The 7 Ways an Indian Programmer Says No made me chuckle because of its broad applicability.

Indirect communication is common in Asia, the Middle East, Latin / South America and many Mediterranean and African countries. Direct communication is the norm in Western Europe, the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and other parts typically considered “The West”.

People from direct communication cultures strive to quickly relate information with great clarity when conversing, so as to not waste the listener’s time – a precious commodity valued by many direct communication cultures. Individuals from indirect communication cultures strive to maintain the honor and face of both the speaker and listener. Therefore, the speaker says what s/he thinks the listener wants to hear, even if this is not the unadulterated truth. Such face-saving is considered kind, polite and respectful.

This can be confusing for those of us who are direct communicators because we expect communication to be clear and precise, where what is said is what is meant. For direct communicators, their word is their bond.

Indirect communication relies on context, particularly eye contact, facial expressions, tone of voice, and body language rather than the spoken word. By paying attention to non-verbal language, listeners can decipher the true message. If you come from a direct culture, it may take time to understand the nuances of indirect communication where what is not said can be as important as what is said. People from direct cultures must learn to listen hard to avoid missing the subtleties. They may also need to temper their speech pattern to not appear overly blunt and rude.

Clues to help you decipher indirect communication:

• In Azerbaijan, people apologize for saying no to a request. They may add phrases such as “I wish it were possible”, “If it were possible I would do it” or “In the future it may be possible.”
• Be on the lookout for the word “maybe” because it can be used to make a direct statement indirect. Rather than tell me this blog needs to be edited, a Chinese publisher might say, “Maybe this blog should be edited.”
• If you hear phrases such as “I will see”, “I will try” or “It may be difficult,” you’ve probably been given a negative response.
• If there is a long pause or other non-verbal cues such as avoiding the eyes or evasive responses, you’ve probably just been told no.
• Rather than accept assurances or agreements on face value, ask for specifics. It can be difficult to get definite answers to questions if the response would be negative. Therefore, watch for evasions or half statements.

There are times when bad news must be given. That’s not a problem to the direct communicator, but presents a real challenge to the indirect communicator. In many Asian countries, bad news is handled by a third-party so that both sides can retain face. Negative questions are another interesting quirk of indirect communication since the response may differ depending upon which language is used.

• In response to the question “Isn’t this document ready?”, the English response would be “no”, meaning the document is not ready, while the Japanese response would be “yes”, meaning “yes, the document is not ready.”
• Russians often ask negative questions such as “Did you not know?”, so that the person responding may give a positive response to indicate a negative answer.

If you are from a culture with a more direct communication style, you may need to train your ear and mind to catch indirectness before responding to questions, or else your response may confuse the listener.

How do you ensure you’re getting the correct answer?

• Ask open-ended questions and ask the same question several ways (re-phrase) to make certain you understood the response.
• Learn to phrase questions so that the desired response is not obvious. Instead of asking, “Will the report be finished by Friday?” you might ask, “When will the report be finished?”

For those of us who have been raised in direct cultures, it is important that we learn to understand the signals we receive from indirect communicators. Otherwise, we create our own baffling towers of Babel.

Carrie
RW3 CultureWizard

The blogger immersed (and negotiating) in East Africa

This brief New York Times science update affirms that immersion enables the foreign language learner to build brain processing capacity at the level of a native speaker.

Dr. Michael Ullman, a neuroscientist at Georgetown University Medical Center, said that a new study “…should help us understand how foreign-language learners can achieve nativelike processing with increased practice. It makes sense that you’d want to have your brain process like a foreign speaker.”

Immersion is also an excellent way to build cultural awareness, which almost always leads to improvements in speaking a foreign language. Have you ever considered investing in an immersion program abroad? This is good news for adults who may be dwelling on the abundance of data supporting early childhood as the best time to learn a language.

Sean
RW3 CultureWizard

Avril Liu, 22, graduate student, Guangxi province. Photo by Adrian Frisk.

Read this New Yorker story on the confused, uncertain attitude youth in China have on life in a swiftly evolving period in their history.

Which picture from the China project stays with you most? How did you meet?

