Let’s begin by thinking about communication. This may seem on paper as if it is a very simple concept, we communicate with others all day, everyday. Communication is a deeply engrained skill for living within our society, and one we may not often think about in much detail. However, there are more complexities to communicating than may originally meet the eye. Let’s take some time to learn more about communication and the way that different cultures may approach this topic and the effects that this might have now.
The Importance of Cross-Cultural Communication
On August 6, 1997, Korean Air Flight 801 crashed in the United States territory of Guam, killing 229 people on board. The flight had a veteran crew, a reasonably serviceable plane, and ordinary weather. By all accounts, it could have easily been avoided (Gladwell, 2009). As investigators soon discovered, however, the pilot had made a costly navigational error when entering a cloud bank near the supposed landing site. This error was caught by other members of the crew, however, no outright suggestion that the captain was wrong was made until a futile six seconds before impact (Gladwell, 2009).
As author Malcolm Gladwell tells this story in his book Outliers, this event marked a decade of doom for Korean Airlines whose crash rate was sitting at 17 times that of their competitors. Interestingly, over the next decade, they became world-renown for their safe flying. So, what changed?
Following the 1997 disaster, management issued a crucial mandate: that all communication in the cockpit be carried out in English. This seemed to work because Korea is a high power distance culture. People pay attention to status, and communication norms dictate that younger, more inexperienced employees do not challenge their superiors. In this case, the two lower ranking employees did not feel comfortable with correcting their high ranking superior. By transporting into the English world, however, these traditionally Korean cultural norms are mitigated, and replaced with those of English-speakers.
It is not uncommon for bilingual speakers to adopt the appropriate verbal and nonverbal communication norms when they switch languages.
Words Aren’t Enough
When we think of communication, we often think about spoken communication. However, non-verbal forms of communication are a very important consideration when thinking about workplace communication and dynamics.
Up to a whopping 93% of all communication makes use of strategies other than our words. It is thought that 55% of communication is through body language alone, whereas another 38% of communication is reliant on how we say things (voice, tone, pitch, etc…).
Thinking About Body Language
For instance, what may one presume about the individual on the left? In mainstream Canadian culture, it would be fair to say that this person appears happy.
Now, compare them to the individual on the left. Who seems kinder? More interested? More trustworthy?
We draw these conclusions, the majority of which are correctly presumed, without a single word ever being uttered. Likewise, the same goes for linguistic stereotypes. There is a reasonable foundation as to why it is joked that Germans always sound angry and the Spanish suave.
While both linguistics and body language are vital in a trusting, communicative relationship, there is another component that marries the two quite beautifully: cultural norms. In the same sense that different groups of people have evolved different languages, so too have they evolved different codes of conduct for how one should communicate in a given setting.
Let’s think of another example:
It may be commonplace for a Canadian to say “how are you” or “how’s it going” as a greeting. If you are versed in Canadian culture, you would know that it would be most often appropriate to respond with “Good. How are you?”.
The Take-Home
In an increasingly globalising world, subtle differences in both verbal and non-verbal communication may have not-so-subtle outcomes. With an understanding of Indigenous worldviews and communication norms, you expand your cultural vocabulary and be prepared to facilitate communication between Indigenous and non-Indigenous employees.
