Reboot

Chapter 16A new factory in China, a new office in America

Back in China, after Brendan's legwork in researching how to start our own factory, Chris was our new factory manager and Chief Operating Officer. He was the first manager we'd hired who had shoe and factory experience: he'd built and run a men's shoe factory in Taiwan and had a great analytical mind. We'd previously brought him on as a consultant on our supply chain and trusted his strategic view of the world. In fact, he and his wife, Szuting, had come to China with us for a series of meetings when we first began to consider building our own factory. In my opinion, Szuting was Chris's secret weapon. Strikingly intelligent and very wise with people, Szuting was Taiwanese born and fluent in Taiwanese, Mandarin, Cantonese and English. She understood not only the language but also the culture we were working in, how business was done and how shoe manufacturing worked. In meeting after meeting, she was able to listen and watch, understanding nuances beyond the words that were being said. Not only did this help us to negotiate better, but it also helped us to understand our counterparts' behaviour in a way that significantly reduced the friction and emotion of the negotiations.

Chris was tasked with taking our factory from the experimental test kitchen that it had been to a fully fledged operation: the first-ever large-scale, purpose-built on-demand shoe factory. Which, with a little less jargon, means the first factory ...