I’ve been hard at work recently giving my office at home a makeover.
It started like this when we moved in.
There’s a wall covered in a mural featuring the Avengers with a black desk in front of it.
And now it’s a bit more like this.
Work in progress: same room but now with cream walls and white woodwork – and a lot of painting and DIY mess on the floor.
Spending time applying the many layers of undercoat, primer and paint it took to complete this transition gave me time to do some thinking.
Here are a few unexpected lessons about working across cultures from the hours of working on the skirting board.
- Let go of perfection
I’m a recovering perfectionist. And let’s be honest, the drips and the dog hair stuck to the office door may always irritate me. But I’ve learned to let go of absolutely perfect and accept that my time, patience and energy are better given to other things.
In the same way, I need to let go of the idea that I will be perfect when it comes to working and engaging with people who hold different beliefs and values and who might behave in different ways. Whether I’m working across different organisational cultures, national cultures, identities or generations, I’m going to have the social equivalent of dog hair stuck to the eggshell paint. I’m going to make a bit of a mess at some point.
It doesn’t mean that I should give up. It means that you learn, apologize when needed and do better next time. Aiming for perfection can lead to procrastination so let’s embrace being perfectly imperfect in our intercultural and diverse communities.
2. You can be too close to see the difference:
Layers of white paint on layers of white paint can be challenging. It was hard to see which bits of the windowsill, window frame and door had been missed or needed more coverage. Don’t mention the ceiling to my husband – brilliant white on brilliant white in bright sunshine.
This reminded me of a story that I often share in my training workshops. The biggest culture shock I ever experienced wasn’t moving from Belfast to Norway. It was moving to Texas. I naively thought because there was some shared ‘culture’ through language, and that because I’d spent quite a lot of time in the US, that it would be an easy transition. I was wrong.
Sometimes the cultures that appear to be ‘like’ our own can lull us into a false sense of security. We become less curious, less ready to see differences and adapt to them. It is easier to make assumptions because we feel we are ‘similar’ or even the ‘same’.
3. Don’t paint after a swim
Lesson learned, don’t jump around in the North Sea on a cold November day and then expect yourself to have immaculate brushstrokes. It is all likely to get a bit messy when you’re tired.
Self-awareness is so important when it comes to working across differences and cultures. It is easier to focus on how other people show up and not on how we behave. So realistically, my curiosity, confidence and ability to hold other perspectives in my mind are not as strong or effective when I’m tired or very stressed. These are the times when checking in with yourself first can lead to more productive outcomes for everyone. And less emulsion on the floor.
If you’d like to learn more about communicating and working across cultures and differences, drop me a message here or get in touch for a cuppa via Zoom. You can email me at sarah@athrucommunications.com.
I can offer you nothing on redecorating except my sympathy and understanding.
