"Be A True Immigrant" - Thomas Zurbuchen
Be a True Immigrant ~ by Thomas Zurbuchen
I was honored to speak at the 2012 China Business Conference that is set up by the China Entrepreneurship Network. This is the speech I gave there recently.
It is my distinct pleasure to speak at this conference and be able to address you all. There are two reasons for my excitement.
First, in many ways Michigan Entrepreneurship is run bottoms-up, by the initiative taken by student entrepreneurs. This is precisely what we are about at Michigan – we believe that our best and brightest are very often our students and not just our university leaders and faculty. So, congratulations to the team that pulled this conference together and the team that is making China Entrepreneurship Network an internationally known brand.
Second, I am a strong believer that our entrepreneurship here and anywhere else has to be one that is focused on a global market, and in that sense include the over 800 million Chinese citizens who are currently entering the market place. I visited China this year and learned about the diversity of this country – its achievements and itschallenges. I strongly believe that the solution to their challenges will be put to bear through recent graduates and current students who will move things forward and unleash the tremendous humanity, the power that is still waiting to be released. And, these leaders will think and act like entrepreneurs.
I asked Sandy Robertson, one of the fathers of Venture Capital, what the most important characteristic is that an entrepreneur we will need to reinvent the USA and – by analogy- reinvent Michigan. His answer surprised me – and I have written about it previously: “Be an immigrant.” He went on to explain what he meant by this: “Being an immigrant does not just mean moving to a new country, it’s moving to a new mindset, a new way of looking at the world. Immigrants are the ones that can look at their new and also their old world in a way that nobody else can. They are the ones that ask simpler questions – why are things the way they are?”
And, they have something to prove. Being an immigrant myself, I know the power of that! When others went to bed, I stayed up and worked through a problem. I wanted to be good enough. I wanted to be making it easy for my boss to decide whether he needs or wants me – very easy.
Many of you have an immigrant’s mindset and that will serve you well. For example, immigrants outperform US-born scientists when it becomes to patent filings, and over 50% tech companies in innovation centers are funded are by immigrants. Recent immigrants have a huge gift!
But, it is important to deal with that gift wisely so the advantage is not squandered. To me, this relates to the following three issues:
1) Immigrants need to be willing to stand out – even if that may result in failure.
Being in China, this was one of my most important worry. I was surrounded by Chinese born winners and academic super-stars, but they were trying very hard not to push the envelope or stand out. There is bad news for them: If you are not doing that, you are missing a huge opportunity. Growing up in Switzerland, I know that standing out is something that can make culturally uncomfortable. Many cultures emphasize “being equal” as more valuable than “being best.” There is tremendous value that comes from thinking about others – do not lose that. But, don’t let that hinder the spirit to experiment and the drive towards excellence.
2) Learn and communicate across cultural boundaries.
So many get stuck not learning all they can because they hang out with their own. Do not squander the opportunity. I know it’s easier to speak your own language. But, follow the old advise by St. Ambrose: “Si fueris Romae, Romano vivitomore; si fueris alibi, vivito sicut ibi“ (If you are in Rome, live in Roman style; if you are elsewhere, live as they live there). When you are in the US, learn from this experience the most you can. Your amazing immigrant status does not come to bear if you cannot deploy it in your new world. I remember as a PhD advisor to my department: Chinese students were only working with Chinese, US students only with US students, and they were actually speaking a different language all day long. Needless to say, I put a quick end to that and actually forbid speaking other languages during work time. That, of course, also meant, that I could not converse with my European buddies in my native language until after work. But that was so worth it; in my experience, many cross-cultural teams are more innovative than teams from any one given culture.
3) Believe and follow the entrepreneurial mantra: When in doubt, do!
This is a very tough lesson to learn at a university. Basically, we train students to think and analyze. We train them to do research and study all the wisdom written down over the past decades, centuries or even millennia. There is a lot of value in this methodology for many applications. But, there are problems – and especially skills that relate to entrepreneurship – that are not easily learned by studying others. If you want to be an entrepreneur, it’s more your actions that will decide whether you are successful – and less the best plan, not even the brightest team.
There is a second aspect to this rule that relates to others: There are many people who are impressed by those who speak well and they make decisions based on what they hear. Here is a really tough lesson I learned over the years: Do not judge people according to what they say – judge them primarily by what they do!
So, thanks again for inviting me and please think about my key message to you, a message that I have taken to heart personally: If you want to make the best impact in the world, be a true immigrant in your mind and through your actions!
