Think you know American values?

I took a course last year on Cross-Cultural Management from Dr. Kang-Rae Cho at the University of Colorado Denver. It covered all the theories on cross-cultural studies from Hofstede, Trompenaars, Farmer-Richmond etc. But what I found most interesting was the following description of mainstream American cultural values. Like most readers of this blog, my focus is outward towards the rest of the world and not closely examining my fellow Americans. I've also lived outside the country, so I thought I would have known all of these traits. There were a few surprises.

Quick note: as with all cultural descriptions these are generalizations and all traits to not necessarily apply to all Americans and may be more or less pronounced in specific regions of the country:

Mainstream American Cultural Traits
(per Dr. Kang-Rae Cho)

1. A high value on "Material well-being". For some, this can also be materialism.

2. 2-fold judgement based on principle. Think of our Presidential elections and political parties

3. Tendency of moralizing. Americans know what I'm talking about.

4. Distinction between "work" and "play"

5. Special attitude towards time. "Time is money." "Time management", etc.

6. High value on Individual Efforts and Optimism.

7. High value on Individualism and Individual Freedom.

8. When it's man vs. nature, man wins

9. Avoid uncertainty through legal process (courts, contracts, etc.) and goal setting

10. Egalitarianism and Fairness

11. Importance of "belonging" - membership

12. Humanitarianism and generosity

13. Nationalistic and patriotic

14. Religiousity (very religious)

I'll be interested in reading your comments!! - Becky

Can you be TOO culturally intelligent?

I recently read an article that has got me thinking - is it possible to be too culturally sensitive? Author Dr. Bob March describes his friend who had learned Japanese language and customs so well that he actually offended his Japanese counterparts by acting too Japanese. Here's the article: http://www.negotiations.com/articles/appropriate-behaviour/

This has happened to me too. I was an exchange student 20 years ago from the U.S. to a village near Nijmegen in the Netherlands and still regularly speak Dutch (with a little Nijmegese accent) with friends both in the Netherlands and also in Denver where I now live.

Dutch (and Flemish) people are often grateful when a foreign visitor learns even a word or two in their language, and even more so when someone has taken the time to become fluent. But perhaps people have gotten too comfortable with my language that they've categorized me as in some way as Dutch. So... when I can't quite think of a word or mix up grammar a little, the person often looks at me like something's not quite right.

There's a Dutch group that meets in Denver. It's a great group of people, who mark major Dutch holidays together (Queen's Day, Sinterklaas, etc.) along with showing Dutch films and eating Indonesian food. I've participated many times in the past 4 years and enjoyed the group's company. But there's always a little hesitation by certain group members to say - you're not really Dutch, are you? No matter how much I know about the Dutch culture, it's never quite enough for some I think to feel comfortable with me.

So now that you know my perspective on this topic, I'd be very interested to hear about other people's experiences after cultural immersion. And... is there such a thing as being TOO culturally intelligent?

Learning from expected sources

Back when I was young and thought I knew everything, I became an exchange student and was sent to the Netherlands. I had been in country for about 3 weeks struggling to learn Dutch when my host family took me to a party at the house of an aunt and uncle. There was plenty of conversation, but I couldn't understand any of it (too fast, too many big words).

Then I met Aimee. He was 25 years old and mentally disabled. He spoke slowly with a simple vocabulary - the only person I could understand! So I followed Aimee around the party for two hours like a puppy dog, asking him lots of questions like "what is this?" "how do you say that?"

As I sat in the car driving away from the party, I realized the importance of this lesson. And whenever I get smug about smart, I remember that there is something to learn from everyone I meet. I helps me to keep learning (hopefully!) every day.