Towards Intercultural Understanding

An individual's ability to forge effective relationships across cultures is influenced by a very personal and highly complex mixture of emotional and cognitive processes. Anyone contemplating an overseas posting feels apprehensive about stepping into the unknown. The mere knowledge that we are leaving our own cultural comfort zone can trigger all sorts of subconscious defensive tactics that can make it difficult to operate effectively the new environment.

The widely known work of Milton Bennett helps to elucidate the process of adaptation to a new culture. In his work, Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity, 1993, he describes six main stages in the development of intercultural sensitivity:

1. denial
2. defensiveness
3. minimization
4. acceptance
5. adaptation
6. integration

I want to revisit these six stages and discuss them as they relate to the potential problems of people working in intercultural environments.

The denial stage refers to an individual's inability to even notice cultural differences. I witnessed this once when a middle-aged Saudi man studying in the UK complained to me that his English teacher was treating him like a 'donkey'. I was very puzzled by this because I knew the teacher concerned was very polite with the students and showed great respect to those who were older. After some ferreting around I discovered that the teacher was in the habit of saying 'sh' when the students were talking too much. Apparently such a noise is used for donkeys in Saudi Arabia. Why, I wondered, had the Saudi man not noticed that the streets of London were free entirely of donkeys?

Looking at the incident now, I can see that he was clinging to his own cultural norms like a life raft in the uncertain seas he was currently experiencing: a world where young women were allowed to teach older men, where his host family did not have a separate part of the house for the women and children, where he couldn't eat freely because even pastry for a dessert might contain pork fat . He was totally disoriented and could not tell if he was being insulted or not. He had gone into a kind of cultural default mode.

I fell into the denial trap myself too. In my first experience of working in France, I blithely scheduled the period immediately after noon to make local telephone calls, just as I used to do in London, where lunch was often just a quick sandwich break at around 1pm. In a Homer Simpson-like moment of recognition, it dawned on me that this was the sacred French lunch break and, of course, nobody was ever in their office. I had tried to salvage a little of my old, familiar routine in order to feel more comfortable with the working day and was in denial about this great French tradition. I really didn't want to see that the French could abandon between two or three hours in the middle of the day to non-work activity.

The point here is that it's not sufficient to know about differences on an abstract level, we need to experience them to recognize them, and this transitional period takes time. But it also requires a willingness 'to see'. If we feel more secure by keeping on the blinkers we will never be able to accept or be accepted in the new environment.

The defensive stage occurs after such recognition and is a reflection of just how disturbing it is when we see how alien the host culture is. We need to cling to a concept of what is normal and so we perceive the new culture as skewed. Our own way of doing things is automatically better and right. And it is often counter intuitive. I confess again. I was in the habit of treating my French secretary as an equal. I would ask her so politely to do things 'if she had time', if she wouldn't mind'. She did nothing. In France, you give a subordinate an order otherwise it is not interpreted as requiring action. I resisted this for ages. How abrupt, how rude, I thought. How much more civilized to be egalitarian and indirect like the British.

Clearly this position is going to cause difficulty if it results in confrontations between us and our co-workers. As the outsider, we will be seen as arrogant at best, perhaps stupid and naïve at worst, and people will sense that we do not respect or trust their way of doing things. Yet even so, this stage is a step forward. We do at least know that the differences exist and we now need to build bridges so that we look for what works best in the given situation.

The stage of minimization can be seen as a means of overcoming our defensiveness. In order to cope with the differences, we try to minimize their significance and concentrate instead on the common values and needs that humanity shares. While this stage is likely to see us developing tolerance of diversity, it may also mean that we fail to recognize the importance of cultural difference. Cultural identity is deeply embedded in our psyches and, however much we have similar fundamental needs, we also have crucial differences that make each of us unique. In the shifting balance of cultural awareness, we may need at this stage to think more deeply about our own cultural norms so as to be able to compare them with the culture we are in and reaffirm the significance of each.

A very simple example of this was how I had to overcome my attempts to make my French neighbours and friends participate in stand-up, buffet-style lunches. Oh yes, in France many of the differences concern attitudes to food. It wasn't sufficient just to put on a good spread and supply some fine wine in the hope that people would walk around with a plate and glass in their hands-the French take food seriously and they want everyone to be seated and to pay proper respect to a meal. Difficult, yes, if you're a bit short of chairs and you really want people to mingle, but in the end, you can't beat them.

When we can truly accept cultural difference we no longer judge different behaviour patterns as better or worse than our own, but realize that differences are an inherent feature of our complex world. We understand that other people have good reasons for their behaviour, even if we don't like the way they do things. At this stage we are also ready to see that our own behaviour will seem strange to some groups too. Acceptance is the phase when we also begin to see the advantages of difference. We can broaden our perspectives, deepen our understanding so as to move to the stage of adaptation.

