How to Hack Cross-Cultural Communication
As our world becomes more globalized and businesses reach across the sea to collaborate with an increasing quantity of foreign partners, business success often hinges on our ability to understand and effectively communicate with our colleagues abroad.
I want to do an experiment. Call to mind the attributes of a typical German person.
What did you think of?
Did you imagine someone punctual and direct, who isn’t very keen on small talk?
Great! Those are indeed attributes of many German people. However, the problems come when you relate to the individuals with whom you’re working purely as representations of their cultural stereotypes, rather than as individuals.
What are the stereotypes of your own country? Do you fit into every one of those stereotypes? I know I don’t. US people are supposed to be loud, extremely individualistic, and patriotic. However, I’m reserved and hate interrupting people. I’m relatively individualistic in that I’m independent and prefer freelancing to having a boss, and I don’t like to be responsible for others. But I’m also very community-minded and happy as a clam living in a house with 10 housemates and sharing food. As for patriotism, I think nationalist attitudes are very dangerous and eschew flags.
