I. Shock to the system
Some type of soul-searching happens whenever a community is confronted with a nasty blow. The Tsunami in the Pacific, or even the more recent nuclear power plant meltdown in Japan (and earlier in Russia) are some examples. This happens to companies as well. Small cars from Japan that threatened the American automakers. Disruption is quite common place in commerce. It seems like it is such in sports as well. A vaunted sports team being inflicted with humiliating defeat. In the game of cricket, the Indian team that achieved an exalted number one ranking not too long ago, found itself white washed both by the English and subsequently by the Aussies.
The mark of a 'group' perhaps is how it handles this shock, regroups and what strengths it draws upon to come back. By the way, a company that has managed this proactively and well for over a century, was the company founded by Thomas Edison - that company is General Electric - a company I worked for briefly. But more on GE in a separate note.
I wanted to reflect on what an exogenous (independent and external) shock means to a culture. Not just a sports team, not just a company, but to an entire culture?
II. Culture - What is it?
In business school (many moons ago!), we had two types of classes - one was highly quantitative and the other was highly qualitative. As a youngster, and an engineer by background, I found comfort in the quantitative courses like Finance. It felt as though I was learning something tangible. Gave me skills to secure a job. In the qualitative courses, where we endlessly gabbed (it seemed to me at that time) about organization and culture. The word culture was thrown about quite a lot. I suppose I knew what people generally meant. But I could not get my mind around what the word precisely meant.
As a consultant as I toured various companies, I would ask myself, does this place have a culture - and what is it. I myself, found it easy to navigate any company. Listen carefully, observe the mores, show respect, add value - that was my formula. Not until, I gave up consulting to join a company did the meaning of culture actually begin dawn on me.
At my company, we had a series of smaller merger and then a substantial one. During the latter, I chose to go join the division that was acquired. I found myself having to work at 'fitting in.' This was a firm with substantial heritage and pride. The old question dawned on me again. What is this division's culture? (... and the older question - what does culture actually mean?). My first observation was that the people knew each other. I would be at a conference table with facts and figures. And they would be there addressing the same problem through relationships and history ('so and so did this then, lets call that person and ask him to do this'). I had no idea what they were talking about!
My second observation was that there was a way of doing things. It was not right or wrong. It was the way everything evolved. If you did not do things that way, you were swimming upstream.
A third salient observation was that they had a particular language. Of course they spoke English. Of course they spoke business English. But words had history, baggage, context. I might for example say 'consolidate', and that would provoke a seemingly out of proportion reaction.
So perhaps culture could mean shared values, shared procedures, shared attitudes and customs. Culture could also mean community and belonging. Perhaps a smaller unit of culture is tribe. And a larger unit of culture might be national. With ethnicity, urban/rural and even companies as being in between those two bookends.
III. Switchback
I believe exogenous shocks force a turn in culture. The two world wars, WWI and WWII are examples where this happened. And impacted many countries in dramatic ways, none more than the British Empire, where it was said, that the sun never set.
In fiction, this transformation in culture due to the shock of the two wars has been beautifully captured. The nobel prize winning effort by James Galsworthy in his Forsyte Saga is a prime example. More recently TV series like Upstairs Downstairs capture the changes in eras. Random Harvest by James Hilton is yet another example. Of late the movie Gosford Park and the current hot series Downton Abbey also do the same. The old landed gentry and their manners give way to the new industrialization and shakes up the system.
The arrival of the automobile transformed the urban rural mix in the United States. The impact of cell phones in countries that were starved for communications technology is another example.
It is fascinating to think about tens of millions of people living a 'shared set of values, attitudes and practices' - and seemingly suddenly change and adopt a different set of practices - adjusting to new information, changes in environment and to threats and calamities.
IV. Mars and Venus
Cultural differences are interesting to observe! In the mid 90s I was doing a project in various countries in Europe (same project, same requirements, different countries). I remember arriving in Frankfurt, Germany. Before I showed up the GM from Germany sent me a note asking me exactly what I wanted to accomplish. Asked for an agenda ahead of time. When I showed up, at the start of the meeting, the GM had his entire staff there with binders of memos and data that I had asked for. When I had to speak to 'union' workers, I had a translator with me. The work was efficiently accomplished by end of the week. I did not make any friends. The evenings were spent by myself.
The very next week I went to Italy. There was not a single advance message from anyone. When I arrived at the company, I had to ask around to find the GM. When I finally found him, he greeted me like a long lost friend. 'Ah, we have been expecting you'. Then he spent thirty minutes trying to round up his people. After we finally settled in a conference room one hour after the start time, we did introductions and someone suggested we go out for a coffee. And this went on all week. We got a our work done, but it was mad chaos. However the evenings were about the most fun I have had on assignment anywhere in the world! They took me out to dinners and we were trading personal and business stories the whole time.
I did the same project in Japan too. However, I found the 'culture' impenetrable.
I think there is a dramatic contrast between 'immigrant cultures' and monolithic cultures. Immigrant cultures absorb new strains time and again. Monolithic cultures maintain purity. I think of US and Indian cultures as 'immigrant'. I think of German and Japanese cultures as monolithic. No judgement - just observation.
V. Layers
All this leads me to a related question: what turning points in culture has a country experienced? And is there a more permanent layer of culture below all the visible ferment? I have been mulling a hypothesis in this regard.
Fully giving into the possibility of a romance of an idea of nation in one's mind, I propose there are three layers to culture. The first layer might be the physical evidence of history through monuments, and churches and temples. These are signposts. An anthropologist can see the evolution of the culture in these landmarks. The tide of history has flowed and has left it's impressions much like the strata in the Grand Canyon.
A second layer is the hustle and bustle of today, including the crassly commercial. This is the present moment that everyone lives through and has forever lived through.
The third layer is a worldview unique to that particular culture. In the US, it can be construed as 'all men are created equal . .. '. The Indian mind that long ago viewed time in kalpas and space as ananta. This layer perhaps is neither visible nor exists at the level of the conscious mind. And perhaps regardless of the evidence of the first two layers, a more permanent heritage that asserts itself the fore now and then.
VI. A re-assertive core
Which brings me back to the question of the exogenous shock. Throughout its history there have been waves of change that have been brought about. The Indo-Chinese war that cost India dearly (and felled Nehru), the tragedy of Bhopal, Pearl Harbor, Pompeii, the great leap forward - and the list goes on.
Each time such a shock is administered, how does the culture respond? The impact on the first two layers are visible. For the first layer, monuments are destroyed and or created. The impact on the second layer is also visible - the economy rises or falls - people's lives are bettered or not.
But it seems to me, that what gives the culture its sustenance and allows it to regroup, regenerate, transform and re-emerge is a third layer. Perhaps one looking for this third layer in any country can spot it, flowing quietly by.
One imagines so, at least!
Some type of soul-searching happens whenever a community is confronted with a nasty blow. The Tsunami in the Pacific, or even the more recent nuclear power plant meltdown in Japan (and earlier in Russia) are some examples. This happens to companies as well. Small cars from Japan that threatened the American automakers. Disruption is quite common place in commerce. It seems like it is such in sports as well. A vaunted sports team being inflicted with humiliating defeat. In the game of cricket, the Indian team that achieved an exalted number one ranking not too long ago, found itself white washed both by the English and subsequently by the Aussies.
 |
| Ultimate shock! |
I wanted to reflect on what an exogenous (independent and external) shock means to a culture. