The purpose here is definitely not to talk about work, but something happened last week that although not entirely professional, to some extent it was. I received an email from a person I hadn't talked to in a very long time - I did some consulting for her right after the MBA and that helped me to keep sane during the job hunt post Enron, WorldCom and September 11. She works with cross-cultural management, or the art of making people with different backgrounds and full of stereotype views of other nationalities actually work together with the least tension possible - or something like that. We had a chat on the phone as she had lots and lots of questions regarding the "Brazilian" way of doing business. I haven't done any "Brazilian business" in a very long time, however I am with no doubt very Brazilian, as her questions just happened to remind me of. That is the beauty of living abroad, you end up forgetting you are so full or your own roots and you even start believing that you've become international. Well, to some extent I have become international and that is, to some tiny extent.
Some of the enlightening questions:
- Is time more "flexible" for the French or for the Brazilian?
- Are the French more direct in giving negative feedback then the Brazilian? Are the French more confrontational (like to debate more?)
- Who is more "nuanced" - speaking with hidden meanings? The French or
the Brazilian? - Who is more practical and who is more theoretical?
- Are the Brazilian even more relationship oriented then the French?
And then it hit me: we are sooo culturally close to the French and yet we are greatly apart. I think of my Dutch husband and I want to cry. He is the personification of an exaggerated Dutch stereotype, the only things missing are the wooden shoes and the fact he doesn't know how to milk a cow.
One of these days I'll have a fit. No one should ask me why.
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