Difficult Interaction
How do you handle difficult interactions in a multicultural environment?
R.,
What great rationale you have used. It is this type of empathy that gives your diverse group a chance to succeed. Positive attitudes makes us better at what we do with less stress.
Dr. Gary Carlson
I am a welding instructor. Students are diverse in their culture and language. The difficulty lies in the language differences not in a learned skill.
The lesson for me is to (hopefully) take into account that fact that more time will be spent getting the ideas into their karma. I remind myself that were I in Syria, or Somalia, etc... and were in a similar setting (with the roles reversed) would I do as well??
My answer is probably not. Life is many lessons, hopefully each one serves as a temperament to help us come together for a balance of connection.
Eva,
Being ahead of the game is important is how we survive in any business or institution. Your proactive actions are very important.
Dr. Gary Carlson
As I've moved along my career path I've gone from environments that were almost exclusively male into the predominantly female workplace where I am now, and I have struggled with the change! It seems that even though my coworkers are pretty much the same races, ethnicity, socioeconomic backgrounds, the gender difference creates a very different style of communication and motivations.
I prefer to deal with conflicts as quickly as possible, which has led to others thinking I am confrontational or brash. It doesn't occur to me instantly that someone would interpret me reminding a person of a missed due date as an attack on his/her self image or overall competency. I would much rather identify a problem and work on its solutions, instead of letting things fester until someone blows up. I'm learning to appreciate listening to others talk all the way through feelings as well as facts.
David,
It could be our approach to diversity. I have finessed Dr. David Livermore's book over the weekend. I appreciate his approach to the value of cultural difference understanding in all facets of our life. There doesn't seem to be a profession that wouldn't be touched by our 21st century changes because of our world getting smaller. What ever your CQ is it can be improved.
Dr. Gary Carlson
"We may have differences with religion, customs or values but it is no reason for bigotry, hatred but rather establishes a forum to learn about each other. When we are threatened we tend to degrade rather than to learn."
I completely agree. This is why it is so important to recognize when a difference is related to a cultural value or assumption that differs from our own, and not a reflection of an internal personality flaw.
I would recommend the ML125 course on managing diversity to others reading this thread, since it has touched on many of the themes we've been discussing here as well as tying it back into the values that we gain when we work with others who have different perspectives than our own. The benefits of tapping into such diverse perspectives clearly, in my mind at least, outweigh the costs of some temporary discomfort as people with different expectations negotiate how to work with one another effectively.
David,
Leadership is key for coaching people to approach differences with an attitude for learning. Over the past 16 years I have traveled the entire US and Europe. I have always approach differences as a learning experience. When government becomes involved is when prejudice enters the picture. We may have differences with religion, customs or values but it is no reason for bigotry, hatred but rather establishes a forum to learn about each other. When we are threatened we tend to degrade rather than to learn.
Dr. Gary Carlson
Hi Dr. Gary,
I agree with you. But I also know that there are still sources of friction between parts of the US in terms of how we should interact with others, and since the nation is much more mobile, and connected due to real-time communications advances these previously localized preferences can cause friction as well that a good manager would need to recognize and deal with.
I know from experience that people here on the West Coast interpret the rapid pace of speech, overlapping taking of turns, and multiple questions approach that is more common in some of the bigger cities on the East Coast to be "blunt" "aggressive" or rude, when in fact the slower West Coast approach can be viewed as "disengaged", or "guarded" by those on the other side.
The judgments made about people in the South based on their accents and "perceived" slower rates of speech are even more harsh. And these actually all stem from cultural assumptions related to politeness, and what is the right way to act despite the fact that the US is relatively open to people being allowed to express themselves as individuals.
Also, America being the great melting pot that it is means that we continuously do business with people from other parts of the world who do not have access to our 200 plus years of shared cultural heritage or understanding-- either as part of international business dealings, or as workers immigrate here, to market their skills and expertise in a "new" culture. -- (also true when we emigrate overseas as I have done previously).
I also recognize your point about legal protections, but I think that there is a clear distinction between understanding and believing that one shouldn't judge a person based on a personal choice, and actually not having a visceral emotional reaction when one of our basic assumptions is challenged.
I had a great teacher once demonstrate this to me: He had us pair up and converse about given topics, but had us begin to invade the other person's space in ways that we had already "agreed" were culturally appropriate ways to do so outside of the US, and it became increasingly hard to do.-- It really drove home the point that just knowing differences exist is not the same as having to purposefully put that emotional reaction aside, and evaluate what it is that the other person is trying to communicate. It takes a lot of effort, and many people might just let their emotional reaction direct them to making a negative personality evaluation.
As a manager, we would need to recognize that these behaviors could cause friction in the work place, but also recognize that they are probably a core part of how that person views the relationship of those involved, so it could be hard to change, and needs to be addressed tactfully.
