Digital Remit Book of the Month: Cultural issues under the Kaleidoscope

Digital Remit: Book of the Month

The Cross-Cultural Coaching Kaleidoscope, by Jennifer Plaister-Ten

“M&A is a mug’s game: typically 70 to 90% of mergers are abysmal failures”

Harvard Business Review

Cultural issues are one of the biggest reasons for M&A failure, with deals far likely to succeed if these issues are addressed early on; e.g. the KLM/Air France merger is frequently cited as a positive study in how to ‘do M&A well’.

Jenny’s book began life as a Masters’ dissertation, and so is full of research and practical input from coaches around the world who work on the issue of ‘culture’ on a daily basis.

The book is phenomenlogical (*), exploring the meaning of culture and why it changes according to location. So, for example, what does it mean to come from a small provincial English town, and how this shapes a person’s beliefs.

[(*) Phenomenology (from Greek phainómenon ‘that which appears’ and lógos ‘study’), is the philosophical study of the structures of experience and consciousness]

Chp 4: Cross-cultural Kaleidoscope 

[Note: I’ve just focused upon one chapter in the book here, to bring out a flavour of the concepts discussed]

There are two purposes to a cross-cultural model:

1. Raise awareness amongst individuals
2. Take culturally appropriate responsibility (this often means unlearning previous behaviour!)

These are the key filters in Jenny’s cross-cultural kaleidoscope model:

• Education
• Political
• Legal 
• Religious / Spiritual 
• Communities
• Culture 
• Diversity (inc gender)
• History/Arts
• Economics
• Geography/Climate

So, for example, for Education: rote learning is common in China, whereas in the UK, thinking outside the box is encouraged, hence Chinese individuals may not be seen as ‘assertive’ enough in a team environment.

Jenny explained that the model was not intended to be prescriptive, rather to be used as a framework to develop self-awareness; i.e. when something is defined, it is easier to discuss it, and this is very helpful to individuals looking to ‘decode’ cultural norms when living/working abroad.

Hence, by using the Gestalt technique (putting oneself in another’s shoes), the model enables individuals to become self-aware of cultural issues far quicker than had they been left to their own devices.

Q&A

Q. Why is there so much interest from certain countries on the subject of culture, such as Benelux?

Smaller European countries tend to be very multi-cultural and hence very conscious of the impact of culture, both imported and exported.

Q. Will modern education in the UK mean more overseas students, who want to be taught rather than think?

The UK trait is for questioning rather than rote learning, which is why the UK has some of the best creative industries in the world, and this is unlikely to change. One would hope that the UK education industry will continue to stand for what sets it apart and makes it so revered….only time will tell though.

Q. What is the job of the cultural coach?

The coach’s job is to find an appropriate solution – it is not a prescriptive one nor does the coach attempt to ‘force fit’ any models, but by understanding the cultural norms, potential problems can be resolved

For example, goal setting is a very western phenomenon, and some cultures find it very difficult to accept 360 degree feedback which contains any form of ‘criticism’.

So, breaking the feedback down into three parts enables the person to ‘own’ the feedback, and process it on their terms:

• What can you accept now?
• What might you be able to accept in time?
• What will you never accept?

Review and next event

There were many more questions and discussion points covered during the course of the session….far too many to be listed in detail here….so if you’re interested in coming along to experience the Book Club, the next event will be:

22nd March: 18:45 – 21:00

‘Too Fast To Think: How to Reclaim Your Creativity in a Hyper-Connected World’, by Chris Lewis.

Click here to book on Eventbrite

About Digital Remit and the Oxford Business Book Club

The Oxford Business Book Club meets monthly at Blackwell’s Book Shop, and is organised and run by Digital Remit.