How language shapes the way we think

Hofstede A successfully managed culture is at the very heart of every leading company in its field. Culture shapes and defines the people, the atmosphere, the parameters of how things get done. It is one of the most important components of any organisation yet the most neglected. Why metaphors are more powerful than you think - BBC Ideas

What Makes You “Multicultural” Executive Summary Individual people can be multicultural in three different (albeit inter-related) ways: they can have deep knowledge of, they can identify with, and they can have internalized more than one culture. This article delves into those three aspects of being multicultural and describes what benefits can accrue from each of them. You’ve heard about multicultural societies and groups, but have you thought about multicultural individuals and what they bring to organizations? Multicultural individuals — such as Chinese-Canadians, Turkish-Germans, or Arab-Americans — commonly think, perceive, behave, and respond to global workplace issues in more complex ways than monocultural individuals.

Why language is not everything that Noam Chomsky said it is Few scientific disagreements lead to public controversy. But there are times when the subject or the participants in a debate so capture the public imagination that otherwise dry, technical matters of discord among researchers erupt into the media, eliciting a wide array of opinions from experts and non-experts. Getting the public interested is good for science if it leads to deeper thinking about things that are of importance to understanding our species. And there is a controversy of just this type bubbling away for many years now in linguistics.

The meaning of silence in different cultures Silence can be used to intimidate; or to save face; to show respect; or it can simply suggest that the other person is relaxed enough in your company to enjoy a quiet moment. Misinterpreting the meaning of silence in different cultures, though, and you could be on your way to losing an important business deal. Silence in Japanese culture “I was part of the EMEA team when the Japanese bank I was working for took over an American bank,” says a former VP of marketing. “There were weekly project calls scheduled with representation from both EMEA and Asia-Pac marketing teams. The former comprised about 60% ex-pat New Yorkers and the latter around 80% Japanese.

Body Language - Our Perceptions Of Personal Space Chapter 9 Thousands of books and articles have been written about the staking out and guarding of territories by animals, birds, fish and primates. Man too has his territories. When you understand the implications of this, you can gain enormous insights into your own behavior, and the face-to-face reactions of others can be predicted. HOW DOES OUR LANGUAGE SHAPE THE WAY WE THINK? Humans communicate with one another using a dazzling array of languages, each differing from the next in innumerable ways. Do the languages we speak shape the way we see the world, the way we think, and the way we live our lives? Do people who speak different languages think differently simply because they speak different languages? Does learning new languages change the way you think? Do polyglots think differently when speaking different languages?

24 Charts of Leadership Styles Around the World Growing up in three countries (South Korea, Canada and United States), I’m fascinated by how culture shapes different leadership styles. Richard D. Lewis charted 24 different leadership styles in his book “When Cultures Collide.” Getting to Si, Ja, Oui, Hai, and Da Tim Carr, an American working for a defense company based in the midwestern United States, was about to enter a sensitive bargaining session with a high-level Saudi Arabian customer, but he wasn’t particularly concerned. Carr was an experienced negotiator and was well-trained in basic principles: Separate the people from the problem. Define your BATNA (best alternative to a negotiated agreement) up front. Focus on interests, not positions. He’d been there, read that, and done the training. The lengthy phone call to Saudi Arabia proceeded according to plan.

How We (Mis-)See the World — feel like you belong Above is a map full of such bad information and half-guesses about lands outside US-Americans’ personal experience. It makes two observations: 1) When you come from a particular place, you idealize that place. You refer to its customs as “right” or “logical.”