There might be less critical thinking but probably more than you think. The core Chinese culture is advocating avoiding conflicts, and the best way to achieve that to chinese is a hierarchical order. The boss determines what to do, the subordinates do it. Your engineers might very well have some questions, but questioning any person other than their subordinates is against their instinctual habbit. If you want to &quot;see&quot; critical thinking in your team, you need serious and even creative effort to encourage it.