Crucial Point

It is a popular Western view to say Crisis in Chinese is a simple combination of danger and opportunity.  But that is not exactly correct.  It’s a little more complicated.

Crisis

Chinese philologist Victor H. Mair of the University of Pennsylvania calls the popular interpretation of wēijī in the English-speaking world a “widespread public misperception.” Mair suggests that jī in wēijī is closer to “crucial point” than to “opportunity.”

Nevertheless, They can relate to either interpretation.

They struggled much of their young lives, very close to danger and no opportunity before the crucial point — when the opportunity was encountered and made, by hard work and being very smart TOGETHER.

The Danger has passed.  Now, China is the land of Opportunity for those who have the right combination and the right timing  — and…

They do.

The Inventor

Who Invents?

Who should get the credit for the Invention?

When does the Invention occur?

How does the Invention happen?

What is Invention?

As they walked along the shore, two very competitive guys: both “filthy rich” by anyone’s standard, both had disrupted established giant corporations, and created their own companies, changing the world significantly.

He pulled him close such that they went nose to nose

“Larry, this is why it’s really important that I’m your friend.  You don’t need any more money.”

Both were kind of inventors, but they were different in Temperament, and completely different goals in life.  Larry is a Promoter Artisan and he keeps score by money: his interest was in winning.  He loved the fact that he used IBM’s own research to beat them in database software, making himself fabulously wealthy.

For Steve, he was competitive in a completely different way. It wasn’t about the money or the winning.  Rather, it was about his legacy: his company.

He hadn’t changed his passion. Long ago, he had seen a way to start making cool things, inventions, that were useful, that he wanted to use — like he had started several decades before with another friend, the Woz.

Risky Business

A Golden Boy of business and politics, until now. He was a darling of his political party, for he was generous with his money. He was a man of influence, until now. Now, I doubt the party wants to take his call.

“Bold and daring at heart, and ever-optimistic that things will go their way, Promoters will take tremendous risks to get what they want, and seem exhilarated by walking close to the edge of disaster.” Please Understand Me II

He has taken risks all his life. Starting as a bond trader in Goldman Sachs, he rose through the ranks to become co-CEO. With his help the company went public, he became worth $400 million. Losing to Hank Paulson, for the CEO job of Goldman, he switched to politics. He wasn’t shy in using some of that money he gotten to get elected as first as a US Senator and then Governor of New Jersey. He spent over $62 million of his own money on his campaign, the most expensive Senate campaign in U.S. History.