A world traveler who speaks ten languages,
British linguist Richard Lewis decided he was qualified to plot the world's
cultures on a chart.
He did so while acknowledging the dangers of
stereotypes.
"Determining national characteristics is
treading a minefield of inaccurate assessment and surprising exception,"
Lewis wrote. "There is, however, such a thing as a national norm."
Many people think he nailed it, as his book
"When Cultures Collide," now in its third
edition, has sold more than one million copies since it was first published in
1996 and was called "an authoritative roadmap to navigating the world's
economy," by the Wall Street Journal.
Lewis plots countries in relation to three
categories:
Linear-actives — those who plan, schedule,
organize, pursue action chains, do one thing at a time. Germans and Swiss are
in this group.
Multi-actives — those lively, loquacious
peoples who do many things at once, planning their priorities not according to
a time schedule, but according to the relative thrill or importance that each
appointment brings with it. Italians, Latin Americans and Arabs are members of
this group.
Reactive — those cultures that prioritize
courtesy and respect, listening quietly and calmly to their interlocutors and
reacting carefully to the other side's proposals. Chinese, Japanese and Finns
are in this group.
He says that this categorization of national
norms does not change significantly over time:
The behavior of people of different cultures
is not something willy-nilly. There exist clear trends, sequences and
traditions. Reactions of Americans, Europeans, and Asians alike can be
forecasted, usually justified and in the majority of cases managed. Even in countries
where political and economic change is currently rapid or sweeping (Russia,
China, Hungary, Poland, Korea, Malaysia, etc.) deeply rooted attitudes and
beliefs will resist a sudden transformation of values when pressured by
reformists, governments or multinational conglomerates.
Here's the chart that explains the world:
Some more details on the categories:
"By focusing on the cultural roots of
national behavior, both in society and business, we can foresee and calculate
with a surprising degree of accuracy how others will react to our plans for
them, and we can make certain assumptions as to how they will approach
us," Lewis writes.
