Yang Lixing: Stay True to Founding Vision

瘋言酷語

Twenty-eight years have gone by, we stay true to our founding vision.

At the Q4 senior management meeting, Yang Lixing, Group Vice President and General Manager of the Procurement Center, looked back on her 28 years at Country Garden. As a founding member of the Company, she goes by the name Xing Jie, meaning Sister Xing.

The first project office

Xing Jie first showed the audience a picture of Country Garden’s first project office. The floor was paved with red bricks without any mortar. When the project was over, they would take down the office and reuse the bricks. In fact, 80% of the materials could actually be reused. For an entire year, more than ten colleagues crowded this small office that didn’t even have a fan.

The thatched office at the HQ History and Culture Museum

At that time, Xing Jie was a warehouse keeper. From 1992 until 2005, when the procurement department was created, she had been working on the construction site for 13 years. Mr. Yang requests every warehouse keeper to personally check important incoming materials on the spot. As Country Garden’s business grew, the number of projects managed by Xing Jie also increased markedly. So, in 1998, she was given a company car, a lunch box, a quilt, a pair of rain shoes and a safety helmet. That was all the combat gear she had. Ever since the founding days, perks have never been inherent in one’s office but always based on actual needs.

「Back then, our construction sites were frequented by thieves. So, when others go to the canteen at noon, I would go to the construction site. When I saw someone stealing construction materials, I would run after them. They were all afraid of me. But frankly speaking, I was even more scared, fearing that they might hurt me.」

After 13 years on the construction site, her life came to a turning point in 2005. In that year, Xing Jie established the Procurement Department at Mr. Yang’s request to support the Company’s rapid expansion. Standardized regulations and processes were put in place and cash payment was replaced by bank transfer. Just as she thought the team was heading towards the right direction, Procurement Department ranked bottom in the 2010 work review.

She joked, 「When I heard we ranked last, I couldn’t sleep or eat for three days and three nights. I have never managed to be that slim since then.」 But giving up is never an option at Country Garden. Xing Jie led her co-workers to dig into the root cause and fixed the problems one by one. In the second year, Procurement won the Best Progress Award. And, in 2014, they were recognized with the Outstanding Department Award.

Country Garden’s craftsmanship

Xing Jie told us that in her 28 years with Country Garden, the most valuable lesson she learnt is Mr. Yang's commitment to craftsmanship.

Mr. Yang once went to a floor tile factory. In the sample area, he squatted down to carefully examine the floor tiles and compare their differences, looking for the most cost-effective products. The factory owner was literally taken aback by what he saw, and told Mr. Yang that he had never seen a billionaire like himself going out of his way to personally select floor tiles. Not just floor tiles, Mr. Yang gives obsessive attention to almost every detail. He would stay in a sample room for 24 hours thinking about ways to improve house design. He would try for himself different options to optimize product design, including where a desk should be placed, to make sure every detail is perfect.

Under-promise, over-deliver!

A senior executive at Chuzhou Phoenix Hotel once called Xing Jie, asking if she could deliver a batch of window screens within seven days. When she said it was impossible, Mr. Yang snatched the phone on the other, 「Impossible? Just think out of the box! Factories can already do the measurement and production at the same time.」 Hearing this, Xing Jie and her team immediately locked down several manufacturers and devised a reasonable production plan based on their capacity. Within four days, the window screens were delivered to the hotel.

In another instance, Mr. Yang wanted to replace the tiles used in sample rooms across the country and requested Xing Jie to deliver the new tiles to all project sites. That was seven days before the Chinese New Year. Tile factories were closed over a month ago and workers have already gone home. She said to the factory owner, 「Yes, we are indeed running on a tight schedule. If you don’t have workers, I can work on your production line. We can always find a way.」 In the end, the tiles were delivered on schedule.

Brilliant people don’t complain. They would rather spend their time more usefully on making things better and getting things done. Xing Jie told the audience that Mr. Yang once said to her, "If you make a promise, you must deliver."

If I need to be in Guangzhou tomorrow,

Then I will get there, no matter what.

No car?

I'll ride a motorbike.

No motorbike?

I』ll pedal there on a bicycle.

No bicycle?

I』ll walk.

If a river blocks my way,

And there’s no boat, I』ll swim.

I』ll walk until I drop,

And then I』ll crawl the rest of the way.

A penny saved is a penny earned

Xing Jie went on to share a story about the scissor gate at the old headquarters. There was a scissor gate at the main entrance of the old headquarters and it was getting rusty with age. So the administrative manager spent 9000 yuan on a new one. The next day, when Mr. Yang came to work, he saw the new gate. He immediately called the manager and asked, "The gate wasn't broken, why did you replace it?" At the time, we were going to move into the new headquarters, so there was no point replacing anything that could still function properly.

When we moved into the new headquarters, we had a library, cinema, swimming pool and gym, all available to the employees free of charge.

Character always come first

When Xing Jie was working as a warehouse keeper on the construction site, her job was to receive and check incoming materials. Once the supplier gave her 50 yuan and asked her to fabricate the receiving record by adding 50 bamboo poles. She immediately reported the matter to the procurement manager and the supplier wat put on the blacklist.

She once interviewed a college graduate and asked him, "Suppose you make 100 thousand yuan a year, and a supplier offers to give you 20 thousand. On the face of it, it wouldn’t hurt the Company. Will you take it?" The student thought for a while and said yes. He failed the test.

Mr. Yang once wrote, "If you who don't agree with the our culture, you may go somewhere else. If you are treated to a dinner that might cause a conflict of interest, you will probably get fired."

Over the past 28 years, Country Garden has been committed to being a transparent company with a conscience and social responsibility and has adhered to a corporate culture that values honesty, compliance and integrity.

Xing Jie went on to tell the audience how she judges a talent, 「Number one, character. Number two, capability. Character always comes first.」 「Those who uphold principles, work diligently and abide by the law will thrive at Country Garden.」

Xing Jie said, 「28 years of hard work have now come to fruition, and if everyone works pragmatically and diligently, we will have a bright future ahead of us.」

Twenty-eight years of hard work have now come to fruition.

If we keep up the good work, we will have a bright future ahead of us.

The Story of Country Garden

翻譯：William

編輯：想當鹹魚的牡丹花

審校：南哥，鳳廠斯嘉麗