Cross-cultural understanding

Do you find yourself quickly judging people based on your own standards? This is, of course, normal behaviour, but is not helpful when working with people from different backgrounds to your own.

Some differences are obvious and therefore it's easier for us to recognise that we can't make the same assumptions about how this person behaves: gender, nationality, age, for example. Oddly though, the differences between men and women has long been much talked about and accepted in many domains, such as domestic, sports, schools, ... But why is it that the differences have not been resolved in the workplace?

The commom assumption is that the 'rules of the game' established by men, who typically ran large-scale commerce from its inception, are the only valid rules and all have to conform.
I was reminded of this when watching Mr. Selfridge on 10 Feb. In this episode the Suffragettes were centre-stage and the men were coping with prejudices like "commerce is not something for women, whose job is to look after the home". The notable point was that a pre-teen boy (Selfridge junior) took this as gospel. How quickly we adapt to the prevailing culture! At the same time one of his elder sisters was demonstrating with the Suffragettes and fighting to change men's minds.

Clearly we've progressed a long way since those days, yet the 'long tail' of those beliefs still hold, as evidenced by the percentage of women in senior managerial and leadership positions in organisations. The annual survey of women on boards of FTSE 350 companies, shows little change over recent years at about 11%, yet the workplace is about 50:50 men:women. Why?

Mr. Selfridge showed some of the reason for this. Back then women were significant players in how things were done, but their style was to exert influence behind the scenes, rather than being seen to make the decisions 'front of house'. Women learnt to get the outcome they were seeking by indirect means, while the men took the limelight. Unfortunately, we still see this today: one of the challenges women typically face is to be heard and acknowledged directly for their contribution. A frequent issue for female leaders and managers is that they make a suggestion in a meeting and the conversation around the table moves on, a short while later a male colleague makes exactly the same suggestion and it is acknolwedged and worked on by the group.

There are many such examples of this straight-forward difference - what examples do you have to share?

If the assumption that women have to behave like men pervades, we will all be the poorer for it. Additionally, women are in the workplace in significant numbers, so have the clout to get these old attitudes changed, what does this say about the chances for minority groups to achieve acceptance?

We all need to keep our minds open, not prejudge, this is hard work! I suggest working on your own awareness on this topic and also recognising when others are open-minded and give 'those with difference' a fair hearing. The more we all reward behaviours, which lead to cross-cultural understanding, the quicker we can change the old ways of thinking.

I'd love to hear your comments on this topic, it's something I'll blog more about. Contact me or comment here.