The Culture Map: Masterclass by Erin Meyer In today’s business world, where teams are spread across the planet and most of our communication takes place virtually, how do we work effectively in the face of cross-cultural complexity? Erin Meyer, author of The Culture Map, INSEAD professor, winner of the 2015 Thinkers50 Radar Award, and named one of the top 30 HR influencers in the world by HR Magazine, explains how to dramatically increase business success by understanding—and making the best possible use of—cultural differences. Executives and managers are expected to work harmoniously together with counterparts from a broad array of cultures and backgrounds, often without leaving their desks. But when you throw people together who come from starkly different backgrounds and cultures, the result can be interesting, even sometimes funny, but can also lead to misunderstanding and confusion. In this masterclass, Erin Meyer provides a new way forward with vital insights for working effectively and sensitively with one’s counterparts in the new global marketplace. This session will help you build a more cohesive and successful team: one that will work together to bridge gaps, transform differences into assets, and ultimately grow your business. The masterclass is designed to provide more in-depth knowledge on the Culture Mapping tool for the audience who were present at Erin’s talk in Rome. Potential participants who were not present will receive a pre-reading – specific chapters from Erin’s book (Chapter 1, 2 and 6). Proposed masterclass outline: Overall time: 4 hours with one 15-minute break in the middle. 70% of the time Erin will work with the group presenting key dimensions not covered in her keynote – in a interactive style, with table discussions and case studies. 30% of the time will be devoted to exploring the tool of culture mapping itself – that participants can use for their teams and organizations.
Transcript
The Culture Map: Masterclass by Erin Meyer
In today’s business world, where teams are spread across the planet and most of our communication takes place virtually, how do we work effectively in the face of cross-cultural complexity? Erin Meyer, author of The Culture Map, INSEAD professor, winner of the 2015 Thinkers50 Radar Award, and named one of the top 30 HR influencers in the world by HR Magazine, explains how to dramatically increase business success by understanding—and making the best possible use of—cultural differences.
Executives and managers are expected to work harmoniously together with counterparts from a broad array of cultures and backgrounds, often without leaving their desks. But when you throw people together who come from starkly different backgrounds and cultures, the result can be interesting, even sometimes funny, but can also lead to misunderstanding and confusion.
In this masterclass, Erin Meyer provides a new way forward with vital insights for working effectively and sensitively with one’s counterparts in the new global marketplace. This session will help you build a more cohesive and successful team: one that will work together to bridge gaps, transform differences into assets, and ultimately grow your business.
The masterclass is designed to provide more in-depth knowledge on the Culture Mapping tool for the audience who were present at Erin’s talk in Rome. Potential participants who were not present will receive a pre-reading – specific chapters from Erin’s book (Chapter 1, 2 and 6).
Proposed masterclass outline:
Overall time: 4 hours with one 15-minute break in the middle.
70% of the time Erin will work with the group presenting key dimensions not covered in her keynote – in a interactive style, with table discussions and case studies.
30% of the time will be devoted to exploring the tool of culture mapping itself – that participants can use for their teams and organizations.
Masterclass Schedule: Part I, 30 minutes: Introduction Erin will make a link from her keynote in Rome and refresh key messages for the group:
• Communicating across cultures: Low context and High context cultures • Evaluating performance: providing negative feedback in a direct or an indirect way • Two types of trust and how they grow: task-based vs. relationship-based trust
If they are be willing to share, 1 or 2 participants from the group may be asked to share their experience of implementing the knowledge in their teams. Part II, 60 minutes: Diving deep in Culture Dimensions Leadership, Power and Decision Making across borders:
• How much respect do you want: leadership, hierarchy and power • Big D or little d: who decides and how? Consensual or To-down decision making
Cross-cultural perception of time: how late is late? Linear time vs. flexible time perception 15 minutes: coffee break Part II (continued), 45 minutes: Diving deep in Culture Dimensions Negotiation and Persuasion styles:
• Persuading others: why versus how: what comes first: principles or applications • Disagreeing productively: the needle, not the knife: confrontational vs. avoiding
confrontation Part III, 45 minutes: Putting the Culture Map to Work Working in groups of 6-8 people, participants will be asked to
- work with culture maps for selected countries, - compare them to their own experience and stereotypes, - discuss video-cases which are specifically created to illustrate certain patterns
Part IV, 15 minutes: Wrap-up Erin will wrap up by making it clear how, as you build your own awareness, you will be better able to act as a cultural bridge, and will encourage you to help your team members develop their cultural flexibility by coaching them to suspend their judgments and see the situation from an opposing perspective.
Erin Meyer is a professor at INSEAD, one of the leading international business schools. Her work focuses on how the world’s most successful managers navigate the complexities of cultural differences in a global environment. She offers cutting-edge insight and practical strategies to improve the effectiveness of projects that span the globe.
Living and working in Africa, Europe, and the United States prompted Erin Meyer’s study of the communication patterns and business systems of different parts of the world. Her framework allows international executives to pinpoint their leadership preferences, and compare their methods to the management styles of other cultures. Erin has taught
thousands of executives from five continents to decode cross-cultural complexities impacting their success, and to work more effectively across these differences.
EM0039Erin’s work at INSEAD includes directing the Managing Global Virtual Teams and Management Skills for International Business programs.
Erin publishes frequently in Harvard Business Review. Her December 2015 HBR article “Getting to Si, Ja, Oui, Hai, and Da was the most read HBR article of 2015. She has also published in the New York Times Sunday paper, Forbes.com, and The Times of India. She has been interviewed on CNN, Bloomberg TV, the BBC, and NPR. Her case, “Leading Across Cultures at Michelin,” won the ECCH 2010 European case award for best human resources management case of the year.
Most recently Erin won the 2015 Thinkers50 “On the Radar” award, an award given to the up-and-coming thinker most likely to shape the future of business and business thinking. In addition she appeared in the October 2013 edition of British Airway’s magazine Business Life on their list titled “On the Up: Ten Dons to Watch”.
Prior to INSEAD Erin was a Director of Training and Development at HBOC and a Director of Business Operations at McKesson Corporation.
An American living in Paris, Erin began her career teaching English students in Botswana as a Peace Corps volunteer and later working with Asian immigrants in the United States. She frequently gives keynote speeches and runs seminars for organizations such as the World Bank, the United Nations, Kraft Foods, Johnson & Johnson, Toshiba Westinghouse, New York Stock Exchange Euronext, Sinopec, Gerdau, KPMG, Michelin, Deutsche Bank, Heineken, L’Oréal, ExxonMobil, Novo Nordisk, and BNP Paribas.
