I’m currently in Dujiangyan accompanying Dr. Kersey (pictured above) for training the staff in fecal hormone analysis. We’ve had a productive couple of days, but as part of this trip I was supposed to drop off our male-male competition fecal samples for analysis. However, the CCRCGP has undergone a shift in their hierarchy and this is causing our previous agreements to need additional work. The fix, easy as it might sound, is to meet with the “head honchos” and have them reassign who will be working with us.

Our arrangement with the CCRCGP stems from an MOU that is part of our male-male competition, written in 2014/15. Since that time, many changes have taken place and this is where things get confusing. Even though we have a contract that has been agreed on and states the specific work to be conducted, we have to reestablish this each year. And, during these past two years, the people in charge of the hormone lab have changed. As I am leaving Dujiangyan tomorrow, I am doing my best to practice patience, but I’m afraid that we will once again miss our chance for analyzing these samples. I’ve put in requests for face-to-face meetings with everyone, so at this point there is nothing else to be done but wait.

The other side of this coin is that by the end of our fecal hormone project we will be extremely well versed in Chinese business ethics and contract negotiations. Remaining positive and understanding at every step is vital to seeing this through. No matter the outcome we just have to remind ourselves that we certainly are making our best attempt. As Dory put it best- “Just keep swimming”.