Taking time for our differences
subtitle
By Andrew Prior
The French love mixing business with food! Having a lunch or a dinner meeting that takes hours is not unusual. They love talking about all the different foods and wines they have in their country. What a pleasurable way to do business. I like it when people show something of their culture and their unique way of life.
In my opinion, the idea of the ‘global village’ is a reality., Today global travel and communications are becoming available to more and more people. We are becoming more ‘connected’ and it is rare nowadays to find parts of the world that have not been discovered. This human behaviour to explore and develop relationships with others is only natural. This is a great opportunity for human kind, however at the same time it paradoxically poses a great threat to our unique diversity of societies and environments.
With globalisation we are faced with complex social and environmental problems such as increasing global warming, destruction of biodiversity and increased poverty and violence. How can we reverse these trends that are influencing our core values? I believe that changing our attitudes and behaviours towards culture and differences is a key prerequisite. By talking about our needs and listening more to the needs of others we can start changing by really appreciating and valuing our differences. This change will ultimately lead to a better understanding of our common core values and keeping them treasured!
When I coach international teams I always try to give enough space to the participants to voice their opinions. This can take longer than usual because some people need to express themselves in a second language and because of those language differences they will make mistakes. It is important then to understand the issue that the team is facing and to have an effective ‘group’ process that will help the team get tangible results. It is essential to respect the other people’s point of view when it is different from your own (1+1 = 3), otherwise the diversity potential is not used effectively. I, as a trainer, know that I need to be patient and trust the participative process to get good results.
For example when I was facilitating a training session about cross-cultural differences between an American/French company and it’s Finnish client. The American and French could not understand why the Finns were so cold and uncommunicative! "They never return our messages", they said. It was only when they had taken the time to understand the values of the Finns did they really start to appreciate their differences. "So, the Finns like to start work early and go home early to their families or hobbies", they said. "So we should try and find out the best time to call them", said one American. "Maybe we should have a Sauna with them to understand their issues in a relaxed environment", said a Frenchwomen.....and so the dialogue continued to develop in such an appreciative way....From this workshop it was clear that in the beginning it was a ‘us’ versus ‘them’ attitude. Only after reflecting and talking about shared values, did the differences start to become positive things!
I think that most people share some common core values. For example;justice, love of their children, survival, helping others and a growing family. By discussing these shared values we can build a common understanding between different cultures. It is only when we take time to talk about these deep values that we begin to understand our differences.
Andrew Prior is a business consultant in a growing international business consultancy. Information: Patricia Aerts p.aerts@debaak.nl