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Cross-cultural sensitivity
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To imbibe the best of different cultures requires an open mind.
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THE PRESENT-day business environment is truly global, blurring political and geographical boundaries. It is not uncommon to be wearing `Made in Hong Kong' clothes or eating Italian food or using a Japanese-made phone! None of this, of course, says anything about understanding how people from any of these varied cultures function or think. Understanding people who come from different countries and cultures has become imperative. While there is no short cut to learn about any culture, there are some general principles that can assist in the process.
The right perspective
* Keep it all in perspective. Differences can feel like a threat at first. Our apple cart is upset when we are confronted with situations, reactions, behaviour and a value system that do not fit in with what we have been exposed to. The discomfort and inability to decipher others can make us feel alone. This is a natural human reaction; but even so, it is important to keep these feelings in perspective, otherwise, the tendency is to put down what is different and glorify what we are comfortable with, creating a permanent bias.
* Keep an open mind and be adventurous. We tend to notice only the differences and overlook the similarities when we begin to interact with members of another culture. And then, we apply the standards of interpretation that we would use in our own cultures to their behaviour and come to mistaken conclusions.
* Be aware of stereotyping. This is a common pitfall. In the face of uncertainty, it is human tendency to create a system from what we observe. The mind creates its own set of rules and generalisations, which may be based on some surface realities or hearsay.
The risk of this mental exercise will be the tendency to ignore real experiences and individual variations. The human mind faced with confusion or vulnerability can attribute negative motives or draw wrong inferences forming the basis of prejudice, or an "I knew it" attitude.
* Be sensitive to individual sensibilities. The difference between groups is dwarfed by the amount of variation within each group. In other words, irrespective of culture, people are shy, honest, dishonest, gregarious, secretive, etc.
It's just that culture and history influence how these various aspects of human nature are expressed.
Change is constant
* Understand that everything is changing. Each culture is going through constant adjustments to keep up with changing times and outside influences. This in itself should alert one about the folly of stereotyping.
* Be aware of your own cultural identity. Most of the time, as we begin interacting with people who are different from us, we begin to understand a lot about our value system and ourselves.
Then keep an open mind and observe, analyse, reject or imbibe the different experiences and exposures.
Now you are truly on a journey to expand and enrich your mind and enjoy what life is offering you, wherever you may find yourself!
CHITRA S. DANGER
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