they were doing and organized the office so that it looked spotless, with every
file and piece of paper in place. That is an example of reading between the
lines. Japanese executives are experts at it. Indeed, one of their cultural problems
is that they often try to read between lines when there are none to read between!
It’s easy for European workers in Japanese companies to get caught out by
this. If in doubt about whether you have received an instruction, always go
back and seek clarification. ‘Let me check that I’ve understood you. You want
me to do this…’, is a simple way of checking.
Reading between the lines is a speciality of the Asia-Pacific region. Paul Davies
in his book, What’s This India Business?, quotes an Indian company that uses
the phrase, ‘We’ve had the neem, now let us enjoy the jaggery,’ when they’ve
given the green light to a deal. The neem is a bitter herb in India, whereas
jaggery is a sweet-tasting herb. The neem refers to the negotiation, the hard
bit, and the jaggery to the implementation.
Every culture has its areas of ‘high context’, when we share common
understanding about something without needing to spell out the details. But
some cultures, as we’ve seen, rely on high-context communication more than
others. Managers in the UK and the US are much more likely to explain the
particulars of their requirements so there is no possibility of misunderstanding.
This can slow things down (watch some Americans deciphering a railway
ticket in London), but avoids confusion. However, it often loses some of the
subtlety of the communication – what we call ‘low context’. What’s important
is to understand the difference and to recognize whether the culture that you’re
dealing with tends to communicate in high-context or low-context mode.
2 Truth versus politeness
India is known as a ‘never say no’ culture, and it can be frustrating for Westerners
who are uncertain about a company’s approach to delivery and performance.
One reason for the Indians’ approach is simply politeness. Another is that there
is always someone else who can do the job. A third is pure competitive desire
to get the business. So in India you say ‘yes’ first and worry about the details
later. In many joint ventures, British and Indian managers are now developing
a consensus in this area, linked by a determination to make things work. But
again, in Asia-Pacific countries the wish to tell you what you want to hear
(politeness) is frequently more important than telling you the truth about a
situation. This means that truth is often hard to come by.
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