The Culture Map - Introduction

to apply clear strategies to improve effectiveness at solving problems caused my cross-cultural misunderstanding or avoid them altogether, begin with recognising cultural factors that shape behaviour, and analyse the reasons for that behaviour

France - positive feedback is often given implicitly, negative feedback is given more directly - an exception to normally being quite 'high context'


USA - give positive feedback directly, and try to couch negative messages in positive, encouraging language

Invisible boundaries that divide our world

Majority of managers who work internationally = unware of the impact of culture on their work

With modern methods of communication such as exchanging emails with an international counterpart in a country you have never been to, it is easier to miss the cultural subtleties that impact communication

when you actually live, work or travel extensively in foreign countries you pick up on contextual cues you use to understand the culture, and decode communication to adapt.

Being open to individual differences is not enough

People work in global settings while viewing everything through their own cultural lens - this leads to assumptions that all differences, controversy and misunderstandings are rooted in personality

Why not approach people with an interest in getting to know them personally (as opposed to culturally)

If you approach interactions assuming culture doesn't matter, you automatically view others through your own cultural lens or misjudge them accordingly

If your business relies on the ability to work well with people of different cultures, you need to have an appreciation for cultural differences AS WELL as respect for individual ones

cultural and individual differences are also often wrapped up with differences among organisations, industries, professions and other groups

Eight scales that map the world's cultures

Each represents one key area managers should be aware of, and show how cultures vary along a spectrum from one extreme to the other

  1. communicating - low context vs high context
  1. evaluating - direct negative feedback vs indirect
  1. persuading - principles- first vs applications-first
  1. leading - egalitarian vs hierarchical
  1. deciding - consensual vs top-down
  1. trusting - task-based vs relationship-based
  1. disagreeing - confrontational vs avoiding confrontation
  1. scheduling - linear time vs. flexible time

How did my country get placed there?

what is important on the scale is the relative gap between two countries not the absolute position of the country you are looking at

first step in the scaling is interviewing people from the demographic, a normative pattern emerges - bell curve illustrates the range of what is considered appropriate or acceptable behaviour in that culture - the hump is where the majority of responses fall

there are outliers, but then their behaviour would be considered inappropriate, unacceptable or unideal in that culture's business culture

the culture sets a range, and within that range each individual makes a choice about how to act - it is not only a question of culture or personality but both