Take a Trip to Another Culture

I recently listened to Dr. Erin Meyer on Dax Shepard's podcast, Armchair Expert.

Dr. Meyer is an American author and professor at INSEAD Business School, based in Paris. ... "Meyer is a professor at INSEAD, an international business school with campuses in France, Singapore and Abu Dhabi. She regularly speaks about cross-cultural management and global teamwork. She has a new book out called The Culture Map: Breaking Through the Invisible Boundaries of Global Business."

During the podcast, she explained why a Swedish colleague may have many problems leading a Chinese team. Or how it could be challenging to foster a good relationship with a Brazilian supplier while sitting at your desk in Europe. How do you navigate performance reviews when American employees precede negative feedback with three nice comments, but the French, Dutch, Israelis, and Germans get straight to the point? Getting attuned to other cultures is critical for international business success.

In another country, our customary assumptions would obviously collide with the established local cultural norms.

But even at home, we're making similar assumption errors. When these errors pile up, big relationship rifts can erupt. My biggest relationship fights were caused by a profound, deep misunderstanding of others' intent and outlook--along with my own faulty assumptions.

If I were working in Japan, I would naturally be curious, ask questions, confirm and explain my thinking to check the accuracy of my assumptions. But, because I was "at home", I assumed I knew what was going on and didn't feel the need to be curious. My assumptions collided with someone else's point of view. Only after the dust settled, could I call on my curiosity to appreciate the complexity of the situation.

Cultural differences are sometimes really obvious. When traveling, it's natural to appreciate foreign viewpoints. Familiar relationships deserve a similar level of vigilant curiosity, so that we don't make incorrect assumptions.