Category Archives: Commentary

Cómo perder su puntualidad en quince días

Posted on by
2

3191265-mujer-abrazar-un-reloj(English follows the Spanish)

Estas fiestas de fin de año me han dejado la nostalgia de los ausentes a quienes no pude abrazar con el anhelo del reencuentro. En contraste, me han dado la oportunidad de gozarme lo simple de nuestras tradiciones más sentidas. Una de ellas sin duda para mí es la cocina. Debo confesar soy de las que cocina escuchando música de diciembre, desde villancicos como tutaina o mi burrito sabanero, hasta los infaltables temas de la Billos Caraca’s Boys, Los Melódicos o Los Hispanos. Crecí con esta música y a falta de estaciones, en Colombia es Navidad desde que las emisoras comienzan a emitir estas melodías y las vitrinas de tiendas presentan sus decoraciones. El gran inicio es nuestra fiesta de las velitas el 7 de diciembre, cuando todos los alumbrados oficialmente se encienden y  las casas se visten de luz con velas de colores y faroles que se extinguen al amanecer. Es nuestra fiesta de luz.

El ritmo cambia y el tiempo se hace aún más amigo. Contrasta el agite de las calles y sus trancones — embotellamientos — con el ritmo al que se llevan muchas tareas. Esta singular amistad con el tiempo se torna evidente para quienes nos visitan.

Tuvimos con mi familia la gran oportunidad de acoger a quienes estaban solos de paso por nuestra ciudad. Para Navidad, nuestra invitada de California se ganó la membresía en el club de los “gringos chéveres”. La citamos a las 10:00pm, llegó a las 10:15pm pues el taxista la buscó un poco más tarde en el hotel. Brindamos, cenamos y mis padres sin hablar más que yes or hello, le transmitieron nuestras tradiciones — bueno sí, mis hermanos y yo asistimos en la traducción — pero las sonrisas y la música son parte de un idioma universal.  La despedimos de madrugada el 25, luego de tres días en Bogotá se preparaba a disfrutar San Andrés y Cartagena. Su periplo apenas comenzaba.

Para fin de año, nuestros invitados esta vez fueron de Alemania y Francia. Los dos invitados de Alemania ya llevan varias semanas en el país. Su periplo ya los había llevado por Cartagena, la zona cafetera, Boyacá y alrededores del Cañón del Chicamocha. En resumen, se han recorrido casi la mitad del país. La cita a cenar era la misma 10:00pm, y mi razonamiento fue, como son alemanes les decimos a las 10:00pm para que cenemos juntos.

Pasaron las 10:15pm, las 10:30pm y nada. Estos invitados se hicieron amigos del tiempo. Llegaron unos 50min tarde luego de varias llamadas al celular disponible. Uno llega a preocuparse si fue que se perdieron o pararon en la cena equivocada. Cuando llegaron ya habíamos iniciado, simplemente pensamos algo se presentó y no iban a venir, !son alemanes! Llegaron, cenaron, brindamos… y hasta bailamos. Uno de ellos ha dicho que es la mejor Nochevieja de su vida.  Los tres hablan español muy bien, así que pudieron compartir sus experiencias con todos en casa, y fue así como pidieron mil excusas pues en uno de sus recorridos un simpático colombiano los citó “en diez minutos” que se volvieron tal vez cuatro horas.

Su lógica fue, nos dicen a las 10:00pm así que podemos llegar tarde. Al final les dije de este blog y que les contaría a todos como se puede perder la puntualidad en quince días de paso por Colombia. Ahora uno de ellos está de regreso en Alemania, y un alemán y un francés amigos del tiempo están en las playas de San Andrés.

Mis padres han sido los más alegres con estas visitas. Poco saben de sociedades policrónicas o monocrónicas, de alto o bajo contexto, ni tienen idea que el trabajo de Cultural Detective le muestra al mundo que el tiempo es un amigo en este país. Sin embargo ellos saben lo que nos hace auténticos y algo que siempre han enseñado en casa es el valor de querer lo nuestro, nuestras tradiciones y lo que somos — por supuesto, abiertos a aprender de los demás. Mis padres fueron sin duda los grandes anfitriones, hasta mi madre sacó a bailar a uno de los chicos y dió clases de música tropical. Sin duda para todos unas fiestas inolvidables. Como diría mi padre “my home is your home, welcome”.

Si quiere hacerse amigo del tiempo… visite Colombia.

Felicidades y un muy fructífero 2013.spanishfriday

—

How to Lose Your Punctuality in 15 Days, Written by Maryori Vivas
Translated by Dianne Hofner Saphiere

These end-of-the-year holidays have filled me with nostalgia for those I am unable to hug despite the desire for a reunion. In contrast, they have given me the opportunity to enjoy the simplicity of some of our deepest traditions. One of these for me is without doubt that of the kitchen. I must confess that I am one of those who cooks while listening to holiday music, everything from carols such as Tutaina or Mi Burrito Sabanero, to infallible tunes such as those of the Billos Caracas Boys, Los Melódicos, or Los Hispanos. I grew up with this music; in Colombia Christmas begins when the radio stations start playing such melodies and the shop windows display their holiday decorations. The great beginning of the festivities is the Festival of Lights on December 7th, when holiday lights are officially turned on and the houses are filled with the light of colorful candles and lanterns that aren’t turned off until dawn. This is our Festival of Lights.

The rhythm changes at this time of year, and time becomes even more of a friend than usual. Contrast the excitement of the streets and their traffic jams — traffic stops really — with the rhythm with which we complete the many tasks of the season. This unique friendship with time gradually becomes evident to our guests.

