The key to experiential wisdom is immersion.

Wang San is a famous “noodle tycoon.” He started from scratch, escaping the poverty of Shanghai by stowing away in a ship. His uncle, who was the master chef on a ship bound for Hong Kong and Manila, hid him in the pantry. When they got to Hong Kong, Wang San did not want to go down. Seeing the vast jungle of cranes at the pier, he had an odd intuition that such a place meant trouble and suffering. He would drown in a regimented life of machines controlling him.

“Okay,” his uncle said, “next stop, Manila.”

There, Wang San was surprised. There were fewer cranes but an endless sea of people. It was dirtier than Hong Kong but more human, he surmised. The confusion of the crowds attracted him. His intuition told him this was the place for a young boy starting small.

Li Yan, a Chinese restaurant owner, saw him wandering around outside. They spoke in perfect Cantonese and became instant friends because they had grown up in the same Shanghai docks. He asked Li Yan if he could do menial work for him. It so happened that Li Yan was setting up a noodle factory. It was perfect for Wang San. To cut the story short, the noodle factory became a hit, and Wang San eventually became the chief production manager.

Li Yan adopted Wang San as his third son. He sent his two sons to Harvard Business School to obtain the very best American business education. As for Wang San, he was immersed in the noodle factory.

When the two sons came back from Harvard, Li Yan gave them the reins to his business empire, including the new tuna cannery in Zamboanga City which had taken him 10 years to build. Sadly, the things they learned at Harvard were not applicable to Chinese businesses in the Philippines.

The theoretical wisdom they absorbed in the American culture of business did not fit the Chinese way in the Philippines. And so, Li Yan’s entire empire fell with a resounding crash. What Li Yan built in 20 years, the two sons destroyed in two.

For example, the Chinese gave out loans based on trust, not collateral. If you failed to pay, you were forever barred from borrowing in the entire Chinese community. This alone brought pressure to perform and achieve.

The two Harvard boys learned about the American banking system based on loans with collateral. They did not know how to use the loans they took out to make the businesses grow. There was no “pressure” and motivation to perform. They did not know how to assess people and did not hire good managers, leading to the failure of the businesses. The theoretical wisdom they learned at Harvard was of no use.

Meanwhile, Wang San was doing very well. The noodle factory grew by leaps and bounds until it was exporting to Hong Kong. Li Yan talked to Wang San about the problem with his two sons.

LI YAN – I don’t know what happened. They went to the best school and failed. You, Wang San, had no education and you succeeded.

WANG SAN – It is very simple, father. You and I grew up in poverty. Hunger and pain are good teachers. They made us strong. You spoiled your two kids. They never knew the meaning of poverty that we knew. They became soft and weak from the fortunes you raised them with.

LI YAN – Harvard was a bad move. They were more alienated from business by learning the American way, not the Chinese way. That was my big mistake. So, how will you raise your only daughter, Wang San?

WANG SAN – I will dip her in mud, have her work with the lowest of the workers at the noodle factory. Immersion is the key to wisdom. Books and classrooms are the key to failure.

Li Yan bequeathed the noodle factory to Wang Sam when he died. Wang San became a household name in Hong Kong as “the noodle tycoon from the Philippines.”

Hong Kong consumers eventually called his daughter “the new noodle empress.”