Why Language is Overrated (from Seoul, Korea)

Yesterday was election day in Korea, so Angie and I had a chance to see some sights.
It was a beautiful day in Seoul - sunny and warm, with a cool breeze.

Our first stop was Unhyeongung Mansion, where we stumbled into a Pansori performance.
I heard a microphone check, walked over to see what was going on, and discovered this performance.

Pansori is a traditional storytelling method that is very rhythmic.
Think trance-rap, and you start to get close.

I love it, because the audience is encouraged to participate.
It can get a little rowdy, with the feeling of an Southern church (Amen, brother!!).

Anyway, we walked right into a front seat, and this vibrant woman put on a great performance for us.
She also sang Arirang and a few other songs; clapping, smiling, snapping her fan, and joking with the audience till she had us all laughing. 

I didn't understand a word, but it didn't matter.

Why is that true?

• Because the rhythm spoke to my body
• Because her body language communicated so much information
• Because my fellow audience members signaled me with laughs, groans, and shrieks of delight
• Because her eyes, smile, and face spoke a thousand words
• Because melodies reach across all borders
• Because the tone and pace of her voice was full of signals
• Because she used her fan as a prop to signal us

How many of these tools do your use purposefully in your communications?
Not enough, if you're anything like me...
Give just one a try and see what happens.

If you want to see Pansori in action (and see a great movie), you should rent or buy "Chunhyang". It's Korea's Romeo and Juliet - an excellent story, beautifully filmed.

This lucky discovery reminded me once again:
Keep your eyes, ears (and heart) open, and you never know what you'll find.

How to Get a Response (from Seoul, Korea)

This Korean Team is 'On The Case' (study)

I led two classes this week in Seoul - "Working Globally", and "7-Step Problem Solving".

We had some particularly animated discussions during the BKM's class, as we discussed how to work more successfully between Korea and the US.

During the discussion, I found out that Korea has a cultural norm that I've also seen in China.
That is, it's common courtesy to refuse something the first (or even second) time it's offered.

While this happen most often during an offer of a gift, or food - it can also apply to questions such as "Any questions or concerns?", "Do you have anything to add?", "Is this plan okay?".

The lesson here? To avoid a non-response, ask your question three times.

You can do this with some subtlety.
"Any questions?"
"Would anyone like clarification on a point?"
"Shall I go over it again?"

Try it. You'll likely get a more complete response.

Hanging Out in Seoul

Here I am, in Seoul, with some new friends.
We're at a traditional festival at Namsan Park.

I think they're supposed to be old-time policeman, which means I'm under arrest.
Fortunately, it's bad publicity to beat a white man with those little clubs, so I got away with just a warning!

I also managed to be the token white interview for TV again.
In 2002, I was asked my opinions on the tradition of eating dog (for what it's worth, I don't have a problem with it... it's pretty hypocritical to eat cow, but say that dog is off limits) for a World Cup special.

This time, TV station KBS wanted to know about my thoughts on this festival.
I, of course, gave it a big 'thumbs-up'...

Is 10% Good Enough for You? (from Seoul, Korea)

Over the past 6 months, I've been working with the technical support group to improve the quality of customer escalation meetings.

We made an rough estimate of how many escalation meetings have been held in this company in the past 25 years.
50 a day (across all our divisions, a conservative estimate) x 365 days x 25 years = 456,250.

So, half a million escalation conference calls.
And how much training have we done?
0. Nada. Zip. None.
Seriously. No one has been trained on how to conduct or contribute to an escalation meeting.

Now, you may think that it's a pretty easy thing to do.
You'd be wrong.

We identified 31 key attributes to a successful escalation meeting (it's since grown to 37).
We then ran a couple simulations with experienced technical support engineers.
The results?
8-12% of the criteria were met.

So, we're delivering a solution that will include some training, job aids, practice, and real-time coaching.

Lesson - don't assume that any job is 'easy'.
Will all tasks or jobs require training? Probably not.
But almost any task or job could use quantification and a job aid.

Unless 10% compliance is good enough for you, that is...

Iris, Iris, Iris (from Seoul, Korea)

Another image from the Dano Folk Festival in Seoul.

This one shows a girl wearing a Hanbok - the traditional Korean dress - and washing her hair in iris water. Apparently, this used to be a big deal.

My iris, looking through the camera iris, was more than happy to capture her iris washing.
I took about 350 pictures today, but this one may be my favorite.

Swinging in Seoul - Seoul, Korea

We arrived in Seoul on Friday night.
The taxi ride in was a bitch... 2 hours in bumper to bumper traffic.

We're staying at the Shilla Hotel, which is very nice, but English-challenged to say the least (at least, compared to the Westin Chosun, where we used to stay).

Saturday was rainy, so we spent most of the day in a book store.

Today (Sunday), however, was very nice.
We went to the Dano Folk Festival at the Namsangol Hanok Village.

We ate kimchee pancakes, made an appearance on the local news (I was interviewed, for my feelings on the festival by TV station KBS), mingled with the locals, and watched traditional activities.

One of my favorites was the Korean Traditional Swing, pictured above.
I can't tell you much about it, except that mostly women do it, and they seem to really enjoy it.

Anyway, it was a great day...

Learning Through Music: Deli Spice (from South Korea)

Since I'm heading to Korea in the morning, I thought I'd give you a taste of my favorite Korean rock band.

The name of the band is Deli Spice.
I've been listening to them since about 2002, when they caught my attention with a weirdly captivating cover of "Bette Davis Eyes".

Here's a video for their new song, "Missing You".



If you're curious about the video, it's from the Japanese movie "Mazon do Himiko" (available here at DVDAsian, my favorite source for Asian DVD's).
I recently bought it, but I haven't watched it yet. I'll post a review after I do see it.

The film features a couple of Japans biggest stars - Shibasaki Kou (who was in two of my favorite Japanese films; "Battle Royale" - watch the trailer here to see why it wasn't released in the US - and "Go") and Odagiri Jo (who's also doing pretty well for himself).