culture(22/0)
How to change culture
“To Change the World” is a composition of three of James Hunter’s essays, so this review is a composite of three interrelated but separate essays. Essay 1: Christianity and World-Changing Hunter begins this essay by claiming all American Christian institutions have a mission to change culture, but they have not met their goal. He blames their lack of success on a misunderstanding of the means for cultural change. He highlights two prevalent, and mistaken, models:…
Culture shapes arguments
Of the facets which comprise a person’s culture, the philosophy of knowledge most shapes the style of argument likely to influence that person. English citizens were comprehensively shaped by the modernization of Aristotle’s “application-first” thinking by the English philosophers of the 13th and 16th centuries (Meyer, pg. 97). Across the English channel, Descartes instituted an opposing philosophy of thought characterized by “principles-first” thinking which reigns among European nations to this day.…
Language is integral to culture
Language holds the keys to culture. Much of a culture’s distinctiveness exists in its language. The ways individuals and groups are represented happens through language. “My Computer” is a natural icon on the desktop of a member of an individualistic culture, but it’s a faux pas to a collectivist. An Eskimo lives in constantly snowy atmospheres and has dozens of ways to differentiate types of snow in their language, while a Pacific Islander has one word for snow but several for tides and currents (Livermore, pg.…
Europe is split into three cultures
With the exception of America, the melting pot of the earth, one may consider cultures to spread across the globe in a predictable manner; pools of culture that ebb and flow like the ocean. Natural boundaries act as the ocean’s shores, eroded by influence or violent action over the years but generally unchanged. A review of the European continent, when taken from this perspective, would lead the spectator to assume the entire small continent, stretching from Portugal to Ukraine, would share the same cultural distinctions.…
Behavior is comprehensible only within culture
The reasons for a nation’s cultural distinctions are not always decipherable from the actions of its people. From a Western perspective, Eastern culture is formal and backward. Children in China defer to their parents, even as adults, at a level that most children in the United States would compare to slavery. Obedience to one’s government is a standard in China, but in the United States there are rallies and protests against political leaders.…
Cultural understanding cannot replace relational insight
Cultural preparation is ephemeral, individual relationship is concrete. At the conclusion of Livermore’s extensive research of ten global cultural clusters, he reminds us that individuals have unique mixes of cultural and sub-cultural values. Cultural preparation, no matter the quantity, is useful for general predictions only and one should “move as quickly as possible beyond broad cultural stereotypes” (Livermore, pg. 89). For example, the hippie movement of the 1960’s was a collectivist, cooperative movement in a culture renown for individualism and competitive spirit.…
Empathy exposes cultural bias
Understanding one’s own cultural values from the perspective of an outsider helps to accept differences in other cultures. So often exposure to other cultures is immediately followed by judgment. Differences are strange at best, and evil at worst. For example, when an Anglo, who values personal space, is exposed to an Arab, who values close proximity, there’s a tendency to condemn their practice as barbarian, or to pity them (Livermore).…
Corruption threatens international investment
The story of Bill Browder is not a pleasant one. He moved to Russia in 1996 with $25 million dollars to invest in the Russian oil and gas industry. After revealing corruption in many Russian corporations he was at last kicked out of Russia in November, 2005. His company was seized and used to obtain $230 million in fraudulent tax rebates. One of his Russian employees, Sergei Magnitsky, refused to flee and was detained in prison for over a year.…
Clever programs cant change culture
Clever programs can’t change culture. Customers screech in your ear each week with the same message, “Your service sucks!” You’ve dedicated endless hours searching for the magic customer service model and asked your entire HR department to craft a series of seminars, activities, and meetings to instruct your service representatives and energize them with a vision of exceptional customer care. Invitations are sent, buzz is generated, but the handful of service representatives who show up are late, glossy-eyed, and pessimistic.…
Communicate at the lowest cultural context
Multicultural teams must communicate in the lowest context for the cultures in that group. People in the United States tend to have the lowest communication context of any cultural cluster in the world. On the polar opposite, those in Japan communicate with the highest context ((Meyer, pg. 40)). What explains this? The history of the United States is a short story of migrants from all cultures and backgrounds trying to live together under one government.…
Culture shapes effective inquiry
To acquire an answer to your questions, you must change the question to fit the culture. Americans want “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth (Origin of the Oath)”. Avoidance of direct answers is not the virtue of those who care for the honor of others-it’s an obstruction of justice. Therefore, each American learns to ask direct questions if they want direct answers, and those who won’t answer in the way we expect are suspect of having something to hide.…
High context culture is sometimes direct
