Nunchi (눈치)

One of the few quasi-Confucian philosophies taught to us selected few during our brief stay in Korea was the concept known as Nunchi (눈치). Of all the ideas indoctrinated to us during our corporate cultural training in 2015, it was this concept that borders between emotional intelligence and mysticism of Confucian philosophy that I appreciated the most. Some online blogs mentioned it as some form of sixth sense, while Wikipedia stated that it is a concept “signifying the subtle art and ability to listen and gauge others’ moods.”

Nunchi can also be like a western idiom like “you read my mind” and the ability to grasp non-verbal cues of your managers—sometimes it can be a way of expecting something that needs action or conveying a polite decline but without the blatancy of the west to which we Asians from the orient have been norming for the longest time.

When our company, a part of a strong conglomerate in the land of the dynasties, launched a program that aimed to develop managers from different nationalities, many a seasoned staff that has spent years of service questioned the selection process. A majority of those veterans, I would notice, did not, most of the times, embody the mystical concept as earlier mentioned and have grown comfortable to the mediocrity of their loyalty, oblivious whether the project generated the target revenues.

I reflected on the said concept and realized that I have enacted the said concept before the said program even came into existence in 2015; hence, would presume that the selection criteria were contrary to what others thought: it was not IQ, psychological exams, office departmental nepotism, etcetera— It was Nunchi.