Tolstoy on Assurance

Leo Tolstoy left this earth a hundred years ago, but he certainly left with us his great writing and his keen insight into the human psyche of his day. And many see that day is still with us. His “Confessions” and short stories written after his two great novels reveal a pretty clear picture of his own thoughts and observations, not only of the pre-revolutionary world around him, but of civilization’s historic institutions, such as the hierarchal church. I highly recommend the film about his last year, ”The Last Station,” with Helen Mirren. There are so many examples of his thought, often humorous in a typical Russian ironic way. Here  is one about Tolstoy’s view of the European, and the Russian man.

“A Frenchman is self-assured because he regards himself personally both in mind and body as irresistibly attractive to men and women. An Englishman is self-assured as being a citizen of the best-organized state in the world and therefore, as an Englishman, always knows what he should do and knows that all he does as an Englishman is undoubtedly correct. An Italian is self-assured because he is excitable and easily forgets himself and other people. A Russian is self-assured just because he knows nothing and does not want to know anything, since he does not believe that anything can be known. The German’s self-assurance is worst of all, stronger and more repulsive than any other, because he imagines that he knows the truth—science—which he himself has invented but which is for him the absolute truth.”

Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910), Russian novelist philosopher. War and Peace, bk. 9, ch. 10 (1868–69).

St. Petersburg and Moscow ~ Cats and Dogs

These two cities define what most see of Russia, and they are so different, yet in some ways the same. They have forever been in contest with each other, and are today.

 Moscow is a masculine city. It is an exploding powerhouse of opportunity held together by threads of personal energy and ambition. It is a cocoon of lives stacked seven stories high, living all the happiness and sins of people anywhere – only at the extremes Russians are so capable of.  Moscow hardly sleeps. It has a muscular aggressiveness unique in Europe and traffic jams that make Los Angeles look easy. The one word that describes Moscow is power.

 St. Petersburg is a feminine city. Her historic personality is as an elegant and noble woman sitting draped with the jewels of her youth waiting for her prince to return. This “Venice of the North” with its symmetry, architecture, statuary, art museums, performing art, palaces, gardens and languid summers with endless days make it a city never to be forgotten.  St. Petersburg is not Russia; it is the historical myth of Imperial Russia.

 Moscow is a city of dogs. There are two classes. One can be seen in vagabond packs or stalking alone, scheming to survive, begging, much like the city’s underclass inhabitants. The other is the canine elite, who walk their masters, regardless of rank, in the parks each morning and evening. The disenfranchised class lurks around the apartment blocks sniffing the garbage for anything to swallow.

 St. Petersburg is a city of cats. From the streets at night, you can see their shining eyes, peering through the arches from the inner decay of “Dostoevsky‘s St. Petersburg,” the faceless blocks of communal flats. The cats hang comfortably in the dead trees, dine elegantly in the overflowing garbage, sit regally on the broken steps. For some reason, the cats always look healthy and fat.

Read more »

“You know the fact!”

“You know the fact! I am the best. I wear Levis and Nikes”

                                                                                   An unknown Russian boy

These words were scribbled by a child in small English letters on the yellow brick wall of a residential Moscow building near where I lived in 1994. That says more about the future of Russia than any academic think tank with their computer generated prophesies based on arguable statistics. There is the quest for global status in those scribbles of the young. And in the end (and the end may be down the road a bit) it is the young that count. That is where the promise lies—with those who can wear Levis and Nikes and still be Russian. That is “the fact.”

On one of those early post-Soviet days, walking down the Old Arbat, just after Mayor Luzhkov had banned the street kiosks and the pandering of KGB uniforms and Lenin T-shirts, I was approached by a small boy with a big bag. The boy, about ten, furtively looked over both shoulders to assure no police were watching, and pulled out of his plastic bag a matryoshka doll so badly painted I thought it was done by a dyspeptic. He said in near perfect English, “Look at this beautiful matryoshka doll, only $5.99.”

I said, “This is the ugliest matryoshka doll I have ever seen.”

“Then how about $4.99?” he snapped back.

