{"id":3135,"date":"2016-10-26T17:50:32","date_gmt":"2016-10-26T15:50:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wlappe.com\/en\/?p=3135"},"modified":"2020-01-22T12:15:43","modified_gmt":"2020-01-22T10:15:43","slug":"cultural-differences-and-how-to-deal-with-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wlappe.com\/en\/2016\/10\/cultural-differences-and-how-to-deal-with-them.html","title":{"rendered":"Cultural differences and how to deal with them"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>In internationalization<\/b> of companies there <b>is always a layer of cultural behavior<\/b> that affects business and personal relationships. Many times we don\u2019t speak about it because it\u2019s difficult to assign general rules. This is because each person is different, because it can be politically incorrect, and because it\u2019s also really easy to drop into stereotypes or clich\u00e9s.<\/p>\n<p>Approaching this topic is not easy. Being different could be a value, but feeling different is usually a barrier we ourselves create.<b> My own personal approach is to be natural<\/b>. Do whatever you think is right\u2026. Afterwards you can analyze your environment. Understand what is happening and make a decision about your behavior.<\/p>\n<p><b>Being natural means <\/b>understanding <b>who <\/b>you are, <b>where <\/b>you are, <b>respecting <\/b>everyone (that deserves it), and <b>keeping your personality<\/b>. Make conscious decisions about what to do. This <b>cultural diversity <\/b>is what <b>makes Europe interesting<\/b>\u2026 and business complicated. The differences mean different customers groups, different products, design, support, language\u2026 and what\u2019s worse, different legal and tax frameworks.<\/p>\n<p><b>I think stereotypes are statistically true<\/b>. This means not always, but regularly: Germans are close-minded, Spaniards know how to solve last minute problems, Italians are friendly\u2026 and Germans are efficient, Spaniards waste time, and Italians are chaotic. The mastery is how to deal with the stereotypes, and take the best of each one.<\/p>\n<p>I have some personal ideas about how to manage:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b><i>Understand that languages are used for communication, not for exams<\/i><\/b>: Speaking in a new language is always complicated and frustrating, and can decrease self-confidence. Think about how you communicate with others, accept mistakes and keep speaking. Enjoy it!<\/li>\n<li><b><i>Adapt yourself to the local scene<\/i><\/b>: that means don\u2019t break the rules. Do what\u2019s done where you are. It\u2019s not about resigning your own personality, it\u2019s about being polite. It\u2019s about understanding and respect.<\/li>\n<li><b><i>Improve your weakness<\/i><\/b>: be very kind if you\u2019re German, be very organized if you\u2019re Italian, be very punctual if you\u2019re Spanish. People expect you to act according to the \u201cstereotype\u201d. Breaking this thought pattern adds respect to what others think about you. People appreciate when you make an effort, going out of your comfort zone.<\/li>\n<li><b><i>Keep your own DNA<\/i><\/b>: don\u2019t try to be what you\u2019re not. Don\u2019t resign your own ways completely. Be proud of them and be aware of when they may add value in a different environment. You can also keep some \u201clocal color\u201d in this way. For instance, I like how waiters in Italian places continue to use \u201cbuona sera\u201d and \u201cgrazie\u201d despite knowing the local sayings.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Enjoy these differences<\/b>. Being exposed to different cultures is a privilege. Taking the best of each one is an enriching experience, taking the worst is the hidden evil behind it. Probably the most difficult part of this is deciding what are the \u201cright\u201c behaviors to keep: what are the non-acceptable ones that you should remove versus what are the ones that are effective and you can incorporate. Just remember that when you take the best of each one, <b>everything is possible.<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In internationalization of companies there is always a layer of cultural behavior that affects business and personal relationships. Many times we don\u2019t speak about it because it\u2019s difficult to assign general rules. This is because each person is different, because it can be politically incorrect, and because it\u2019s also really easy to drop into stereotypes [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3757,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[121],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3135","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insights"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wlappe.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3135","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wlappe.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wlappe.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wlappe.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wlappe.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3135"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.wlappe.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3135\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3136,"href":"https:\/\/www.wlappe.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3135\/revisions\/3136"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wlappe.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wlappe.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wlappe.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wlappe.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}