Culture clashes

A recent article in the Ottawa Citizen reported on how the head of the local taxi driver’s union, who is serving jail time for threatening his 25-year-old daughter, has received the wholehearted support of his union members who believe the authorities  intervened unfairly in a “family matter”.  He is Islamic, and his daughter wanted to follow her own path.

I won’t dare take sides on this issue, except to show the powerful and complex challenges when cultures clash, both with immigrants and (most significantly) between generations of immigrants.

Culture clashes are everywhere around us, some minor and some more significant.  On Friday, for example, I erred in sending my son’s minor hockey team to a community just an hour away from our home.  There, kids at his level play “full contact” hockey — with intense body-checking.  Our kids play without body contact, and the coaching staff and parents had to make some tough decisions as the tournament commenced:  Should we put our kids in harms’ way or pull out.

We decided to proceed, but only after some intense discussions with the tournament organizers, referees and opposing coaches, who all told their teams to hold fire and not use their full body checking force.  (We also had to ask our kids not to be tempted to play by the different rules — because retaliation would not be a good thing to experience.)

Now, think about what it must be like when your  “construction marketing” or “sales culture” clashes with the values and needs of your current and potential clients?  Probably you won’t face criminal charges but you may create real tension and pressure.

You can solve this problem, I suppose, by avoiding stepping outside your proper cultural place.  Stay true to the conventions, and you won’t go wrong, too often  Most likely, you do this by “relying” on word of mouth and repeat business.  Your culture and your clients values match so well that you naturally just continue serving them the way they want to be served, and the way you want to serve them.

Stretch out of your comfort zone, and you will probably fall into the world of cliches and common expectations.  If you think of “media publicity” you think of community service and giant cheque presentations.  Boring.  (Not necessarily bad, just boring.)  Or you advertise the way you see your competitors advertising, usually without much thought for how to effectively design, measure, and co-ordinate your advertising with your larger objectives.

Another approach is more risky, edgy, and stressful.  You deliberately put yourself in places you shouldn’t be; and do your best to connect and adapt your business and perspectives to the new model and environment.

This is stressful — just ask my son’s hockey coach — but can be highly rewarding if you pull it off.  Of course, our hockey team came dead last, but the interesting thing is none of the kids minded one bit.  They enjoyed the games, played well within their skills, and grew as the day progressed.  (Of course the question is, while you not mind coming dead last in a recreational sporting competition, is it something you want to try in business?

Realistically, when you stretch outside your culture into other places, you will likely not do as well as you will if you play things safe and closer to home.  But equally, I would argue that if you spend say 10 to 15 per cent of your time and resources on the stretching process, you will be far ahead of your competitors who never take any risks.

Be thoughtful of different cultures, and be aware of when and how to go beyond your conventional rules.