Culture Lessons

I was born in Brazil, lived in Argentina for a number of years, and immigrated to the United States as an adult. My profession has taken me to different countries and encouraged me to deal with people from all over the world. Here are a few ideas I gathered along the way:

You are a product of your culture

The word culture can be described as a set of instructions received from our family, friends, and society at large. Such instructions are seldom written or explained in detail. They are, nevertheless, the basis for many of our daily decisions. We all have values, beliefs, and behavior patterns inherited from our cultural background. There is nothing wrong with that – as long as we understand that these values and beliefs are not universal.

For instance... my own heritage makes it uncomfortable for me to "sell myself" in an interview or public scenario.  Where I come from arrogance is a capital sin.  This makes me rather prone to self effacing comments. For instance, I could say in a public presentation that I don't "know that much" about a topic... whether or not I do!

Understand that you don't understand

Because our basis for perceiving reality is our own cultural heritage, we may easily misinterpret certain events, gestures, or body language. It is best to recognize that in a different cultural environment, the rules have changed. This can be quite disorienting at first.

When facing a situation that doesn’t seem to make sense, stop and ask neutral questions. For instance, ask “What does this gesture mean?” instead of “Why are you upset with me?”

Invest in learning the language

Multiculturalists spend a lot of time convincing people to learn about cultural practices and ideas. People attend cultural classes and read etiquette books. Yet, we often fail to take the one step that can truly make a difference – learning the local language. Yes, it is not an easy task. Yes, it takes time. However it is time very well spent. Without taking the time to learn the local language you cannot possibly communicate with locals in a way that is comfortable for them.

Even if you speak with the worst possible accent and make a thousand mistakes, learning the local language conveys respect and interest. You will build a solid ground for establishing relationships and learning.

It's not all about culture

This last point may seem odd, given that I'm talking about cultural differences and cultural understanding. However, this is one thing I learned in the United States and in Finland, in Brazil and Argentina. It's not all about culture. At the end of the day there are extraverts and introverts, nervous and calm people, those who want to be powerful and those who hate power demonstrations.  Personality is distributed as in a normal curve, after all.  You could find a counterpart in Malaysia who is more similar to you than your next door neighbor.