When doing research about communications, one cannot help but come across the concept of "culture" as a key factor in determining communication effectiveness. Everyone I speak to seems to agree that culture is important, but very few people I met can define "what culture is" in a few sentences. The explanations are either to complex, or the explanation is too simplistic. And usually the explanation does not offer any practical advice on how to use an understanding of culture to achieve excellence in communications. This chapter is an attempt to give you enough understanding about culture(s) so you can use it in your daily practice.
For purposes of this blog, lets use the following simplified definition of "Culture"
A Culture is the set of rules, values and guidelines that drives the behavior of a group
While this might seem overly simplistic, I feel this definition is sufficiently rich to allow us to develop tips and guidelines for achieving communications excellence. If you want to understand culture, you need to understand groups. If you want to understand groups, you need to understand people. If you want to understand people, you need to understand the brain. If you want to understand the brain, you need to understand that the brain is a rule making engine that is looking to minimize pain and risk, and maximize pleasure and reward. Cultures store these rules at the level of a group, but are based on the same underlying principles driving the behavior of the individual.
When you are reading about culture, you will find all kinds of deep concepts to differentiate the various cultures. There is Western vs. Asian culture, there is Southern vs. Northern culture, there is high-context vs. low context culture, there are mono-chronic vs. poly-chronic cultures etc. I will not even try to begin to describe these as there is ample literature out there you can seek out and dig into the this very interesting subject. Instead, I will offer a framework that lets you understand what makes these cultures fundamentally different and how you can prepare for the cultural differences in the preparation of your next communication.
All human behavior, as well as the behavior of groups, is based on the evolved structure of the brain. Therefore all culture can be basically related to the brain's drive to maximize security and certainty, status, pleasure and power. If we "buy into" this assumption, we can then differentiate 2 basic cultural strategies for achieving these objectives at the group level. These 2 cultural strategies determine the fundamental differences between the different cultures we encounter. Strategy 1 relies on explicit rules, we can refer to these cultures as A-Type cultures. Strategy 2 relies on relationships, we can refer to these cultures as B-Type cultures.
Let's explore this a bit further. In a A-type culture that relies on explicit rules, things are well documented, there are a lot of signs for everything, instructions how to do stuff, as well as openly available and well described processes. In addition, the culture generally heavily relies on the laws and regulations to govern the behavior of the group. Authority is placed in the "system". Individuals are autonomous and self-determining. Relationships, while important, are not valued above the results achieved by adherence to the rules. While there there are specific and deep variations, especially in the approach towards relationships, the western cultures including Germans, US-Americans, British, Swiss, etc. are A-Type cultures. You can clearly see if you are in a A-Type culture by observing how many signs you see on the street, how many regulations you are typically subjected to, and how detailed the contract requirements are for doing business. A-type cultures usually don't expect any rules to change based on who you are, or what your social status is. When there is a breach of conduct, the A-Type culture, true to its bias to rules, will expect the "system" to take care of the offense.
The B-Type culture is quite different. Of course, in a B-Type culture there are as many rules as in the A-type culture: These rules, however, are implicit or hidden. They are not posted on streets, or written down and handed out to foreigners. The rules and guidelines are carried by the social context, individual and group status, heritage, family association and by the the depth of the relationships of the participants of the culture. Individuals are considered in the broader context of loyalty and adherence to the standards of the the community: family first, then village, firm, region, leader, nation etc. Business is done based on trust in the relationship, rather than based on formal contracts. An informal handshake is enough to seal the deal. Consensus is important. The integrity of hierarchies, the implicit respect for superiors, elders, ancestors, or persons of authority is paramount. It is key to avoid "loss of face" of superiors and subordinates at all times. China, Japan and Korea come to mind, when thinking about B-Type cultures.
Like I said before. This is a gross simplification, but it can help you build out your sensitivity towards understanding why certain communication styles simply don't work in certain cultures. An A-type manager that is looking for eye contact and "direct feedback" from a B-Type culture audience will be disappointed. The B-type will avoid eye contact and direct feedback to not embarrass the other. Mass marketing will not work well in B-type cultures for certain products. Instead, one needs to market through referrals based on existing relationships, as well as family and group ties. While using a loud voice is considered a sign of strength and authority in the A-type cultures (the individual is autonomous), shouting is considered as loss of control in a B-type culture (the individual represents the community). The Japanese consensus building practice of "namawashi", (derived from "going around the roots" when preparing a tree for transport) is a typical example of B-Type culture group and relationship based process that can drive a western A-type to near desperation when trying to drive for fast results based on a contract.
So. How can we use this in our daily communication practice? Here is a few points to consider:
- Cultural divides do not just exist across geographies. Cultures can differ for each group, or company, or even at the individual level. My culture can be vastly different than yours, even in the same country, company and group.
- There is no good or bad. A-types are not better or worse than B-types, they are just different. But just like blood types they don't mix very well, one has to decide which approach to use to achieve understanding and agreement.
- Try to use keen observation of a culture that you are dealing with, or you are part of. Is the culture more based on explicit rules and regulations, or more based on the depth of the relationships and the social context?
- Try to remember the definition of culture: Culture is the set of rules, values and guidelines that drive the behavior of the group. If you try to understand culture, try to gain access to these rules and values.