Our family had the wonderful opportunity this year of welcoming into our home those who were traveling alone in our city. For Christmas, our guest from California won membership in the “cool gringos” club. We invited her for 10 pm. She arrived at 10:15, because the taxi had picked her up late at her hotel. We toasted, dined, and my parents, who can’t speak more than “yes” or “hello” in English, communicated our traditions to her — ok, my sister, my brother and I assisted with the translation — but smiles and music are universal languages. We bade her goodbye at dawn on the 25th. After three days in Bogotá she was preparing to enjoy San Andrés and Cartagena. Her journey was just beginning.

On New Year’s Eve, this time our guests were from Germany and France. Our two guests from Germany had already been in our country for several weeks. Their journey had already taken them to Cartagena, the coffee region, Boyacá and the area around the Canyon of Chicamocha. They had travelled over half the country. I told them the same 10 pm for dinner, and my reasoning was that as they are Germans they’d arrive right around 10 pm so we could dine together.

10:15 pm passed, 10:30 pm, and nothing. Our guests had become friends with time. They arrived about 50 minutes later, after various cell phone calls. One starts to worry whether guests have gotten lost or have ended up at the wrong dinner. When they arrived we had already begun, simply imagining that something had come up and they weren’t going to be able to come. After all, they’re German. But they arrived, we ate, we toasted, and we even danced. One of them told us it was the best New Year’s Eve of his life.

All three speak Spanish very well, so they were able to share their experiences with everyone in the house. It was in this way that they asked a thousand pardons for their late arrival, explaining that in one of their travels a kind Colombian had told them “in ten minutes,” which had turned into perhaps four hours. Their logic had been that we’d told them 10 pm, so they could arrive late. In the end I told them about this blog, and that I would tell everyone the story about how to lose punctuality in 15 days of travel in Colombia. Now one of them is back in Germany, and the other German and the French friends of time are enjoying the beaches of San Andrés.

My parents have been the happiest with these visits. They know little about polychronic or monochronic societies, of high or low context, and they have no idea that the work of the Cultural Detective demonstrates to the world that time is a friend in our country. However, they know what makes us authentic and what has always been taught at home: the value of loving what’s ours, our traditions and who we are — of course with an openness to learning about others. My parents were without doubt wonderful hosts; my mother even got one of the young men to dance with her and gave a class on tropical music. These were definitely holidays to remember. As my father would say, “my home is your home; welcome!”

If you would like to be friends with time, visit Colombia.

Happy New Year! I wish you a very successful 2013.

Happy New Year! New Year’s and Calendars Around the World

Posted on by
5

WorldCalendars

Happy New Year!!

Our greetings are sincere; we wish the best for our colleagues, partners, and friends. Intent is important. However, even the most sincere greetings, when unaccompanied by a broader mindset of cross-cultural awareness, can come out sounding neocolonialist, disrespectful or just plain ignorant.

Most non-Chinese know that Chinese New Year often happens in February and is based on a lunar calendar. Many non-Jews are aware that Rosh HaShanah is the Jewish new year, and that it usually occurs around September. But what about other nations, cultures and traditions: when do they celebrate their new year? And how can we demonstrate cross-cultural sensitivity when we wish to express appropriate New Year’s greetings?

The first step is to recognize our own Lens, our own cultural filters. A “happy new year” greeting focused on January 1, 2013 is based on the Gregorian calendar, use of which was ordered by Pope Gregory XIII in 1592. Even Protestant Europe was slow to adopt this calendar, but over the centuries it has gained widespread use to become today’s de facto international standard. Most countries in the world now use it as their sole civil calendar, with exceptions including Saudi Arabia, Iran and Afghanistan. Countries that use another official calendar alongside the Gregorian include India and Israel. To detach the Gregorian calendar a bit from its Roman Catholic roots, it is also called the civil calendar or Common Era (CE) calendar.

Having a recognized international standard is a major change. Thirty-five years ago, when I first started working with a telex machine in Japan, I had to convert dynastic dates to CE dates as part of my daily tasks (I also used a HUGE kanji typewriter that provided me a daily physical workout, prior to the advent of word processing). Now, the general acceptance of the CE calendar is a sign of how much cultures that did not traditionally use the Gregorian calendar have adapted in order to more easily collaborate. Of course, another point of view is that this adaptation shows the success of the Christian colonialists imposing their standard on the rest of the world.

Either way, there is a great need for those of us comfortable with the Common Era calendar to learn a bit about other world calendars, to gain a basic knowledge about and be able to communicate respect for them. Thus, the second step in building cross-cultural competence is to develop our curiosity and knowledge about world calendars.

While the CE calendar is in popular use, alongside it and sometimes instead of it people around the world use solar calendars, lunar calendars, lunar-solar calendars, arithmetic and astronomical calendars. You may see dates you don’t recognize in newspapers when you travel, or in official government or religious documents. Non-Gregorian dating is commonly used to determine holy days, holidays and festivals in many of the world’s traditions. These local, regional, and religious calendars are frequently used to report birth and death dates, and major life and world events. It can get confusing for the international traveler or global nomad, not to mention the unwitting blogger or small business person with an Internet site! There are seven billion people on our planet, and according to my quick calculations, fewer than 10% have primarily used a Gregorian calendar for even most of my lifetime.

How can we navigate the multitude of calendars in our world? Surely we can not be expected to understand or be fluent in all of them. How can we show sensitivity, respect, and a bit of knowledge, rather than arrogance, ignorance, or insult? The third step is to bridge the differences — to understand and learn to work with our partner’s or customer’s traditional calendar.

