Reframing in APAC
The Surprise of Familiar Difference
When I first arrived in APAC in 2023, I assumed my Asian background would give me an advantage. Instead, I discovered that being ethnically Chinese did not mean I understood the local workplace dance. I knew the words, but not the rhythm. The reality was not chaos or dysfunction. It was a different way of moving through vagueness, hierarchy, and trust. If I wanted to help, I could not simply push structure onto it. I had to step back, observe, and eventually learn to move with it. I write this from a Western, English-language perspective. There are meanings that cannot be translated, and that is what I think is beautiful about working across cultures. The world is full of differences, and the joy is in trying them on and learning to appreciate them all.
Yeah, yeah, call me an optimist. But it really is a great feeling. It’s like describing soul-fulfilling foods. I can tell you about that perfect bowl of noodles from a mom-and-pop shop in Asia or the cracked oats at Gramercy Tavern. But honestly, you just have to taste it yourself.
What I Eventually Learned (Not Right Away)
I did not come to these realizations on day one. Far from it.
Much of my time was spent “fixing” things myself, relying on my instinct to apply frameworks and terminology. It was only later, in reflection, that I asked what could last after me. That is when I saw the value of a simpler, more human playbook.
Three anchors stood out: 1. Reframing Instead of calling out “problems to be fixed,” I learned to reframe. A budget already half-spent was not a disaster. It was a chance to ask, What opportunity do we see so clearly that we must keep going and bring our clients along to recognize? Teams worked the way they knew best because it deepened their client relationships. That trust was the foundation for progress - not timelines/hotsheets/RACI charts.
2. Listening Deeply Silence often carried more meaning than words. By slowing down and naming the environment we were facing, the right solutions surfaced in their own time, often through the team’s own voices. Careful on the super clear recap notes, you might end up being the only one who didn’t understand what the takeaway was and documented in a counter-productive manner.
3. Minimal Jargon, Maximum Essence I love frameworks. I still slip into jargon (ask me about my AI ops experiments). But in APAC, even when everyone spoke English, jargon carried different meanings. What worked was boiling ideas down until they felt like common sense. Out with the 10-step process. Show the essence in how a meeting felt. Then follow up with a version ten times simpler than what a PM would be tempted to draft (scope of work fans, I see you).
A Simple Tool: The “Essence Test”
By the end, I started running my own solutions through a quick test:
- Can I explain this in one sentence without acronyms or screen sharing a spreadsheet?
- Would a colleague in another market interpret it the same way?
- Does it move us forward, or add friction?
If not, I pared it down again with the help of AI (more on this later too).
The Humbling Part
Looking back, the biggest shift was letting go of my need to “own the language.” In the West, we codify frameworks with jargon or branding. In APAC, progress came when language belonged to the team at their home turf. Shared metaphors, shorthand, or even inside jokes became more powerful than any official methodology. I did not master this. I still trip into complexity. But stepping back to codify a framework others could use, instead of always fixing things myself, marked a turning point in my leadership.
Closing Thought
If you have read The Culture Map, you know the theory: high-context vs. low-context, different approaches to hierarchy. Living it taught me something less tidy. Leadership here is about reframing problems, listening beyond words, and stripping away jargon until only the essence remains.
That is the dance. And it only revealed itself once I stopped trying to lead with certainty and started leading with clarity.
Funny… I ended up with a framework whose main point is to throw out a playbook.
Also, I still miss foods from APAC dearly.