I recently gave a private training which included an overview of cultural differences. I thoroughly enjoyed it!
I moved to the US from Russia in 1991, having received a three-month contract as a Mac Developer at the Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute in San Francisco. They converted it to a full-time position midway and helped me obtain a Green Card, at which point I could leave.
It was my first trip abroad, and I had no clue about the American language and culture. But it was quite a soft landing: the staff were friendly and accommodating. My first boss was entertained by my exotic background and was teaching me about the culture. He has even gone through a comic book with me explaining why this was funny.
Later on, I took a helpful Berkeley Extension course on business behavior.
I live in a very diverse area. One of my software teams had an Indian, a Chinese, a Bulgarian, and a German (who could drink 12 bottles of beer). One of my son’s schools had 12% white kids.
In Russia, my environment was Math students and professors, about a hundred people who knew each other. Here, I was exposed to “everybody.”
I am still fascinated by cultural differences and feel better chemistry with my European friends and colleagues than Americans.
I wholeheartedly recommend the book The Culture Map – by Erin Meyer – it covers differences between cultures in business.
I recommend https://relocate.me as an informative resource for relocation between countries.
Here are some “starter” cultural differences.
- The US is all about success – education, career, family, owning a house.
- English has different spelling and meaning in the US and the UK – Google it.
- Americans love expression from baseball, American Football, and basketball in business
- To keep the ball rolling
- To drop the ball
- To stay ahead of the game
- To call the shots (etc.).
- Americans call March 14 the Pi Day (3-14).
- Reddit, Discord, and Slack are popular but not Telegram or WhatsApp.
- It is OK to use Facebook Messenger work-related – not so in Western Europe.
- Americans go overboard about Diversity– take a look at https://help.apple.com/applestyleguide. It is no longer OK to write “he or she,” “men and women,” “Grandfathered in,” “Blacklist,” or “white-hat hacker.”
- We do not have GDPR.
- The most expensive real estate is in San Francisco and New York.
- Americans write “Hi <name>,” Europeans, “Dear Ms./Mr. <lastname>.”
- Americans drive everywhere, and restaurant portions are enormous; being overweight is a national problem.
What can you add to this?
We are planning a live webinar soon.
Comments 4
Americans or Canadians for that matter, when they need to sell a house, they need to get out of their own house, and allow a buyer’s real estate agent and the prospective buyer to see the house at their own pace.
Author
Noted, thanks!
My impression is that many Americans live to work, while many Europeans work to live.
Author
Agreed!