David,
Thank you for your great interest in this point of view. Cultural differences have been a prevalent existence in our society since the beginning of the United States. We have been the me lying pot of diversity through several generations. Clashes of cultural differences have been in relationships from religion to societal governance. Even these differences for the most part have protected through individual rights legislation. The many different cultures in this country have built the heritage and foundation this country and still does. Our cultures have worked side by side to make a difference. The only behaviors in question would be those that are harmful themselves or others. Our duty as employees or leaders is to be willing to learn about cultures and understand the origins to the practices. Our actions will help to grow greater acceptance by others to any differences.
Dr. Gary Carlson
I think that this is an interesting twist, since it really could be interpreted in two ways:
A) there is an issue that is cultural in nature that needs to be discussed. How can we do this tactfully if we need to?
or
B) There is an issue that just needs to be addressed, but how can I do so when I know that cultural values and assumptions are different between the people involved.
Both are difficult and take planning because the things that people believe, see as normal without thinking, that are the result of a cultural orientation are in my opinion to be just like the core traits/values that were discussed in the training-- seen as a central part of one's identity, and can provoke strong emotional responses when challenged. While our training made a point of saying that we should take these factors into account, it really didn't provide much guidance in regards to what these types of differences can be, and how hard it can be to effect real changes in how we initially react to cultural approaches that are different than our own.
I have found that cultural awareness/general cultural intelligence trainings to be very helpful. Not learning specific cultural tidbits unique to a culture-- these are helpful, and demonstrate an interest in others, but we can't learn everything about everywhere so as we interact with new people/cultures/assumptions we go back to square one, and make square one types mistakes all over again.
This is because cultural events, etiquette and customs are tip of the iceberg cultural factors, while deeply rooted values and assumptions are the often "unseen" unchallenged parts of culture. These are the parts of a culture that the insiders don't even think about asking questions about any more-- it is just the way things are. These can be all that much harder to deal with because the go by unnoticed until they cause an issue that we need to deal with-- if we even recognize the cultural factor at play.
Many times, people can resort to making judgments about the other side's personality or intentions without considering cultural differences as a factor. In my experience, this is more likely to happen when the languages involved are the same, and are used fluently on both sides-- People tend to equate linguistic fluency with an understanding of a culture's values and norms, and this is an imperfect rule of thumb.
I have found the work of Dr. David Livermore to be especially helpful in this regard. (the link below is to the preview on Amazon.com of his most recent book). This book looks at cultural issues in terms of basic assumptions that cultures make, and the resulting differences in perception about the "right" way to deal with things that follow from those types of basic ways of interacting with the world in general terms, rather than in culture specific terms. So we discuss approaches used by cultures that value individualism, and how those values affect behavior and approaches compared to collectivistic orientations. It then provides ways of intuiting from the behaviors that one sees if these values might be a factor-- since most people do not really evaluate/analyze or describe their own cultures using those terms unless they have been trained to do so.
I think that having that type of general knowledge, supplemented with culture-specific expertise would allow a leader to understand which actions by employees need to be addressed as damaging to the work place, and which ones might could be viewed different with increased understanding.
This would also allow that manager to help employees adjust behaviors that are not cultural in nature, by being able to phrase the critique and feedback in a way that is the least likely to cause an emotional knee-jerk response to a perceived cultural/identity attack.
Both are great tools for a leader to have. What resources have others here found useful, or insightful?
---
http://www.amazon.com/The-Cultural-Intelligence-Difference-Without/dp/081441706X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1394235169&sr=8-1&keywords=david+livermore#reader_081441706X
Robert,
Very nice response to the situation. Behavior may or may not a result of a culture or it may be a learned behavior. Behavior that is not acceptable in the scheme of things at work need to be addressed and not taken as a cultural trait. Cultural traits are usually looked by the majority as different. This unfamiliarity causes for distrust. It is completely acceptable to do as you have done is to show people there are more likes than not. Learned negative behavior takes on a new role for you on counseling.
Dr. Gary Carlson
Hi Marjorie,
Multicultural situations are especial difficult because they deal with not only personality traits that some find irritating but can be additionally volatile if the traits are further defined by cultural stereotypes.
My experience with difficulties arising in multicultural situations has been rooted in the perceptions of cultural differences. Or stated another, way the absence of true cultural awareness. What has worked well for me in the past has been fostering cultural awareness by getting staff to discuss major celebrations as they arise. It puts that staff person in the spotlight for a time and allows others to relate to the similarities within there own cultural niche.
Early on (like in the first week of managing your new staff) you as a manager have to establish that you value everyone’s opinion and acknowledge it in a group setting so that everyone feels that problems big or small will be responded to with fairness. Reinforcement of that idea has got to remain a constant of your management style.
Marjorie ,
Understanding the cultures and keep in mind we all respond to caring attitudes. Be honest and ethical at all times. Your consistency is key.
Dr. Gary Carlson
Marjorie,
I have had the opportunity to work in multi-culture envirnoments over the years. The first thing we must do is to understand the culture and recognize why some behaviors may not be acceptable but ordinary for the person we are communicating. My contention was that behavior that is harmful to the person or others is not acceptable in any setting. We must be change agents for people to succeed in the society. Approaches to students and employees is that they see you are fair, consistent and honest with your beliefs for them. We must never try to cross the lines of family or religion but for success we are capable of educating and supporting our people.
