Making sense of the subcontinent
A tourist is defined as someone who is travelling or visiting a place for pleasure. Yet, those who claim to be ‘world travelers’ avoid this label like Salman Khan avoids driving.
The reason, of course, is that this image comes to mind when we hear ‘tourist’:
And no one wants to stick out like this.
But in order to avoid that, people also stick out like this: [Read more…]
I’ve already stated my opinion about the questionable value of cross-cultural training sessions, but there is a lot to be gained from sitting across from anyone who is there to teach you about another culture.
To distinguish between the good and the mediocre, you should take control of the session. A great coach/trainer will come prepared, but will focus on your needs and be willing to dive deeply into questions that mean the most to you. Don’t let a trainer scroll through all of their slides and semi-humorous illustrations and leave you five minutes for questions at the end. You are there to learn, not sit through a presentation. [Read more…]
I spent a few years doing cross-cultural training for corporations. It was fun and I can see why people enjoy doing it. What can beat getting paid to talk about obvious cultural differences and give people a few nuggets of advice that make their life easier?
However, not everyone thought it was such a great thing. Getting a company to use their budget for something ‘soft’ like cultural training was hard enough – showing that it was actually worth the money is another thing. Now that I’ve had a bit of time outside of that world, I think the business was right to question the value they were getting.
The mainstream model of cultural training is to bring in an expert to talk to either an individual or a small group. The expert generally comes equipped with a full slide deck and a thick notebook to leave with participants. There has been some effort to digitize this experience in recent years, but the model is largely the same. Companies will pay upwards of $2,000 to a training company for this kind of training for an individual and even more for a small group.
Here are some of my more pressing doubts about this model and why I don’t think cross-cultural training has been worth the investment so far.
Some paths in India are straight, others are squiggly.
Sven Brandelik and Charlotta Osterberg-Mohandas both started their journeys in India with internships through AIESEC in 2007. Eight years later, Sven helps German-speaking companies create the right strategy for deeper engagement with India and Charlotta teaches yoga to individuals and corporations. Both of them have great stories of how they got to this point and open up on this episode of Working with India.
In this episode, you will hear:
You can contact Sven on his LinkedIn page, and also check out his website, Nimble Networker where he created a complete training course for how to build relationships in India. (Only a German could create such a precise science out of something so intangible!)
Check out Charlotta’s pages under the brand name YogYug: Blog, Instagram, Facebook.
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Some of the most inspiring people you’ll ever meet come from the working class of India. They often work long hours with no days off. They house their family, educate their children, and put rice on the table, all with a budget that you probably couldn’t last a few weeks on.
The working class of India is inspiring, but is also daunting for many outsiders to deal with, especially when you are face-to-face, trying to negotiate the price of an auto rickshaw ride, or a monthly salary for washing your car.
Overall, I’ve had a tremendous experience with this group of people. At least in Chennai, we’ve found them to be hardworking, friendly, and welcoming to us as foreigners. We can almost always trust the person to do a good job and quote a reasonable rate.
But what is reasonable? How do you know if you are paying the right amount? And what if the right amount seems absurdly low to you? When should you negotiate a better price, and when should you accept your privilege in life as a means to help others?
These aren’t easy questions to deal with, but everyone here has to do it at some point. [Read more…]
A good lesson in trying to use our own cultural rules to judge someone else’s. In this story, Twain recounts how some Europeans tried to ‘liberate’ some women in India who were used to going around fully covered.
[Taken from The Complete Works of Mark Twain: Following the Equator, Volume 2, Harper and Brothers: New York, 1925.]
While we were in India some good-hearted Europeans in one of the cities proposed to restrict a large park to the use of zenana ladies, so that they could go there and in assured privacy go about unveiled and enjoy the sunshine and air as they had never enjoyed them before. The good intentions back of the proposition were recognized, and sincere thanks returned for it, but the proposition itself met with a prompt declination at the hands of those who were authorized to speak for the zenana ladies. Apparently, the idea was shocking to the ladies–indeed, it was quite manifestly shocking. Was that proposition the equivalent of inviting European ladies to assemble scantily and scandalously clothed in the seclusion of a private park? It seemed to be about that. [Read more…]
Don’t do India alone.
I think that’s the best advice anyone could give on how to survive here. Whether you are signing up for a three-year assignment with a multi-national, or just trying to establish a life in India, nothing is more helpful than a circle of friends.
One of the best things about a circle of friends is hearing their stories. Stories from people who have been exactly where you are now, and figured out a thing or two along the way.
To help with this, I’m happy to announce the Working with India Podcast – conversations with people who have worked with India for a long time and have insights to share. We’ll discuss how to transition to an Indian style of working, develop leaders, implement processes, prepare for repatriation, and much more.
The first episode features Andrew Mogendorff, who recently completed a three-year assignment with Target in Bangalore. Andrew came to India with his wife and two young children.
Here’s what you can expect from the first podcast: [Read more…]
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Everyone loves to hate generalizations. In fact, they might be the easiest target for the cross-cultural police, who think everyone is the same (deep down), and everyone is unique (deep down).
This kind of thinking might work in some cultures, but won’t last five minutes in India. As soon as you get here, you start making generalizations because it is so “other”, and you don’t have a mental category for what you are experiencing.
But in a country filled with so many sensitive paradoxes, nothing will get you into trouble faster than making a blanket generalization (#Thinskinned).
This is the tension you face as you try to make sense of the new world you are working/living with. What are you allowed to say? What is true? Don’t all generalizations break down anyway? Should we just abandon them altogether?
No. Generalizations have a lot to offer us.