I once had to do a mulitcultural appreciation session at a Fortune 500 company that you would recognize. (NOT my current employer.) This nice lady said that we needed to appreciate how many cultures are very different from ours. What followed is, to this day, my favorite tale of the joys of multiculturalism.
“Does anyone have any examples of cultural differences that they have experienced?” she asked.
A woman stood up and said, “Our group went to Japan. Everyone smiles and bows and gives you little gifts when they meet you at the airport. Also, honor is big with them. Everything is about honor.”
The team leader quietly pointed to a different guy.
He said, “We spent a half a year in Germany. They are very strict and structured. The entire day is on a tight schedule and they are very organized, and they don’t ever joke or smile.”
Now a bit flustered, she quickly left that guy to point to another one.
“We spent a few months working with a programming group in Ireland.”
Oh dear.
“I think the big difference from here in America is that when it’s five o’clock the work day ends immediately, and then the entire town, just everybody, goes straight to the pubs… and I don’t mean for like one little after-work drink, they seriously spend the entire evening there! Everybody’s drinking, all evening, every day of the week, for hours and hours.”
She stopped asking for examples.
This session was very educational, as I learned that “multicultural appreciation” and “stereotypes exist for a reason” walk a very thin razor’s edge.