Book Summary | When Culture Collide (2006)

When Culture Collide: Leading across Cultures by Richard D. Lewis is a book about cultural differences. How different? The following story from the 1st page took my attention. 

It was a trip to Mount Snowdon (the highest mountain in Wales) with the author and his students from Japan, Italy, and Finland. When the weather forecast showed heavy rain the next day, the Finland students requested to cancel the excursion. Yet, when the author announced the cancellation, the Italians disputed the decision declaring that they had been looking forward to it, paid for it, and a little rain would not hurt anyone. However, the author accommodated their request and took the terrible trip the next day with the polite Japanese students and scrawling Finland students. The Italians didn't show up. Instead, they took tea and collate biscuits at the hotels. When asked why they said because it was raining... ​

Lewis gives many insights and suggestions on avoiding these unpleasant surprises and understanding the person on the other side as a Zulu speaker can describe green color with 39 different words. German will arrange a 1-minute per cage when visiting a zoo with 100 cages, while French is simply heading to something that interests them. It's difficult to remember all the information in one read, so take notes as a reference book to look for cultural suggestions. 

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“For a German and a Finn, the truth is the truth. In Japan and Britain it is all right if it doesn’t rock the boat. In China there is no absolute truth. In Italy it is negotiable.”  - Richard D. Lewis