Rude Taiwanese co-worker

Work Working in Taiwan
61

I like to think that any problem can be solved, and view this as an interesting intellectual challenge.

From a communications standpoint, your colleague might have picked up on your vibe of “not my problem” and “you need to explain what you want”. This already sets up a slightly adversarial framework for discussion, kind of contradicting your colleague’s assumptions (“it is your problem”, and “I already explained what you need to do”).

I don’t know how best to address the issue of “not my problem”, so I’ll ignore that part. As for the flow part, wouldn’t it be possible to define the high-level business-process flow as:

  1. Customers use feature A (email).
  2. The feature does not work.
  3. Engineers address the problem.

Then, the “broken logic for sending email” falls under point 1 (or possibly a preceding point 0, the engineering processes used to develop that feature). The lack of logs falls under point 2 (how the system behaves when it fails). The lack of process for emergencies falls under point 3 (how the organization responds to problems). This analysis also separates concerns based by role: the role of the end-user sending the email, and the role of the corporate engineering team that needs to investigate the problem.

Making a simple flow diagram within the parameters that were suggested by your colleague might have helped your colleague feel that you were cooperating with instead of contradicting him.

I’ve dealt with problematic, and sometimes downright rude and condescending, customers before, and the one thing that seems to set them off is if you try to contradict them. That means sometimes you have to bend over backwards to conceive of some possible alternate universe in which their ideas could make sense, make positive overtures to show acceptance of their ideas, then gently try to guide them back onto a more reasonable path.

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62

ache, Loss, and Resilience

User
Write a country western song with the following theme

Sick grandmother needed care dog died and the wife ran off with the cousin.

ChatGPT
(Verse 1)
Well, my grandma’s been ailing, her health’s been on the decline,
I’ve been by her side, trying to ease her troubled mind,
But life keeps throwin’ punches, it’s been one hell of a ride,
My heart’s heavy with sorrow, and I’ve got tears I can’t hide.

(Chorus)
Sick grandma needed care, the dog died, and the wife ran astray,
Life’s been dishing out pain in the cruelest way,
In this country western tale, my heart’s been ripped apart,
But I’ll find the strength to carry on, and mend this broken heart.

(Verse 2)
Our faithful old dog, a loyal friend, now rests in peace,
He was always there beside me, brought my troubled soul release,
But the pain keeps on piling, like a thunderstorm that won’t cease,
And to top it all off, my wife ran away with my cousin, Lee.

(Chorus)
Sick grandma needed care, the dog died, and the wife ran astray,
Life’s been dishing out pain in the cruelest way,
In this country western tale, my heart’s been ripped apart,
But I’ll find the strength to carry on, and mend this broken heart.

(Bridge)
Now I’m left here broken-hearted, with memories that sting,
But I won’t let despair defeat me, I’ll spread my broken wings,
I’ll hold my grandma’s hand, be there in her darkest hour,
And I’ll search for a new companion, a dog with healing power.

(Verse 3)
I’ll rebuild this shattered life, find the strength to start anew,
In the twang of my guitar, I’ll find solace through and through,
With the love of my dear grandma, and the grace from up above,
I’ll overcome the trials and find a way to rise above.

(Chorus)
Sick grandma needed care, the dog died, and the wife ran astray,
Life’s been dishing out pain in the cruelest way,
In this country western tale, my heart’s been ripped apart,
But I’ll find the strength to carry on, and mend this broken heart.

(Outro)
Though the road may be rugged, and my heart’s worn and frayed,
I’ll keep pushing forward, no matter how dismayed,
This country western ballad, a story of trials and woe,
But in the end, I’ll find the strength to heal and grow.

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63

Chatgpt aint challenging Shania Twain anytime soon.

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64

If someone wrote that before AI they’d get the teaching job 100%
That almost made me tear up. chatbot is sick.

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65

You really need to use a more specific prompt. Those genres are separate, you know.

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66

It don’t impress me much

:oncoming_taxi:

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67

Flows were provided later on. But you don’t seem to get the point…?

Also there was indeed a colleague who picked up on those things, and then there was the boss, who was the person on the call.

68

I was focusing on the point that the colleague seemed to get increasingly agitated as the conversation continued:

This implies to me that there might have been an opportunity to prevent the increasing agitation. My post was an attempt to explore ways in which that agitation might have been subdued, by reframing the communication to be more cooperative and accepting.

It seems though that my comment missed the point of your story. Sorry about that. What was the point you wanted to convey?

