Dave Bayless's Space

I'm in Hong Kong en route to China.  It's my second trip to China in the last year.  Of the many aspects of my work with Evergreen IP and its offshoot, TrashCo Inc., the opportunity to travel to this part of the world has been among the most interesting.

I've come to understand the capacity to get work done a function of capability and resources.  Capability, in turn, might be thought of as a function of skill and attitude.  When it comes to doing the iterative, hard work of developing the multiple innovations required to bring a new consumer product to market, the people we've worked with in China have a positive attitude that overshadows any immediate shortcomings (relative to American or European counterparts) in skill and technology.  Funny thing--actually doing innovative work tends to increase skill.  We all read about it, but my colleagues and I have been able to observe the increase in the capabilities and capacities of Chinese manufacturers.

On the one hand, I'm thrilled, because our success depends upon having access to such capacities.  On the other hand, it's annoying--because we've interacted with many American manufacturing firms that have relatively high skills and resources, but their effective capacity is limited because they have an overly conservative attitude that is excacerbated by confusion between uncertainty and risk.

Sean had his first ski races of the season this past weekend in Red Lodge, Montana.  Here's a clip of his GS runs on Saturday:

 

It's a real kick to see how Sean and the rest of the kids on his team improve from week to week.

Sylvie, as most of you know, is a dancer.  In addition to dancing in this year's edition of The Nutcracker Ballet, Sylvie and a couple of our friends tried their hand (feet?) at a little country dancing:

 

Sylvie (almost 14) and Sean (pushing 12) are busier than ever with middle school, Science Olympics, ski racing, taekwondo, violin, drums, bass guitar, double bass, Honors Orchestra, Jazz Band, and ballet.  Shelley and I spend our time driving them to and from their various activities.

Business took me on a whirlwind trip to China last week.  With a Mandarin-speaking colleague, we swept up and down the coast from Hong Kong to Shanghai and back.  I was on nine plane flights in seven days plus an untold number of taxis, subways, buses, and trains (including the Maglev in Shanghai).  I'm still buzzing.

Sylvie is at ski race camp on Blackcomb Glacier in Whistler, British Columbia.  Shelley, Sean, and I didn't want to be left out, so we've been touring BC while Sylvie is at camp.  Our travels to date have included stops in Castlegar, Osoyoos, Vancouver, Whistler, Nanaimo, Victoria, and Burnaby.  If you haven't visited BC, you should.  It's as spectacular as it is immense.  (BC is two and a half times larger than Montana.)  Check out the snapshots elsewhere on this site.

Last week, my partner John Funk and I had the opportunity to speak at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business.  Shelley, Sylvie, and Sean were able to join me for a somewhat extended trip.  The itinerary included a limo ride, a stay at the InterContinental Hotel, shopping along Michigan Avenue, a visit to the Shedd Aquarium, a tour of the Art Institute, a ride to the top of the Sears Tower, good food, and lots of walking.  We had a blast!

Sean took third place in forms and second place in his class (11-12 year old red belts) in sparring at the Montana Taekwondo Championships in Bozeman this weekend.  The highlight of his competition was a 6-5 win in his first round against a young lady who doesn't lose very often.  Sean is in the red:

 

 

 

This is the first year Sylvie is eligible to participate in the Red Lodge Music Festival.  In order to be placed in one of the camp's orchestras, she'll be submitting a recorded version of this piece: