Author:: [[Erin Meyer]] DateFinished:: 7/27/2023 Rating:: 9 Tags:: #🟩 # The Culture Map  ## 🚀The Book in 3 Sentences - If you go throughout your daily interactions thinking culture doesn't matter, you will tend to act through your culture and judge peoples actions off your cultures principles. - Cultures profoundly differ in their way of being on 8 different personality dimensions. - Understanding how cultures differ on these dimensions can make you a more empathetic and understanding human being. ### 🎨 Impressions - This book was a fascinating read. I have spent most of my life living and travelling inside of the U.S. and some other Western countries. By reading this book I have realized how profoundly different some of the worlds cultures are in comparison to each other. It's especially interesting reading this book while in Singapore and Indonesia. - The book was very interesting to read because of the authors fantastic use of personal stories to back up their point and diagrams to visually showcase what they were trying to say. ### 📖Who Should Read It? - Anyone working across cultures. - Anyone with a love for travelling. ### ☘️ How the Book Changed Me - This book has made me a more empathetic and humble human being. I realize more than ever there is not a singular way to live life. Every culture has different beliefs on what matters and how things should be done. Not one is more right than the other. Just different. # Summary ### Introduction Two young fish are swimming along when they meet an older fish swimming the other way. The older fish nods at them and says “Morning, boys. How’s the water?” The two young fish swim on for a bit before one of the fish looks at the other and says “What the hell is water?” You might read this story and laugh, but ironically you are in the same situation as the fish. Except instead of water, the ocean of confusion we swim in without knowing is culture. Many people live most of their lives enmeshed in the culture they are born into. They believe the whole world works like their culture. **Here's the problem: If you go into every interaction assuming that culture doesn’t matter, your default mechanism will be to view others through your own cultural lens and to judge or misjudge them accordingly.** That's why I read The Culture Map by Erin Myer which explores how cultures differ on eight different dimensions. As Erin Myer states "When you are in and of a culture—as fish are in and of water—it is often difficult or even impossible to see that culture. Often people who have spent their lives living in one culture see only regional and individual differences and therefore conclude, “My national culture does not have a clear character.”" By reading the culture map I have become a more empathetic, humble, human being that can more effectively interact with people of other cultures. **Now you can too!** In this article I'm going to give a book summary interpretation of The Culture Map by Erin Myer by exploring the eight different dimensions and connecting it's main insights to the PKM community. Just like culture, every person in the PKM community has a unique notetaking personality that pushes them to take notes in a certain way. It's important to understand cultural relativity for the dimensions below. Cultural relativity means that every culture should be analyzed relative to another culture on the dimension. For example, while Finland is quiet low context in their communication style they might find Germany way too explicit in communication because relative to Finland Germany is more low context. ##### Chapter 1: Listening to the Air - Communicating Across Cultures - In Anglo-Saxon cultures (e.g., United States), communication is explicit and literal, while in many Asian cultures (e.g., China, Japan), it is conveyed implicitly. - Low-context cultures (e.g., United States) require simple, clear, and explicit communication, while high-context cultures (e.g., China) rely on shared history and relationships. - Education tends to reinforce the dominant cultural communication style in individuals. The more educated a Westerner generally the more explicit their communication style becomes. However, the more educated and Easterner generally the more implicit their communication style becomes.  Tips For Interacting Across Cultures: - In low-context cultures, be clear, explicit, and accountable for the message's accurate transmission. - In high-context cultures, learn to read between the lines and understand the subtleties of messages. - Be aware of how education can shape communication tendencies and adapt accordingly in cross-cultural interactions. - Implement low-context processes in multicultural teams to avoid misunderstandings. ##### Chapter 2: The Many Faces of Polite - Evaluating Performance and Providing Negative Feedback - Direct cultures (e.g., United States) use upgraders like absolutely, totally, or entirely, to make negative feedback stronger, while indirect cultures (e.g., Russia) use downgraders like a little, sort of, or maybe to soften criticism. - Negative feedback is seen as okay to give in front of a group in Quadrant A cultures where as in Quadrant D cultures negative feedback should be given individually and implicitly.   Tips For Interacting Across Cultures: - Use upgraders in direct cultures for stronger negative feedback and downgraders in indirect cultures to soften criticism. - Be mindful of cultural differences when giving feedback and adapt the approach accordingly. - Respect cultural norms regarding hierarchy and status in feedback interactions. - Employ a framing explanation when expressing disagreement to avoid misperceptions. If someone gets offended with how you gave negative feedback, explain your cultures influence on your feedback style. ##### Chapter 3: Why Versus How - The Art of Persuasion in a Multicultural World - Different cultures use principles-first reasoning (sometimes called deductive reasoning) where conclusion are reached from a set of general principles or facts or applications-first reasoning (sometimes called inductive reasoning) where general conclusions are reached from a pattern of factual observations from the real world. - Anglo-Saxon cultures tend to be applications-first, while Nordic and Germanic cultures are in the middle of the scale, and France, Russia, and Belgium lean toward principles-first. - Asian cultures have holistic thought patterns, emphasizing interdependencies and interconnectedness, while Westerners have a more specific approach believing that you can examine an object by separating it from its environment.  Tips For Interacting Across Cultures: - Tailor your persuasive approach based on the audience's cultural thinking style. - Present information in a straightforward manner in applications-first cultures (e.g., United States, United Kingdom). - Provide detailed background information and context before reaching conclusions in principles-first cultures (e.g., France, Russia). - Understand the holistic thought patterns in Asian cultures and use appropriate language and examples to connect with the audience. ##### Chapter 4: How Much Respect Do You Want? Leadership, Hierarchy, and Power - European culture exhibits large differences in opinions about what makes a good boss. - Asian cultures generally respect hierarchy and status more than Western cultures.  Tips For Interacting Across Cultures: - Acknowledge the variations in leadership styles and perceptions of good bosses across cultures. - Respect hierarchy and status more in Asian cultures and follow appropriate communication channels. - Adapt level-skipping strategies in hierarchical and egalitarian societies to avoid potential conflicts ##### Chapter 5: Big D or Little d Who Decides, and How? - Decisions in a culture can either be made with a big D or a little d. Big D decisions cultures make decisions more top down usually by the boss and fast, but they are more flexible to change. Little d decision cultures make decisions more bottom up with lots of discussion, but once the decision is made it's more set in stone. - Egalitarian cultures (e.g., United States) generally value little d decision making processes with a notable exception being the U.S. which is egalitarian and has a big D decision making process. - Hierarchical cultures generally value big D decision making with a notable exception being Japan which is hierarchal but has a little d decision making process.  Tips For Interacting Across Cultures: - Embrace consensus-building in consensual cultures and be patient with decision-making timelines. - Be flexible in decision-making and allow for revisiting and altering decisions in top-down cultures. ##### Chapter 6: The Head or the Heart Two Types of Trust and How They Grow - Across cultures friends and family relationships are built on emotional closeness and empathy. But business relationships differ on if they are based on cognitive or affective trust. Cognitive trust is based on accomplishments and reliability, while affective trust arises from emotional closeness and empathy. - Peach cultures (e.g., United States) tend to be friendly on the surface but may not equate friendliness with friendship. - Coconut cultures (e.g., France) are more closed initially but gradually become warmer in relationships.  Tips For Interacting Across Cultures: - Build cognitive trust through accomplishments, skills, and reliability in cognitive trust cultures. - Foster affective trust through emotional closeness, empathy, and shared experiences in affective trust cultures. ##### Summary of Chapter 7 - "The Needle, Not the Knife: Disagreeing Productively - Direct and frank disagreement is accepted in low-context cultures like the United States but may be seen as confrontational in high-context cultures, especially in Asia. - In confrontational cultures, people see ideas as more separate from the person meaning arguments don't often feel like personal attacks. However, in confrontational avoidant cultures, people see ideas as more tied with the person meaning arguments can feel more like personal attacks.  Tips For Interacting Across Cultures: - Be direct and straightforward in low-context cultures (e.g., United States) but indirect and subtle in high-context cultures (e.g., China). - Say you want to play devils advocate if you want to disagree in disagreement avoidant cultures. - Be aware of misunderstandings that may arise in multicultural teams and implement low-context processes. - Adapt your communication style based on the context to promote productive disagreements. ##### Chapter 8: How Late Is Late? Scheduling and Cross-Cultural Perceptions of Time - Linear-time cultures (e.g., United States) are punctual and value promptness. - Flexible-time cultures (e.g., Middle East, South America) have a more elastic approach to time and accept delays.  Tips For Interacting Across Cultures: - Be punctual and value promptness in linear-time cultures (e.g., United States, Germany). - Allow for flexibility and adapt to delays in flexible-time cultures (e.g., Middle East, South America). - Recognize the cultural implications of time and adjust your scheduling and communication accordingly. ## Highlights ##### INTRODUCTION Navigating Cultural Differences and the Wisdom of Mrs. Chen Of course individuals, no matter their cultural origins, have varied personality traits. So why not just approach all people with an interest in getting to know them personally, and proceed from there? Unfortunately, this point of view has kept thousands of people from learning what they need to know to meet their objectives. If you go into every interaction assuming that culture doesn’t matter, your default mechanism will be to view others through your own cultural lens and to judge or misjudge them accordingly. Ignore culture, and you can’t help but conclude, “Chen doesn’t speak up—obviously he doesn’t have anything to say! His ([Location 246](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00IHGVQ9I&location=246)) Cultural patterns of behavior and belief frequently impact our perceptions (what we see), cognitions (what we think), and actions (what we do). The goal of this book is to help you improve your ability to decode these three facets of culture and to enhance your effectiveness in dealing with them. ([Location 258](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00IHGVQ9I&location=258)) ## New highlights added 20-07-2023 at 2:36 AM when examining how people from different cultures relate to one another, what matters is not the absolute position of either culture on the scale but rather the relative position of the two cultures. It is this relative positioning that determines how people view one another. ([Location 368](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00IHGVQ9I&location=368)) When you are in and of a culture—as fish are in and of water—it is often difficult or even impossible to see that culture. Often people who have spent their lives living in one culture see only regional and individual differences and therefore conclude, “My national culture does not have a clear character.” ([Location 413](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00IHGVQ9I&location=413)) When interacting with someone from another culture, try to watch more, listen more, and speak less. Listen before you speak and learn before you act. ([Location 440](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00IHGVQ9I&location=440)) ##### 1 Listening to the Air Communicating Across Cultures In the United States and other Anglo-Saxon cultures, people are trained (mostly subconsciously) to communicate as literally and explicitly as possible. Good communication is all about clarity and explicitness, and accountability for accurate transmission of the message is placed firmly on the communicator: “If you don’t understand, it’s my fault.” By contrast, in many Asian cultures, including India, China, Japan, and Indonesia, messages are often conveyed implicitly, requiring the listener to read between the lines. Good communication is subtle, layered, and may depend on copious subtext, with responsibility for transmission of the message shared between the one sending the message and the one receiving it. The same applies to many African cultures, including those found in Kenya and Zimbabwe, and to a lesser degree Latin American cultures (such as Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina) and Latin European cultures (such as Spain, Italy, Portugal) including France. ([Location 476](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00IHGVQ9I&location=476)) In low-context cultures, effective communication must be simple, clear, and explicit in order to effectively pass the message, and most communicators will obey this requirement, usually without being fully conscious of it. The United States is the lowest-context culture in the world, followed by Canada and Australia, the Netherlands and Germany, and the United Kingdom. ([Location 528](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00IHGVQ9I&location=528)) High-context cultures tend to have a long shared history. Usually they are relationship-oriented societies where networks of connections are passed on from generation to generation, generating more shared context among community members. ([Location 605](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00IHGVQ9I&location=605)) ## New highlights added 23-07-2023 at 9:41 PM One interesting quirk is that in high-context cultures, the more educated and sophisticated you are, the greater your ability to both speak and listen with an understanding of implicit, layered messages. By contrast, in low-context cultures, the most educated and sophisticated business people are those who communicate in a clear, explicit way. The result is that the chairman of a French or Japanese company is likely to be a lot more high-context than those who work on the shop floor of the same company, while the chairman of an American or Australian organization is likely to be more low-context than those with entry-level jobs in the same organization. In this respect, education tends to move individuals toward a more extreme version of the dominant cultural tendency. ([Location 656](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00IHGVQ9I&location=656)) On a multicultural team, most misunderstanding takes place between people who come from two high-context cultures with entirely different roots, such as the Brazilians communicating with the Chinese. ([Location 830](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00IHGVQ9I&location=830)) There is just one easy strategy to remember: Multicultural teams need low-context processes. ([Location 840](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00IHGVQ9I&location=840)) #### 2 The Many Faces of Polite Evaluating Performance and Providing Negative Feedback One way to begin gauging how a culture handles negative feedback is by listening carefully to the types of words people use. More direct cultures tend to use what linguists call upgraders, words preceding or following negative feedback that make it feel stronger, such