Cultural Models

Cultural Models 

Richard Lewis [1] (1930 -  ) is a British cross-cultural communication consultant who created the Lewis Cultural Model. Consider that he is recurring to generalizations, so his findings cannot be taken in an absolute manner. His model however is somewhat accurate in many aspects. Now, the big question many people ask me all the time. Having been born and raised in Argentina to a Norwegian mother and an Argentinian father, which culture do I belong to? Should it not be the culture I was born and raised into (Argentina)? Well, my findings about this is that no, people do not necessarily represent the culture they were born into but their parents’ culture. After all, it is them that raise you. The schooling system has an impact as well, but the education system will not change the mentality. One of the critics towards Lewis’ cultural model is that all he did was place the Lutheran countries in one corner, catholic countries in another, and rest of the world in another corner. I would agree with this: it is the religion that shapes the way of thinking. We will take a look at that later. 

First, let us consider some examples. Hispanic America, composed here by Argentina, Mexico, Brasil, Chile, etc, is known to be multi-active.  Warm, emotional, loquacious and impulsive, people are flexible and adaptable to changes. Consider though that there are differences here as well. Argentina should not be located with LatinAmerica, but with Spain and Italy since that is where it got it’s main migration from. Argentina is also populated by descendants from Bolivians and Paraguayans. Even if they were born and raised in Argentina, they are culturally more reactive and I could see them in the same level as India. But what happens if a Latin is born and raised into another culture? Being more flexible, chances are that they would adjust, incorporate and embrace that new culture. This does not mean that they will become of that culture, but they will probably blend in better than other cultures. 

Linear-active cultures, mainly Northern European, are cool, factual, decisive planners. But consider that a non-germanic that is born and raised in a Germanic country will behave differently. They will absorb part of the culture, but they will probably not behave as cool and unemotional. The environment they are raised in will influence them greatly. A child that is adopted by Germanic parents and is born and raised in a Germanic environment will probably behave Germanic, while a child to Asian parents that is born and raised in the Asian side of town will probably be culturally more Asian.   

Reactive cultures are courteous, amiable, accommodating, compromiser and good listeners. Consider the vertical structures of these societies. Old people are reverenced and treated with respect due to their wisdom. An employee would never confront their boss, as they demand maximum loyalty. Reactiveness can be perceived in the work place, as employees await instructions and do not take initiative. However, Asia is a huge continent and there can be big differences. South-East Asia is not the same as India or Middle-East. See the following chart to understand better.  

Now consider some more details about each of these cultures. Linear-active is more focused. Plans ahead, job-orientated, sticks to agenda, has a restrained body language, etc. Multi-active is very sociable. It is emotional, people-orientated, puts feelings before facts and has an unrestrained body language. Reactive is indirect, never confronts their leaders (makes sense, due to their strict vertical hierarchies), is harmony orientated and has a subtle body language. Now does that mean that ALL people from these cultures are like that? Most definitely not!!! This is simply a very generic guideline to understand cultural differences and miscommunications between cultures. Whereas the linear active has a flat structure and expects people to take initiative, the reactive has a strong vertical structure and expects people to blindly obey instructions. Multi-active expects people to be super-sociable and puts relationships before results. Not all linear-active cultures are result orientated though. Relationships also play a big part in Northern European cultures as well. But these relationships are colder, more strategical, whereas multiactive cultures look for relationships based on affinity.   

Again, these are only generalizations. Does this mean that if you hire a French they are all the same? Definitely not!! People are different. The most important to consider here to me is the type of leadership style that must be applied for each case. Expect a more confrontational culture if working with Southern Europeans. Expect less initiative but more following your instructions if working with Asians. No culture is better than other; it depends on the match that you are looking for. In my experience, Northern Europeans prefer working with Reactive cultures and do not get along well with Southern Europeans. A shame, they both need each other and can learn from one another. But it is just how I perceive it.  Some more considerations. Whereas for Northern European time is linear, for Asians time is circular. Northern Europeans are less sociable, colder, and do not use so much time for public relations at work. Lunch pauses usually lasts for ½ an hour. Dates are inflexible and cannot be moved, since things are planned in advance. Southern Europeans though are more sociable and warmer. They expect that from other people as well. Lunch pauses can go from 1 to 2 hours. Since the focus is on relationships, they consider that dates can be pushed. This is noticeable in the work place. Overtime is common place, the way of working is not very efficient, but they do create warmer working environments.  

Finally, the most interesting and in my opinion accurate model, which is based on Religion. See how Protestant countries are more prone to Rational and Self Expression Values. Catholic countries are somewhere in the middle. Central America appears as much more traditional than Southern Europe. Orthodox countries are much more rational, but prone to Survival Values. And Islamic countries are the most Traditional and prone to Surv raised in Northern Europe? Do they change and become Rational and prone to Self Expression? Probably not, they will remain conservative. Now, let me be clear. This is not a bad thing. It is just someth that culture. All cultures have their good and bad things, and they must be respected as such. No culture is better than the other, and they can all be put to productive uses. It is just something to be considered when Building Teams, as we will see NeXT.