6 Tips for Partnering with People Who Use
Calendars Different from Yours

  1. Remember that the Common Era calendar is not the only calendar in the world.
  2. Realize that it’s origins are in western Christianity. Avoid the use of “BC,” which refers to “before Christ,” and “AD,” the Latin term Anno Domini. Instead, use “BCE” (Before the Common Era) and “CE” (Common Era).
  3. Do a bit of research about your major customers and partners. What are their spiritual practices? Their ethnic backgrounds? Where are they based geographically? Once you’ve done your homework, you’ve acquired a very basic level of cultural literacy regarding possible calendars your colleagues might use.
  4. Ask them. Asking how an organization and a community dates documents, and how they calculate and observe holidays, shows that you know there are many ways of doing things, that your way is not the only way. It demonstrates a respect for other traditions and helps to build relationships based on mutual trust.
  5. Respect your colleagues’ holidays. If you are told that business closes on certain days, don’t try to undo centuries of tradition. I have so often seen this error committed during my career. An executive insists that employees work on a day that is usually a holiday, as the organization is on a deadline. In the short term, this strategy may be successful. But the long-term negative consequences, in terms of lost loyalty and reputation are immeasurable. Better to focus on outcomes: how can we meet this deadline? Brainstorm with your employees and partners to find mutually acceptable rather than unilateral ways forward.
  6. Offer New Year’s and other holiday greetings as appropriate to your colleagues’ traditions. That usually means that a New Year’s greeting on January 1st will be well received, and often means that another greeting, on their calendar’s New Year, will be even more special. Make a note in your calendar to jog your memory. Such a practice is a solid and frequent reminder that our way is not the only way.

While far from a complete list, I did some research to produce a bit of a guide (below) to some of the world’s calendars in current use. Please note any corrections in the “Comments,” and we will edit as needed. Thank you!

  • Bahá’í (Badí‘): The year 170 BE in the Bahá’í calendar will begin on March 21, 2013 (spring equinox), the 1st (or Bahá) of the month of Bahá in the year Abhá. The Baha’i calendar begins with Bab’s declaration in 1844.
  • Chinese (Mainland): The first day of the year of the Snake 4711 will be February 10, 2013. Legend has it that the Emperor Huangdi invented the calendar in 2637 B.C.E.
  • Chinese (Republic, Minguo): January 1st will bring in the year 102 in Taiwan, Kinmen and Matsu. The calendar began in 1912, the year of the founding of the Republic of China.
  • Coptic (Alexandrian): The Feast of Neyrouz or New Year’s 1729 AM (Anno Martyrum or “Year of the Martyrs”) was September 11, 2012.
  • Eastern Orthodox (Julian): The first day of the year 2013 was on December 19, 2012. It may be worthwhile noting that both Coptic and Eastern Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas on January 7th (not December 25th).
  • Ethiopian (Ge’ez): Enkutatash, or the new year 2005, began September 11, 2012.
  • Hebrew (Jewish): The year 5773 began on the 1st of Tishrei (the 7th month in the Jewish calendar), or September 16, 2012 — Rosh HaShanah, the day Adam and Eve were created. The Jewish calendar has another New Year’s, the 1st of Nisan (the first month). It will be on March 12, 2013, and is used as the new year to order the holidays. It is seen as the anniversary of the founding of the Jewish people.
  • Indian National Calendar (Saka): The 1st of the month of Caitra, year 1935, will fall on March 22, 2013. The current Saka era began in 78 CE.
  • Indian Popular Calendar (Vikram Samvat): The year 2069 will begin the first day after the new moon in the month of Chaitra, April 11, 2013 — Hindi New Year.  In the Gujarati tradition, it began on the day after Diwali, on the 1st of kartak or November 14th. The calendar was created by the Emperor Vikramaditya of Ujjain following his victory over the Shakas in 56 BCE.
  • Indigenous, First Nations, and Native Peoples: There are many communities and much diversity worldwide. A lunar calendar is generally used and the year revolves around the seasons.
  • Islamic (lunar Hijri): The year 1434 AH began on the 1st of Muharram, November 15, 2012. The Islamic calendar begins when Muhammad emigrated from Mecca to Medina in 622 CE.
  • Japanese: January 8th will bring in the 1st of the year Heisei 25, which began when Emperor Akihito took the throne in 1989 (year one).
  • Mayan: A new baktun or cycle begins December 22, 2012.
  • Persian (solar Hijri): March 21st, or the 1st of Farvadin, will greet the year 1392 SH. It is determined by the spring equinox. Norouz or Persian new year has been celebrated for at least 3000 years and is rooted in the Zoroastrian tradition. The calendar marked its beginning in agreement with the Islamic calendar based on Muhammad’s emigration from Mecca to Medina (Hegira). Due to the Persian solar adjustment to the Islamic lunar Hijri calendar, the year count between the two calendars has diverged.
  • Thai (Suriyakhati): January 1st will bring in the Buddhist year 2556 of the Thai solar (legal) calendar.

Additional Resources:

Two handy calendar converters:

Readers, we look forward to hearing you tell us about your New Year’s. What greetings do you prefer, and when? How do you celebrate?

Whichever calendar you prefer, the Cultural Detective team wishes you all success, health, and joy!

Partnerships: 5 Tips for Turning Frustration into Innovation

Posted on by
3

181461_10151025619791983_1116995086_nI’ve recently heard from several colleagues and client organizations who are engaged in partnerships designed to harness the strength of complementary skills, experience and thinking. Their purpose is to enter new markets, build the business, and create innovative approaches that can only come from an interdisciplinary approach.

