Navigating New Worlds: A 3-Part Exploration of Culture Shock

Posted on 9. April 20246. September 2024 by Tania Pellegrini

Part 1: Travelling to unknown spheres

I worked in South Korea from 2000 to 2002 and I recall my first meetings with Koreans. I would walk into a meeting room and be introduced to the most senior person in the room. He would greet me and then his very first question was, “How old are you?” I tried to hide the shock and hide my confusion by giggling and I then briefly told him my age. His next question was, “Are you married?” At that point I burst out laughing in sheer embarrassment.

My #unconsciousbias started insulting this man I had just been introduced to. My insults were all kept inside my brain of course, but I was livid with anger, “You’re such a condescending misogynist!” How dare you ask me such unprofessional questions at a business meeting! I expect you’ll be asking me for my hotel room number next!”

Unconscious bias can arise when individuals unconsciously apply their own cultural norms and expectations to interpret the actions and behaviours of others. In my case, my initial reaction to the businessman’s questions reflected a bias rooted in my Western cultural perspective, which led to feelings of insult and indignation.

Culture clash and cognitive diversity

Before travelling to Korea I had done some reading about #koreanbusinessculture, plus the company I was working for had offered some training on the topic. But somehow, I was not prepared for those questions. The cultural clash in this situation was related to our cognitive diversity. Cognitive diversity in a team is related to differences in thinking, communication styles and cultural values.

I soon found out that the gentleman I was speaking to was behaving in a very professional manner. Our diversity here laid in the differences between his quite hierarchical upbringing compared to my egalitarian upbringing and experiences to date. The Korean person wanted to know where I fit in the social ladder of the group of people being introduced to him so he could address me with the proper level of respect.

Patrick Lencioni identifies the absence of trust as the primary dysfunction of teamwork. In cognitive diverse teams trust can be difficult to build initially because of varying ways of communicating.

The need for cultural intelligence

#Culturalintelligence, or the ability to adapt in culturally diverse environments, is essential in navigating encounters with cognitive diverse individuals. By understanding and appreciating different cognitive styles and cultural norms, individuals can mitigate the negative effects of #cultureshock and foster more productive interactions.

Culture Shock can occur, not only when we are working with cognitive diverse people, but also when we join a new organisation that has a very different culture to the previous organisation we worked for. We’ll look at that tomorrow in the second part of our Culture Shock mini-series. In part three later this week we’ll look at the symptoms of culture shock and how to work your way out of it.

What are your personal experiences with Culture Shock?

To read parts 2 and 3 of this post click on the page numbers below.

Pages: 1 2 3

Team Dynamics: Lessons from a Marathon Journey

Posted on 8. February 202427. February 2024 by Tania Pellegrini

Three months ago, I ran my first ever (and likely last ever) full marathon. I’m surprised that what I considered to be such an individual sport taught me so much about team dynamics. The ten months training journey, and the race itself, provided unexpected insights that can be easily be applied to a team setting in a professional organisation. It demonstrated the importance of transparency in goal setting with the whole team, collaboration in difficult times, celebrating achievements as a group and opening up to discuss your fears and apprehensions rather than keeping them locked up inside. Let’s look at each of these considering how they influence a positive team culture.

Setting Goals and Planning with the Team

My New Year’s resolution in January 2023 was to run a marathon. I have been running my entire life, more or less. However, during COVID I injured my knee and most of the medics I visited told me to forget about running and find a different sport to engage in.

You’re probably thinking here that’s what inspired me. Maybe it did eventually, but initially it devastated me. I spent weeks crying and feeling sorry for myself. My identity has always been keenly attached to being an athlete. Not being able to run, was a form of losing my identity. Which many of us know can be frightful.

So after two years of not running, I decided the time had come to prove to myself that I was capable of running the 42km marathon. I had been working in the gym to strengthen my leg muscles to support my knee, and I’d been seeing a physiotherapist just about every week.

It was time to set clear goals and objectives, as you would with any project team. I watched zillions of YouTube videos, read several books and listened to some very boring podcasts, on how to approach running a marathon. I realised that the first thing I needed to do was set realistic goals and a milestones. However, not on my own, ideally with the full team of people surrounding and supporting me.

