There will always misinterpretations of culture (like the photo above).

I’ve done training & development work in Canada, the U.S., India, the Philippines, the Arctic, Japan, Mexico, Kenya, Saskatchewan, Uganda, Tanzania, Brazil, Spain, France, China and soon, Egypt with workshop participants from more than 80 countries. Currently I’m living & working in Kenya.

As a result I get asked about culture, about whether people from different countries learn differently (or something similar) fairly often.

I thought it was high time I answered in a blog post.

My answer?  Yes … and … no.

Yes, people from different countries learn differently.  Culture is a what makes us human & what makes training & development so interesting.  Ignore cultural differences at your peril.  You’ll end up in a pickle pdq if you do.

Here are 5 factors that my antennae are attuned to when I’m in a different cultural context than my own (note, this includes diverse organizational cultures, not just diversity related to race and/or ethnicity).

• gender – I look for how gender issues are addressed, what’s on people’s radars & what’s not.
• environment – I notice how participants relate to their physical environment, including how they relate to each other.  For example how close are they to each other when they talk/sit/interact?
• power – is power actively shared or are systems more hierarchical?  How do decisions get made?  I look to see how power issues affect how people work & learn.
• authority – how do people respond to authority?  This is often evident regarding how participants see me as the trainer – am I accepted carte blanche simply because I’m the trainer (at least on the surface) or will people engage & challenge me?
• formal / informal – I can often tell how formal or informal a workplace or training situation is by how people are dressed, the kind of language they use,

AND

No, people from different countries don’t learn differently.  I’ve found that no matter where in the world I am working,  participants respond positively to & learn best through these 5 factors:

• the strategic (note strategic is emphasized) use of humour
• training processes that tweak their curiousity
• teaching styles that are engaging
• material that is relevant
• having opportunities to practice (transfer learning to the workplace)

Last night I listened to business owner, entrepreneur and TV star Arlene Dickinson of the Dragon’s Den at the Forum for Women Entrepreneur’s Gala Event.  Her captivating journey to entrepreneurship is made more impressive by her humble beginnings.

Years ago, being a single mom with four kids to feed made getting cash through the door a necessity.  Going it solo has been her mantra after, in her words, three failed marriages and buying out three male partners.  Only ten years ago when she went to the bank for financing to buy out said partners the banker asked where her current male partner was.  She couldn’t possibly do this on her own as a woman.

This vintage ad is from 1893

On what makes for business success, Arlene says “so much depends on who you are, your personal style, how you present  yourself, your tone”.  As someone to whom regular pitches are made for financing, she says “your brand is you”.

“You should be able to tell someone why they should passionately follow you”.

I love that – the clarity, the vision and the implied leadership.

Passion: def’n –> “barely controlled emotion”

Personal style?  Personal awareness?  Emotion?  Sounds like things women excel at.

Sounds like living on the interesting edge to me.  Sounds like Mr. Banker had it wrong 10 years ago.

We’ve come a long way… baby…. or have we?  What are your thoughts?