Mentality:
Comparisons of national cultures often begin to highlight differences in social behaviour. These different behaviours and behaviours cause us great entertainment. We smile at external strangeness, congratulate ourselves on our normalcy. We recognize, however, that these peculiarities are largely superficial.
We join strangers in their social actions partly for compatibility and partly for fun. But what goes in our heads remains stable, private and well-protected.
Everything you are told will be a brief presentation of the inner world of the other person's thoughts.
A few countries in the world do not believe, deep in their hearts, that they are the best, or the most intelligent, or at least ordinary.
It is remarkable how many shared concepts are so strongly and likewise rooted in very different societies. Everyone has different perceptions of these concepts that appeal to many cultures.
Morals can be turned upside down. The Japanese American is described as immoral if the latter breaks the contract. The Japanese say it is unethical for an American to enforce the terms of the contract if things change.
In Germany and Sweden, it makes sense to form an organized bus line. In Naples and Rio, it makes sense to take the bus before everyone else.
We can only achieve a good understanding of our foreign counterparts if we realize that our "cultural glasses" colour our view of them. We need to examine the peculiarities of our culture. Once we realize that we are also very strange, we must understand the subjective nature of our ethnic or national values.
The American view is that the individual must prevail. In the U.S.A., you start at the bottom, give your all, stretch yourself through your bootstraps, take it out and reach the top. From rags to affluence, in a land where everyone is equal - in theory. It's a daunting task but fortunately, Americans are tireless optimists and look to the future. They are opportunistic and quick to seize opportunities. United States history presented many golden opportunities for those who snatched the fastest.
Time:
Switzerland and Germany, along with Britain and the Anglo-Saxon world in general, the Netherlands, Austria and the Scandinavian countries, have a linear vision of time and action. The suspect, like the Americans, that time is running out (wasted) without decisions being made or actions being implemented. These groups are also monophonic; That is, they prefer to do only one thing at a time, to focus on it and do it within a set schedule.
People who are active in the streak, such as Swedes, Swiss, Dutch and Germans, do one thing at a time, focus heavily on that thing and do it within a specific period of time. These people believe that this way they are more efficient and get more done.
Multiplayer people think they accomplish more their way.
Multiplayer people don't like to leave conversations incomplete. For them, completing a human transaction is the best way to invest their time.
Interactive cultures excel at subtle nonverbal communication, which compensates for the absence of frequent interventions. What has not been said maybe the main point of the response?
In data-dependent cultures, one conducts research to produce a lot of information which is then handled. The Swedes, Germans, Americans, Swiss and Northern Europeans do so.
Dialogue-oriented cultures: Italians and other Latinos, Arabs, and Indians. These people see events and business possibilities "in context" because they already possess an enormous amount of information through their personal information networks.
Conversational and multi-oriented people do ten things simultaneously and thus are in constant contact with humans. They get an enormous amount of information from these people - much more than what Americans or Germans would ever gather by spending much of the day in a private office, the door closed, and looking at a computer screen. The multi-active people delve into the information. In meetings, they tend to ignore agendas or talk about their role. How can you anticipate a conversation? Discussing one element can render another meaningless.
Americans are employers. They cannot afford to be idle.
The Spaniards, Italians and Arabs will ignore the passage of time if that means the talks are left incomplete. For them, completing a human transaction is the best way to invest their time.
In China, they often complain that Americans, in China to do business, often have to board their plane to return to the United States "in the middle of the discussion". The American believes that the facts have been thoroughly discussed. The Chinese feel that they have not yet reached that degree of closeness - a satisfactory degree of mutual trust.
The Japanese have a strong sense of unfolding or decoding time. This is well described by Joy Hendry in her book The Culture Wrap. It also includes a love of fragmentation of procedures, traditions, and ritual beauty.
Cultures that observe linear and cyclical notions of time see the past as something we have put behind us and the future as something in front of us. In Madagascar, the opposite is true. Malagasy people imagine that the future flows to the back of their heads, or passes them from behind, and then becomes the past as it extends in front of them. The past is before their eyes because it is visible, known and influential. The future is unknown to the Malagasy. It is behind their heads where they have no eyes. Buses leave in Madagascar, not on a pre-set schedule, but when the bus is full. The situation triggers the event.
How does one fix a date for an event where the Japanese attend ten minutes early, the Germans and Swiss are on time, the Americans and British are a bit late, the French after them and the Brazilians who arrive an hour after the party is due to end?
Language:
The language we speak largely determines our way of thinking, which is different from just expressing it. Thinking in two different languages gives us additional dimensions of reality.
Spaniards and Italians consider their languages to be tools of rhetoric. To achieve greater expression, they use their hands, arms, and facial expressions and make the most of their pitch and tone. It is not necessarily overly dramatic or emotional. They want you to know how they are feeling. They will appeal, directly and powerfully, to your goodness, warm heart, or generosity if they want something from you.
Exaggeration and exaggeration are at the bottom of most American expressions, contrasting sharply with the enigmatic nature of the British.
America: When immigrants who spoke many types of discontinuous English were brought together, the Balinese clichés were more understandable than originality or elegance of expression. The American language has never recovered from this period.
Good manners, theoretically invented by the upper classes for smooth social contact, actually developed into a repressive law that puts people in their shoes. Fortunately, Americans are upset that they are sorted this way and soon afterwards they invented bad manners, which saved us all a lot of trouble.
Complete the September Final Report by 5:30 PM on October 10 today, right? Our console hasn't requested to see the September report yet. I wonder if it's coming tomorrow. You never know with him ... "The actual arrangement was never given - there's no need, the staff is already scrambling to get their books.
French is clear and decisive, a type of verbal dance or oral gymnastics, which presses its points with an unconvincing logical urgency. He is rational, meticulous and ruthless in his clarity.
Sincerity takes us a long way. Europeans, Asians, and Americans meet regularly at business and at conferences and they manage to avoid offence, to a large extent, by being honest. In such elementary gatherings, mistakes are ignored, and even they are considered witches.
Countries:
Every country gets the government it deserves.
Sub-Saharan Africa is divided into more than 600 cultural groups. The European powers met in Berlin in 1884 and agreed on borders and spheres of influence. These arbitrary divisions were disastrous for African culture, as the political map bore very little resemblance to the cultural and traditional map. This means that the term nation has little meaning for most Africans.
Africa's total GDP (including countries in the North) is roughly the same as the total for South Korea or the Netherlands.
Cultural Myopia - How ethnocentrism blinds us to the salient features of our cultural makeup while making us see other cultures as deviations from our proper order.