Setting milestones for positive team dynamics

I chose a marathon that fell on my birthday, in November, which gave me about 10 months to prepare for. I decided to run the Nice to Cannes marathon along the sunny southern coast of France. It was a birthday present to myself.

I had two major milestones to reach before really engaging in heavy training. A 10km run in February and a half-marathon in April. Once the half-marathon was complete, I had an idea of what time I could run in 21 km. This was the basis for setting a marathon pace and therefore a training pace. I felt ready and purchased a 16-week training plan for the marathon preparation.

Throughout the entire journey, I had three main team members. The team dynamics revolved mostly around these three people. I had been working very closely with a physiotherapist since the knee injury. Once I decided that I was ready to start training for the marathon, we discussed the best way to reach our objectives. Obviously without injuring myself again. We discussed the best approach all round. Without him, I could not have made it past the first month of training. As soon as I ached somewhere, he “fixed” me and ensured I didn’t lose morale or sight of the objective.

Reliablity and accountability

I also has an important team member as a nutritionist. He gave me a training diet in June to help me during the extenuating training, ensuring I could work hard but also recover well. I had to take on accountability of following the regime, but whenever I felt like going off track, I thought that I’d disappoint him, and that’s what kept me on track.

The third team member was my husband. He helped me with the psychological training. Helping me through the moments when I thought it was all too hard running through the Italian summer with 30°C+ temperatures. The Sunday runs had to be long 30-37km. He would run at least 10 of those km with me nearly every Sunday to make the load seem a little lighter. I had other “extended” team members along the way, which we will soon see.

The three of them helped me along journey, spurring me on, checking that my weekly objectives were accurate, not too challenging and not too easy to achieve. In hindsight, when it came to objective setting, where I could have improved, was to actually set my final race day objective with the team. I had set an objective (i.e. to run it in 3 hours 45 minutes) but I didn’t really discuss it with anybody, it was kept inside. Likely because I was afraid that if I didn’t make it people might laugh at me or tell me that I always set my standards too high, the usual.

Transparency creates accountability

To create healthy team dynamics, I should have discussed this openly with the team. If you tell your colleagues what your objectives and aspirations are, they not only can help you achieve them by knowing what you are challenged by and understanding when you may need some support, but more importantly, they can help you set milestones that are realistic rather than too challenging or not challenging enough. This encourages accountability on all sides.

Setting milestones transparently with the team shows your colleagues that you trust them and their knowledge. It allows you to involve them. This enhances collaboration and team spirit because they all feel more involved, take on accountability, will be more motivated to help and take on important roles.

Endurance and Perseverance

We know that mental challenges are supposed to make us stronger. I realised that although my body was exhausted, those runs actually revitalised me. My mind was never clearer than when I was out training and sweating hard. It was during those sessions that my creativity surged and my plans for client workshops and life in general lost their fuzziness and became clear.

Endurance has always been my strong point, but as with any team project, there are moments when your motivation is at rock bottom because you’ve encountered a brick wall. Imagine working on a project and you get setback after setback. Without the team, it is sometimes hard to get back on your feet. Positive team dynamics are what motivate you to supporting one another.

Just three weeks before the marathon start, I was out training and did the worst run of the year. I was on a business trip, and had to do a 27km run, in a location that I didn’t know well. It was stinking hot, 34 degrees Celsius at 8:30am, no water fountains anywhere. By km 13 I was almost in tears, breathing heavily, dehydrated and thinking I wasn’t going to finish the run. In fact, I didn’t. I made it to about only 20km and had to stop in insufferable pain.

When motivation lacks , positive team dynamics come to the rescue

Did I want to pull out of the marathon? Yes. I was three weeks away from reaching my goal and I was quite convinced I was going to fail. I had put myself through excruciating hours of training. My 33km Sunday runs which took me away from friends and family were tormenting. On every one of those runs, I asked myself at around km 10, why I was doing this to myself. I would get home close to tears, looking awfully dishevelled, feeling very embarrassed.

It’s when you’re down and losing confidence, without any energy for being creative that your team supports you the most. The team can give you the mental fortitude you need to overcome the hurdles. I always mentioned my down moments to the people around me who know me well and know how dedicated I am. They were able to put me back on the right track each time, knowing what I needed to hear to refocus.

Support and Collaboration

Without them it would have been very hard to pick up and start again each time. A team where psychological safety prevails is one where individuals can express themselves freely without feeling they are going to be laughed at or blamed. Individuals would also understand when hyperbole is appreciated or despised. Telling someone they are awesome when they really think they have nothing more to offer does not always help. You need to know the communication techniques of your team and know when “super” and “wonderful” are appreciated and when they aggravate. Team members can then take risks and admit to their mistakes without feeling they have been defeated.

Team support and collaboration reached its height in those crucial moments. The last two weeks showed me how much support I had from the group of people I was working with. Friends also wanted to make sure I was looking after myself and that I’d be ready for the big day. This in turn created even more trust.

Sometimes it’s not easy providing support to our colleagues especially if they seem to not need it. That’s probably the most important time to offer it. It can start off very easily with a very simple non-threatening question, “How are you today?” Don’t accept, “I’m fine,” as an answer. Ask further, without appearing patronising. Ask open questions. “How is XYZ coming along. What challenges are you currently facing?”

Understanding when to offer help to your team

I was able to express myself to what I considered at that stage to be my team. As the marathon approached, friends and family became excited for me. The team dynamics changed as they also became members of the team. They would ensure that I was eating well even when we ate out together, always checking that I ate my salads and protein. While on a client workshop, a work colleague was adamant that I receive all my macro nutrients. Each time she asked me what I had eaten for lunch and dinner she made me smile. We all know how much a smile can energize us. It spurred me on to be the best I could.

If you do not express your angst and worries to your team members, how are they supposed to support you? If you always tell them that everything is fine, they cannot help you work on what is actually not fine. Sometimes it just takes a second mind to help problem solve issues that alone seem unsurmountable.

Reaching the objective

We arrived in Nice the evening before the marathon, the day before my birthday and it was pouring rain. My heart felt heavy. I had trained in a bit of rain, but nothing like what I was experiencing that evening. I started to think of the negative impacts (was I just trying to find excuses for a bad result?). “I won’t reach my goal because my shoes will be soaking wet and very heavy.” Excuses, excuses.

Finally, I looked around for positive elements that would help me sleep well and find my confidence. Above my hotel bed was a black and white picture of Audrey Hepburn. She is my idol. I had her looking over my shoulder all night. I felt then that the next day was going to go well. At that stage, I finally decided that I had put in all the hard work and I was just going to go out and enjoy the day. Que sera sera.

The big day came. I woke up to find the sun shining brightly through my hotel window. There were messages in my WhatsApp from friends wishing me luck wanting to know how they could follow me along the way. I was energized. It was an extraordinary morning. For the first 32km I felt as though I was flying. I felt light, the sun was shining and I felt unstoppable.

Everyone has a role to play

Team dynamics changed once again. The team had now grown to include the volunteers who were supporting us at the start of the race and the spectators all along the coast cheering us all on. It was energising to see other runners looking tired and yet still making it to the next milestone. Solo work can be satisfying because you know that the success is yours alone, but collaboration beats solo work any time in my eyes. Without all the support from those around me, I may never have even arrived at the start line, let alone reached my desired finish time.

As km32 my legs felt heavy. But I had made it this far, I was not going to let my heavy legs stop me. I trudged on and reached the final km almost laughing with joy as I passed the finish line at 3:35:9.

What is success without being able to celebrate it with the rest of the team? One of the first people I contacted at the end of the race, was my physiotherapist. He had sat with me and massaged me through tears, anger, frustrations and a whole lot of moments where I was feeling sorry for myself. He was ecstatic at the result and we celebrated together.

Celebrate milestones with your team

Celebrating milestones with your colleagues, fosters a sense of camaraderie and motivates team members to continue striving for success.

My husband was joyous that the mad Sunday morning trainings were over and we could enjoy a plentiful and satisfying breakfast together, not to mention a glass of red wine with dinner.

Celebrating team achievements in the workplace is paramount to supporting your colleagues. It gives them insight about what role they play in the overall organisation. Knowing that without each individual playing their part, the team cannot function as a whole, and without the team support individuals stifle to achieve their own individual milestones.

Teamwork and support are essential for achieving success, both in running a marathon and in a professional setting. Celebrating small achievements and accomplishments fosters a culture of belonging and support which in turn helps the team thrive.

What are your experiences related to team support and collaboration and how it impacts an individual’s sense of self-worth? Feel free to connect with me if you’d like to discuss further.

A thriving team discusses culture to reach high performance

Posted on 27. April 202226. June 2022 by Tania Pellegrini

Thriving teams discuss culture… twice.

A few years ago, I was working in Brazil, leading a small team of Brazilian women. After a few months of working together on our project, I had the bitter surprise that one of my team members was spiralling…downward. She was losing motivation, losing trust in me and believed that I did not trust her. At that stage, I was concerned that our team was not only going to fail in reaching its set objectives, but that I personally was ruining what could have been an exciting and rewarding experience for this young woman.

In order for a team to thrive it needs to discuss culture… twice.

The first discussion needs to revolve around the personal cultural influences of each individual.

The second discussion should be an exploration of what kind of culture the team wishes to create.

A team’s various cultural influences create cognitive diversity

With the team in Brazil, I had made the mistake of starting off our project talking about the team’s objectives rather than talking about our cultural influences. A team’s various cultural influences create cognitive diversity. Teams that have high cognitive diversity are usually the most high-performing because they are able to view perspectives from very different angles and they have different means of processing information.

I should have been more inquisitive about the team’s cultural influences. By understanding my teammates’ values, I would learn what was important to them and in particular, what motivated them.

When we talk about cultural influences we are looking at all experiences in our life that have shaped the way we perceive the world. These influences affect our behaviour and the way we do business.

Thriving teams discuss culture to eliminate assumptions

When we talk about cultural influences we are not just discussing the values of the country we were brought up in. Our cultural influences have a far wider reach. Amongst other things, our cultural influences are related to:

where we were brought up in the world
education, (formal and informal)
profession
our religion
different abilities
our gender and our age, to name a few

cultural influences that influence our values and therefore the way we behave in the work environment

As each team member discusses their personal values and what influences them the most, it allows their colleagues to become aware of why that particular person behaves the way they do. This in turn helps eliminate forms of judgment and prejudice that can exist in a team.

“My manager is pretentious.”

Let’s look at the anecdote at the beginning of this article. For the sake of anonymity, I shall call my colleague Isabela. What had been happening when I finally noticed that Isabela was losing motivation and that she felt I did not respect her?

For weeks preceding this moment, Isabela had been giving me some important feedback on how to best reach my objectives when dealing with Brazilian stakeholders. I had not understood her feedback and therefore didn’t react to it. I had not understood her because I had not adapted my listening skills to her communication style. Isabela had been giving me feedback in a way that I was not accustomed to. When she noticed that I was not making any changes to my behaviour, she likely started to think the following:

“My manager is not interested in what I say to her. She probably thinks I am not experienced enough. She’s a bit pretentious and thinks she is the only one with any experience. I’m not going to give her any more suggestions, she doesn’t care anyway.”

Trust is the glue that helps a team reach high-performance

By then, Isabela was likely thinking that I didn’t trust her. Trust and therefore psychological safety is an important attribute of thriving teams. Individuals feel they can open up and discuss important matters without being laughed at or ignored, when there is trust. Trust gives them the feeling that it’s “safe” to be themselves. This is what leads to inclusion and to a positive team culture.

If I had taken the time to discuss Isabela’s values before starting off on our project, I would have discovered that she was very relationship-oriented and that she needed time and trust to open up and give feedback to her work colleagues.

Thriving team discuss culture twice

Step two of creating a thriving team is for the team to discuss culture… again. At this point though, the team needs to discuss what kind of culture the individuals would like to work in. When we talk about “team culture”, we are asking team members to acknowledge what behaviour is reinforced and rewarded by the team members. It therefore also indicates what behaviour is not acceptable.

It is the individuals of the team that should create the culture they wish be a part of. These team members know what motivates them to spend the extra hours dwelling over a problem. They also know (at this stage) how to deal with disagreement, and how to contradict one another in a way that will not offend other team members. They also know how to give one another constructive feedback.

Further topics of the team culture discussion can include items such as:

problem solving: for example what do you do when 2 out of 5 team members are not comfortable with brainstorming?
how does the team debate a topic when 3 out of 5 colleagues usually avoid conflict
how should the team make decisions when some of the members are not comfortable voicing their opinion

The discussion is the most important part of creating a positive high-performing team culture

The information shared and exchanged during such a discussion is the beginning of creating a safe environment. This discussion avoids making assumptions about your team members. Incorrect assumptions can lead to negative judgments that are often wrong.

If you feel your team might be lacking in communication or starting to mistrust one another, consider running through the above two activities to help create a thriving team culture.

Five Tips to Persuading Culturally Diverse Audiences

Posted on 23. September 20201. December 2021 by Tania Pellegrini

I used to work in a conventional office where from my desk I had vision of the much-loved coffee-corner. One afternoon, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a colleague sitting over his “latte” with a frown on his forehead. It was time for a break, so I walked over and asked how his day was coming along. He scrunched up his face in disappointment.“I’ve just presented to a new Chinese organisation that wanted to hear about our upcoming event. I don’t feel I persuaded them how exciting and worthwhile this new project is”. He continued his distressed explanation;

Hmmm, difficult one….

I didn’t have the knowledge then that I do now on the topic of persuading culturally diverse audiences. Although it may be too late for his project, I’d like to share some kind of remedy for this dilemma that many of us face when working in a global environment. How should we modify our presentations and persuasion techniques according to the cultural background of our audience?

Our cultural mindset influences how we filter what is said

Our cultural mindset influences how we think, problem-solve and how we find solutions to our challenges. As a result, it impacts what kind of information we need to motivate us and help us make decisions. It’s not just about how we understand language or how competent we are with the language being presented to us. Culture influences how we see the world and how the words we hear are filtered into thoughts. Those thoughts in turn are put together to create a picture or an idea. Let’s take a brief look at two studies done on the topic.

In short and in general the studies show that Americans are more analytical in the way they see the world and therefore problem-solve, whilst East Asians, or Japanese specifically in the first study, are more holistic.

How to adapt your presentation for persuading culturally diverse audiences

Firstly, avoid using the same set of slides for different groups. If you have the time, rearrange your slides between presentations. It’s almost a necessity for persuading culturally diverse groups. The subject you present remains the same but the way you present it differs. For example, multinational companies who wish to standardise their global processes according to regions or countries, should be able to do so. However, the way they convince a Korean, a Ghanaian or a Finn of why the process is standardised should differ. Each group will need a different set of inputs to convince them of the necessity of standardising.

Presenting to Holistic audiences

To persuade an audience that is more holistic, avoid going straight to the point with your opening slide. Ensure you give the big picture before talking about details. Holistic listeners usually look at objects as a whole. They find it difficult to remove an object from its surroundings or only focus on one small area. If you remove the context the object loses its significance.

Let's look at an example; if you’re talking about a product launch, it’s best if you relate it to a previous product, a previous launch, history of the products etc. Look at past examples and discuss past experiences. Discuss how the subject you’re presenting today is connected to a different one on the other side of the globe. Anything that could be related to your topic can be of interest to a holistic audience before zooming into your topic. Remember you are trying to motivate them to continue listening.

Presenting to analytical audiences

On the other hand, if you are presenting to an analytical audience, consider using bullet points and diving straight into the topic at hand to ensure your listeners do not start to yawn with boredom. You do not need to give the big picture to motivate the group or to help them follow your thread.

Thirdly, when persuading culturally diverse audiences, consider whether the group needs to hear, “how” to move forward or “why” to move forward. It is likely that they would like to hear both. However, the order you start with will either capture their interest or have them pick up their phones and start messaging. Generally, US American cultures tend to be more "how" oriented. French listeners usually prefer to know "why" they are doing something in order to be motivated.

When the presentation language is not the mother tongue of the listeners

Although the next point is not connected to holistic/analytical differences, it may be helpful when trying to persuade culturally diverse groups.

