The Culture Map

Recommended on Gitbar by Alfonso Graziano, a solid book for understanding how people from different cultures communicate with you. The book is excellent; it added fundamental pieces to that great master’s course on different cultures. I wrote my own blog post about it here: https://mutt0-ds.github.io/posts/2024/09/the-culture-map/

Another good summary here: https://www.patkua.com/blog/book-notes-the-culture-map-by-erin-meyer/

The book shows several dimensions where each nation tends to lean toward one extreme or the other. From the Japanese, high context with very interpretable language and who will rarely say things directly and may remain silent, to the French, direct and precise. So when I have to speak with other cultures, I will be able to prepare in advance for what to expect and what might be a good or bad sign.

Also worth noting it is not gospel; there will be outliers. Still, I like the idea of implicit rules for cultures; it helps me feel more in control. It opened my eyes further, especially to the fact that there are often historical reasons behind cultural habits, and we should respect them, because to them we are just as unusual.

Points

1. Communicating: low vs high context
2. Evaluating: direct vs very indirect negative feedback
3. Persuading: principles first (give context) or application first (takeaway)
4. Leading: egalitarian vs hierarchical
5. Deciding: consensual vs top-down
6. Trusting: task-based (competence) or relationship-based (meals, conversations, etc.)
7. Disagreeing: confrontational (debate) vs avoids confrontation
8. Scheduling: linear vs flexible time