It is hard to pin down the one image that made the deepest impression on me—as many of them did. But if I had to pick one, I would say the photograph of Avril Lui (above) taken in Guangxi Province. Avril had recently graduated from university in Hunan Province, and I met her when my translator and I went to a place teaching English as a summer course. Her statement was: “We are the lost generation. I’m confused about the world.” This photograph seems to have struck a chord with many of the young Chinese who have viewed it. I think the pace of change has been so rapid in China in these last two decades that many of the young are in a spin which has left them somewhat confused. Their parents’ generation had a clear idea of what their identity was and the better life they were struggling for. Now that that better world has arrived it can be argued that life for the Chinese youth might have more opportunity but has in turn become more complicated with difficult career decisions, an increasingly materialistic society, and a complex relationship with the West. All this contributes to a sense of confusion. Avril is also referring to the fact that her parents generation rarely talks about or acknowledges the Cultural Revolution that had so much impact on Chinese society at the time—or for that matter any history, particularly, of more recent times. There is a sense amongst some young Chinese that they have arrived; but, where from, and has it been worth it? I also like this photograph because of the classic building in the background and the traditionally dressed man in blue on the bicycle. These visual keys are a nod to the world from which China has so recently arrived from.

The contradictions and intricacies of modern culture in China are enough to make anyone’s head spin. Simultaneous rebellion and conformity – modernity pulling minds in one direction and traditional values leading them in another. What do you make of this story?

Sean
RW3 CultureWizard

A compendium of current news and headlines with commentary providing unique cultural insight into global affairs, business and daily life around the world.

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Check out CultureWizard Digest #48 here!

IN THIS MONTH’S ISSUE:

* Stability, Key Concern for China
* A Mythic and Heroic International Assignment
* World Leadership and Change Tolerance
* Dress to Impress: Guidelines for Women in the Middle East

CultureLinks
+ The Brazilian Connection
+ How to Express Remorse in Japan

CultureTips
+ How to Tip Worldwide

RW-3.com

Take a look at this Economist infographic on how long leaders stay in power around the world. Is leadership tenure related to a culture’s tolerance for change and perhaps appetite for risk?

Mark
RW3 CultureWizard

How many ways can you apologize in Japan? What is appropriate for various situations? Find out more about the delicate matter by watching this video!

In The Guardian, writer and semiologist Umberto Eco talks about culture being the substance that defines European identity in the modern day. He speaks about its potential as a binding agent for a stronger European market, and a stronger Europe in general.

Eco specifically promulgates the expansion of the Erasmus student exchange system to capture not just students, but virtually everyone, in the process of developing an integrated “European culture”.

The university exchange programme Erasmus is barely mentioned in the business sections of newspapers, yet Erasmus has created the first generation of young Europeans. I call it a sexual revolution: a young Catalan man meets a Flemish girl – they fall in love, they get married and they become European, as do their children. The Erasmus idea should be compulsory – not just for students, but also for taxi drivers, plumbers and other workers. By this, I mean they need to spend time in other countries within the European Union; they should integrate.

Europe is certainly not like the United States or other federations that share a common language and constitution. Eco doesn’t think it ever will or should be. On the other hand, there may be some innately “European” values that exist in many places on the continent (and surrounding isles).

What would you vote for as the most European of values? What makes Europeans as a whole particularly unique as a large cultural unit?

If Europeans are too different to lend meaning to the concept of “European culture,” what makes them so?

We want to know what you think – please share your thoughts in the comments area.

Sean
RW3 CultureWizard

As someone who writes and blogs about culture, how it affects our lives and the way we do business, I found this recent BBC news piece both funny and illuminating. It seems the Germans and Brits are at odds – again. Many Brits working with Germans find themselves offended by the abruptness of the German language, and many Germans working with Brits find themselves annoyed by the British penchant for small talk and indirectness. Germans, it turns out, don’t even have a word in their language for “small talk”! This is the point that really blew me away.

Culture runs deep – deeper than most of us know. Not only does culture influence how you will deal and be dealt with by someone from another culture, it influences your ability to understand other cultures – even when making your most open-minded efforts.

Germans don’t share concepts central to British culture and vice versa. For example, the tendency to make pleasant “small talk” by discussing the weather or “simulating concern” (this is how the BBC puts it) for the well-being of others doesn’t happen very often in Germany. Of course, “Wie geht es dir?” or “How are you?” is a common phrase in both languages, but the purpose ascribed to the statement differs within the context of German and British culture. Germans use the expression as a genuine question and only when they are truly interested in how someone is doing. Brits use is as a greeting, a substitution for “Hello” and it does not mean the person asking is necessarily concerned about the other person’s well-being.

