Huawei People
An Outsider's View of Huawei
lssue 181
I am not one of Huawei's staff. However, in a country like Jordan, it is natural that I have many opportunities to associate with people of Huawei. By and by, Huawei people there and I have become bosom friends. Hence, I have a special sentiment for Huawei and my own opinion about this company.


Huawei People = an incendiary bomb + a non-stop machine

The first person from Huawei I know in Jordan was Wang Jiehao, representative from the Jordan office. It was during an activity held by the Chinese Embassy that I met this fellow townsman of mine, a strong and good-natured man. I was chatting cheerfully with some people when I turned around to see the cool-faced Wang. I went over to exchange name cards with him and out of my professional habit asked about Huawei's development in Jordan. Talking about Huawei, about its gradual development in this foreign land and its blueprints in the neighboring countries, Wang, who had been quite serious a moment before, at once became enthusiastic. He excitedly told me how Huawei got a firm foothold in Jordan and became a partner of Umniah, the third largest operator in the country, how they reached a sales volume of over one hundred million dollars and how they penetrated into neighboring countries to develop new markets. Unlike an employee talking about his work, instead he was like a father talking about his own child. From then on, I didn't need to find a topic for our talk whenever I met him, for once you mentioned Huawei, you seemed to ignite a blasting fuse and light him up. Once, he had a swollen leg because of a disease. Still he hopped on one leg to open the door for us when we went to see him. Afterwards, he collapsed on the sofa, gnashing his teeth with pain. It was little wonder that we heard "Mr. Wang limped to attend a company meeting on Friday" and "Mr. Wang went with us to visit our customer today." What's more, experiences tell me that such a metaphor of "incendiary bomb" applies to all Huawei people I know. The moment you asked one of them something about his work or questions related to his specialty, the most taciturn person would become an eloquent speaker, even trying his best to explain the extremely technical terms
like APM and VSAT.

However, it would find my Huawei friends annoying sometimes. For example, we were having dinner together when all of a sudden someone's cell phone began to ring. Then they all went back to the company, leaving me alone with a table of dishes. Or someone promised to go shopping with me at six but at seven he told me that he was still working and asked me to wait for some more time. At one time, after working for hours, I finally finished my news report at two in the morning. On a sudden impulse, I telephoned to harass a friend at Huawei, anticipating he would murmur complaints dreamily. Unexpectedly, I found on the other end of the line, people were heatedly discussing problems concerning setting up a base station.


Strictness≠Ruthlessness

Humans are not "non-stop machines" after all. They need relaxation, rest and recreation. On the one hand I consider myself lucky to be an outsider and need not face the challenges of such heavy responsibilities; on the other hand, I feel a bit regretful that I cannot enjoy the fun they have after work. The Huawei Representative Office in Jordan has a three-story building with a dining-hall, recreation facilities, a gym and dorms. People call it a "villa".

The basement of the villa is the cradle of champions of all kinds. The singing champion was born in the karaoke section; and the man and the woman table tennis champions, beside the ping-pong tables. A variety of body building facilities helps to turn out strong players for football and basketball games held from time to time. The dining hall is on the first floor. I had an opportunity to taste the cuisine by Mr. Wang, the chef at the dining hall of Huawei's Jordan Representative Office. In addition to the beautiful colors and fragrance of the dishes, I admire the chance to enjoy real Chinese food in a foreign land thousands of miles away from home. I learn that many of the materials like sausages, preserved meat, spicy sauce are delivered directly from the headquarters in Shenzhen, China. Maybe, this kind of care and concern is the lubricant for the machines that keep running all the time.

It was the dead of winter and it seemed to be colder with each passing day. During the weekend, I invited a good friend of mine at the HR department of Huawei to go for winter clothes. On the way, she muttered to herself, "I heard the other day that he still has his thin quilt. He must feel cold at night."Saying this, she turned into a bedding shop and carefully selected a padded quilt for her colleague. Another day, she told me that several people from home or other representative offices overseas got sick and coughed a lot because of the sudden change of the weather. However, the local drugs were not suitable for Chinese people. So she called for a donation of medicines in the office. Soon there came different kinds of medicines, which helped to cure the sick people. I as an outsider have been deeply moved by stories of this kind.


People x Huawei's value = Huawei?

I have many friends, including colleague friends. However, only through association with Huawei people, can I put many individuals with different characteristics into a collective and study them as a collective. Sometimes I find it something strange. When I think of friends A, B, C and D, what comes to my mind is friends A, B, C and D at Huawei. Why? When A, B, C and D talk about their opinions, I would surely come to the conclusion that Huawei people think it that way. Why? The answer may be they share the same culture and values in addition to the same working spirit and similar attitude towards life.

"We celebrate together in victory and we come to the rescue of each other in failure." When the first friend of mine told me about Huawei's aggressive culture – the "wolf culture" as they call it, I just smiled. I noticed that a second friend who encouraged himself with the motto "Like the phoenix that would emerge anew from the ashes, we will rise stronger from the ashes of our failures." I gradually realize what cohesive force and centripetal force that a spirit can generate. When I was in difficulty, a third friend encouraged me with the famous line "If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?" I was stunned, "Are you all brainwashed? Why are you so loyal to this theory of Huawei's?"

I remember what they told me then. "We are not brainwashed. We really share Huawei's culture and values. When we as job seekers sat the written examination and attended the interviews given by Huawei or when we work as a member of the company, it's a process of mutual selection. I fit the organization culture and was selected and put into today's position. Huawei's values fit my own and I have chosen to remain in Huawei and b e one of Huawei wholeheartedly."



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