I was honored to speak at the 2012 China Business Conference that is set up by the China Entrepreneurship Network. This is the speech I gave there recently.
It is my distinct pleasure to speak at this conference and be able to address you all. There are two reasons for my excitement.
First, in many ways Michigan Entrepreneurship is run bottoms-up, by the initiative taken by student entrepreneurs. This is precisely what we are about at Michigan – we believe that our best and brightest are very often our students and not just our university leaders and faculty. So, congratulations to the team that pulled this conference together and the team that is making China Entrepreneurship Network an internationally known brand.
Second, I am a strong believer that our entrepreneurship here and anywhere else has to be one that is focused on a global market, and in that sense include the over 800 million Chinese citizens who are currently entering the market place. I visited China this year and learned about the diversity of this country – its achievements and itschallenges. I strongly believe that the solution to their challenges will be put to bear through recent graduates and current students who will move things forward and unleash the tremendous humanity, the power that is still waiting to be released. And, these leaders will think and act like entrepreneurs.
I asked Sandy Robertson, one of the fathers of Venture Capital, what the most important characteristic is that an entrepreneur we will need to reinvent the USA and – by analogy- reinvent Michigan. His answer surprised me – and I have written about it previously: “Be an immigrant.” He went on to explain what he meant by this: “Being an immigrant does not just mean moving to a new country, it’s moving to a new mindset, a new way of looking at the world. Immigrants are the ones that can look at their new and also their old world in a way that nobody else can. They are the ones that ask simpler questions – why are things the way they are?”
And, they have something to prove. Being an immigrant myself, I know the power of that! When others went to bed, I stayed up and worked through a problem. I wanted to be good enough. I wanted to be making it easy for my boss to decide whether he needs or wants me – very easy.
Many of you have an immigrant’s mindset and that will serve you well. For example, immigrants outperform US-born scientists when it becomes to patent filings, and over 50% tech companies in innovation centers are funded are by immigrants. Recent immigrants have a huge gift!
But, it is important to deal with that gift wisely so the advantage is not squandered. To me, this relates to the following three issues:
1) Immigrants need to be willing to stand out – even if that may result in failure.
Being in China, this was one of my most important worry. I was surrounded by Chinese born winners and academic super-stars, but they were trying very hard not to push the envelope or stand out. There is bad news for them: If you are not doing that, you are missing a huge opportunity. Growing up in Switzerland, I know that standing out is something that can make culturally uncomfortable. Many cultures emphasize “being equal” as more valuable than “being best.” There is tremendous value that comes from thinking about others – do not lose that. But, don’t let that hinder the spirit to experiment and the drive towards excellence.
2) Learn and communicate across cultural boundaries.
So many get stuck not learning all they can because they hang out with their own. Do not squander the opportunity. I know it’s easier to speak your own language. But, follow the old advise by St. Ambrose: “Si fueris Romae, Romano vivitomore; si fueris alibi, vivito sicut ibi“ (If you are in Rome, live in Roman style; if you are elsewhere, live as they live there). When you are in the US, learn from this experience the most you can. Your amazing immigrant status does not come to bear if you cannot deploy it in your new world. I remember as a PhD advisor to my department: Chinese students were only working with Chinese, US students only with US students, and they were actually speaking a different language all day long. Needless to say, I put a quick end to that and actually forbid speaking other languages during work time. That, of course, also meant, that I could not converse with my European buddies in my native language until after work. But that was so worth it; in my experience, many cross-cultural teams are more innovative than teams from any one given culture.
3) Believe and follow the entrepreneurial mantra: When in doubt, do!
This is a very tough lesson to learn at a university. Basically, we train students to think and analyze. We train them to do research and study all the wisdom written down over the past decades, centuries or even millennia. There is a lot of value in this methodology for many applications. But, there are problems – and especially skills that relate to entrepreneurship – that are not easily learned by studying others. If you want to be an entrepreneur, it’s more your actions that will decide whether you are successful – and less the best plan, not even the brightest team.
There is a second aspect to this rule that relates to others: There are many people who are impressed by those who speak well and they make decisions based on what they hear. Here is a really tough lesson I learned over the years: Do not judge people according to what they say – judge them primarily by what they do!
So, thanks again for inviting me and please think about my key message to you, a message that I have taken to heart personally: If you want to make the best impact in the world, be a true immigrant in your mind and through your actions!