If the audience's mother tongue is not the one being used for the presentation, consider sending your presentation to them ahead of time. This allows the listeners to read through it beforehand. As a result, they become familiar with the vocabulary and can prepare any questions they may have.

If you don’t give your audience this opportunity you may find that an audience from a very hierarchical, face-saving culture may not react or ask questions, leaving you wondering whether they have understood at all.

Lastly, if presenting to a collective audience for which face-saving and hierarchy may be important values, make sure you insert several coffee breaks in the presentation. This allows the group to gather away from the speaker’s view to discuss issues and prepare their questions for the next session.

How to thrive in Brazil – build a relationship

Posted on 15. April 201622. November 2021 by Tania Pellegrini

If you want your business to thrive in Brazil, build a relationship of trust with your colleagues, clients and service providers that generates confidence.

Why do foreigners in Brazil have such alarming stories?

When we think of a long term work project in Rio de Janeiro, most of us picture ourselves playing (or rather watching) futvolei on the beach sipping at fresh coconut water. So why is it that so many foreigners working in Brazil call HQ once a week with alarming stories about unmet deadlines and Brazilian colleagues who don’t do what they say they would do?

“when we think of a project in Rio we picture ourselves playing futvolei”

The most common quips I’ve heard foreigners use when speaking of their Brazilian colleagues and suppliers is , ‘They’re fake,’ ‘They’re not committed to work,’ or the classic, ‘They never reach deadlines’. As a result, after a few weeks of making such remarks, many foreigners resign themselves to the fact that they’re going to have a hard time getting their project accomplished. What they don’t do, is take the time to look into why they are interpreting the Brazilian work methods in this manner. If they did, they could then create a strategy to change what is happening around them.

What is the most common adjective that Brazilian use about their foreign colleagues?

Have you ever asked yourself what impression your Brazilian counterparts have of you? Little do we know what negative adjectives they may be using to describe our behaviour. I recently asked a former Brazilian colleague of mine what the most common adjectives Brazilians usually utter about foreigners. She replied, ‘They’re inflexible, always stressed, and they usually feel that things should be done their way, (the foreign way). How can we avoid these negative depictions and enjoy the merge of cultures?

Avoid these criticisms by building a relationship of trust

These criticisms (on both sides) often come up in moments of frustration. When we’re relaxed and have time to consider why the people around us are behaving a certain way, we usually find an explanation. However, that doesn’t help us achieve our goals and reach our deadlines. We need to go one step further. That is to say, we need to consider what we can change to be more effective when working with culturally diverse people.

The three points I mention below are only an introduction. I shall not endeavour to write more in such a brief post.

Three steps to keeping harmony and creating a strong team

Brazil is incredibly vast and has a huge population of over 207 million, made up not only of natives but also a mixture of immigrants mainly from Japan, Germany, Spain, the Middle East, Italy and of course Portugal. It’s therefore hard to say that there is one common way of behaving, of managing teams and of communicating. For example, Paolistas in the south will tell you that they are different to the Cariocas from Rio, who in turn say they are different to the North Easterners. Consequently, I shall stick to a few characteristics that several regions have in common, with an emphasis on Carioca behaviour; we have to start somewhere.

1. Building a relationship is the most important factor to being successful in Brazil

Firstly, if you ask a group of Brazilian individuals what their number one cultural value is, it is likely to be, ‘smiling’. Consequently, to be successful in Brazil, the one most important word to remember is, relationship. Little is achieved unless you make an effort to get to know your colleagues or clients personally before making requests or explaining how something should be done.

Imagine this scene: You’ve been sitting at your computer all morning. Your tummy starts to grumble and you realise it’s lunchtime. You mention to your colleagues sitting beside you that you’re going out to get a sandwich. As a result, you pick up your sandwich, take it back to your desk and nibble at it while working. My dear reader, that is mistake number 1 in Brazil. Relationships are a vital part to getting any job done. Therefore, having lunch with your colleagues and asking about their children, grandmother, aunts, uncles, cats and dogs is vital.

The work sphere and the private sphere are mingled into one. If you’re leading a group of Brazilian employees make sure you show interest in their private lives. Brazilians generally prefer to build a relationship of trust with the people they do business with. That is to say, once they trust you, it will be instinctive for them to want to help you reach your objectives.

