The power of accumulation over time, to great effect

“It is true there is much to be done, and perhaps you are weak-handed, but stick to it steadily, and you will see great effects; for Constant dropping wears away stones; and patience the mouse ate in two the cable; and Little strokes fell great oaks.”- from The Way to Wealth by Benjamin Franklin

A few days ago, I returned from a nine-day, 41 meeting trip to Beijing and Shanghai.

When I walked into my home, spread out on the kitchen counter was nine days of the Wall Street Journal newspaper with headlines chronicling this global financial crisis.  But my eye was drawn away from the headlines to an ad with a picture and quote by Ben Franklin: “Stick to it steadily and you will see great effect.” And I thought back to my meeting with Wang Jian Shuo a few days back in Pudong.

Just last Saturday, I had the pleasure to meet with my friend and blogging mentor Wang Jian Shuo at one of his Pudong meeting places, the Starbucks across from the Science & Technology Museum.  Along with Lucas Englehart and Xue Ying of BloggerInsight, and Kai Pan of CNReviews, we talked about many things, including the financial crisis, angel and VC investing in China, the nature of perception vs. reality, feng shui, the power of convenience, the importance of drinking lots of water (!), and the power of accumulation over time.

Power of accumulation over time

“We believe in the power of accumulation over time,” said Jian Shuo.

At the time, I nodded in agreement with Jian Shuo but honestly did not know exactly what he was referring to!  So I Googled his blog and found this entry entitled “I started the blog to post resume” from 2004, which I had not read:

We talked about why I started the blog. I said: “Well. I just want to build a website, so I can post my resume one day.”

I was kidding. But it was one of the reasons. Back in Jun of 2002, my friend Wu Hao told me a story about the monk and the well. It was about two monks living in the same mountain. Both of the two monks go to river far away to get water. One year later, one monk did have to go to the river while the other had to go.  The reason is, the smarter monk used the year to dig a well by himself everyday, while the other one did nothing. It reveals the importance of accumulation.

I thought to write something everyday may be a good idea.

I thought hard about this story.  Am I the monk diligently pursuing my daily monk responsibilities, but condemned to drawing water forever?  Or am I the monk digging the well, so that I can pursue tai-chi and my higher interests?

I don’t know.  Which monk are you?

End of the era of immediacy, and beginning of the era of…?

There is high awareness of the financial crisis in China.  Everyone, including my foot massage therapist and taxi driver, asked about 金融危机 (jin1 rong2 wei1 ji1) or “financial crisis”.  I even ate off the RMB 58 Economic Crisis Menu (1 drink, 1 entree) at the quite nice Timezone 8 restaurant in the center of the 798 Arts District of Beijing, which has experienced its own decline in contemporary Chinese art demand.  Clearly, we are at a turning point.

The crisis has been talked about in economic terms–the death of equities, stag-deflation, and deglobalization.  But perhaps even more than the $50 trillion of lost global market wealth (Asian Development Bank) and the recently reported 25% decline in Chinese exports is the loss of expectations of immediate success.  Of easy debt.  Easy acquisitions.  Easy venture capital.  Easy cash for big oil paintings.

And now we must carry water up the hill, day after day

Just like the monk, we must now carry our own water.  And we must dig our own well.  And we must pay attention once again to the simple wisdom of Ben Franklin.

In my darkest moments, I give into temptation and wallow in the gloomporn of Paul Denlinger’s tweetstream, read blogs of Argentinean survivalists, and consider this brave new world of deglobalization ushered in by our collective psychopathy.

But now, armed with the concept of “accumulation over time,” I feel more equipped to respond with courage and the audacity of hope to this situation.  Maybe I shouldn’t expect to be immediately successful at what I’m doing.  Maybe success requires seeds to be planted over many years, and nurtured over time.  But in return for patience, perhaps I can expect to see the impossible happen, and to allow myself to dream big, with the knowledge that over time, my small efforts can add up to a great effect. I suppose most foreigners in China who hope to make real contributions to China and be rewarded with success in their field, have mostly impossible dreams that can generally to achieved only through “accumulation over time.” Patience, young grasshopper!

Dear friends in China, thank you!

This was just one small aspect of one of my 41 meetings in China over my 9 day trip.  I could blog about this trip for the next few months!  Over the past 4 years and 13 trips to China, the more I’ve learned about China the less I feel I know.  But through the “accumulation of time” I hope with great audacity to make an important contribution to what my friend Kaiser Kuo calls “the most important story of our time.”

photo credit: Daylife.com