Bridging the Invisible: Understanding Culture Awareness in Organizations

First, let's define culture. As there are many ways to define and even more ways to categorize. From a quick Google search we have the following:

• 'the ideas, customs, and social behaviour of a particular people or society.' (Oxford Dictionary)

• 'the values, beliefs, language, rituals, traditions, and other behaviours that are passed from one generation to another within any social group.'¹

• 'The programming of the human mind by which one group of people distinguishes itself from another group - the set of shared beliefs, values, and norms that distinguish one group of people from another.'²

And as we have mentioned, teams can contain several combinations of social groups. For this month, we want to look at the layer of a person and a team a country's culture brings in. Whether you have lived in another country or not, we are more than ever connected with 68.7%³ of the world's population have access to internet. No longer are we constrained by the physical bounders for the workplace. In 1979, there were only around 7,000 Multinational Corporations jumping to an estimated 100,000 in 2011. ⁴

So why look at this layer? Why uncover where your culture boundaries are and what they are for others? Awareness for another country's culture reveals attitudes and behaviours that are shared amongst people - whether learned from living in that country or by extension (parents, etc.). With many awareness and growth journeys, one must first start with themselves. You must understand and see where you stand (this is often difficult).

Fish don't know they are in water. When we are surrounded by something, its harder to see the most obvious of realities. We don't also see these boarders or boundaries. As part of the book title from Erin Meyer's the Culture map - breaking through invisible boundaries of global business* This was also shared in a webinar presented by Dr. Alan Mueller, where he shared that one should start with curiosity, seek to understand and be aware of our own lenses. ⁵

Mindset is key! 🗝️

Reading articles, conducting a workshop or using an energizer will not solve all problems. Nor should this journey of understanding look to change one another. Rather it is to have the open and curious mindset with right intentions.

• Building a culture bridge ➡️ Culture diversity is a given, inclusion is an action

• Break the Us verses Them belief ➡️Don't just look at difference, make diversity an asset

• Don't take it personal ➡️ Suspend judgement and see the situations from a neutral perspective

Framing your thoughts 🖼️

As you start (or continue) your awareness and understanding journey, it is important to check in on what mental mode do you access. As we already have our tendencies and maybe assumptions and biases. Take time to pause and reflect.

• Perspective and relativity is key as we compare others to our own cultures

• When you are in and of a culture, it is often difficult to see that culture.

Let's plant the seed of curiosity, and start growing awareness in order to work towards safer and braver working environments. Our hope is to not only share knowledge but also open a space for others to also share. Where we encourage others to look beyond the physical boundaries and understand the invisible ones, resulting in better understanding and ultimate better collaboration.

Resources used

¹ APA Dictionary of Psychology

² Intercultural Management

³Digital Around the World — DataReportal – Global Digital Insights

⁴Chapter 2: An Investment Perspective on Global Value Chains

⁵Adaptive Challenge Consulting

*Now rewritten to be: The Culture Map: Decoding Decoding How People Think and Get Things Done in a Global World.