The great thing is that they recognize and have committed to the creative power of diversity! They know that research shows that diversity of thought leads to innovation. The trouble is that each of them has encountered frustration and, in some cases, regret: the partnership is not as easy as they’d hoped, they haven’t found their “sweet spot” of collaboration, new customers are not pounding down their doors. They talk over and past each other, they have differing goals and strategies, they feel their partner lacks respect for them. In short, the very reason they are partnering in the first place — to leverage their complementary expertise — is getting in the way of successful collaboration.

What to do? “Come on, Dianne,” they tell me. “You do this collaboration thing for a living. Give us some tips. What are we doing wrong?” Well, instead, how about starting with what you are doing right?

Tip #1: Remind yourself what motivated you to partner in the first place. What skills, experience, contributions or contacts does your partner bring to the table that you want to access? Have you spent focused time listening and learning from your partner, how they do things, how they see things, discovering what about their perspective is unique and can add value to your own? And vice-versa?

Tip #2: Affirm the strengths you see in your partner. Too often we get caught in a blame game, or we get so busy we don’t take the time we should to actually communicate our hopes and appreciation. We take it for granted that our partners know we value them, and why. Speak up purposefully and let them know!

Tip #3: Be honest about the challenges. Collaborating with partners whose worldview is different from our own means that we have to speak a different language, translate our common sense to theirs. Such efforts can get tiring, even irritating. And, when we don’t understand, or worse, misunderstand what our partners are saying or doing, that impatience and frustration show through. Pretending the challenge isn’t there usually is not the answer; it makes the white elephant in the room grow ever more looming. Rather, put your differences out there, on the table for discussion.

Tip #4: Agree on rules for the game. You have partnered precisely because you are different; you are experts in separate arenas, and of course you do things differently. A successful joint effort needs to bring out the best, rather than the worst, in each of its partners. There is a need, therefore, to talk purposefully about HOW you communicate: how you can disagree without offending, how you can make decisions in which all partners feel heard and valued. Such game rules should be revisited and updated regularly. Ten minutes talking about how we communicate can shoot productivity forward. We’ve all been in meetings where we focused on task and drove one another nuts, getting nowhere.

Tip #5: Diverge then converge. And repeat. Diverge by listening to one another. Converge by summarizing what you heard. Diverge by gathering data, doing research, discussing the matters on which you disagree. Get to the point where the convergence emerges: you see the trends in the data, you get to the heart of the matter — exploring the disagreement leads you to a core truth and a path forward. I can not emphasize this last point enough. In thirty plus years leading international teams, team leaders inevitably come to me saying, “we are never going to get agreement. The team is all over the place.” Experience shows, repeatedly, that if you listen to understand, summarize the key points, a path forward that incorporates the diverse perspectives, skills and experience presents itself. It takes a little faith and a bit of letting go. Then the magic begins.

Bonus Tip #6: Know when to get out. Not all matches are made in heaven; not all collaborations are worth the effort. Do your homework before entering a partnership, and be brave enough to make the call when it’s no longer a fit. Of course, filtering out cultural differences to be sure it’s really not a fit is key. But beating your head against the wall and getting yourself into all sorts of contortions trying to make something work is not good for anyone.

El candidato ideal

Posted on by
2

(English follows the Spanish)

En un mundo cada vez más interconectado y globalizado, las asignaciones internacionales suelen ser más frecuentes para empleados de empresas multinacionales. Dado lo anterior las empresas han dispuesto de grandes esfuerzos y recursos para optimizar su selección del candidato ideal para las vacantes que surjan y poder iniciar el proceso de expatriación (traslado laboral a otro país con beneficios para el empleado y su familia).

Los llamados departamentos de personal o recursos humanos han alineado sus procesos de reclutamiento y selección con el fin de optimizar la búsqueda y el tan ahnelado hallazgo de quien cumple con los requisitos del cargo y adicionalmente sea capaz adaptarse a un entorno que puede ser similar y muy distante del actual.

A priori se consideran el dominio de los idiomas o experiencias previas en otros países y culturas, lo que podríamos denominar un bagaje intercultural. Sin embargo esto no siempre resulta, ni para la empresa ni para el expatriado.

Conozco dos casos contrastantes de primera mano. Los dos llegaron aquí a Bogotá, de dos países diferentes y para dos asignaciones igualmente diferentes.

El primero venía de Europa, de uno de esos países con cultura monosincrónica, bastante rígido con el tiempo y de los que la puntualidad es un tema que no tiene discusión. Había vivido en Estados Unidos y varios lugares de Europa, incluyendo España por lo cual domina el castellano (con el ceceo que decimos los latinos, yo digo que los españoles hablan siempre con ortografía), soltero, sin hijos y sin pareja. Cambiaba de industria, pero su trabajo vincularía a partir del área comercial su país natal y Colombia como puerta de entrada a América Latina. Llegó con lo que los locales consideramos un muy buen salario, un apartamento en una zona lujosa de la ciudad (cerca a su nueva oficina) y todo el apoyo de su empresa para comenzar una nueva sucursal en mi país. Su tiempo estimado de dos a tres años inicialmente.

