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The Culture Map - Chapter 3 (Country positions on the persuading scale…
The Culture Map - Chapter 3
The art of persuasion in a multicultural world
The ways you seek to persuade others and the persuasive arguments you would use are rooted in your culture's philosophical, religious and educational assumptions and attitudes
In Germany for example, they try to understand the theoretical concept before adapting it to the practical situation
Americans have a very different approach - they focus on practicalities rather than theory so they are more likely to begin with recommendations when making a pitch
Two reasoning styles: principles-first versus applications-first
Principles first - (AKA deductive reasoning) derives conclusions or facts from general principles or concepts
Learning all the theory before applying - disadvantage in languages for example - students spend less time practicing the language so they may be better at writing it than speaking it
They generally want to understand the why behind their boss's requests
Applications first (AKA inductive reasoning) - general conclusions are reached based on a pattern of factual observations from the real world
Observe data from the real world, and based on these empirical observations you draw broader conclusions
Focus less on the why and more on the how
Your habitual pattern of reasoning is heavily influenced by the kind of thinking emphasised in your culture's educational structure
Schools in Anglo-Saxon countries tend to emphasise the applications first method
Schools in Latin Europe, the Germanic countries, and Latin America tend to emphasise principles first methods of teaching
Country positions on the persuading scale
Anglo-Saxon cultures e.g. USA, UK, Australia, Canada, NZ tend to fall on the far right on the persuading scale - applications first
As we move across the scale there is the nordic cluster - Scandinavia and the Netherlands
Latin American and Germanic cultures are considerably more principles first than the US but much less than Latin Europeans - so they are around the middle of the scale
France, Russia and Belgium appear on the principles first side of the scale
An entirely different frame of reference unrelated to the persuading scale comes into play for Asian cultures due to completely different views of the world compared to European influenced cultures
Presenting to Londoners or New Yorkers? --> get to the point, stick to the point
French, Spaniards or Germans? --> spend more time on background and setting the parameters before jumping to your conclusion
When philosophy meets business
Philosophy in Europe has been largely driven by principles-first approaches e.g. Descartes spelled out a method of principles-first reasoning in which the scientist formulates a hypothesis, and seeks evidence to prove or disprove it.
Reasoning styles can also be found in the legal systems of different societies - British and American systems are based on common law - judgement for one case sets a precedent for future cases - applications first thinking
Most EU states use the civil law system that originated in Roman law and the Napoleonic code - a general statute or principle is applied on a case by case basis
Scandinavia uses a hybrid legal system that does not fall into either camp
Philosophical roots define how we learn in school and how we behave as adults at work
Strategies for persuading across cultures
Applications-first thinkers like to receive practical examples up front - they extract learning from these examples - they are used to the case method
Principles-first thinkers also like practical examples, but prefer to understand the basis of the framework before they move to the application
Best strategy for managers working with people from all around the world is to cycle back and forth between theoretical principles and practical examples
Provide practical examples to capture the interest of your applications-first listeners
The principles first listeners could enjoy them but may ask theoretical questions - while you are answering them the applications first listeners could get bored. Try ignoring that for a minute to not sacrifice the interest of your principles-first audience. Answer the questions well and then move onto another example to recapture the attention of applications first listeners
It is difficult to satisfy all listeners at the same time - but if you are aware of the persuading scale and the challenges it presents you can read the cues from your audience more clearly and act accordingly
The same differences that make it hard to convince multicultural teams also make it difficult to improve collaboration among members of such teams. They are often slower to make decisions than monocultural teams. If some team members are using principles-first logic and others use applications-first logic to reach a decision. This can lead to conflict and inefficiency. Most people have little understanding about the logic pattern they use which leads them to judge logic patterns of others negatively
Build team awareness by explaining the scale
A cultural bridge can help - if you have team members that are bicultural or have experience in different cultures, ask them to take responsibility for helping other team members
Understand and adapt to one another's behaviours
Patience and flexibility are keys
Holistic thinking: the Asian approach to persuasion
When considering the differences between Asian and Western thought patterns we need to use a different lens - Asians use holistic thought patterns, Westerners have a specific approach to thought
Americans tend to focus on individual figures when analysing images, while Asians give more attention to backgrounds and links between these backgrounds and central figures
Chinese religions and philosophies have traditionally emphasised interdependencies and interconnectedness. Taoism which influenced Buddhism and Confucianism proposes the universe works harmoniously - various elements depend upon one another e.g. Yin and Yang
Increasing your effectiveness
In holistic cultures if you need to motivate, manage, or persuade someone, you will be more influential if you take time to explain the big picture and show how all the pieces fit together
specific division of tasks and individual incentive plans don't work well for holistic cultures
If you need to explain a project, or set objectives or sell an idea to a holistic audience, begin explaining the big picture in detail. Outline how the parts are connected before drilling down what specifically needs to be accomplished and when
Avoiding the pitfalls, reaping the benefits
Effective cross-cultural collaboration takes more time than monocultural and needs to be managed more closely.
On a multicultural team, save time by having as few people in the group work across cultures as possible
You can leave the others to work in the local way that is most natural to them
This way you get innovation from a combination of cultures while avoiding the inefficiency that comes with the clash
Think carefully about your larger objectives before mixing cultures up - if your goal is innovation or creativity - more cultural diversity is better when the process is managed carefully,
If your goal is simple speed and efficiency, then monocultural is probably better.