Why Don’t We Agree to Disagree?

這篇文章是創(chuàng)新工場(chǎng)CEO李開復(fù)的自傳《世界因你不同》的英譯本Making a World of Difference的序言。

這是一篇關(guān)于中美交流、求同存異的文章。作者先后在微軟中國(guó)研究院、谷歌中國(guó)任要職。他認(rèn)為谷歌撤離中國(guó)歸根結(jié)底是因?yàn)槭侵忻纼蓢?guó)之間缺乏互相了解；他提到在微軟中國(guó)研究院時(shí)，去清華大學(xué)招聘實(shí)習(xí)生時(shí)的一個(gè)小插曲，他提到比爾蓋茨對(duì)《財(cái)富》雜志說的一段話是怎樣觸怒了中國(guó)媒體。

每個(gè)國(guó)家的文化背景不同，所以作者有這樣感慨，如果我們都能 “agree to disagree”。

On January 12， 2010 at 7:10 a.m.， my phone rang. It was from David Barboza of the New York Times. I picked up the phone， and David asked， “Kai-Fu， I want to talk to you about Google pulling out of China.”

I respected David a great deal — he had written several stories about my work at Google， always with exceptional insight and in lightening time. But this was one interview I could not do.

After politely declining his interview， my phone rang again – the Wall Street Journal， Reuters， AP， the Chinese portals， Chinese Dailies… By the time I returned home that night， my cell phone had run out of battery from ringing all day.

My energy was as drained as the battery in my phone. It was exhausting to see my hard work in four years crumble in one day. My four-year tenure as President of Google China was the most exhilarating experience – hiring 700 brilliant and dedicated people and rallying them to compete against the 7000-person Baidu， China’s largest search engine; developing a Silicon Valley culture yet localizing it to fit in China; bringing Google China market share from 10% to 35% while Yahoo， eBay， AOL and other Internet giants gave up their China ventures; reaching a 2010 revenue level reported to be $600 million; creating great products from the most accurate web search to the most popular map and mobile products that delighted Chinese users.

I said to myself， “If Google pulls out， the products will become inaccessible to most users， and the world’s number-one brand Google may become unrecognizable in the world’s most populous country.”

I asked myself， “What would happen to all the hard work that my team and I put in over those four years? Would things have been different had I not resigned from Google on September 4， 2009?”

That night and every night that week， it was difficult for me to go to sleep – I continued to think about what happened， what made it happen， and what might be next…

More than a year has passed since then. As of October 2011， Google's market share in China has dropped to single-digit. Its services are harder and harder for Chinese users to access.

Looking back， I realize the Google China drama was the perfect manifestation of the never-ending China-America chasm. These two great countries and their people are forever trying to understand each other but end up succumbing to stereotypes; hearing the other’s words but not comprehending the meaning; endorsing each other in words but undermining each other in deeds; demanding the other to accommodate and empathize but remaining intransigent itself. In my view， these phenomena all boil down to a lack of understanding.

I remember when I took a prominent lawyer to visit the Forbidden Palace in Beijing. After several hours touring the exquisite grounds， she could no longer hold back her question， and had to ask me， “Kai-Fu， please tell me， where is the emperor?” If a highly educated lawyer does not know that China’s monarchy ended in 1911 and the post-1979 China is a socialist state practicing capitalist economy， what hope do we have that two countries will know each other?

I remember when I started Microsoft Research China， and visited the dean of Engineering at the famous Tsinghua University. I asked him if he could send students to be our interns. But the word “intern” made no sense to him， as there had never been any companies trying to hire interns from his esteemed school. After much explanation， something clicked， and he said， “Oh， I get it. Interns. Like Monica Lewinski.” If “intern” becomes a symbol of promiscuity， then how can the Chinese truly understand the way the American RD system became the world’s best?

I remember while heading up Microsoft Research China， being swamped by angry Chinese reporters demanding an explanation why Bill Gates called Chinese people thieves. I later learned that Gates had told Fortune， “As long as they [Chinese people] are going to steal [software]， we want them to steal ours. They'll get sort of addicted， and then we'll somehow figure out how to collect sometime in the next decade.” As the world’s richest person， Gates usually speaks his mind， and in this case he was angry about piracy. But neither he nor his PR managers understood that what he said not only made Microsoft a scheming company with a conspiracy to dominate China and stifle local competition， but worse， he dishonored and insulted the entire people. Honor (also known as “face”) is more important to the Chinese than virtually anything.

So this is why my job as the China executive for American companies was difficult. It was like the job of a diplomat when neither country understood the other， or the job of a marriage counselor trying to help a hopelessly stubborn couple get back together， or the job of a translator between people from two planets.

Over the years， I have learned that if each country could understand the other’s history， culture， and viewpoint， and accept that there are some issues that the two countries will “agree to disagree”， there would be tremendous progress. I have come to really like the wise Chinese proverb “qiu tong cun yi，”（求同存異）which means seeking common ground while accepting differences. This is precisely the mindset that both countries need.

I’ve done everything I could to help prominent American companies understand China. Now I’m also helping promising companies of China understand America， the world， and China’s responsibilities as it rises in this world. I believe China and America will respect each other more if both nations see what I have seen.

Through my personal stories， I hope the Chinese will realize that when Americans appear to be self-righteous， not to assume it is because Americans are aggressive bullies， but consider that it might be because American's desire to help and share their formula for success. American behaviors are shaped by America’s rapid rise to prosperity， and a deep sense of righteousness.

Through my personal stories， I hope that Americans will recognize that when the Chinese appear to be autocratic， not to assume it is because Chinese are power-hungry thugs， but consider that it might be from their desire to lengthen stability and pave the ground for a better tomorrow. Chinese behaviors are shaped by China’s older glorious history that makes them proud， and also by newer traumatic history that makes them cautious.

So this is why I have decided to write this book about my life and my stories. It is not because my life is so spectacular， but because I hope my stories can shed some light on China and America.

I hope my stories will help the Chinese and Americans better understand each other.

I hope my stories will help the next Google decide to enter China， and the next Chinese Google to enter America.

I hope my stories will help both great countries to seek common ground while accepting differences. #9829;