Por otro lado, tenemos a un hombre que venía de Israel sin hablar una sílaba de español, casado (llegó con dos hijos, hoy ya tiene tres ) quien vino por una asignación puntual de seis meses. Llegó solo y solamente a dirigir un proyecto de infraestructura en la ciudad. Se enfrentó a dirigir cien operarios y, si podemos decir, a golpes comprender por qué la cerveza es parte del presupuesto de muchas familias de estos empleados a su cargo. Tuvo que lidiar temas familiares, de rendimiento del trabajo individual y de grupo. Aprendió de primera fuente cómo era la contratación pública en Colombia.

Dos escenarios totalmente opuestos y con resultados igualmente contrastantes.

El primero a pesar de su buena voluntad, su dominio del idioma… no logró adaptarse a nuestro entorno, cultura e impuntualidad. Cuando hablaba con él recordaba mi propia vivencia cuando en el Caribe me era tan complicado sentirme fluir. Tuve amigos, pasé momentos muy especiales… pero siempre había algo que me decía, no es tu lugar. En fin, así le pasó a este ejecutivo que no completó el primer año de contrato y se regresó a su país. La última vez que nos comunicamos estaba de paso en Singapur, volvió a su anterior industria y por Facebook me entero de sus movimientos alrededor del planeta (Australia, Alemania, Francia, Estados Unidos…) no ha regresado a Colombia, espero que nos podamos volver a encontrar y disfrutar una buena copa juntos.

El segundo ya habla muy bien español, lleva siete años en el país y ahora ha fundado su propia empresa con talento en un 90% colombiano. Su familia vive con él, y su hijo menor nació aquí. A pesar de tantas diferencias entre su cultura y la nuestra, aprendió a nadar en nuestro rio y podría afirmar que se mueve como pez en el agua. Se proyecta como representante de varias empresas de su país en América Latina, y como dijo uno de nuestros políticos alguna vez… es como si dijera “aquí estoy y aquí me quedo”.

A primera vista el primero de los candidatos se perfilaba como el candidato ideal para quedarse (conozco por cierto muchos solteros que llegan, se casan y se quedan en mi país gracias a la buena fama de las mujeres), pero no fue así y el que parecía que no se quedaría más allá de su asignación regresó a su país por su familia para traerla consigo y quedarse indefinidamente.

No dudo que los departamentos de personal o recursos humanos asociados a cada uno de estos casos y sus esferzos de “relocation” fueron minuciosos, estudiados y abordados con profunda seriedad y profesionalismo. Pienso que a veces, el paso adicional nos corresponde a los que aplicamos y ser muy honestos con nosotros mismos y en la evaluación previa de las nuevas condiciones de vida.

Nuestro desafío desde el punto de vista intercultural es brindar las herramientas adicionales que permitan tomar la decisión más acertada según las condiciones disponibles y hacer el acompañamiento de entrenamiento para su nuevo destino desde el punto de vista de la vida diaria, cultura de negocios, la vida para el empleado y su familia, entre muchos otros.

Debemos entender que no es ni bueno ni malo sentirnos o no a gusto en otro lugar (país, región, entorno). Sin embargo sí debemos conocer lo que más nos impacta (a nosotros y cuando aplique nuestras familias) y por ende identificar en qué lugar nos podemos trasladar para cumplir con el trabajo y además llevar una vida a gusto con nuestra familia.

—

The Ideal Candidate

By Maryori Vivas, translated by Dianne Hofner Saphiere

In a world that is increasingly interconnected and globalized, international assignments seem ever more frequent for employees of multinational companies. Given the above, firms have invested great efforts and resources to optimize their selection of ideal candidates to fill job vacancies and to be able to initiate the expatriation process (job transfer to another country with benefits for the employee and family).

Personnel and human resource departments have aligned their recruitment and selection processes to optimize the search for those who meet the requirements of the position and who are also capable of adapting to an environment that can be at the same time very similar and very different from their home environment.

It’s considered logical that a successful candidate would have mastery of the new language or previous experience living abroad, but that is not always the case.

I have firsthand knowledge of two contrasting cases. Both transferees arrived here in Bogotá from different countries and for two very different job assignments.

The first person came from Europe, from one of those countries with a monochronic culture, fairly rigid about time, with the belief that punctuality is not a matter for debate. He had lived in North America and various places around Europe, including Spain, and for that reason spoke Castilian well (with the lisp about which Latinos say, “Spaniards always speak with good spelling”). He was single, had no children and no partner. He had changed industries, and his new job involved commercially linking his birth country with Colombia as a gateway to Latin America. The position came with what locals would consider a very good salary, an apartment in an upscale area of the city (near his new office), and the full support of the company to start a new branch in my country. His assignment was estimated to be two to three years, initially.

The contrasting case was a man from Israel, who arrived without speaking even a syllable of Spanish, married (when he arrived he had two children, and today has three), who came for a short-term, six-month assignment. He arrived alone with the single objective of directing an infrastructure project in the city. He needed to manage one hundred operators and, if I might say so, via the school of hard knocks he learned to understand why beer is part of the family budgets of so many of those he supervised. He was thrown into managing employee family issues, individual performance issues, as well as group dynamics. He learned firsthand about public contracting in Colombia.

These were two scenarios that were totally opposite and with results that were equally different.

The first gentleman, despite his goodwill and language skills, failed to adapt himself to our environment, the culture and the tardiness. When I spoke with him I was reminded of my own experience living in the Caribbean, where I found it so complicated to get in the flow of things. I had friends, I had some very special moments, but always there was something telling me, “this is not your place.” In the end, what happened is that this executive returned home before even completing the first year of his multi-year contract. The last time I was in touch with him he was passing through Singapore. He had returned to the previous industry in which he had worked, and I found out via Facebook about his travels all over the world (Australia, Germany, France, USA). He has not returned to Colombia, though I hope we can meet up again some day and enjoy a good drink together.

