Last week, just before a soccer cup win set Deventer in the Netherlands ablaze, an international group of cultural experts came to this city. Two members of our Cooperative Cultural Insights joined in as well and we are happy to tell you about it!
The event was organized for “the Friends of Hofstede,” an international network of intercultural trainers, coaches, consultants and researchers. The late Prof. Geert Hofstede spent 45 years conducting solid research on basic differences between cultures. His work is used around the world and inspires many, both in workplace practice, and in scholarship. Hofstede is still the most cited social scientist in the Netherlands.
Funnily enough, most Dutch people are not aware of this, let alone proud of it. In our culture we simply follow the idea ‘act normal and you’ll be crazy enough’. Here it is more common to hear a critical voice rather than an admiring one. In this the Dutch differ greatly on average from Americans, Mexicans or Nigerians (to name but a few countries where high-flyers are easily put on a pedestal).
Geert Hofstede’s son, Prof. Gert Jan Hofstede, has already retired. He manages his father’s books and estate. He is also now the paterfamilias of the Friends of Hofstede. Unfortunately, not everybody was able to come to Deventer, but with about 30 people from 16 different countries, it turned out an excellent gathering.
As is well known, in most parts of the world it is important to build relationships first, to see the whole person, before we can get to work. That’s exactly what we did. We spent the first day getting acquainted or catching up. While enjoying a nice lunch, a good dinner, and while strolling with a guide through the old streets or along the river IJssel, we became more and more engaged in conversation.
With a good network like this, Cultural Insights can easily serve a multinational or international organization. Information comes first-hand, and as my Chinese colleague said, “I have Chinese clients with offices in the Netherlands; if I can train on my side, you can do it on your side. We use similar models and teaching materials; with some coordination, it saves a lot of flying hours.”
The second day we got down to business, with plenary and concurrent sessions. Prof. Romie Mittrell talked about his recent research on the cultural dimensions of different Slavic peoples. Did you know that we can divide the Slavic peoples into eastern, western and southern branches, and that the eastern branch covers a large portion of Russia (including Moscow)?
With intercultural coach Kirsty Maceachen we exchanged experiences about intercultural coaching. One of us gave a lively presentation on the case study of a Portuguese entrepreneur in Angola (more on that another time); we talked about the Culture at the Workplace Questionnaire (CWQ) that gives clients a personalized report on their cultural preferences; of course, AI came up, and we also got the challenging question of how leadership competency models can be made more culture sensitive.
In short: plenty of inspiration and knowledge that we can bring to our training and consultancy. We can tell you much more over a coffee (face to face or online). Please fill out the contact form and we will get in touch with you!
