Finished: May 26, 2023
Why I read this
Having chosen to move internationally from the US to France, and into a multinational team no less, I have found myself in countless situations where I am frustrated, annoyed, or simply confused as to why people do the things that they do. I aspire to be a manager of people in this international organization and so it is imperative that I find ways to mitigate these cultural challenges to be an effective leader. But also, I am in a very happy relationship with a French Woman, which sometimes comes with its challenges. It is helpful to know more about how cultures differ and how some of those challenges can be mitigated through thoughtful reflection of a culture.
What I learned
This book focused on 8 different axes of where different cultures generally act in similar ways. These axes such as decision making (top down versus consensual) or communicating (low-context versus high context) help to unveil the cultural roots that explain how cultures see the world in broad strokes. I was exceptionally lucky because the author of the book happens to be an American that moved to France and married a Frenchman, making it extremely relevant for me on both the French culture from a business and a personal expectation. I realized things about my own culture (American) and the culture of my colleagues or my girlfriend that explain some of our sticking points. For example when a coworker recently called me out in a meeting in front of my peers for not following a small safety regulation (unknowingly) I took it poorly because American culture does not normally provide such direct negative feedback, although I am sure for this colleague that they barely noticed that I was offended, of it they did, did not understand why.
What I didn’t like
Overall I found this book immediately interesting and informative, however one area that I think could definitely be improved upon is the focus on a handful of cultures. Discussions were dominated by USA, Germany, China, France, and Japan. Many other countries were discussed but much less frequently. Additionally, the author could have relied on more experience from other professionals in the field instead of just her own personal experiences (which provided a majority of the anecdotes of the book). I feel agreeing perspectives from additional researchers and a further focus on additional countries or regions could have added credibility and depth to the otherwise intriguing conclusions.
Questions I asked
How are interactions in my daily life being affected by cultural backgrounds?
What are the habits I should work on to adapt myself better to my international work life?
How to I personally compared with the cultural norms expressed in this book? What is there to learn about myself from the description of a cultural American?
My Favorite Quote
“Multicultural teams need low-context processes.”
Erin Meyer
Books I liked like this one
Mindset: Dr. Carol S. Dweck(For how people work)
Human Kind: Rutger Bregman (For how societies actually act)
Book Reviews for Mom 