By adapting to the new culture we can start to see things from a different point of view. No longer do we stand outside and look in. We now realize that there are many ways of operating, and that no single solution exists to a problem. We have reached a stage when we can build useful bridges between groups to help resolve conflicts and difficulties. We can start thinking more creatively and genuinely forge new behaviours that both parties across a cultural divide can accept.

At all stages of developing intercultural understanding we can meet obstacles. At the point of adaptation we can fall into a sense of real cultural confusion. If we operate equally well in more than one culture, we may have sense of cultural confusion and identity crisis. This is seen often in second generation immigrants who have been brought up in two cultures but don't feel fully integrated into either.

If we can successfully take the process of adaptation even further, we can integrate fully into another culture, still moving easily between cultures without losing our own sense of identity. Yet even cultural integration, a stage that is probably not necessary for most people who work internationally rather than settle permanently, is not without its difficulties-others may be suspicious of us, fearing that we don't really have an allegiance to any one culture. A British politician once famously raised the question of British immigrants: yes, they are British but which cricket team so they support?

Embarking on an overseas posting is both exciting and daunting but companies need to be aware of these learning stages and their complexity. They need to give people sufficient time to work through each phase and, of course, equip them with adequate knowledge to raise their awareness of the pitfalls before they leave. The stakes are high. Failure to handle the intercultural issues properly can lead to major breakdowns in communication with resulting deterioration in performance.

Brenda Townsend Hall is a writer and trainer in the fields of communications and cross-cultural awareness. She is an associate member of the ITAP International Alliance (http://www.itapintl.com) and is soon to launch a website: http://www.euroconsulting.co.uk/

---

Three Ways to Transmit Loud and Clear

The heart of a fool is in his mouth, but... Read More

Why Free Agent Thinking Is Good For Your Company

It's no secret! Day after day the news is riddled... Read More

Action Learning: Its More Than OJT

For centuries companies have used on-the-job training (OJT). OJT works... Read More

Management & Leadership - Doing it right in the 21st Century

The Old Way ? Command and ControlAlthough workplaces and management... Read More

Twitch Speed: Reaching Younger Workers Who Think Differently

Every parent, educator, and manager knows that "Nintendo children"--those born... Read More

Saying One Thing, Doing Another...

This week I was asked to speak at an internal... Read More

Why Employees Are the Best Source of Cost-cutting Ideas

Cost cutting has become a necessary and important reality in... Read More

Executive ESP: A Pathway to Success!

We all have psychic abilities that we use daily, although... Read More

Bullying and the Not for Profit Organisation

Where there is people there is politics! Bullying is now... Read More

The Top 10 Requirements for Your Business to Become and Remain Profitable

We live in a relentlessly competitive world. The daily pressure... Read More

The Diamond Cutter

Geshe Michael Roach is a Princeton graduate and a Buddhist... Read More

Why You Should Hold One More Meeting

If you are completely happy with where you and your... Read More

6 Steps to Effective Communication

Effective leaders are known for being excellent communicators. Here's what... Read More

Reducing the High Cost of Absenteeism

Employers pay a high price for absenteeism, often more than... Read More

The DNA of Motivation

It really is about motivation. After all, what impels someone... Read More

Three Professional Services Resolutions for 2005

With client expectations higher than ever before, and the gradual... Read More

How Businesses Can Stop Wallowing in Bad Debt and Prevent It in the Future

"Become the Squeaky Wheel", a new book just published, explains... Read More

What Consultants Want You to Know (But You Never Ask)

I've been both a CEO and a consultant, so I've... Read More

Dividing The Loot

It is when the going gets better, that the going... Read More

Small Business Checking Accounts

ACCOUNTING AND BILLINGCHECK BOOKSWe recommend that you maintain a business... Read More

Future Business Success - What Does Good Look Like?

When you know you need to shift up a gear,... Read More

Preventative Maintenance of Company Delivery Vehicles

If you have company delivery vehicles at your small or... Read More

People Are Our Most Important Asset!

How many times have you heard or uttered this phrase... Read More

Climb out of the Box - How to Hold Effective Meetings

Out of the box thinking is a popular fad today.... Read More

How to Keep a Good Employee: Look, Listen, Learn

Recently a client told me a wonderful story about how... Read More

The Measurement of Manager Training

THE MEASUREMENT OF TRAINING: Evaluation is one of the most... Read More

10 Ways To Work Through A Business Slowdown

In running any kind of business, it's inevitable that sometimes... Read More

New Leadership For A New War

Military analysts call this "asymmetrical" war (as if war has... Read More

Is ISO 9001 2000 Right For My Business?

Firstly you should decide your own reasoning behind considering ISO... Read More

How To Use W Edwards Deming

Human beings and the way they interact are extraordinarily Complex.... Read More

Increase In-House Nursing Homes Collections

The following nursing home collections report outlines 11 guidelines you... Read More

Innovation, Idea Selection, Valuation

There is no sure fire route to commercial success, but... Read More

Creativity and Innovation Management ? Personality Testing

Whilst tests measuring the creative or innovative personality exist, there... Read More