I’ve been saying for a long time now that there is no wiggle room for cultural ignorance. The world is too big, too interconnected, too global (yes, globalization, even in this moment of political de-globalization - and it is only a moment - will persistently continue) for any individual, organization or nation to expect to survive without an understanding of how culture affects the behavior of their associates “abroad”. Those who get culture right will thrive; those who don’t will simply fade away. As someone once said, “Culture will eat your lunch”, and until you deal with it, it will trump every other aspect of your work. In the 21st century, culture is on your plate, like it or not. Ignore it at your peril: sooner or later, you will have a “come-to-culture” meeting. Might as well face it before the costs of ignoring culture become so high, and the pain so great, that you or your organization (or your country!) are dragged kicking and screaming into the room. It doesn’t have to be that way.
In my article last week, “The Most Embarrassing, Horrible, ***, Cultural Faux Pas I Ever Made”, I made the point that the real value of knowing about another culture is not in avoiding those pesky faux pas that inevitably pop up when encountering culture-based behaviors that you don’t understand; rather, the real value of culture lies in your ability to understand how your own culture blinds you from seeing and respecting those aspects of the “other” that are different from your own. Somewhere in between the superficial concern for “not offending” and fear of faux pas, which really doesn’t affect the ultimate success of a cross-cultural encounter, and the deeply humble self-awareness of how your own culture affects the way others see and react to you (which truly does affect the success of your cross-cultural encounter), lies the middle ground of insuring the practical, cumulative daily success that’s essential when two cultures encounter and try to work with each other.
This means knowing enough about a culture to not merely avoid a faux pas, but rather pro-actively behave in ways that accelerate and advance the development of a successful working relationship. This requires more than just a concern for avoiding offense: it requires a strategy based on deeper cultural knowledge that allows you to pro-actively behave in ways that help you - and your partner - get what you want.
This means not just knowing the etiquette or rituals of daily life in another culture, but how culture changes the rules of negotiation, project-planning, conflict-resolution, relationship-building, decision-making, team-building, running meetings, communicating, etc., etc., etc. Every aspect how we work with each other is affected by culture, and the ability to manage differences at this deeper level determines real daily success. This is where the work needs to be done, where cultural information needs to replace cultural ignorance.
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