The second gentleman now speaks Spanish very well. He has spent seven years in country and has now founded his own company with 90% Colombian talent. His family lives with him, and his youngest son was born here. Despite so many differences between his culture and ours, he learned to swim in our river and I can affirm that he moves here like a fish in water. He acts as a Latin American representative for several companies from his country, and as one of our politicians once said, it’s as if he said, “I am here and here I’ll remain.”

At initial glance the first candidate seemed to have the ideal profile for a long-term stay (I definitely know many bachelors who arrive, marry and stay in my country thanks to the good fame of our women), but it was not to be. The one who it would have seemed would not remain beyond a short initial assignment ended up returning to his country to collect his family and bring them back with him to stay here indefinitely.

I have no doubt that the personnel and human resource departments associated with each of these cases engaged in thorough and studied relocation efforts, discussing them with deep seriousness and professionalism. I think that at times, however, the extra step needed is for those of us who apply for overseas assignment to be very honest with ourselves about our life conditions, needs and desires.

Our challenge from an intercultural perspective is to provide additional tools that allow people to make the right decisions according to current realities, and to accompany that with training on daily life, business culture, and personal and social life for the employee and family in the new destination.

We must understand that feeling at home or not in another place (country, region, environment) is not in and of itself good or bad. The key is that we need to know ourselves and our families, what most affects us, and thus be able to discern where we can move in order to conduct our work and maintain a comfortable life with our families.

 

Many Thanks to All of You!

Posted on by
3

The Cultural Detective team is very grateful to all of you in this community for the terrific work you do to help make our world a more inclusive, respectful, equitable, sustainable and collaborative place.

Today is Thanksgiving Day in the United States, and while our team members are based all over the world and the holiday isn’t celebrated here in Mexico where I live, it seems a good occasion on which to formally thank you all for accompanying us on this journey!

We wish you energy, clarity, wisdom and joy as you pursue our shared yet often challenging goals.

Subh Diwali!

Posted on by
Reply

Happy Diwali, everyone! The beautiful Festival of Lights is held this year November 13-17.

Diwali celebrates the victory of good over evil and light over darkness. It has major religious significance for Hindus, Sikhs and Jains, and is celebrated not only in India but by Indians living around the world. Want to learn more?

Respect for All Spiritual Traditions

Posted on by
15

Our belief systems, particularly our spiritual beliefs and traditions, are increasingly important dimensions of culture. We must be able to bridge religious and spiritual differences if we are to live together in a collaborative, inclusive, respectful world. Yet this dimension is far too often overlooked and shortchanged in the intercultural literature.

Today, in this blog post, I offer up a few quotes that speak to me about this topic. It is my hope that taking a few moments to reflect might help each of us better do our part to promote inter-religious understanding.

We are fortunate that so many schools of divinity, congregations, spiritual communities and ecumenical groups use Cultural Detective to promote tolerance, understanding and respect. I’d welcome hearing from any of you about the efforts in which you’re engaged. Please, also, share with us quotes on this topic that speak to you.

—

“Impiety: Your irreverance toward my deity.”
—Ambrose Bierce

“When political conflict is religionized, it is absolutized.”
—Jonathan Saks

“Once you attempt legislation upon religious grounds, you open the way for every kind of intolerance and religious persecution.”
—William Butler Yeats

“So many Gods, so many creeds; so many paths that wind and wind; when just the art of being kind is all this sad world needs.”
—Ella Wheeler Wilcox

The joke (instead of a proverb) in Cultural Detective Jewish Culture that illustrates the value of “group solidarity” (CLASSIC cross-cultural miscommunication; enjoy!):

Several centuries ago, the Pope decreed that all Jews had to convert to Catholicism or leave Italy. There was a huge outcry from the Jewish community, so the Pope offered a deal. He’d have a religious debate with the leader of the Jewish community. If the Jews won, they could stay in Italy; if the Pope won, they’d have to convert or leave.

The Jewish people met and picked an aged and wise rabbi to represent them in the debate. However, as the Rabbi spoke no Italian, and the Pope spoke no Yiddish, they agreed that it would be a ‘silent’ debate.

On the chosen day the Pope and Rabbi sat opposite each other.

The Pope raised his hand and showed three fingers.
The Rabbi looked back and raised one finger.

Next, the Pope waved his finger around his head.
The Rabbi pointed to the ground where he sat.

The Pope brought out a communion wafer and a chalice of wine.
The Rabbi pulled out an apple.

With that, the Pope stood up and declared himself beaten, saying that the Rabbi was too clever. The Jews could stay in Italy.

Later the cardinals met with the Pope and asked him what had happened. The Pope said, ‘First I held up three fingers to represent the Trinity. He responded by holding up a single finger to remind me there is still only One God common to both our beliefs. Then I waved my finger around my head to show him that God was all around us. He responded by pointing to the ground to show that God was also right here with us. I pulled out the wine and wafer to show that God absolves us of all our sins. He pulled out an apple to remind me of the original sin. He bested me at every move, and I could not continue.’

Meanwhile, the Jewish community gathered to ask the Rabbi how he’d won. ‘I haven’t a clue,’ the Rabbi said. ‘First, he told me that we had three days to get out of Italy, so I gave him the finger. Then he told me that the whole country would be cleared of Jews and I told him that we were staying right here.’
‘And then what?’ asked a woman.
‘Who knows?’ said the Rabbi. ‘He took out his lunch so I took out mine.”

