Exploring assumptions while crossing cultures

• Change which spans a range of cultures by David Gunzburg, 3/2/98
  
  

My collegue Jane Mayne and I just returned from work with our organizations' employees in Franfurt and Brussels. The challenge and adventure of working across cultures/languages/ethnicities/societies is very much on my mind. I'm wondering what assumptions are implicit in the large systems change work that may be culturally linked with our U.S. somewhat white-middle-aged-professional-entreprenuerial culture and what happens when these assumptions meet with the implicit assumptions of a group of Italians, Saudi Arabians, or Dutch? What common cultural assumptions make the whole systems change methodologies work? Where do the hiccups arise? What assumptions about interpersonal communications and intergroup communications come into play? I'll bet the Dannemiller-Tyson folks have some interesting stories to tell........

• Culture response to Lilith -- and whoever by Kathie Dannemiller, 4/11/98