Some high-context cultures are direct with critical feedback. America is the lowest-context culture in the world, yet when an American gives criticism it’s often couched in praises. It should come as no surprise that other cultures with high-context communication may be dramatically direct when criticizing. Israeli culture has a higher context than most of Europe, yet when an Israeli must give negative feedback they do nothing to soften the blow. Since their regular conversation is laced with indirect meaning you may assume that criticism would also be discrete, while open, direct criticism would be shameful.…
Philosophy affects what arguments are persuasive
A person’s intellectual background shapes what arguments persuade them. Of the facets which comprise a person’s culture, the philosophy of knowledge most shapes the style of argument likely to influence that person. English citizens were comprehensively shaped by the modernization of Aristotle’s “application-first” thinking by the English philosophers of the 13th and 16th centuries ((Meyer, pg. 97)). Across the English channel, Descartes instituted an opposing philosophy of thought characterized by “principles-first” thinking which reigns among European nations to this day.…
Define your team culture
Define your team culture with tools like the Culture Map. Empirical research demonstrates the positive effect cultural diversity has on a business' bottom line. But when you, an American business person, schedules three meetings with your Ethiopian team mate and he shows up twenty minutes late to every meeting, you don’t think, “Look at all the diversity we have. This is great!” No, you think, “What’s his problem? This is crazy; how are we supposed to get any work done waiting a third of our time for others to catch up?…
Ease into leading with questions
If a leader hasn’t led with questions, they need to ease into the practice. What happens when the leader with all the answers suddenly begins to ask questions instead? Employees are likely to be uneasy by the sudden transition, and the leader’s efforts, even when made with clean motives, seen with suspicion. Some employees may have depended upon the leader to give them answers and have ceased thinking of solutions to problems they face.…
Leaders ask profound questions
Quality questions are pivotal for a strong organizational culture. Questions are the life-blood of a healthy organizational culture. A culture of questions flips the corporate hierarchy on its head by empowering subordinates to add their expertise to conversations at the top. Such a culture makes it possible for leaders to investigate the reasons behind events and processes without raising the hackles of their direct reports. Leaders, far from being thought incompetent, prove their competence by asking good questions.…
Leaders embody their core values
Leaders pay careful attention to develop their company culture. What constitutes a company’s culture? Anderson proposes five pillars of a company culture: Core Values Mission Performance Standards Core Competencies People (pg. 156) This list calls out many facets of a company’s culture, but in reality they’re all subsets of the first, core values. The mission is no better than a vision statement to drive company culture. A mission guides decisions across the organization, but it will not shape culture.…
Pseudo cultural experience does not build cultural intelligence
Pseudo-cultural experiences do not build cultural intelligence, and may give a false sense of assurance. As I meet people in Chicago I’m amazed how many have foreign travel experience. Europe, South America, Asia and more - I used to think world traveler was a unique title of mine. With international travel comes cultural experience, or so I thought. I was wrong. A trip to Cancun offers a poignant example. I had hopes of interacting with Yucatan people, eating local street food, and maybe even getting lost for a bit.…
Dominant culture affects corporate design
ℹ️ The idea of the corporation is a seed which grows different flowers in diverse soils, and the wise entrepreneur will ask questions and temper expectations accordingly. Ride a rickshaw through any Indian city and you will discover, possibly with fear, that ‘commute’ means something different than in the United States. Jump on a subway in London and you’ll politely be asked to ‘mind the gap’. These are surface-level differences, but a host culture, like unique soil, will also sprout corporate expressions as different in their character and makeup as the nation itself differs from its neighbors.…
Cultural collaboration needs insiders
Globalized business demands more cultural wisdom than ever before, and the wise businessperson will seek the help of cultural insiders to negotiate effectively. Every culture views decisions differently. Collectivist cultures make decisions as a group, while Individualistic cultures make decisions alone, perhaps with input from others. When the two cultures come together, there can be miscommunication. Erin Meyer makes clear in her diagram that cultures can view decisions between two parties in opposing ways (Getting to Si, Ja, Oui, Hai, and Da.…
Outsiders are advantaged in cultural intelligence
The counter-cultural lifestyle is an advantage to one’s development of cultural intelligence. The navigation of cultural differences is a growing factor in today’s marketplace. Even cities, which have historically been centers of cultural diversity in America, now see every tier of business diversifying. Where leaders were once primarily white males, now recognized leaders come in every ethnicity and gender. Companies have overseas branches, and their business networks reach every nation.…
Ease suspicion with direct contact
Suspicion is a barrier to cross-cultural entrepreneurship. Many will not trust an outside venture until they hear reports from others in their own culture that it holds value for them. Even when some benefit from the business venture, interest will often build slowly. The entrepreneur, knowing acceptance of his business venture will take time, may choose to market his business to the whole population in hope that for some his business venture may be recognized as valuable.…