Globally Speaking

As the maturing global economy brings us into wider and deeper contacts with others, our ability to communicate across cultural boundaries is going to be tested more frequently. The success of our international undertakings will increasingly depend on our ability to meet the challenge of clear, sensitive, persuasive communication.

This challenge cannot be met by putting in practice the familiar do's and don'ts of 1990s travel writers. Even if you travel to only one foreign country, the do's and don'ts that you have to learn about that country's culture can be overwhelming if it is very different from yours. You can't pull your Do's and Don'ts for Country X guidebook out of your hip pocket every time you must react to a situation or initiate a conversation.

Underlying the visible and immediate elements of behavior and speech are invisible, enduring elements that are vital to understanding a culture. And they cannot be appreciated adequately by learning a system of do's and don'ts.

If you want to interact successfully with people overseas, you need to get beneath the surface and grasp the invisible elements. This doesn't mean you have to become an expert on every aspect of their culture; rather it means you need to develop a sensitivity about the fact that their culture is different, and that its very differentness will sometimes produce behavior or language that requires patience and a willingness to adjust your expectations.