I once read a story about a group of African Pygmies who where brought to the edge of a forest to look at the savannah for the first time. They immediately panicked at the sight of animals roaming about, albeit well off in the distance. The Pygmies perceived the animals to be right in front of them, like an odd insect just before their noses. They were startled because this particular ethnic group had no language or means for gauging perspective and spatial dynamics over such great distances. As complete forest dwellers, they were not aware that such distances existed.

The majority of what we can associate with culture exists in the invisible. It runs so deep that we often lack the vocabulary or realm of understanding to comprehend what’s going on under the surface, and how we might be perceived outside our own cultural sphere. Once we’re out of the familiar jungle of our own culture, all bets are off.

Adam
RW3 CultureWizard

Looking back to a post we made in 2009 on Kraft’s mission to sell Oreos in China, we’ve seen some major progress, according to this recent NPR story. In fact, The Oreo has become the best-selling cookie in China.

Kraft initially responded to Chinese taste buds by reducing sugar content in the cookies. For the masses, it was too sweet. They took further steps by looking at other flavors the market craved, resulting in Oreos with green-tea and mango flavored filling. They also changed the shape to resemble a rolled wafer, much easier to eat in the traditional Oreo fashion for a country that isn’t accustomed to “dunking” their cookies in (soy) milk. The imprint Americans have for eating Oreos (“Twist, Lick, Dunk”) doesn’t exist in China. To address this, “Oreo launched a series of TV ads where cute children demonstrate to their parents and other adults how to eat an Oreo cookie in the American style,” says the NPR story, effectively teaching children and adults at the same time.

Lorna Davis, head of the global biscuit division at Kraft, told NPR what she learned:

Any foreign company that comes to China and says, ‘There’s 1 1/2 billion people here, goody goody, and I only need 1 percent of that’ … [is] going to get into trouble. You have to understand how the consumer operates at a really detailed level.

Culture encompasses all the detail to which Davis refers. Culture informs the preferences we develop at a young age, which influences our behaviors for life.

What other foods have you seen undergo this kind of cultural transformation as it migrates from country to country?

Grayson
RW3 CultureWizard

Winning the hearts and stomachs of people around the world might be one of the most effective ways of bridging cultures. For centuries, food’s diplomatic prowess has provided a channel for introducing and exploring new cultures, often earlier than substantial human-to-human contact is made. The token trip to New York’s Chinatown for an authentic dim sum experience or to Brick Lane in East London for a Bangladeshi meal is a typically modern food experience many of us in the West know well. In Hend Alhinnawi’s blog post, she cites Paul Rockower’s definition of gastrodiplomacy: a way to use “culinary delights to appeal to global appetites, and thus helps raise a nation’s brand awareness and reputation.” Alhinnawi goes on to say:

It is an important tool in building cultural understanding, and in turn, breaking down traditional barriers by providing insight into a culture that might otherwise be unknown to a person. While many Americans may never experience the joys, sights and sounds of Incredible India, they can taste the culture through a culinary sampling at their local Indian market or restaurant. By bringing the food to their local communities, these outlets are great for engaging audiences through gastrodiplomacy, one palate at a time.

“Vindaloo Against Violence” is a project one Australian launched in 2010 to combat hostility towards Indians in her city, Melbourne, by encouraging people to dine at Indian eateries. It was effective – 17,000 people signed up to partake (we all know that the prospect of good food is an effective way to gather support!).

I wrote my graduate thesis on how mainstream American society shifted from initially shunning Italian foods to consuming it at very high levels. This started with the en masse migration of Europeans, many of whom were Italian, to North America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. At first, North American society saw Italian foods in the same way it perceived the people who created and consumed them: suspicious, foreign and unpalatable. The historical trajectory of the cuisine is remarkable, as gastrodiplomacy gradually brought people to love Italian pizza and pasta – foods consumed in countries worldwide. This was in part due to the energies of the Italian diaspora and the success they had as entrepreneurs, restaurant owners and purveyors of food in general. In my thesis, I linked the increasingly saturated Italian food industry to the Italian community’s integration into US society, and how the food acted as a diplomat by building awareness of Italian values and traditions for mainstream society.

Where have you experienced or seen gastrodiplomacy at work? Do you think food has the power to unite people from different countries and different backgrounds?

