Cross Cultural Communication

Cross cultural communication has been happening since our inception.

It is a culmination of our belief system, our environment, our friends, our race, our religion. All of these factor play a part in how well or how poorly we communicate with others. Since every single one of us contains traits from not just one culture but many cultures that touch each one of these factors. It is therefore wise to note that cross culture communications is what has shaped the past and what will shape the future of society.

Enabling cross cultural communications allows us to broaden our perspectives of everything.

It opens our minds to new ways of thinking that might not have been visible before. Other cultures handle things sometimes very different than we are used to. This can potentially turn a "that's the way it has always been done" moment into a completely new solution. One of the key factors to cross cultural communications is having an open minded approach to situations rather than taking things at face value.

Another major factor that can be helpful to cross cultural communications is being non-judgmental.

Judging people is what we inadvertently do from time to time. We tend to put people into groups or classes based on our limited knowledge and understanding of other cultures. This in turn hinders cross cultural communications at its core. This is the precursor to prejudice.

There are essentially six fundamental patterns of cultural differences that need to be addressed:

1. Different Communication Styles - this is the way people communicate with each other based on what part of the world they grew up in or their ethnic background. This is how one word can have multiple meanings and depending on the context of the conversation could be taken the wrong way or offensive.
2. Different Attitudes Toward Conflict - what we have also touched on in our text book (Goldsmith, Cloke, p. 48). Dealing with conflict directly instead of trying to sidestep. Being able to understand that not all cultures deal with conflict and conflict resolution the same.
3. Different Approaches to Completing Tasks - There is always more than one way to do something. Be able to recognize the variant ways that people are able to figure out complex problems and apply diverse solutions that all lead to the desired outcome. This is a key element to cross cultural communication, even within our own family lives.
4. Different Decision-Making Styles - Decision-making is looked at differently across the globe. Some like to make all the decisions and leave nothing to the subordinates. Some like to delegate some of the decision-making to their peers and subordinates. Some countries take a vote on important issues in order to get a consensus of the group. Be aware of these cultural differences when making decisions.
5. Different Attitudes Toward Disclosure - You don't have to go too far to find mixed opinions on whether or not it is a good idea to divulge certain information. This in itself can cause an upheaval in some situations. Prying into or openly discussing someones personal information is not always the best practice. It is better to feel out the situation to know what is appropriate and what is not.
6. Different Approaches to Knowing - Knowledge comes in many forms and as of late it is readily available at a moments notice from virtually anywhere. This does not stop people from wanting to acquire knowledge the old fashioned way through personal contact or mentoring. Just because there is an easy way to get information and knowledge needed doesn't mean that is the best way to gain this knowledge. Everyone has their own learning style and what works for some might not work for others. (DuPraw, Axner, www.pbs.org/ampu/crossscult.html)

Secrets of their success

In a 2008 interview Malcolm Gladwell, author of Outliers, was asked about what makes people successful why success is not born from nothing. His explanation was that success comes from our cultural surroundings. We should not look at the successful person in order to find out how to be successful but rather at their surroundings and the opportunities they were given. The gifts that they were allotted. The success comes from generations prior who laid the foundations. This can be seen in modern Asian countries where, when pitted against European or American kids, the success rate for math testing is much higher because they are rewarded for being persistent and solving the difficult problem even if it takes them a longer time than most. They do not give up after 30 or 40 seconds or even a few minutes. They will work the problem until they finish it or until it is taken away. So what does this all have to do with cross cultural conflict. That same Asian flair also caused some serious problems in the early 90's when more and more Korean Air planes were crashing. More planes were crashing than any other airline and Boeing was hunting franticly to find out the cause. The reason was not mechanical but rather a cultural conflict. Koreans have a more hierarchical structure in their culture as opposed to our more lateral structure in the US. The planes were designed so that two equals could fly one plane (a pilot and a co-pilot). If the pilot made a mistake the co-pilot was not going to correct him out of sheer respect. This ends up being a fatal misunderstanding. Once Boeing and Korean Air figured this out they were able to correct the problem. (Reingold, 2008, money.cnn.com/2008/11/11/news/companies/secretsofsuccess_gladwell.fortune/index.htm)

Finding a way through the cultural jungle - About CultureGPS - A global positioning system to navigate through intercultural differences based on the 5-D model of Professor Geert Hofstede. (www.culturegps.com/about.html)