"China Ben" and his secret

My seller client, Dr. G, has two PhDs from Columbia university, he has consulted almost every big companies on Wall street. He is a prominent member of Harvard club in Manhattan, traveling around the world in private jet with his clients.

 "All my life I have been doing it for fun. I am very lucky that I have all these opportunities in. But of course, I was well prepared. I work hard; If I set my mind on something, I will make sure I will accomplish it."

"I agree, luck is what happens when opportunity meets prepared mind." I am searching for a maxim I heard or read somewhere.

"Can I tell you a secret?" Dr. G asked me.

"Of course!" I am like Pavlov's dog, salivating upon the ringing of the bell

 Dr. G immigrated to the states about 40 some years ago. Growing up in a small village near Machu Picchu Peru, Dr. G was fascinated by his classmate whom people fondly called him "China Ben." Ben was a straight A student and he almost won each and every competition in writing, math and science. At the age of 12, Ben could perform Beethoven at big events aound the town. Dr. G was desperately wanted to ace in the class like China Ben and one day he asked Ben to share his secret.

"It is simple," Ben replied. "I study beforehand. Let's say, if we are going to learn chapter one tomorrow, I will study three more chapters. When I am In class, I've understood what the teacher says. I'll just focus on whatever I don't understand. It is like reviewing for test and I am fully ready because I know what questions to ask and what to skip."

Thanks to China Ben, Dr. G became a super star student and consistently won 2nd place as a top student. Dr. G said, "Up until now I am still indebted to China Ben and I have strong affection towards Chinese people."

I feel warm and fuzzy because of my Chinese heritage and I secretly thank China Ben for bringing me and Dr. G a step closer to our business negotiation table.

At the very early age, Dr. G benefited from a secret shared by China Ben that changed his life's trajectory. Two centuries ago, Napoleon Bonaparte predicted, "China is a sleeping giant. let her sleep, for when she wakes she will move the world." The fact that China is now home to the fastest growing middle class the world has eve seen; and the rapidly expanding wealthy and super wealthy Chinese consumers are penetrating almost every corner of the world is a miracle to say the least. We need to credit to millions of China Bens: their painstaking dedication, determination and hard work.

After all, China Ben's "secret" is really not a secret at all. For generations, Chinese children have grown up in the the system influenced by imperial education from as early as the Han dynasty (206 BCE to 220 CE); rote memory learning has been the only way to reach "A student" stardom and social mobility. As more doors are open to the world, today's Chinese parents are keenly aware of the flaws of Chinese education system which critical thinking, emotional intelligence and social consciousness are in dire need. The fact that there is no single Noble prize in science and economics has ever been awarded to Chinese proves that Chinese rote memory based education is antiquated.

In the recent Tim Ferris interview, Seth Godin warns American educators and parents alike to stop teaching students to be "cogs," In order to compete in the 21 century, American kids need to "outlead and outsolve." With technologies like google, universities will be useless in the near future and machine will remember most of things for you. I pray that millions of "China Bens" will adopt and evolve along the way.