Sean
RW3 CultureWizard

I don’t mean to post yet another story on the challenges related to German culture (here’s another recent post on how to split the restaurant bill in Germany), but re-visiting Mark Twain’s essay on the incredibly difficult nature of the German language was irresistible. Patrick Schmidt of SIETAR Europa updated Twain’s famous satire on the bizarre mechanics of Deutsch (click here to read the original, published in 1880).

One of the poignant thoughts Schmidt shares is that “to be taken seriously in the German language, one needs to conceal the meaning of a sentence by placing the main verb at the very end.” Thus, one must listen to the entire statement, however long, to extract the full meaning. Because the sentence structure follows the subject-object-verb model (and not subject-verb-object, as in English), “action” doesn’t take place until the end…

It seems when Germans are listening to someone, they are intensely waiting for the speaker to tell them the last word. And when it is finally announced, you see an expression of climactic relief on their faces.

I once asked my father, who is native to Hamburg, to tell me the longest German word he could think of. The word that came to mind is of a strange origin, but it illustrates the synthetic nature of German, whereby several words are combined to create a single meaning. The word was impressive: hottentottentittenattentat (that’s 12 t’s!). Four words strung together to become an idea whose meaning (and purpose) may evade the hardiest of German students. However, it’s not only the arcane that merits long winded orthography, but everyday words, I would argue, that are on average longer in German than in English. Instead of using one word to convey a complex idea, many words are synthesized to create a very straightforward approach to communicating concepts and meaning, which relate to the brutally direct nature of the typical German communication style.

How much does language lend itself to cultural values? I’d say a fair amount considering the central value of precision and orderliness in German society. Thoughtfully constructed sentences and products are a result of these cultural values. While English is unarguably a global language and has evolved through numerous cultures and communities around the world, the German language evolved in a much smaller space, which I suspect has allowed for less foreign influence and thus less tinkering over the ages. A language that is based on so many things, often requiring much calculation and foresight (how do you spontaneously express yourself if you don’t already have the ending verbal statement in mind?) have most likely influenced many of the deeply embedded values of Germanic peoples.

What do you think?

Sean
RW3 CultureWizard

Geremie Sawadogo of the World Bank surveyed 200 international aid workers in Sub-Saharan Africa and found the top cultural challenges to be: 1) the way time is used and perceived, 2) hierarchy and family lineage, 3) relationship building, 4) deference to authority and 5) the concept of “face”.

These findings are presented in his recent MOBILITY article. Sawadogo highlights the challenge of defining general cultural concepts within the scope of “Africa” (the continent) and Sub-Saharan Africa as a region. Just as one can’t look at Europe or Asia as a general cultural region, although many always refer to the “West” and “East” for simplicity’s sake, Africa can’t accurately be understood in this context.

One of the article’s most interesting insights is an expression for losing face from Cote d’Ivoire, which is translated to “you poured my face down on the ground.” This descriptive saying expresses how losing face can severely damage a business relationship and a person’s stature within a business. Culture also informs the definition of risk, which “face” impacts: do you risk loss of face in order to reveal certain facts, or do you save face by avoiding mention of something that would be like “pouring someone’s face on the ground”?

What do you value: saving face or objectivity? What have your personal and professional experiences been in Africa?

Also, to learn more about doing business in Africa, watch this TED talk given by Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala: Want to help Africa? Do business here.

Sean

RW3 CultureWizard

I recently visited a close friend in Rwanda. She’s been living and working in Kigali for 3 years, and has built up a network of both local and expat friends. She’s German, works for a German organization and has several German friends. When we arrived, she kindly invited my partner and I to join a group of her German mates on a weekend trip to Nyungwe Forest where the chimps live in the Southwest of the country, an opportunity neither of us wanted to miss.

There were 7 of us, and we drove to the forest in their cars, stayed one night on the way in a friend’s house, who prepared a wonderful barbecue dinner of beef and goat and prepared breakfast the following morning. We were so delighted to be their guests, we later bought everyone drinks at a hotel we visited. I’m sure that at some point, we offered to contribute money towards gas, but the offer was brushed off – “we’ll figure it out later.”

A week later, just as we were leaving Rwanda, we received an itemized matrix outlining what all 7 of us owed to cover the cost of the excursion: food, drink, gas and any other collective expenditure. The entirety of the bill demonstrated a complex, thoughtful calculation (part of the equation was paying entrance to the park for one of the friends as a birthday present, part of it factored in the non-participation of an eighth friend who only joined us for part of the way).