- Cultures are hard to change. The more implicit the rules and regulations are, the more embedded the culture is. In A-Type cultures, which are driven by explicit rules, this seems easier to achieve than in B-Type cultures, but its still hard, especially when it comes to value systems.
For purposes of this blog, lets use the following simplified definition of "Culture"
A Culture is the set of rules, values and guidelines that drives the behavior of a group
While this might seem overly simplistic, I feel this definition is sufficiently rich to allow us to develop tips and guidelines for achieving communications excellence. If you want to understand culture, you need to understand groups. If you want to understand groups, you need to understand people. If you want to understand people, you need to understand the brain. If you want to understand the brain, you need to understand that the brain is a rule making engine that is looking to minimize pain and risk, and maximize pleasure and reward. Cultures store these rules at the level of a group, but are based on the same underlying principles driving the behavior of the individual.
When you are reading about culture, you will find all kinds of deep concepts to differentiate the various cultures. There is Western vs. Asian culture, there is Southern vs. Northern culture, there is high-context vs. low context culture, there are mono-chronic vs. poly-chronic cultures etc. I will not even try to begin to describe these as there is ample literature out there you can seek out and dig into the this very interesting subject. Instead, I will offer a framework that lets you understand what makes these cultures fundamentally different and how you can prepare for the cultural differences in the preparation of your next communication.
All human behavior, as well as the behavior of groups, is based on the evolved structure of the brain. Therefore all culture can be basically related to the brain's drive to maximize security and certainty, status, pleasure and power. If we "buy into" this assumption, we can then differentiate 2 basic cultural strategies for achieving these objectives at the group level. These 2 cultural strategies determine the fundamental differences between the different cultures we encounter. Strategy 1 relies on explicit rules, we can refer to these cultures as A-Type cultures. Strategy 2 relies on relationships, we can refer to these cultures as B-Type cultures.
Let's explore this a bit further. In a A-type culture that relies on explicit rules, things are well documented, there are a lot of signs for everything, instructions how to do stuff, as well as openly available and well described processes. In addition, the culture generally heavily relies on the laws and regulations to govern the behavior of the group. Authority is placed in the "system". Individuals are autonomous and self-determining. Relationships, while important, are not valued above the results achieved by adherence to the rules. While there there are specific and deep variations, especially in the approach towards relationships, the western cultures including Germans, US-Americans, British, Swiss, etc. are A-Type cultures. You can clearly see if you are in a A-Type culture by observing how many signs you see on the street, how many regulations you are typically subjected to, and how detailed the contract requirements are for doing business. A-type cultures usually don't expect any rules to change based on who you are, or what your social status is. When there is a breach of conduct, the A-Type culture, true to its bias to rules, will expect the "system" to take care of the offense.
The B-Type culture is quite different. Of course, in a B-Type culture there are as many rules as in the A-type culture: These rules, however, are implicit or hidden. They are not posted on streets, or written down and handed out to foreigners. The rules and guidelines are carried by the social context, individual and group status, heritage, family association and by the the depth of the relationships of the participants of the culture. Individuals are considered in the broader context of loyalty and adherence to the standards of the the community: family first, then village, firm, region, leader, nation etc. Business is done based on trust in the relationship, rather than based on formal contracts. An informal handshake is enough to seal the deal. Consensus is important. The integrity of hierarchies, the implicit respect for superiors, elders, ancestors, or persons of authority is paramount. It is key to avoid "loss of face" of superiors and subordinates at all times. China, Japan and Korea come to mind, when thinking about B-Type cultures.
Like I said before. This is a gross simplification, but it can help you build out your sensitivity towards understanding why certain communication styles simply don't work in certain cultures. An A-type manager that is looking for eye contact and "direct feedback" from a B-Type culture audience will be disappointed. The B-type will avoid eye contact and direct feedback to not embarrass the other. Mass marketing will not work well in B-type cultures for certain products. Instead, one needs to market through referrals based on existing relationships, as well as family and group ties. While using a loud voice is considered a sign of strength and authority in the A-type cultures (the individual is autonomous), shouting is considered as loss of control in a B-type culture (the individual represents the community). The Japanese consensus building practice of "namawashi", (derived from "going around the roots" when preparing a tree for transport) is a typical example of B-Type culture group and relationship based process that can drive a western A-type to near desperation when trying to drive for fast results based on a contract.
So. How can we use this in our daily communication practice? Here is a few points to consider:
- Cultural divides do not just exist across geographies. Cultures can differ for each group, or company, or even at the individual level. My culture can be vastly different than yours, even in the same country, company and group.
- There is no good or bad. A-types are not better or worse than B-types, they are just different. But just like blood types they don't mix very well, one has to decide which approach to use to achieve understanding and agreement.
- Try to use keen observation of a culture that you are dealing with, or you are part of. Is the culture more based on explicit rules and regulations, or more based on the depth of the relationships and the social context?
- Try to remember the definition of culture: Culture is the set of rules, values and guidelines that drive the behavior of the group. If you try to understand culture, try to gain access to these rules and values.
- Cultures are hard to change. The more implicit the rules and regulations are, the more embedded the culture is. In A-Type cultures, which are driven by explicit rules, this seems easier to achieve than in B-Type cultures, but its still hard, especially when it comes to value systems.
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