Culture Clash
Culture Clash
Laid-back and
hard-charging styles
meet in HawaiiAt a recent workshop I organized dealing with "Cultural Differences in Hawaii," a woman approached me during a coffee break. Originally from Chicago, Karen (a pseudonym) has lived in Hawaii for 18 years. She moved because she found the lifestyle in Hawaii to be attractive. People are more "laid-back." The pace of life is slower, people are more mellow with others, and they have time to chat when the see each other at the shopping malls. In Chicago, she experienced a much faster pace of life, people were more hard-charging in their work and social lives, and they were always in a hurry.
Karen enjoys her life in Hawaii but has a concern. She feels that her son is not taking his schoolwork as seriously as he should. He finds surfing a more attractive activity than the sorts of school activities she remembers, such as the newspaper staff or debate team. Her son does not seem to be developing the sort of personality that will be attractive to employers looking for people that will work hard and have successful careers.
Karen's socialization in Chicago prepared her for a successful life there. The sorts of high school activities she remembers prepare people for success in a fast-paced, competitive environment where work is a major part of one's social identity. She happened to find some aspects of that lifestyle unattractive, such as the number of hard-charging people who seemed to have little time for social relationships. So she moved to Hawaii because of its laid-back, mellow lifestyle.
People's socialization experiences prepare them for success in a certain culture. If Hawaii's culture is laid-back and unhurried, many of her son's pre-adolescent and teenage experiences are likely to be consistent with that lifestyle.
Karen asked for my advice concerning her son. My recommendation is that people become bicultural, that is, they learn to participate effectively in more than one culture. Some aspects of live in Hawaii are similar to the mainland. The major example is the world of work, with its necessary emphasis on punctuality, excellent customer service and the work ethic. We must be competitive with organizations on the mainland or customers will drift away from Hawaii. In other aspects of life, such as weekend activities and time with ohana, a slower, more people-oriented style of life is important.
Many locals in Hawaii can switch between standard English and Pidgin, and there are various social situations where one is more appropriate than the other. They can engage in a similar switch between behaviors useful in the workplace and behaviors appropriate for weekend social gatherings. People in Hawaii are blessed with their knowledge of different cultures, and they can draw upon this knowledge to meet the various challenges of life.
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