Immediately, our reaction as Americans was, “Whoa, wait a minute. Is this for real? Did someone really keep track of everything and spent their time putting this onerous thing together?” The precise calculation of everything owed, down to the penny, is something an American would easily interpret as a stingy move, especially considering this was between friends and friends of friends. We were bewildered by the precision and energy put into the “invoice”.

We were so grateful to have been invited along that we were happy to contribute, but no one had mentioned this is how it worked, which is often the case with culture. What is “normal” to one person is abnormal to another. To be completely honest, receiving a long-winded, itemized bill was off-putting. However, being half-German myself, I understood the intent and cultural background to this practice.

Fairness, equality and accountability all play into this cultural norm. Orderliness is a central theme of the German culture. “Alles in ordnung?” (literally, “is everything in order?”) is a common expression used to ask if everything is alright. Making sure that everything is in its place and adhering to accepted, efficient processes plays into this.

You experience this when you settle your check at restaurants in Germany where the first waiter’s first question is always, “Do you want to pay together or separately?” Bezahlen sie zusammen oder getrennt? If you choose to pay separately, it’s the waiter’s duty to go around the table and settle each person’s account individually based on exactly what they consumed. I’ve never seen this in any other part of the world. In the US, for example, you can certainly request separate bills (beware: the waiter might get irritated), but many people would prefer to split evenly, however unfair or inefficient it would be (see this interesting study on the matter in the Economic Journal). More often than not, one person would elect to pay the entire bill, silently expecting someone else to do the same on the next occasion.

In any case, I wasn’t able to ask the creator of the invoice more about how often this happens – we had to catch a flight to Nairobi. My friend told me this was pretty customary. Seeing our reaction to this event, she smiled and said, “You know what, I think you Americans are more generous than Germans.”

Sean
RW3 CultureWizard

A compendium of current news and headlines with commentary providing unique cultural insight into global affairs, business and daily life around the world.

Interested in receiving the CultureWizard Digest every month? Click here to sign up.

Check out CultureWizard Digest #36 here!

* A Relationship with Disaster
* Cultural Reaction to Catastrophe in Japan
* McWeddings
* Culture of the Eyes

CultureLinks
+ Indians have a sense of humor, too
+ China’s First Nigerian Pop Star

CultureTips
+ Bahrain

RW-3.com

So, have you ever heard this story? Three friends from a tiny hamlet (this story takes place during a time when one still used words like “hamlet”), one tall, one bearded and one bald, set off one day to see a holy man who was visiting a nearby village. Excitedly, the trio of friends walked for several hours, anxious for an opportunity to visit with a living saint who was said to bestow miracles just from being in his presence. Once in the village, they joined a lengthy line heading into a tent where the holy man was receiving seekers. One by one, the line of pilgrims shuffled in to the dimly lit tent and received a personal blessing from the holy man.

The three friends from the village were ecstatic. It’s not everyday that one gets to be in presence of one so wise and holy. For the hours long walk home that afternoon, the three longtime mates could hardly even bring themselves to speak.

Finally, said the tall friend, “Wasn’t that wonderful!? And by heaven, I was surprised by how tall the holy man was.”

“It was wonderful,” answered his bearded friend, “And did you see how long and fine his beard was?”

“I didn’t notice,” replied the final friend in the trio, “I was so surprised to see a bald saint that I don’t recall anything else.”

As the story points out, it’s surprising, yet hardly uncommon, how desire, both conscious and unconscious, shapes our experience. So much so that each of the three friends saw only in the holy man what was most like themselves, but did you know that what we see can even be shaped by our culture?

In a social/cultural experiment CNN covered, the above fish scene was shown to groups of Japanese and Americans. They were given a few seconds to study the photo before it was removed and they were then asked to describe the scene in detail.

What do you think they noticed most?

Well, the Americans, by a large majority, were most aware of the placement of the three large fish, while the Japanese paid far more attention to the overall environment. When asked to reproduce the picture, the Japanese could place the kelp and the small fish, but lost site of the three large fish, while for the Americans, it was just the opposite. How do we learn to recognize our own cultural biases?

Might you have an experience where what you saw was so shaped by your cultural bias that you saw something as tall, bearded and bald, when in actuality it was short, clean-shaven and with a full head of hair?

Adam

RW3 CultureWizard