The Hindu Business Line : Building cultural awareness

We too have to make the required changes in cultural interactions depending on whether we want to succeed in a multicultural situation. It is not a matter of ego, pride or which way is better. All cultures are equal and there is no superiority indicated.

AN INDIAN PROFESSIONAL practices cultural communication with a Global Adjustments trainer in an activity called `Did I hear what was meant?'

Anu didi, may I please make a long distance call?" Amit asked. "So now you think you are a foreigner earning in dollars is it, being so formal asking for permission and using please - sheez? Don't think just because you work with Americans all the time that you are one of them," retorted Anu didi.

The difficulties of working in two time zones, besides affecting Amit's body clock, were heightened by the constant battle of working in two cultures.

I explained to Amit, who took our cross-cultural training programme in New Delhi recently, how important the job he is doing as a cultural chameleon is.

He wears the America hat at night and adapts his speech pattern, way of questioning, understanding and working around the customer's probable behaviour to the American way. Then, he comes back home in the daylight hours and has to remember to put on his original Indian hat while interacting with his family, behaving and speaking in the way they are familiar with.

The key word in succeeding across cultures is "adapt" not "adopt" so we fit in seamlessly in the place we interact. I do wonder, however: Aren't some of the different habits we learn worth keeping and applying in our own interactions, as Amit did by being polite and using `please'. But that is a question of individual choice.

On the flip side, at a senior managers' programme in Mumbai where we were facilitating cross-cultural understanding with Indians who work with French, Chinese and Americans, one question surprised me: "Why should we learn to do what they do — in our dressing, in the way we speak, in our eating styles; aren't we perfectly okay as we are?"

It reminded me of Stephen Covey's story in one of the best self-help books I have read called The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.

The captain of a naval destroyer proudly commands his large vessel. He sees another light in his ship's course and sends a radio message, "You are in my path, change your course." The message that comes back says: "You are in my path change your course."

The ship's captain's feathers get ruffled and he sends a second stronger message: "YOU have to change your course because YOU are in MY path." The message comes right back, "YOU have to change your course, because YOU are in MY path." Now the captain is livid, "I am the captain of the destroyer ship, I command you to change your course; you are in my path." Pat comes the response: "I am the controller of the light house, I command you to change your course, you are in my path."

So what did the captain have to do? He had to quickly change course and steer his ship to safety in order to achieve his goal of captaining the vessel.

Ethnocentrism

We too have to make the required changes in cultural interactions depending on whether we want to succeed in a multicultural situation.

It is not a matter of ego, pride or which way is better. All cultures are equal and there is no superiority indicated.

We as Indians believe ours is the best culture and an American will believe his is the best. That is the way it should be, this ethnocentrism is a naturally good thing if accompanied by understanding of other ways.

Our way is the Right way

Some anthropologists suggest that there is no universal `right way' of being human. The `right way' is almost always `our way' and `our way' in one society almost never matches `our way' in any other society. The proper attitude of an informed human being should only be that of tolerance and respect.

Not being willing to even temporarily adapt, can actually be self-destructive. A good example is in negotiations, which are more likely to succeed when the parties concerned understand the reasons for the differences in viewpoints and one or the other adapts or, ideally, both do to meet half way.

Building cultural awareness calls for three steps:

Step one is to identify areas where there are cultural differences.

Step two is to decide where to, whether to and to what extent to adapt `my way' to `your way'. Explicit aspects of a culture can be consciously learned; for example, methods of greeting people. Other differences are learned subconsciously; for example, methods of approaching a problem and finding a solution.

Step three is practising the "newly-learned skill" to become comfortable in interactions. The final step is long and not easy, but once accomplished it definitely helps get a job done efficiently in a multicultural environment. This efficiency is assured if it translates tangibly thus:

Speak their language (adapt words, dress, food, body language)

Tone down your glaring difference areas (play it down)

Understand their values while still valuing your own (hold on)

(The writer is Founder-CEO of Global Adjustments, the India focused cross-cultural and destination services company)

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