The culture map PDF
Preview The culture map
THE CULTURE MAP Copyright © 2014 by Erin Meyer. Published in the United States by PublicAffairs™, a Member of the Perseus Books Group All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information, address PublicAffairs, 250 West 57th Street, 15th Floor, New York, NY 10107. PublicAffairs books are available at special discounts for bulk purchases in the U.S. by corporations, institutions, and other organizations. For more information, please contact the Special Markets Department at the Perseus Books Group, 2300 Chestnut Street, Suite 200, Philadelphia, PA 19103, call (800) 810-4145, ext. 5000, or e-mail [email protected]. Book Design by Cynthia Young Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Meyer, Erin. The culture map : breaking through the invisible boundaries of global business / Erin Meyer. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-61039-259-4 (e-book) 1. Diversity in the workplace. 2. Psychology, Industrial. 3. Interpersonal relations. I. Title. HF5549.5.M5M494 2014 658’.049--dc23 2013048509 First Edition 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 This book is dedicated to my sons, Ethan and Logan, who show me daily what it means to grow up across cultures, and to my husband, Eric, who made this all possible. CONTENTS Introduction: Navigating Cultural Differences and the Wisdom of Mrs. Chen 1 Listening to the Air Communicating Across Cultures 2 The Many Faces of Polite Evaluating Performance and Providing Negative Feedback 3 Why Versus How The Art of Persuasion in a Multicultural World 4 How Much Respect Do You Want? Leadership, Hierarchy, and Power 5 Big D or Little d Who Decides, and How? 6 The Head or the Heart Two Types of Trust and How They Grow 7 The Needle, Not the Knife Disagreeing Productively 8 How Late Is Late? Scheduling and Cross-Cultural Perceptions of Time Epilogue: Putting the Culture Map to Work Acknowledgments Notes Index INTRODUCTION Navigating Cultural Differences and the Wisdom of Mrs. Chen W hen dawn broke that chilly November morning in Paris, I was driving to my office for a meeting with an important new client. I hadn’t slept well, but that was nothing unusual, since before an important training session I often have a restless night. But what made this night different were the dreams that disturbed my sleep. I found myself shopping for groceries in a big American-style supermarket. As I worked my way through my list—fruit, Kleenex, more fruit, a loaf of bread, a container of milk, still more fruit—I was startled to discover that the items were somehow disappearing from my cart more quickly than I could find them and stack them in the basket. I raced down the aisle of the store, grabbing goods and tossing them into my cart, only to see them vanish without a trace. Horrified and frustrated, I realized that my shopping would never be complete. After having this dream repeatedly throughout the night, I gave up trying to sleep. I got up, gulped a cup of coffee and got dressed in the predawn dark, and wound my way through the empty Paris streets to my office near the Champs Elysées to prepare for that day’s program. Reflecting that my nightmare of ineffectual shopping might reflect my anxiety about being completely ready for my clients, I poured my energy into arranging the conference room and reviewing my notes for the day ahead. I would be spending the day with one of
The list of books you might like