as absolutely, totally, or strongly: “This is absolutely inappropriate,” or “This is totally unprofessional.” By contrast, more indirect cultures use more downgraders, words that soften the criticism, such as kind of, sort of, a little, a bit, maybe, and slightly. Another type of downgrader is a deliberate understatement, a sentence that describes a feeling the speaker experiences strongly in terms that moderate the emotion—for example, saying “We are not quite there yet” when you really mean “This is nowhere close to complete,” or “This is just my opinion” when you really mean “Anyone who considers this issue will immediately agree.” ([Location 974](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00IHGVQ9I&location=974)) ## New highlights added 26-07-2023 at 1:41 AM ##### 7 The Needle, Not the Knife Disagreeing Productively ## New highlights added 26-07-2023 at 9:46 PM ##### Epilogue Putting the Culture Map to Work ## New highlights added 27-07-2023 at 8:37 PM Whether they’re considered blunt, rude, and offensive or honest, transparent, and frank, these cultures are perceived as direct by all other world populations. Cultures in this quadrant (the quadrant labeled A in Figure 2.3) value low-context, explicit communication as well as direct negative feedback. The natural coherence of these two positions makes communication from people in this quadrant fairly easy to decode. Take any messages they send literally and understand that it is not intended to be offensive but rather as a simple sign of honesty, transparency, and respect for your own professionalism. ([Location 1052](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00IHGVQ9I&location=1052)) Quadrant B (see page 72) is populated with those puzzlingly complex cultures that have finessed the ability to speak and listen between the lines yet give negative feedback that is sharp and direct. Russians, for example, often pass messages between the lines, but when it comes to criticism they have a directness that can startle their international colleagues. ([Location 1080](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00IHGVQ9I&location=1080)) An explicit, low-context communication style gives Americans the reputation of lacking subtlety. Leave it to the Americans to point out the elephant in the room when the rest of us were working through our interpersonal issues nicely without calling attention to it. This means that those in quadrants A and B are often surprised to find Americans softening negative criticism with positive messages. ([Location 1133](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00IHGVQ9I&location=1133)) Among people from cultures in quadrant D as shown on page 72, negative feedback is generally soft, subtle, and implicit. Turn your head too quickly and you might miss the negative message altogether. Whereas in American culture you might give negative feedback in public by veiling it in a joking or friendly manner, in quadrant D this would be unacceptable; any negative feedback should be given in private, regardless of how much humor or good-natured ribbing you wrap around it. ([Location 1204](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00IHGVQ9I&location=1204)) ##### 3 Why Versus How The Art of Persuasion in a Multicultural World Principles-first reasoning (sometimes referred to as deductive reasoning) derives conclusions or facts from general principles or concepts. ([Location 1349](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00IHGVQ9I&location=1349)) On the other hand, with applications-first reasoning (sometimes called inductive reasoning), general conclusions are reached based on a pattern of factual observations from the real world. ([Location 1355](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00IHGVQ9I&location=1355)) In general, Anglo-Saxon cultures like the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand tend to fall to the far right on the Persuading scale (see Figure 3.1), where applications-first cultures are clustered. As we move across the scale there’s a Nordic cluster, where we find Scandinavia and the Netherlands. Latin American and Germanic cultures are considerably more principles-first than the United States but much less so than their Latin European cousins, so we put them around the middle of the scale. France, Russia, and Belgium appear on the principles-first side of the scale. ([Location 1388](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00IHGVQ9I&location=1388)) The moral is clear. Presenting to Londoners or New Yorkers? Get to the point and stick to it. Presenting to French, Spaniards, or Germans? Spend more time setting the parameters and explaining the background before jumping to your conclusion. ([Location 1459](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00IHGVQ9I&location=1459)) Across Western countries, we see strong differences between applications-first and principles-first patterns of thinking. But when considering the differences between Asian and Western thought patterns, we need to use a different lens. Asians have what we refer to as holistic thought patterns, while Westerners tend to have what we will call a specific approach. ([Location 1518](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00IHGVQ9I&location=1518)) A common tenet of Western philosophies and religions is that you can remove an item from its environment and analyze it separately. Aristotle, for example, emphasized focusing attention on a salient object. Its properties could then be assessed and the object assigned a category with the goal of finding rules that governed its behavior. For example, looking at a piece of wood floating in water, Aristotle said that it had the