The Bottom Line: ChinaForum and the Idea of Great Groups

Excerpted from "The Bottom Line" column in the May 2006 issue of AFP Exchange magazine

"Life in Great Groups is different from much of ordinary life. It's better... Something happens in Great Groups that doesn't happen in ordinary groups. People are able to see more, achieve more and have a better time doing it than they could working alone."

One of the challenges of any business is bringing out the best in the people who participate.

This doesn't mean forming consensus, but rather encouraging people to share ideas, to challenge one another. When this type of idea exchange does happen, a Great Group becomes possible. Beyond a network, a Great Group is an energized association of people who can work together, often in extreme circumstances, to make things happen.

Great Group is a term coined by business writer Walter Bennis. In his famous management book Organizing Genius, Bennis points out that "Life in Great Groups is different from much of ordinary life. It's better... Something happens in Great Groups that doesn't happen in ordinary groups. People are able to see more, achieve more and have a better time doing it than they could working alone."

As you know, AFP is big on business books, and this is one of my favorite business passages. I remember in January reading it to a couple of technical geniuses I know, one in London, one here. So began a series of talks that led to the infrastructure of ChinaForum, which is announced this month at our Global Corporate Treasurers Forum.

You see, ChinaForum, a new online community, is itself a kind of Great Group, or at least we hope it will be, consisting of mid- to senior-level financial professionals doing business in China. Participants will learn from each other in peer-to-peer discussions, sharing best practices and strategies that have overcome business hurdles there. Members of the group will have access to expert advice, an archive of useful content and other practical resources. To quote Mr. Bennis, they will see more and achieve more than they could working alone.

Hardly a day goes by when someone doesn't bring me a story or an amusing anecdote about doing business in China, and you've seen a few of those here. So it is with great pleasure that I help to unveil ChinaForum.com, our new online community and a collabortaion between AFP and gtnews, combining the market coverage and commissioning power of the two organizations. You can learn more by visiting the site ChinaForum.com.

Many thanks to Peter Copestake, our chairman of AFP of Canada, for his launch address. Peter, as you know, is the treasurer of Manulife Financial, which recently expanded operations to Chengdu, China. Special thanks also to Robert Stanley of Samuel Manu-Tech, also on the board of AFP of Canada. One of the most well-connected men I know, Robert embodies the Chinese concept of guanxi, meaning "it is who you know," and he has opened many doors for AFP.

A sincere word of appreciation for the initial ChinaForum team, especially Mark Taylor of gtnews, who is interviewed about some China trends he has been observing, and gtnews founders Rupert Keenlyside and Luke Hoyer Millar, whose energy and good humor made the project seem effortless.

Thanks also to Michael Haberman, your director of information technology at AFP, whose entrepreneurial spirit and hard work made it happen, Michael Hughes of Wild Dog Design, Ray Vaughan and Kevin Woo in the implementation group, and Matthew Schoch, Web editor on my team whose insight often makes me feel quite humble.

All of this is designed to bring you, our AFP members, an avenue into some useful resources for the purpose of doing business in China.

But that certainly isn't enough for a Great Group. As always, we are relying on your insight, your genius, as it were, to help shape ChinaForum, to help one another.

Life in Great Groups is different, colleagues, and indeed, it is better.

--Elizabeth Johns