The Culture Map

Another valuable step is hiring people who are bicultural or have extensive experience living in more than one culture represented on your team.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about the Scheduling scale is that those from each side of the scale see those from the other side as inefficient

emotional expressiveness is not the same thing as comfort in expressing open disagreement.

Why can’t we just get down to business and sign a contract?” remember—in many cultures, the relationship is your contract.

The further a culture falls toward the task-based end of the scale, the more people from that culture tend to separate affective and cognitive trust, and to rely mainly on cognitive trust for work relationships. The further a culture falls toward the relationship-based end of the scale, the more cognitive and affective trust are woven together in b

in countries like the United States or Switzerland, “business is business.” In countries like China or Brazil, “business is personal.”

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.

“One British colleague told me that, if my e-mail doesn’t fit on the screen of an iPhone, it risks not getting read,” Baron laughs. “That’s the test I use now before I send out my e-mail.”

The Chinese manager learns never to criticize a colleague openly or in front of others, while the Dutch manager learns always to be honest and to give the message straight. Americans are trained to wrap positive messages around negative ones, while the French are trained to criticize passionately and provide positive feedback sparingly.