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69

I also say in my message that I told him I understood him, and that there were three different things we might be talking about.

The guy never understood conversations in English. It was a recurrent situation with me and other English speakers. The guy really believed I didn’t understand what he meant by “flow”.

70

Also, it’s not really the way you seem to think about it. For example point num 1 is about system architecture. And incidentally, about coding practices. It’s not really about a feature, even if several features in the system require of that part of the system being solid. Num 2 is just one of the many potential consequences of num 1. Then num 3 is not only about engineers really.

It’s hard to explain here and probably pointless especially depending on who the audience is. But again, that wasn’t the point. The point was the miscommunication with someone whose English was very poor and who actually had boasted before about his exemplary communication skills… and how it ended up again in one of his rage outbursts.

71

This conversation actually happened on a text chat, 1-to-1. No public humiliation happened.

I showed the exchange to a Taiwanese friend, and he told me that his view of the situation is that it is both a cultural and language thing.

Firstly, coming from a Western country, I am very direct and when a problem is raised, I expect co-workers to solve it together. The Western approach is to accept risks, while mitigating them, and if a negative result happens, to roll with the blows, learn from it, dust yourself off and move on. The Taiwanese approach is to avoid taking risks altogether, or to let someone else solve them.

My Taiwanese friend’s postmortem analysis is: in my co-workers mind, his job ends when he says what cannot be done. It is not his job to say how to fix it, or what can be done to get around the problem. That involves taking personal initiative, and risk.

Also, after speaking to some other foreign workers IRL, this type of narrative is sadly, common. Foreigner comes to Taiwan with the intention to help contribute, gets mistreated and underpaid, suggestions from hard experience are not heeded.

In the above case the foreigner left.

Sounds like someone who knows he doesn’t cut the mustard and hides it behind anger so that people are afraid to challenge his ignorance.

72

TBH he has anger management issues. He would have anger bursts every once in a while. One of the last things I told those two idiots was that they had to apologize to a coworker who had been reprimanded in a very awkward, unfair, nonsensical way by him. I heard after I left that they did apologized to her. But she was fired too along with nearly half the staff xD

It was a mad house, literally.

EDIT: he probably knew he wasn’t too good, despite using himself as an example to follow in some of his rants (funnily enough). The reason why I suspect he suspected it, is because the investors wanted them to move aside and have someone more experienced taking the steering.

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73

That guy hasnt left. He is also considered a bit of a fool around these parts

Jesus, maybe do a bit of introspection, rather than seeing yourself as a victim or savior.

What do you expect anywhere when you don’t follow the cultural norms and expect everyone to acquiesce to your way of doing things.

You came to Taiwan with the expectation to get paid for doing a job, not to civilize the natives

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74

I don’t consider him a fool. He has probably also accomplished more in his life, than his detractors.

Out of ignorance you speaketh; I was asked and invited to bring change for the better. Some of us, myself included, were brought in as managers to effect change. Then when we try, we meet resistance.

75

Yeah?

You were invited to do a job.

I was sent her by a company this time around. As a manager( so include me in your ‘some of us’). The expectations were for me to make money for the company and solve problems, not make them.

This is what its like living abroad. You don’t have to agree with the local way of doing things or communicating, but if you want to make changes, then the actual ‘skill’ is working with the system to bring about real change.

If you don’t like the Taiwan way of doing things, then that’s fair enough. I find a lot of the way things are done here are annoying. But you really have two choices, you either follow the local culture or you leave. Or I guess the third option is to sit around complaining

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76

Isn’t that some type of psychopath who comes up with an idea for a “business” that doesn’t really make much money and it enslaves people, and the whole point is to sell the “business” after its value has been artificially inflated? And does it over and over again?

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77

Its also usually interchangeable with ‘trust fund’

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78

Indeed that was what I was doing - solving problems. But they weren’t ready to hear the solution.

A system that is stubborn to change is another post. This is about the rude co-worker, and I do not see how rudeness at work can be anything but detrimental.

@mad_masala 's post about a short-fuzed co-worker is not new. I have heard similar stories here from locals, like a boss who would shout at his subordinates in public, and the mid-level manager following by example, and then taking it out on others.

The fourth option is to find a solution, which I am surprised someone of your caliber and esteem failed to account for.

79

A solution to the local culture?

They wont change for you. Im giving you the headsup now. Save yourself the anguish

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80

Well then you arent really solving problems.

1 Like