Reddit reviews When Cultures Collide, 3rd Edition: Leading Across Cultures

Those other countries have populations that view their relationship with politics very differently than how Americans do. Americans value taking a fundamentally irreverent and or even an automatically rebellious view toward authority to begin with; flouting, bending, or breaking rules in all sorts of settings and contexts is considered "cool": "I do things MY way. Fuck what they say. I don't care" <audience cheers and applauds>. (A specific variation of that sentiment would be: "Fuck voting.") I found throughout Western and Northern Europe that anti-authority, rule-breaking behavior over there, whether in words or actions, is seen as either immature, stupid, inappropriate, and often contemptible. So let's look the most voting countries as of this year:

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/08/02/u-s-voter-turnout-trails-most-developed-countries/

How about wearing translated version of this T-shirt in one of those top European countries? Think it would get the same looks and reactions as it would in the American version in America?

http://www.foulmouthshirts.com/Political-t-shirts/shirtpages/FUCK-VOTING.htm

Note that Australia was at the bottom of that list, 8 spots below the US. They have an irreverent attitude toward authority as well, even more so that the U.S.! They even have less regard for formality, too.

If you're interested in this kind of stuff, THIS is the book the best, an ultimate overview of cultural differences around the world:

https://www.amazon.com/When-Cultures-Collide-3rd-Leading/dp/1904838022

Good, but THIS is the BEST book on the subject of cross-culturally communication:

http://www.amazon.com/When-Cultures-Collide-3rd-Edition/dp/1904838022

Nope, not bullshit. "Good education and a high rate of literacy lend people confidence in communi-cation. Vietnamese literary tradition is strong." - fra When cultures collide.

>Hvad er det med folk?

Din hasty generalization, ikke min. Jeg sagde ikke at "blot fordi man er født i Øst og Sydøstasien", at man så er god til matematik. Og kinesere != vietnamesere.

Efter 3 års studier omhandlende Asien er jeg udemærket klar over at man ikke skal generalisere. Vietnam klarer sig godt, fordi deres offentlige institutioner sætter undervisning højt på skemaet.

Og normalt skal man ikke gå ud fra at land- og byområder har samme velstand, men her er et lille citat fra Comparing Rural and Urban Primary Education in the Mekong Delta:

"Results indicate that there are far more similarities than originally suspected, particularly in material taught, teacher experience and education, gender balance and student attendance, and students’ plans for the future."

I feel like everyone who wants to work in a different country should read a bit about the differences in culture beforehand. A (imo) good source is Richard D. Lewis who describes a lot of different cultures in his book.

If you're going to lead a group there read about managing across cultures.

BUT: be aware that your company has it's own culture that, while often strongly influenced by the culture of the country, can have significant differences to what literature would suggest.

Possible Literature:

Richard D. Lewis - When Cultures Collide

Carte/Fox - Bridging the Culture Gap