Bridging Cultural Differences with a Thoughtful and Open Mind
Working together with people of different cultures than your own can be very difficult. It's not just a challenge in Japan, but for people all over the world and in any industry. As our world becomes increasingly globalized the opportunities are enormous but so are the challenges. A quick search will yield many books, classes and lectures all about the art of cross-cultural interaction. All of these resources are a great reflection of just how difficult the implementation of existing practices in a new culture can be.
I recently had the privilege of giving a presentation at a conference in India. I was to speak on the topic of innovation to a large and diverse audience including top business leaders, HRD managers, consultants and trainers. I was happy to see a high level of enthusiasm expressed for my presentation, and I could see that the topic I had chosen was considered by them to be highly relevant, and that many of them looked forward to receiving information about the implementation of my ideas. Even though the level of interest in my lecture was high, and I could have just used the confidence from that to “dive right in” to the presentation, I also chose to take advantage of an opportunity to meet with an Indian man to discuss my presentation before I gave it. I was very glad I made that choice.
One of the most important lessons I learned from that man was about a simple, passive gesture of approval. In Japan, and many other countries I had encountered, it is customary to nod one's head up and down as a sign of approval or agreement. My new Indian friend wisely made sure to inform me that this was not the case in India. Here, he explained to me, they shake their heads from side to side when they agree, something that is actually a negative gesture in Japan. I was very glad to be prepared for this gesture because, sure enough, I saw many faces shaking side to side during my presentation. As I continued my lecture I became acutely aware of just how difficult the implementation of ideas upon new cultures can be (both for the receivers as well as the deliverers of the new ideas). Had I not be prepared prior to my lecture I quickly would have felt uneasy, every head shake would have worried me more and more that the ideas I was trying to convey were being deemed unacceptable.
To be honest, even with the prior knowledge I had my gut, or impulse, reaction was still negative. I had to remind myself throughout my lecture that the head shaking really was an affirmative response. It occurred to me that it was one thing to be knowledgeable about cultural differences, and to feel prepared for them, but that the implementation of these concepts was quite another matter. In other words, simply knowing something about someone is very different from actually experiencing it, accepting it and then responding quickly and appropriately.
One of the best ways one can become accustomed to the customs of other cultures is to travel abroad often and make friends with foreign nationals. This way you can experience first hand different customs in a friendly and low-pressure environment. Personally, I have had an experience living abroad in the U.S. for a period of time. The area I stayed had a fair number of Japanese people living there, so most other people I encountered were already used to Japanese customs. However, sometimes there were questions and I found myself unable to answer since I had never been faced with explaining myself this way before. It was during these moments that I became very aware of another difficulty of the implementation of other ideas to different cultures; often questions arise about details that had always simply just been considered “normal”. I discovered that questioning actions which seem basic and normal is a crucial part of the process of implementation of new ideas on new cultures.
As our world continues to globalize there will continue to be more opportunities to work with people from different cultures. I believe the key to understanding and communicating effectively with these new cultures is to be both flexible in mind and soul; to be willing to learn new customs and to think about our own with an open mind. This flexibility isn't easy, there are many ideas and exercises that can help and in future blog posts I will share some of my own findings with you.
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