Want to Get Interculturally “Fit”?

Posted on by
3


The image above is part of the “Got Milk?” ad campaign; the copyrights belong to their owners. We reproduce the image here to equate the ideas “Got milk?” and “Got intercultural competence?”

Got intercultural competence? Want to get interculturally “fit”?

Do you want to improve the success of your international negotiations? Mergers and acquisitions? Want to get more productivity and even joy out of your virtual teams and projects? How about jump starting the outcomes of study abroad and international education?

Intercultural competence is not something you attend a workshop about and then check it off your list. Just as physical fitness requires ongoing activity, practice, commitment and discipline, so does the development of intercultural competence. You do not become physically fit by exercising and eating right one week out of 52. Nor do you become interculturally competent merely by having lived abroad or having earned road warrior status or flight rewards. Intercultural competence requires that we take the time and focused reflection to make meaning of our experience, to apply it, and then to keep refining and upgrading it.

Physical and intercultural fitness both require ongoing, structured practice. Discipline. We can’t be physically fit if we don’t exercise and move our bodies regularly. We can’t be interculturally fit if we don’t regularly reflect on our own values and behavior, that of others, and on our skills and strategies for bridging similarities and differences and making the most of diversity by creating inclusive spaces.

Terrific. So you’re committed to the journey. You want to get started. How? Well, to become physically fit you might start monitoring what you eat. You might join a gym, or commit to an exercise program. Similarly, to develop intercultural competence you could subscribe to Cultural Detective Online. You start a structured exercise program or join a gym of intercultural competence. At less than $100/year, a subscription is definitely cheaper than most gyms!

But, as we all know, joining the gym does not give us physical fitness. We have to actually GO TO the gym! We have to actually get out of the lounge chair and move our bodies, regularly and repeatedly!  So, we promise ourselves to spend an hour or two a week for the next three to six months, going into Cultural Detective Online to reflect on our experiences, dialogue with our teammates, learn about ourselves and others, upload and debrief stories from our daily lives. Perhaps we form a group of like-minded friends and colleagues, to support and encourage one another. And, as we practice, we find we enjoy it! We come to crave it! We start to look forward to the learning and insight! The cycle feeds itself, propels itself forward; each step towards intercultural fitness encourages us on to the next.

Finally, just as on our journey to improved physical fitness we might consult a nutritionist, dietician, personal trainer or coach, once we are committed to developing intercultural competence we may find it helpful to hire a personal trainer or coach. You have access to many talented professionals via the Cultural Detective authoring team, the list of certified facilitators, and the SIETAR (Society for Intercultural Education, Training and Research) chapters worldwide (list of chapters with links is at lower left of the linked page), as well as various coaching associations. There are more and more classes taught worldwide that incorporate the Cultural Detective Method and CD Online. We very much encourage you to take advantage of these resources.

We would love to hear from you about your intercultural fitness regime! Please share with us so that we might learn from and be encouraged by your progress!

More Cultural Appropriation: The Swastika

Posted on by
22

The story we published recently about cultural appropriation reminded me of one of my favorite incidents in our series. It resides in the Cultural Detective Global Business Ethics package, and involves a corporate newsletter publishing photos from the office in India. One photo, taken at a temple, shows a swastika.

Outraged, an anonymous writer emails the newsletter editor to complain about a lack of cultural sensitivity, a lack of commitment to diversity and inclusion. The newsletter editor is crestfallen; the comment saps all his energy. It is exactly his commitment to inclusion and diversity that has motivated him to include posts from offices worldwide! How much harder can he try?

The swastika is sadly a symbol of genocide and the Holocaust for many; something to be reviled. There was an unsuccessful effort to ban the use of the swastika in the European Union. Seeing this symbol can bring forth indescribable pain and outrage for many people.

Swastika is a Sanskrit word, a religious symbol of good fortune used by Hindus, Buddhists, Jains and others worldwide. It can be seen in the art of the Egyptians, Romans, Greeks, Celts, Native Americans, and Persians as well.

To me, the swastika is one of the world’s most horrifying misappropriations of a cultural symbol! I’d welcome hearing from anyone who knows the history of Hitler’s and the Nazis’ appropriation of this symbol.

It is important for us to understand both of these very different realities. To some, the swastika symbolizes genocide and hate. To others it symbolizes beauty, the steps of Buddha. Does this therefore mean we should not use it? That we should? Can we transform its use through ongoing learning and dialogue?

Back to the incident, learning to make the most of learning opportunities such as these, to encourage cultures (organizations, communities) in which people listen to, respect and collaborate with one another, is what Cultural Detective is all about. Thank you all for joining us in this mission!

Me han dicho un dicho…

Posted on by
Reply


“Mom, what does that proverb mean, ‘he who doesn’t run flies’?”
“I don’t know. I never understood it.”

(English follows Spanish)

Nada refleja con tanta precisión la sabiduría popular como los dichos y refranes. Una herramienta a la que acudimos de manera natural y nos ha sido heredada básicamente por tradición oral. Son también los refranes una reflexión propia y tal vez inconsciente de muchos de nuestros patrones culturales y por qué no, un paso elemental en la construcción de nuestro propio camino hacia la inteligencia cultural.

La inteligencia cultural es definida por Thomas & Inkson como la capacidad de interactuar de manera efectiva con personas de diferentes antecedentes culturales, una competencia múltiple que consiste en el conocimiento cultural, la práctica de atender (podría añadir la aprehensión mental del conocimiento adquirido) y una serie de habilidades en el comportamiento.

