"Riding The Waves of Culture: Understanding Diversity in Global Business" by Charles Hampden-Turner and , Fons Trompenaars, McGraw-Hill; 2 edition (December 1, 1997).
"'It is my belief,' Trompenaars begins, 'that you can never understand other cultures . . . (Thus) I started wondering if any of the American management techniques, with which I was brainwashed during eight years of the best business education money could buy, would apply in the Netherlands, where I came from, or, indeed, in the rest of the world.'"
"Trompenaars' solution: 'We need a certain amount of humility and a sense of humour to discover cultures other than our own - a readiness to enter a room in the dark and stumble over unfamiliar furniture until the pain in our shins reminds us of where things are.'"
--Tom Peters, "Culture and sore shins: Tom Peters On Excellence," The Independent, Sunday, 10 July 1994. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/culture-and-sore-shins-tom-peters-on-excellence-1412986.html accessed 20 Jul 11
Humility is an important way to approach cultural differences, with the mindset of "I want to learn from you." I remember friends warning me about my first trip to Paris, that I would encounter arrogance and impatience wherever I went. However, when I'd say to some in my broken French, "Pardon, mon Francais n'est pas bon." They would switch to English with grace and hospitality. Would we do the same here in the US? |