What Should I do?

When conflicts occur, there must be some problems behind. In order to solve the problem, we must analyze it first.

In the given case, conflicts arise at three occasions. The boss first blamed the young graduate for not inviting other members of the department. Then, the boss was not pleased with the restaurant the young graduate had chosen. The last time was when the lunch was finished, the boss was asked to pay the bill. The conflict is mainly between the young graduate and his boss. In summary, the young man did not satisfy his boss at all on this event.

So, let’s solve the sub-problems one by one. In the first occasion, the problem arose because of inexplicit instructions given to the young man. However, it doesn’t mean that the young man totally takes no responsibility. In such situation, although not specified, he should take the responsibility of informing his co-workers. When receiving such instructions next time, the young man should think a bit more. If it is suitable for him to do a bit more, he should do it.

When the boss asked him to book a restaurant, the young man should have taken the boss’ preferences into consideration. After all, it is the boss who treats the department. Described as a traditional Singaporean-Chinese boss nearly 50 years old, the boss probably cannot accept young people’s ideas about restaurants. The young man should think twice before making the decision of the venue.

The last situation has left the boss really embarrassed. Obviously, the boss assumed the dinner had already been paid. The young man could pay for the dinner first. The boss would surely refund him after the treat as he promised it was his treat. The young man was really not “clever” in this event.

In conclusion, the young man did not do well because he simply understood what the boss said word by word. He could and should think a bit more than just the boss’ explicit instructions. He needs some improvement in his understanding of high context culture. Well, the first thing he has to do is of course apologize.