February 01, 2007
One of the training sessions I went through a few months ago at HP was a brief presentation on diversity and how different cultures have different attitudes and values. Germans, for example, tend to focus on technical details and don't warm up a lot to humor. The Japanese are very particular about polite gestures and language. Australians are very laid-back and take it easy a lot. Americans are fond of catchy slogans and good branding. I'm not saying any of these characteristics are negative; these examples simply illustrate the differences in culture and serve to emphasize the point that we most be sensitive to such differences.
The example of cultural behavior I remember the most from this presentation was how the British have a bit of an obsession with the weather. "How's the weather?" is a question that will most likely pop up when you're chatting to a British person over the phone. Why? Because in non-tropical climates, the weather is quite unpredictable and can in fact kill you if you're not prepared; hence, all the weather forecasts on the news. Here in the Philippines, the weather is not as big a deal. It's always either sunny or rainy, and you can probably tell what kind of weather you'll be having just be feeling the air or looking at the cloud cover.
True enough, a few weeks later--as if to demonstrate a point--I had the opportunity to talk to a British HP employee over the phone and sure enough, he asked me "So how's the weather over there?" I suppose he had good reason to do so because we'd just been hit by a massive typhoon. On our next phone conversation I did the courteous thing; ask the weather question as a means to kick-off our conversation and get down to business.
Why did I blog about the weather all of a sudden? Because it has been unnaturally cold here in Manila the past couple of days. I love it when the weather's like this because of the chilly breeze that accompanies you even as you're walking outside with the sun beating down on you. Tonight was a bit too cold for my taste though; I couldn't even walk briskly enough to keep myself warm! Regardless, I still could get used to this weather. Strike that; I want to get used to this weather.
The example of cultural behavior I remember the most from this presentation was how the British have a bit of an obsession with the weather. "How's the weather?" is a question that will most likely pop up when you're chatting to a British person over the phone. Why? Because in non-tropical climates, the weather is quite unpredictable and can in fact kill you if you're not prepared; hence, all the weather forecasts on the news. Here in the Philippines, the weather is not as big a deal. It's always either sunny or rainy, and you can probably tell what kind of weather you'll be having just be feeling the air or looking at the cloud cover.
True enough, a few weeks later--as if to demonstrate a point--I had the opportunity to talk to a British HP employee over the phone and sure enough, he asked me "So how's the weather over there?" I suppose he had good reason to do so because we'd just been hit by a massive typhoon. On our next phone conversation I did the courteous thing; ask the weather question as a means to kick-off our conversation and get down to business.
Why did I blog about the weather all of a sudden? Because it has been unnaturally cold here in Manila the past couple of days. I love it when the weather's like this because of the chilly breeze that accompanies you even as you're walking outside with the sun beating down on you. Tonight was a bit too cold for my taste though; I couldn't even walk briskly enough to keep myself warm! Regardless, I still could get used to this weather. Strike that; I want to get used to this weather.
The other thing about weather is that one person's cold is another person's warm. For example I was walking with a visitor from Texas today. Where he is from the weather this time of year is usually about 23-26 C but where we were it was about -2 C. Normally this time of year around here it would be around -10 C. So of course I was warm and not minding not having my coat for a short walk. He on the other hand was very cold.
Sometimes it gets below -25 C. That sort of weather will kill you if you are not dressed properly.
25 below??? That WILL kill me!