Cross Cultural Connection - the gaps and difficulties

India. So far I am learning how much I take my assumptions about culture for granted. I assume people are self determined and connected to their creativity.  I assume everyone knows how to conduct a meeting, or what goals are, or what action planning is…

Yet as I get underneath the surface of a culture that has so much colour and vibrancy I am shocked to see the levels of hierarchy that mean so many people surrender to the will of others without question. In some ways I can see how that would take away the stress of choice, but it also takes away the joy of expression.

After conducting a 2 day Open Space Technology workshop on Communication with and NGO I am aware that language is far greater than words. Translating a concept into another language takes a lot more than saying the concept in the words of the local language. It is about understanding the way a culture thinks, how they have grown up, their expectations of themselves and others, their roles and the mediums they use to convey a message. In the West we are comfortable with the abstract and conceptual. I am learning that story telling is much more powerful here.

The culture in India is one where students in schools are taught very early that they are to absorb knowledge, not to challenge it. That you respect authority and do what you are told the way you are told to do it. For a convict city girl from the penal colonies of Australia the Indian relationship to authority is quite a shock. In Australia we have a relatively low view of authority. We will respect skilled managers, but we won’t respect someone just because they are a manager. And I am even worse than many at coping with being told what to do, which is why I have my own business and am accountable to myself primarily.

So there I was in a workshop with about 80 staff in Pune, India. I had prided myself on spending the four weeks leading up to the workshop preparing staff by talking about the concept of everyone’s voice being equal at the workshop and dissolving hierarchy for the 2 days. The Team Leaders had said they were happy to support their staff. So why was there a paralysed stillness when people were invited to put topics on the wall and self organise into groups and start their discussions? The translation into Marathi had been carefully created. I was confident that the instructions were clear. So if the instructions were clear why was there no action?

It occurred to me that it is not only the language gap but also the cultural gap that is a challenge for me. To walk in the shoes and see through the eyes of people who have grown up in this culture is difficult. I have found myself judging and getting frustrated when I know that the way things are done here is not wrong, it is just different. It is arrogant of me to say that the concept of self-organising requires a level of autonomy that is alien to many of the participants, because the Indian culture is the most self organising I have seen. Yet to consciously self organise or be called to do it was something I found difficult to communicate clearly. I did not know what the gap was and spoke to Bipin, my translator about what was missing? It is about finding the connection point between different worlds and the generosity of the participants in teaching me that I have work to do before getting their world is a gift. After discussing it with Bipin, he then went to the small groups and invited them to select topics and the ice was broken. Movement began.

After weeks of speaking about equality, the Team Leaders had an opportunity to see themselves and how they reacted to a lack of clear structure. It was an invitation to trust both the process and their staff. To let go. I have yet to meet with them to hear their reflections about the process and their own reactions.

After an hour or so of messy confusion things started to take shape and by the end of day 1 the staff had mastered the process. They were using the law of 2 feet and organising themselves impressively. It was a joy to see. The Team Leaders had let go and were also trusting the process. The process was working its magic.

Sitting with the chaos of it was uncomfortable for. I got to see how insecure I get when I am not able to read my audience and when I encounter the gap in communication that comes with different cultures. It requires flexibility, a willingness to learn and a trust in people to navigate the unknown.