships with professors or even high school teachers to speak of. Only when I needed a letter of recommendation to study abroad did I have my first real conversation with a professor and that relationship died as soon as he wrote that letter.

My first attempt at real networking was during my political internship in Los Angeles. The internship coordinator pushed my intern class to go forth and network any chance we got. The plan was for me to collect as many cards as I could while being as memorable as possible and then email the card givers the next day telling them how much I enjoyed meeting them. For my efforts that summer, I ended up with a large collection of business cards, but only one of those cards ever ended up in a meaningful conversation. Something just was not working.

While studying abroad in Shanghai, I made no effort to network because I believed that it would be meaningless since I would be gone in a year. I started going to networking events for the drink specials and guest speakers, making no effort to schmooze anyone into giving me their business card. Surprisingly, during my stay in Shanghai I made significantly more connections than at any other point in my life.

Thinking back, I realize there were two reasons for the explosion in connections. First, by not having networking be the end goal of meeting someone, my interactions upon meeting people for the first time became much more genuine. I cracked jokes, talked about my personal life and was just generally much more relaxed. This helped people warm up to me quickly, allowing for a connection to happen organically. Second, I got involved in a non-profit and Toastmasters. Through these two organizations, people would not only see more and more of my personality meeting after meeting, but also see the kind of skills I brought to the table through the work I did for the organization. Cementing everything together was the understanding that we were all working towards a common goal, which made the relationships extra meaningful and more resilient.

In short, if you want to make meaningful connections, skip the networking events and cocktail parties. Just keep it real and get involved.

Study Abroad Advice for China

Pudong, Shanghai built in just the last 20 years

From September 2010 to July 2011, I studied abroad in Shanghai (SH) at Fudan University. I experienced a very different China from my classmates and the experience opened up my eyes and radically changed my perception of the country and culture. Recently, I was asked about my experience by a prospective study abroad student who was planning on going to China. The advice I gave her did not seem to do my experience justice so I was compelled to finish this post that has been on draft for weeks.

This is what I would tell every American student looking to study abroad in China:

Breadth vs. depth
Early on you will have to decide what kind of experience you want from China. The amount of time you have is severely limited meaning that you will have to decide between breadth or depth. China is a large country with many sights to see and at the same time is an incredibly complex society with many layers. It is a zero sum game in that seeing sights will mean understanding fewer layers and vice versa.


The class of Shanghai Young Bakers with French master chef Pascal Tepper

After backpacking for a week, I realized I was not much of a backpacker and opted to spend the large majority of my time in SH. I got involved in a nonprofit called Shanghai Young Bakers, as well as joining a local Toastmasters chapter. A lot of my time was spent exploring and trying to understand different parts of the city. I got off the tourist path and started acting like a resident, attending expat networking events, non-profit fundraisers, gallery openings. I even became a recognized regular at a café!


Sometimes, the art was in some strange places like this former opium storage facility


Other times, it just got creepy

This all came at a cost, as I skipped out on many of the things people expect you to see while you are in China, like the Great Wall, Forbidden Palace, and terracotta warriors just to name a few. I certainly saw the least tourist attractions out of all my classmates, but I do not regret it as I was able to see a China that was not in the tourist books. For instance, as part of Shanghai Young Bakers I was able to travel through AIDS impacted rural China and hear the stories of working class people my own age.


In rural China, sometimes getting off the beaten path means not much of a path at all

Learning Chinese
Not understanding Chinese, does not mean that you cannot get off the beaten path. First tier cities, like Beijing and Shanghai have large expat populations that will allow non-Chinese speakers to do unique and non-touristy things, such as partake in the local art scene. However, not understanding Chinese does severely limit your interactions and understanding of the locals.

Learning Chinese is an extremely time consuming process that will cut into your time exploring and experiencing the country. My advice for learning Chinese is to skip the university classes, which are largely impractical and instead hire one of the many student tutors. Also focus solely on learning to speak and pin yin, as these will immediately y improve your ability to interact with locals and get around the country. Armed with a smartphone or iPod touch loaded with Chinese-English apps and a rudimentary understanding of Chinese, you will be able to survive 80% of your day to day interactions. For the other 20% just guess and hope for the best, it is more fun that way anyway.

Do things alone
The truth is that no matter how many friends you may have, there will be many instances where due to school, work or just general disinterest, they will not be accompanying you to what you want to do. Many times, I found myself at an event or wandering alone in SH, and though it definitely would have been more fun with some company, I never regretted it. Do not wait upon others to do what you want, or else you will miss out on a lot. Also, one plus of going alone is that it opens you up to making new and unexpected friends.

Hang with non-Americans

Nationalities represented at my birthday party: American, Canadian, Chinese, French, Indian, Korean, Singaporean and Thai

Arriving in a foreign land like China where you do not understand the language, the immediate impulse is to attach yourself with the familiar. I saw this happen with my classmates who mainly hung out with each other in large groups. This did not make much sense to me because I had not traveled thousands of miles to interact with more Californians. Due to my insistence on minimizing the amount of time I spent with Americans, I spent my first semester with a very international group of MBA students and then later with Singaporean exchange students. The most valuable thing I walked away with after a year in China was not the experiences or knowledge, but the friends I made that came from all across Asia.