Culture Clash
Culture Clash
'This should be a uneventful meeting," Leonard Farr said to himself and he reviewed the progress report prepared by Fumio Ogawa. Leonard was director of research and development at a pharmaceutical company near Cleveland, Ohio. Cultivating the question
‘How can I improve?’Fumio, originally from Chiba, Japan, was a biochemist working on drugs to treat liver cancer.
Fumio had great respect for Leonard and considered him a role model. Leonard had won prizes and had been awarded patents for his earlier work on treatments for diabetes.
Leonard greeted Fumio, closed the office door, and started his yearly performance evaluation. He pointed out that Fumio was a hard worker, was creative in his thinking, kept clear and detailed laboratory notes, and was on track to be promoted in about a year.
Fumio replied, "Thank you, but please tell me what I have not been doing well and what I can do to improve."
Leonard was not prepared for a question this direct concerning areas for improvement.
In Japan, there is a value placed on self-improvement and self-cultivation so that an individual becomes a better person.
A commonly used term in Japanese is "hansei," and it refers to reflecting on one's shortcomings and investing effort into improving oneself. One way to discover ways of improving is to seek out feedback from superiors in the workplace.
To further the goals of hansei, negative information is far more diagnostic than positive feedback.
People learn more about how to improve if they hear, "Your public speaking style is a little bit dull" than if they hear a litany of workplace behaviors that they do well.
As with many workplace behaviors, details of the social context in which a cultural difference might occur have to be understood. Fumio might not ask his question of just anybody.
He would ask for ways to improve only from people he respects a great deal, as in this incident with Leonard. Fumio may feel that he has a very good relationship with his boss that is strong enough to withstand a yearly performance review that contains some negative feedback.
In addition, Fumio is likely to seek this feedback only in one-on-one meetings behind closed doors. Negative feedback would not be welcome in a public forum since Fumio might loose face in front of his peers.
To work effectively with Japanese, Leonard should prepare himself for direct inquiries concerning how subordinates can improve themselves.
The tone of voice and vocabulary he uses can be gentle. Throughout their socialization, Japanese learn to be careful listeners and learn to benefit from gently placed suggestions concerning self-development.
The purpose of this column is to increase understanding of human behavior as it has an impact on the workplace. Special attention will be given to miscommunications caused by cultural differences. Each column will start with a short example of such confusion. Possible explanations will be offered to encourage thought about these issues.
Richard Brislin is a professor in the College of Business Administration,
University of Hawaii. He can be reached through the
College Relations Office: cro@cba.hawaii.edu