Cultural Sensitisation

As nine-year-olds, when Enid Blyton’s Secret Seven was in vogue, comics provided the adrenaline for most of us. Many Sunday afternoons would be spent in the discomfort of the attic of my Kolkata home, devouring those forbidden comics, away from the prying eyes of our parents. Years have gotten in between, and as responsible adults and parents, we in turn restrict our children from over-exposure to the Pogos and Cartoon Networks of the world. I sometimes wonder whether Phantom was more violent than Popeye-the-Sailor-Man.

Recently, while sharing the idiosyncrasies of our childhood, the topic somehow went on to comics. “The guy must’ve been a brazen nut,” my friend Ashish remarked on the character we know as Phantom. “I mean, c’mon, what would you think of a guy who went around in unacceptable attire, had the habit of walking into bars and asking for a glass of milk, and had the audacity to take a wolf along wherever he went?” While all of us had a good laugh, I drew the context to the more contemporary issue of cultural sensitisation within the IT community.

To me, being culturally sensitive and globally relevant simply means knowing and honouring the laws of the land, and being sensitive and adaptive to the customs of the countries we work in—technical competence being just the basic condition of our employment. To me life in the IT Lane is not just about Java and J2EE, it is also about carrying yourself well wherever you go and whoever you are with.

As an ardent fan of Desmond Morris and his path-breaking book, Man-watching, I have learnt to be keenly observant of all that happens around me. Let me relate to you a recent encounter of the third kind. It is 7.30 in San Jose on a pleasant July morning. As I wait for my cabbie to come by, a young software engineer walks across to the reception desk of the hotel to deposit his laundry. He is not shaven, is clad in his bedraggled T-shirt and lungi, and to top it all, is wearing his company identification around his neck.

I was witnessing the silent ridicule of Brand India, especially the ‘here-we-go-once-again’ looks written across the faces of several Asians and Americans who were present in the lobby at that moment. Possibly, that was what was expected. And yet, amid those widely-held paradigms of the ‘predictable’ behaviour of us desis, the India inside me shrank, including the 12-billion-dollar mark-of-pride that I wear across my chest as an Indian IT professional. Fortunately, I met the young man over the weekend, and in my small way explained to him a couple of do’s and don’ts. I’m hoping he would have talked about our meeting to a couple of his friends, and helped spread the good word around.

Again, three months back, I was at a presentation with one of our platinum Japanese customers. After much bowing and the exchange of cards, including staring at each card intensely to show one’s respect, I was all set to make my lifetime-award-winning-presentation. As a seasoned and trained presenter I followed all the rules…including riveting eye contact with my audience. I was surprised that every time I locked my eyes with theirs, they would look away. Later in the evening over a drink, my colleague Makoto san explained, “You never look Japanese in the eye, at least not for too long…that is a sign of disrespect, RR san.” Making eye-contact with your audience was what I was taught and trained to do. Makoto san told me that I should fix my gaze on the second button of the shirt instead, and look up to my audience’s eyes fleetingly, only while making a point. I am wiser today, thanks to my friend Makoto.

So how do you address these issues? First, as employers we need to feel responsible and check for such dissonances at the time of recruitment. As leaders, we need to walk the talk by demonstrating such value behaviours everywhere, and mentor individuals and teams at every opportunity. Is training good enough? My view is it is not, and in any case it will be like a tail trying to wag the dog. We need to be more pervasive; we need to find new and innovative means to get the message across. Induction and sensitisation have to be seen as a continuous process and not as discrete events in getting teams ready to take on the world. Apart from conducting cultural sensitisation programmes, Zensar’s Employee Portal has a very detailed section on the history, culture, laws, dress, customs and etiquette of the countries frequented by our employees. There’s help on the Internet too; one which I found recently is Kimberly Robert’s Classy Tips—highly recommended for all.

Talking about how our neighbours adapt to our culture, I have a recent example. At the funeral of one of our departed senior leaders, I observed my colleague, Les Bond from Britain, take off his shoes and join others to pay his last respects. Amid the sadness of the moment, that action came across as a perfect illustration of crossing the culture and keeping the faith.

Like Les, if each one of us makes that extra effort to respect and adapt to the culture of the countries we visit or work in, we will, as a community, emerge stronger, more respected and ready for the world.

We must realise that all cultures are built on some basic values, and that howsoever divergent they are from ours we must adapt to them, much like water in the river adapts to the land masses that surround it.

Being true to your country and religion and yet being global in conduct is not a contradiction—it is an imperative in today’s business environment.

R R Dasgupta is general manager,
consulting, Zensar Technologies