Finally, I'm starting to write this article that I've been wanting to write for a long time. It's also the first article on my personal website. In a sense, the decision to establish a personal website stems from the idea of writing this article quite a while ago. Perhaps it's because I've been eager to create a personal website for quite some time that I considered writing this article. At its core, the reason might be that 2023 is an extraordinary year for me, marking my 10th year of work.
Tier-1 vs N-Tier Cities
In 2023, my work base shifted from Shanghai, where I had been for 10 years, to a small town in Zhejiang province. This marked the beginning of a "dual-city" life, where I only return home on weekends. While I've experienced extended business trips in my previous work, they were not usually too long or were to tier-1 or tier-2 cities, often staying in branded hotels. Now, it's different. I rent an apartment in a small town, shuttling between Shanghai and the workplace every week, accumulating a total driving distance of 16,857 km over the past year.
This change has provided me with ample time to observe and feel the differences between tier-1 cities and N-tier cities. It has prompted me to contemplate macro topics such as urban economic development and the lifestyles of different demographics. Simultaneously, it led me to rediscover the life of living alone, exploring conveniences that "rental artifacts" bring to life and experiencing rural eateries, aspects I hadn't encountered before, and reflecting on the pros and cons of living alone versus with family.
China vs the World
As my work base shifted, 2023 also marked the return of frequent business trips. Not due to the covid-19, but interestingly, from mid-2019 to the end of 2022, I only had one business trip to Beijing in 3.5 years. In the three years starting from 2020, I never traveled for work. However, in 2023, I took 31 flights covering a distance of 94,812 km, surpassing 99.6% of users. This took me not only to provinces in China I had never visited, such as Heilongjiang and Inner Mongolia, but also to countries like Vietnam, Egypt, and Ethiopia, places I might not have visited for a long time if not for work.
Due to work, I began paying more attention to geopolitics, political developments, currency fluctuations, Sino-U.S. relations, Russia-Ukraine war, Israel-Palestine conflict – topics that profoundly impact my industry and company. In my previous role, focused on internet customer acquisition costs and conversion efficiency, I wouldn't have imagined that in 2023, I'd be considering how the Israel-Palestine conflict might affect the situation in the Red Sea and consequently influence shipping prices for the company's raw materials and products. Or how the Russia-Ukraine war-induced rise in grain prices could affect the opportunity cost of European land, influencing the prices of raw materials needed by the company. While I've always been interested in these topics, the knowledge class in China has increasingly paid attention to the tangible impact of domestic and international political situations. Still, I can't assume that if not for my current job, I'd be able to feel and think about the practical impact of these macro factors on the actual operation of a business.
Service vs Manufacturing
This job change not only altered the work location but also brought me from knowledge-intensive industries dominated by young and highly educated individuals, such as accounting firms, securities brokerages, and internet companies, to the traditional labor-intensive manufacturing industry. While my work still relies on information gathering, processing, and calling on professional knowledge, the change in industry has been drastic. This includes not only a shift in the primary problems considered at work from accounting audits, financing schemes, and internet services to the production and sale of products but also a comprehensive transformation in the relatively traditional organizational structure, corporate culture, and lifestyle of dealing with people.
The change in industry and work location has led to a by-product — a decrease in work intensity, providing more time for reading, watching movies, and listening to podcasts. Although not as much as expected, it has increased significantly compared to previous years. According to Douban, in 2023, I watched 39 movies and TV shows, read 52 books, and listened to 28 albums. According to Xiaoyuzhou, in 2023, I listened to 1,208 episodes, with a listening time exceeding 678 hours. I hope that in the 2024 review, I can publish enough articles on this website.
Employee vs Executive
Another change is that I've taken on an executive position for the first time. In my previous job, although I was nominally the finance director of a split entity within the group, the degree of independence of that split entity was quite limited. In addition, within the group, there were finance directors and CFOs to whom I could report and consult. The pressure and responsibilities I face now as a direct report to the chairman/CEO are completely different. As an executive, I need to consider major company actions from the perspectives of company shareholders, operators, and myself, providing not only potential results and risks but also solutions and recommendations for different scenarios.
Being an executive also comes with a unique responsibility — communication with external parties. Typically, very few people within a company bear this responsibility. Excluding positions like procurement and sales, other executives who need to engage and communicate with external parties typically belong to high-level management or specialized professionals from specific institutions. I currently believe that this kind of communication and dialogue imposes a high demand on the participants. It requires adequate preparation for the topics to be discussed and the ability to respond appropriately to various expected or unexpected questions in a short period, providing suitable responses. Perhaps the amount of alcohol I've consumed in this year's receptions/exchanges is evidence of this.
This is not an easy article to write, but to expedite its release, I don't plan to revise it repeatedly right now. There may be several topics I want to further explore within it. I hope that in the future, I can gradually write about them.
January 29, 2024
The above text is based on my original Chinese composition and has been translated into English by GPT-3.5, followed by my proofreading and verification.