property of “levity,” while a stone falling through air had the property of “gravity.” He referred to the wood and the rock as if each was a separate and isolated object in its own right. Cultural theorists call this specific thinking. Chinese religions and philosophies, by contrast, have traditionally emphasized interdependencies and interconnectedness. Ancient Chinese thought was holistic, meaning that the Chinese attended to the field in which an object was located, believing that action always occurs in a field of forces that influence the action. Taoism, which influenced Buddhism and Confucianism, proposes that the universe works harmoniously, its various elements dependent upon one another. The terms yin and yang (literally “dark” and “light”) describe how seemingly contrary forces are interconnected and interdependent. ([Location 1589](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00IHGVQ9I&location=1589)) If you need to explain a project or set objectives or sell an idea to a holistic audience, begin by explaining the big picture in detail. Outline not just the overall project but also how the parts are connected before drilling down what specifically needs to be accomplished and when. ([Location 1636](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00IHGVQ9I&location=1636)) ##### 4 How Much Respect Do You Want? Leadership, Hierarchy, and Power Take a good look at the Leading scale and see if you can identify the location of “European culture.” As your eye scans from Denmark and Sweden on the extreme left of the scale all the way down to Italy and Spain in the middle-right, you’ll realize that what it means to be “culturally European” on this scale is not very evident. Although Europe is a small geographical area, it embraces large differences in opinion about what it means to be a good boss. ([Location 1816](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00IHGVQ9I&location=1816)) And though Asian countries have begun to move past these narrowly defined roles in politics, business, and daily life, due in part to growing influence from the West, most Asians today are still used to thinking in terms of hierarchy. They tend to respect hierarchy and differences in status much more than Westerners. In egalitarian cultures, the down-to-earth CEO who chats with the janitor every morning on a first-name basis is often singled out for praise. You won’t see this in China or Korea. ([Location 1887](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00IHGVQ9I&location=1887)) Here are some simple strategies for cross-cultural level-skipping that can help you avoid the kinds of problems that Rangan and Peterson encountered. If you are working with people from a hierarchical society:        •  Communicate with the person at your level. If you are the boss, go through the boss with equivalent status, or get explicit permission to hop from one level to another.        •  If you do e-mail someone at a lower hierarchical level than your own, copy the boss.        •  If you need to approach your boss’s boss or your subordinate’s subordinate, get permission from the person at the level in between first.        •  When e-mailing, address the recipient by the last name unless they have indicated otherwise—for example, by signing their e-mail to you with their first name only. If you are working with people from an egalitarian society:        •  Go directly to the source. No need to bother the boss.        •  Think twice before copying the boss. Doing so could suggest to the recipient that you don’t trust them or are trying to get them in trouble.        •  Skipping hierarchical levels probably won’t be a problem.        •  In Scandinavia, the Netherlands, and Australia, use first names when writing e-mails. This is also largely true for the United States and the United Kingdom, although regional and circumstantial differences may arise. ([Location 1982](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00IHGVQ9I&location=1982)) ##### 5 Big D or Little d Who Decides, and How? In a large majority of countries, being egalitarian correlates with valuing consensus. The United States breaks the mold by combining an egalitarian ethos with a more top-down approach to decision making, in which one person—generally the person in charge—makes decisions quickly on behalf of the entire group. ([Location 2100](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00IHGVQ9I&location=2100)) In a consensual culture, the decision making may take quite a long time, since everyone is consulted. But once the decision has been made, the implementation is quite rapid, since everyone has completely bought in and the decision is fixed and inflexible—a decision with a capital D, we might say. Thus, the moment of making the decision is taken quite seriously as the pivotal point in the process. By contrast, in a top-down culture, the decision-making responsibility is invested in an individual. In this kind of culture, decisions tend to be made quickly, early in the process, by one person (likely the boss). But each decision is also flexible—a decision with a lowercase d. As more discussions occur, new information arises, or differing opinions surface, decisions may be easily revisited or altered. ([Location 2149](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00IHGVQ9I&location=2149)) “In Japan, decisions tend to be made by group consensus rather than by the individual,” Mori began. And he went on to explain what is called the ringi system of decision making. This is a management technique in which low-level managers discuss a new idea among themselves and come to a consensus before presenting it to managers one level higher. Mori put it this way: During discussions, we pass around a proposal document, the ringisho, which usually begins at the mid-management level. When the proposal reaches each person, they read it, sometimes make changes or suggestions, and then put their stamp of approval on it. Once everyone has approved at one level, it passes on to the next. The next-higher-ranking managers then discuss the new idea themselves and arrive at their own consensus. If they agree, they pass the approval to the next level. This process continues until the idea reaches the highest management level and is or is not implemented. As you can see, the ringi system is hierarchical, bottom-up, and consensual all at the same time. By the time the ringisho document has made the rounds and received everyone’s seal, all the people involved in the decision have had a chance to give input and are in agreement. ([Location 2242](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00IHGVQ9I&location=2242)) ##### 6 The Head or the Heart Two Types of Trust and How They Grow Cognitive trust is based on the confidence you feel in another person’s accomplishments, skills, and reliability. This is trust that comes from the head. It is often built through business interactions: We work together, you do your work well, and you demonstrate through the work that you are reliable, pleasant, consistent, intelligent, and transparent. Result: I trust you. Affective trust, on the other hand, arises from feelings of emotional closeness, empathy, or friendship. This type of trust comes from the heart. We laugh together, relax together, and see each other at a personal level, so that I feel affection or empathy for you and sense that you feel the same for me. Result: I trust you. ([Location 2396](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00IHGVQ9I&location=2396)) In peach cultures like the United States or Brazil, to name a couple, people tend to be friendly (“soft”) with others they have just met. They smile frequently at strangers, move quickly to first-name usage, share information about themselves, and ask personal questions of those they hardly know. But after a little friendly interaction with a peach person, you may suddenly get to the hard shell of the pit where the peach protects his real self. In these cultures, friendliness does not equal friendship. ([Location 2503](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00IHGVQ9I&location=2503)) In coconut cultures such as these, people are more closed (like the tough shell of a coconut) with those they don’t have friendships with. They rarely smile at strangers, ask casual acquaintances personal questions, or offer personal information to those they don’t know intimately. It takes a while to get through the initial hard shell, but as you do, people will become gradually warmer and friendlier. While relationships are built up slowly, they tend to last longer. ([Location 2521](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00IHGVQ9I&location=2521)) After inadvertently creating some awkward scenes in American meetings with his straightforward, French-style disagreements, Eric devised a solution: I learned a very simple trick, perhaps obvious to someone who is British or American but not a bit obvious to me. Before expressing disagreement, I now always explain, “Let me play devil’s advocate, so we can explore both sides.” Most groups seem happy to do this, as long as I am clear about what I am doing and why I am doing it. Sometimes just a few words of explanation framing your behavior can make all the difference in how your actions are perceived. ([Location 3081](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00IHGVQ9I&location=3081)) ##### 8 How Late Is Late? Scheduling and Cross-Cultural Perceptions of Time If you live in a linear-time culture like Germany, Scandinavia, the United States, or the United Kingdom, you’ll probably make the call. If you don’t, you risk annoying your supplier as the seconds tick on and you still haven’t shown up. On the other hand, if you live in France or northern Italy, chances are you won’t feel the need to make the call, since being six or seven minutes late is within the realm of “basically on time.” (If you were running twelve or fifteen minutes late, however, that would be a different story.) And if you are from a flexible-time culture such as the Middle East, Africa, India, or South America, time may have an altogether different level of elasticity in your mind. In these societies, as you fight traffic and react to the chaos that life inevitably throws your way, it is expected that delays will happen. In this context, 9:15 differs very little from 9:45, and everybody accepts that. ([Location 3111](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00IHGVQ9I&location=3111)) Anthropologist Edward T. Hall was one of the first researchers to explore differences in societal approaches to time. In The Dance of Life: The Other Dimension of Time, Hall referred to monochronic (M-time) cultures and polychronic (P-time) cultures. M-time cultures view time as tangible and concrete: “We speak of time as being saved, spent, wasted, lost, made up, crawling, killing and running out. These metaphors must be taken seriously. M-time scheduling is used as a classification system that orders life. These rules apply to everything except death.”1 By contrast, P-time cultures take a flexible approach to time, involvement of people, and completion of transactions: “Appointments are not taken seriously and, as a consequence, are frequently broken as it is more likely to be considered a point rather than a ribbon in the road. ([Location 3178](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00IHGVQ9I&location=3178))