“No, you could not pay me to take this doll.”

He quickly dropped it back into the bag and pulled out an equally ugly lacquer box, smiling, “Then how about this beautiful box.”

“That is worse than the doll. What is your name?

“Peter.”

“Well, Peter, you tell the guys who sent you out with this trash to give you really good dolls and boxes and you will make them and you rich.” He puffed up with pride and looked over his shoulder again to see if his mentors were watching. I continued, “When you grow up, you come see me, and I will give you a good job, because you are a great salesman.” He stuffed his ugly box into the bag with the ugly doll and ran off to tell his bosses of his promising future. That boy will go far in the new Russia—or anywhere.

Read more »

Starting a Business in Russia~How is it Different?

"The Barge Haulers" Ilya Repin

 “Doing business in Russia is like doing business anywhere else…but different.” Business is business, many think. Yes and no. How is doing business in Russia different from, say, the United States? Here are five points I can make—there are others. 

1. Get a partner. You are in a foreign country and you need a good partner as you would a guide to climb a mountain in The Himalayas. This is the hardest thing to do, since this decision may well tell the future for you. So take time. Visit, meet, talk, listen, listen more, get advice from trusted sources, and wait. Even if you have privately decided, let things cool off and don’t jump to conclusions. Often something will surface to add substance to your decision. Check him or her out. Know the family and their connections.
2. Listen to the partner. You must hear the story from the Russian perspective. Ask questions. Listen to the answers. Ask the same question another way. Listen. Patience.
3. Understand the “laws.” In America we have laws and for the most part they are clear and you have a good idea how they may affect you. Not in Russia. Their laws, if there are some pertinent to your purpose, may be there to benefit certain parties, maybe your competitor.
4. Be ready for a commitment. So many have failed in Russia because they thought they could fly in, hire a representative, and fly out again and carry on from outside—as they could, say, in Cincinnati. You have to be there, in person, most of the time. After a few years and you have a dependable team in Russia, sure, you can leave more in their control. But, always be ready to make your presence.
5. Keep it quiet. PR releases are common in America, announcing in advance you great plans. In Russia, I learned that PR releases inform your competitor what you are doing which may well cause problems. In Russia I found that it’s best not to announce you plans, but to work it quietly as possible and enjoy the success. Stories abound of well announced new projects being blocked by some unexpected action. Keep it quiet.

Experienced vets of Russian business may well have other rules they have learned and those may well be just as important. These are some of mine.

For more read “Walking on Ice, An American Businessman in Russia”

Russian Women

In Chapter 38 of “The Domostroi”, which I jokingly call a sixteenth-century, Ivan the Terrible,  version of Good Housekeeping, the husband is admonished exactly how to discipline his wife and children, “…beat them only with the lash, in a careful and controlled way, albeit painfully and fearsomely.” Progress has been made in Russia, but progress, like all else, is in this case relative.

March eighth is Woman’s Day in Russia. Its history goes back to the 1917 Russian Revolution.  Like most things in Russia today, it is controversial. Some say it is a transparent apology for mistreating women the rest of the year, which is to some degree true. Others say that women have come a long way in Russia and are, or should be, grateful for that step forward¾also true. And I said, about ten years ago when I first wrote the essay on Russian Women which is in my book, “Walking on Ice…,) they still have far to go. But things have changed. Russian women today are increasingly at the forefront of society, business, politics.  The Moscow Times reported a few years ago that sixty percent of the new businesses in Moscow were started by women.

Amongst the over sixty employees in my first Russian company a large percentage were women and they were for the most part capable, determined, technically competent, trustworthy, and loyal. I enjoyed working with them. I could depend on them

There is a lot of various opinions about Russian women, some not too complimentary. But in my book, they are unique and fill a very important place in society—in Russia for sure, but also just about anywhere they decide to be. In my book I list six kinds of Russian women: the beautiful, the babushka, the Barbie, the beaten, the bold, and the bewildered. To understand all this you will have to read “Walking on Ice….” Enjoy.

Partially excerpted from “Walking on Ice, An American Businessman in Russia”