Y entonces, ¿qué tienen que ver los refranes con toda esta teoría? Yo insisto que mucho, pues son una guía de origen popular que nos orientan en conocimiento, aprehensión del conocimiento y por supuesto el comportamiento. Veamos algunos.

  1. No todos los dedos de la mano son iguales. Por supuesto, todos lo hemos visto y sabemos que cada uno difiere en tamaño y funcionalidad. Nos dice brevemente que somos diferentes e iguales a la vez, todos son parte de una mano (unidad) pero todos son diferentes (diversidad) y conviven armónicamente, se necesitan mutuamente. Una mano sin dedos no es mano, y una mano que no tenga cinco dedos no funciona bien. Por cierto, ¿recuerdan el gringo chévere? pues me encontré el anti-chévere en la misma empresa. Definitivamente, no todos los dedos de la mano son iguales.
  2. A la tierra que fueres haz lo que vieres. Nada más cierto. Cuando nos enfrentamos a un nuevo entorno (corporativo, geográfico), nos enfrentamos a muchos comportamientos que tal vez nos sean ajenos. Hacer los que vemos, no se limita a imitar sino promueve la adaptación de nuestro comportamiento al nuevo lugar. Detrás de este cambio por supuesto debe estar el conocimiento (el por qué) y la aprehensión mental del mismo (entendimiento). Si se cuenta con estos dos últimos, muy seguramente “hacer lo que vemos” no será motivo de choques culturales.
  3. Cría fama y échate a la cama. Cuántas veces no somos relacionados por buena o mala fama que nos corresponde. Los latinos tenemos fama de impuntuales, y también de alegres. Esto corresponde a los estereotipos, que si bien son reales y ciertos, también lo es el hecho que basarnos sólo en estos puede llevarnos a juicios y malentendidos que generen choques personales, culturales y sociales.
  4. De tal palo … Tal astilla. Somos herederos de genotipos y fenotipos que determinan nuestra apariencia física, pero también heredamos comportamientos, valores, creencias que nos hacen parecer (la gran mayoría de veces) a nuestras familias (padre, madre, hermanos, abuelos, etc). Sin duda alguna heredamos patrones culturales, que se modifican únicamente con la determinación de aprender nuevas habilidades, de interactuar con entornos diferentes a los de nuestra infancia y sin embargo, muchas de nuestra formación de casa permanece para toda la vida, ya saben hijo de tigre sale pintado.

Y los anteriores son tan sólo un ejemplo de tantos que hay en cada lugar, por esto todos los paquetes Cultural Detective contienen refranes/dichos de cada cultura. Le invito a que piense en sus refranes más recurrentes y que descubra cómo se relaciona con lo que podría describir como su cultura. Le invito además a que publique los que quiera compartir y nos comente cómo estos refranes se relacionan con los temas que tratamos diferentes autores en este blog.

Amanecerá y veremos…

—

They have told me a saying…

(translated by Dianne Hofner Saphiere)

Nothing reflects popular wisdom with as much precision as do proverbs and sayings. Proverbs are tools that we come by naturally and that we basically inherit through oral tradition. Proverbs are a reflection of ourselves and our often unconscious cultural patterns. They can also serve as a key step in our own path towards cultural intelligence.

Cultural intelligence is defined by Thomas & Inkson as the capability to deal effectively with people from different cultural backgrounds. It is a multifaceted competency consisting of cultural knowledge, the practice of mindfulness, and a repertoire of behavioral skills.

But what do proverbs have to do with all this theory? In my opinion a lot; they are a popularly originated guide to knowledge, to recognition of our knowledge, and to behavior. Let’s look at a few.

  1. Not all fingers on a hand are equal. Of course we all know that each finger is different in size and function. This brief saying tells us that we are all different and yet all the same. We are all part of one hand (unity) and each of us is unique (diversity). Unity and diversity live together in harmony and mutual necessity. A hand without fingers is not a hand; a hand without five fingers doesn’t function well. Do you remember, “El gringo chévere/The cool gringo”? Well, I met the anti-cool-gringo in that same organization. Definitely not all the fingers of a hand are equal!
  2. When in Rome do as the Romans do. Nothing could be truer. When we find ourselves in new places (corporations, geographies), we may be faced with many behaviors that seem strange. When we see differences, do we mimic the behavior we see, or do we truly try to adapt our behavior to the new place? Underneath any effective adjustment must be knowledge (the why) and mental comprehension (understanding). If we remain conscious of these two things, “doing as we see” will not cause cultural bumps.
  3. Breed fame and throw yourself into bed. How many times are we prematurely judged? We Latinos are famous for our unpunctuality, as well as for being happy. These are stereotypes. While they have some sense of reality and truth, basing our actions only on these perceptions will cause judgments and misunderstandings that lead to interpersonal, cultural and social miscommunication.
  4. Like father, like son. We are heirs of genotypes and phenotypes that determine not only our physical appearance but also our attitudes, values and the beliefs that (usually) make us part of our families. Without doubt we inherit cultural patterns that we modify only with the determination to learn new skills, to interact with environments different from those of our childhood. Even so, many of our formative experiences in the home follow us throughout our entire lives. As they also say, “the son of a tiger comes out with stripes.”

These proverbs are just a few examples out of many that exist in each place. That’s why every Cultural Detective package includes sayings and proverbs of each culture. I invite you to think about the proverbs you hear most frequently, and to reflect on how they relate to what you might describe as your culture. I invite you also to share with us some of those proverbs, and explain how they relate to the themes taken up by the various authors of this  blog.

I look forward to hearing from you…