(Here at the Willow Creek Global Leadership Summit praying for God to give me new insight to help me in leading with Operation Christmas Child. To learn more about OCC click here...)
The Culture Map
How cultural differences impact our effectiveness—
First example—Chinese client Bo Chan –hired by company in
London—he prepared, greeted colleagues, said nothing at all during the meeting,
as he overheard colleague say, “Bo has nothing to offer.”
Example of Sabine--French woman going to work in
Chicago. Boss reported he spoke to
Sabine several times about things she needed to change but she didn’t
respond. I spoke to Sabine and she
said things are going great. She
said, “I had my first performance review and it was the best in my
career.”
My example: raised in Minnesota and now living in Paris
Culture Mapping = helping people decode cultural differences
Three Dimensions of how to be a good communicator in
different countries
When you look at the country positions, keep in mind there
are many variances in any given culture.
It’s about how cultures respond to or understand one
another.
First Dimension: Low
Context vs. High Context Communication
Low context assumes low level of shared references = very
specific communication necessary
High context assumes higher level of shared references =
more nuanced or layered communication
Japanese = highest context culture in the world
Anglo-Saxon countries = low context (US is lowest)
Asian & African = high context
In low context cultures we tend to nail things down in
writing more frequently than in high context cultures
Example of parenting: Nigerian woman said we raise our
children to be high context. My daughter may ask, “Can I have another sweet?”
and I will respond, “Of course you can,” but she knows by looking at me that
she had better not touch that sweet.
High context people think low context people are
condescending or unintelligent.
Sending written confirmation is a sign of mistrust.
US (lowest context) vs. Japan (highest context)
1. global teams need low context processing
2. with low context people be as explicit as possible. Put it in writing. Repeat key points
3. With high context people ask clarifying questions, repeat
yourself less.
Second Dimension:
Direct Negative Feedback vs. Indirect Negative Feedback
US= lowest context culture in the world BUT not completely
direct when giving negative feedback (go back to example of the French woman
Sabine—she heard the positives at the beginning of the review and didn’t listen
to the negative feedback given later)
Differences in education in US & France—in US teacher
comments are positive and the comments from French teacher are more directly
negative
Third Dimension: High Comfort with Silence vs. Low Comfort
with Silence
Back to example of Bo Chan earlier who was quiet during a
meeting. In the US or other low
comfort silence cultures we fill up the silence. Chinese or Japanese would
perceive the silence positively (good listener, thinking). Chinese can easily go up to 8 seconds
of silence without feeling uncomfortable.
Overlapping Cultures—talk over one another
Perfect Timing Cultures—don’t like overlap and don’t like
silence (US and Germanic cultures)
East Asian Cultures—pauses between conversation
Go to erinmeyer.com/tools for self-assessments and country
differences
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