Therefore, if your service provider offers you a cafezinho before getting down to work don’t even contemplate refusing, irrespective of how many coffees you may already have had that day. Sharing a coffee is a chance for them to get to know you. Consequently, if you’re working on a long-term project, take the time for the two-hour lunches and don’t talk business over lunch; pull out your phone and share your photos of your nephews, nieces and puppy dogs too.

2. Read between the lines to thrive in Brazil

Secondly, one difficult issue that foreigners in Brazil tend to deal with, is having to read between the lines. How do you make a decision when you cannot tell if your interlocutor is saying yes or no? How do you know what your subordinates are capable of if they don’t open up and debate your ideas?

It’s rare to hear a Brazilian say outrightly, ‘No’. That is to say, keeping the harmony and not wanting to offend anybody is important. Also, keep in mind their colonial history where big farmers were boss. Consequently, subordinates will not often openly give you feedback.

“She lied to me!” is a quote often heard by foreigners in Brazil

Imagine you’ve asked a government official in Brasilia for fifty work permits,”for Thursday”. That offical will unlikely tell you that your request is impossible. Even though they know that it’s highly unlikely you will receive these permits, they will rarely use the word, ‘No’.

Instead you’ll often hear ‘vamos ver’ (we’ll see), or, ‘Thursday could be possible’, when in fact Thursday is actually out of the question. So, on Thursday afternoon you’re looking at your watch every 20 minutes waiting to receive the fifty work permits. The 50 staff members are arriving in the country the next day. Therefore, you call the official angrily telling her she said they’d be there on Thursday. To sum up, your blood pressure starts to rise and then the frustrating negative comments start to pour out of our mouth.

Little do you realize that your Brazilian government official had actually said. ‘No’, you just didn’t hear it, or rather you didn’t pick up on it. Therefore, when making requests try to pick up on the gestures and facial expressions of the person opposite. Eventually, you will learn to read the ‘No’, and not end up waiting for something that was never intended to arrive.

3. ‘O jeitinho Brasileiro’

Finally, Brazilians are generally extremely optimistic. ‘Where there’s a will, there’s a way’, or in Brazilian terms, ‘o jeitinho Brasileiro’. You’ve probably heard of it or even seen it done. There is so much admin and bureaucracy to get through in Brazil, that even the Brazilians complain about it. As a result, getting through all the red tape is difficult for anybody to accomplish their goals and reach deadlines promptly.

Therefore, Brazilians become very creative in finding solutions to get around the red tape and generally in terms of problem-solving. For example, they are adventurous when it comes to looking for new ideas. Often they will not even tell you that there is a problem to solve because they’re proud to be able to solve it for themselves using their flexibility.

Learning to bend rules helps Brazilian stay ahead

Often, a Brazilian won’t tell you there is a problem if they think you’re not the kind of person who accepts bending rules. Rules are not always followed to a T. However, you’ll be surprised that your event will start on time as per plan. In conclusion, the backstage may look a little untidy, but the stage will be as sparkling as the sea at Copacabana beach on a fresh midweek morning with the sunrise beaming over Sugarloaf.

Reach your goals in diverse teams with these three steps.

Posted on 14. January 201625. November 2021 by Tania Pellegrini

An Italian lawyer travelling back home to Rome after a business trip in Japan, (let’s call her Elisabetta), thinks about the meetings she just held in Tokyo. Her gut feeling is that she wasn’t very successful but she can’t really place her finger on what went wrong. Why did she have the feeling that her Japanese business associates didn’t really consider her to be the most competent of lawyers?

Adapting is easier if it’s surface culture

We often hear that when working with people of different cultural backgrounds we need to adapt. OK, great. That doesn’t sound too hard. I mean, how hard is it to learn how to use chopsticks in Japan, or to not use your left hand at the table in Qatar? We usually don’t mind adapting when the situation calls for changing a physical habit but if the adaptation calls for a change in behaviour that contradicts our deep down values and that is contrary to the way we were educated, contrary to how we have learnt to behave naturally, then it becomes almost agonising and sometimes comical.

