Let’s be practical here, in America we have seen it all. We are a melting pot of all cultures, don’t we know how to get the job done! Anyway, they are from an English speaking nation and we should be all set right?
I hitched a ride with my friend this week end to the airport to catch my flight from Atlanta to Detroit, and got caught up in a conversation about Cultural Competence. Reflecting back on a workplace incident that occurred a few years ago…I was in a regular management meeting where we discuss issues, projects and priorities. The discussion revolved around a technology project that most of my colleagues seemed very interested in. I said something that I thought was pretty normal and proceeded to discuss the subject further.
I kind of got a strange reaction from my colleagues, who all of a sudden disengaged from the subject abruptly and then started rolling their eye balls and seemed a little confused as I discussed the subject further. The same kind of dynamics happened one other time and I thought is this something that I said that is causing this strange reaction?
Well, the pretty normal something I said was ‘Let’s table the discussion’. In some cultures (in this case the culture that I come from), ‘Let’s table the discussion’ means let us get it on the table for discussion and get it done! No wonder my colleagues who come from the American cultural background all of sudden disengaged abruptly…started rolling their eye…seemed a little confused. In the American culture, the very same ‘Let’s table the discussion’ means let us park it for later. Imagine this little dynamics playing itself out in a global team/ virtual team environment and if and how this may impact communication, understanding of each other’s goals & priorities.
In speaking events, my audiences quite often ask me how Cultural Competence is different from Diversity. I believe that Diversity tends to be ‘what meets the eye’ i.e. observable behaviors of different cultural groups…following the classic cliché expression – tip of the iceberg. Cultural Competence takes a deeper perspective on the customs, beliefs, values and assumptions of different cultural groups that has a direct impact on how they show up for the game every day. To succeed in this global economy and to effectively manage global teams, it is imperative to develop a global mindset that has a reciprocal familiarity of cultural values and beliefs. The example above, although does not specifically delve into beliefs or values, but at a surface level highlights the cultural variations to normal English expressions.
Do you have a similar story to share? Has something like this caught you by surprise at your workplace? Share your thoughts…..
Cultural Competence Think Tank 