By Elora Schatzker, Freelance Law Firm Marketer & Catherine Mitchell, Client Development Skills Coach
The LMA Toronto’s 2012 Luncheon Seminar season started on a high note on February 23rd with an engaging and highly informative presentation by Dr. Ted Vokes, Director of Cultural Consulting at Alexa Translations.
Beginning with a basic definition of culture as the ‘social lubricant’ of societies, Ted went on to explain the components of culture, dividing them into the elements we see and the hidden elements that we don’t see and then noting that there are many basic human attributes (such as love for our children and fear of the unknown) that exist in every culture.
But lest we think that his clinical dissection of the elements of culture would provide a simple formula for understanding other societies, Ted went on to note that culture is also profoundly irrational, self-contradictory and in a state of constant change.
Ted also outlined the four components of cultural intelligence (or ‘CQ’ for those in the know): Awareness of one’s own cultural worldview, attitude towards cultural differences, knowledge of different cultural practices and worldviews, and cross-cultural skills, and that CQ can be assessed, measured and developed. Most importantly he noted that “we don’t have culture, we do culture.”
Ted cautioned that thinking in terms of cultural stereotypes is a dangerous trap. Even if a person is the perfect embodiment of their culture, that aspect of their persona only counts for a small percentage of who they are as a person. Cultural competence might make us more comfortable in foreign social situations, but it is empathy for the unique qualities of each individual that will win us business and friendships.
Ted also provided some concrete tips for avoiding and recovering from a social faux pas: if you’ve made a genuine effort to learn, others will offer their help and respectful corrections; a sincere apology can smooth many misunderstandings; it helps to be able to laugh at your own mistakes; and (admittedly a difficult thing for many lawyers) when in doubt – ask your hosts for guidance.
Even if we or our lawyers are not travelling to foreign countries for business, Canada’s diverse population ensures that we are in regular contact with people from other cultures in our daily lives. Discounting any perception that the world is slowly ‘Westernizing’, he noted that cultural competence is a necessary skill for everyone in today’s workforce.
Finally, Ted made the very salient point that cultural competence is not about being an ‘expert’ in another culture, but rather it is about the willingness to engage in learning about another culture.
Questions from the floor
Questions from the floor were very practical, reflecting the nature of the questioners’ roles in their firms and covered the following:
Q. Do the cultural competence items discussed today come into play when writing emails?
A. Absolutely. And it is reflected most prominently in greetings and salutations (where power distance is a factor) and in the inclusion, or not, of personal information.
Q. Are we overdoing the cultural sensitivity a bit (example given was being over sensitive to using the colour white in an advertisement in China)?
A. It’s prudent to respect these items at the beginning of a relationship until you know or have agreement to relax them. You’re more likely to know if being flexible in how you demonstrate your firm’s cultural competence will help or hinder the development of relationships once you’ve established some credibility by following the ‘rules’ at the start.
Q. When conducting international conference calls with several countries, I’ve noticed that our Asian colleagues are very silent in brainstorming discussions but will send their thoughts privately by email shortly after the call. Is this a cultural difference or a personal preference?
A. Brainstorming is very much culturally-based, and is in fact a Western-based business practice. The familiar Western expression, “The squeaky wheel gets the oil” translates to “The quacking duck gets shot” in Asian cultures. So in Japan, for example, they are much more likely to contribute anonymously than in a visible way for fear of standing out.
Q. What about the affect of culture in deals? Are we losing deals because we are not ‘speaking the same language’?
A. What constitutes a deal (or a profitable deal, for that matter) differs between cultures. So a ‘deal’ is not a deal is not a deal. For example, profitability timeframes differ (Western cultures have more immediate profitability timelines than Asian cultures).
Tools you can use
Throughout the discussion, Gary Kalaci, Alexa Translations’ CEO, administered two light-hearted but humbling cultural competence quizzes relating to the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China), each driving home a heavy message: We have much to learn about other cultures. If you would like to administer these quizzes in your firm (they help to humble your internal audience about what they still need to learn about these countries), you can find them here:
BRIC Quiz
Cultural Competence Quiz