Nobody had told Elisabetta that she needed to control her emotions during her business meetings in Japan. However, even if somebody had informed her, would she have felt comfortable behaving so unnaturally? Italians tend to wear their heart on their sleeves. If they’re happy they’ll smile and laugh with joy, if they’re angry they’ll grimace with frustration, if they’re confused their forehead will wrinkle in a puzzled frown, irrespective of whether they are in a business meeting or having lunch with the family. Japanese tend to say, “Only a dead fish has an open mouth,” and a true professional controls his/her feelings in a business meeting. Any loss of control is deemed unprofessional. So Elisabetta’s gut feeling was probably spot on, the meeting probably was not successful.

Being able to build trust with your clients, colleagues or service providers of different cultural backgrounds requires “code-switching” or adapting your communication and behaviour.

Intercultural Sensitivity is not natural

Milton Bennet says that intercultural sensitivity is not natural and that ‘Adaptation means we need to consciously shift our perspective and intentionally alter our behaviour[1]. Therefore in order to become interculturally competent we need to deliberately work at certain skills that are not innate such as giving direct negative feedback to one of our very direct German subordinates even though we are the type of person who usually speaks very indirectly. It’s the kind of thought that gives you a stomach-ache just imagining the scene. The evening before an evaluation meeting, you stand in front of the mirror at home practising all the negative things you need to say and then you get to the meeting the next morning and pofff… it just doesn’t come out as you wanted. You couldn’t help but camouflage the negative points with niceties and flattery even though you really needed to tell the person in front of you that her delegation techniques are not working. So she walks away from the meeting thinking she’s had an extremely good year and that her management skills are great. So much for directness.

Step 1: Know yourself

The first step to becoming interculturally competent is not to know how the other culture functions, but rather to know yourself. You need to take a good look at yourself and ask yourself, “What are my preferred ways of communicating, what are my most common ways of behaving in meetings and in situations of conflict and how do I problem solve?”

Let’s take a concrete example. You’re the head of your department and you were brought up in an egalitarian society. In meetings you always consider asking the opinion of your subordinates before making an important decision because you know that their advice is likely to be vital. Now, go and sit in a meeting with colleagues who were brought up in a culture that does not veneer a subordinate’s opinion and you’ll likely come out of that meeting pulling your hair out, wondering, “Why are they all just agreeing with me, why didn’t anybody question the upcoming deadlines?” If you are used to debating in meetings and receiving assorted input, this kind of behaviour will frustrate you and worse you’ll likely start labelling your colleagues as incompetent, unreliable and just plain lazy.

Step 2: Learn about the values of the ‘other’ culture

Working with people of different cultural backgrounds involves developing competencies that we do not necessarily have naturally, such as learning to ‘read the air’ in Japan. If you’re classified as Kuuki Yomenai in Japan, it probably means that you cannot ‘read the air’, or you cannot decipher social situations, such as not understanding body language. The Japanese are usually non-conflictual and your Japanese service provider would not embarrass you or make you lose face by replying to a last minute outrageous request of yours with an outright ‘No’. He will likely say, “It would be very difficult.” Reading his body language you will hopefully understand that he is actually saying, ‘Are you insane, your request is completely out of the question!’ If you had ’read the air’ then you would quickly move on and find a new service provider. If you aren’t capable of reading the air and you’re an eternal optimist, then you’re probably still sitting around waiting for the difficult situation in Tokyo to be made possible.

Step 3: Code switching – adapting your style

So, if step 1 is knowing how you behave and step 2 is understanding how the person in front of you behaves, then step 3 is to ‘code switch’ or adapt your behaviour and communication to be more comprehensible to the person opposite you.

Code-switching could be verbal or non-verbal. It could be the the way you write your emails or even which media format you use. For example switching on the webcam when speaking to a culture that needs to read body language is important to help them understand your message.

So rather than just read the financial pages of the Sydney Morning Herald before you start your merger in Australia, consider if it might be more impactful to learn how to talk about Aussie Rules football while sipping at a caffé latte at Monday morning meetings with your colleagues.

[1] Milton Bennett, “Towards Ethnorelativism: A Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity”, Intercultural Press, 1993. 21-71.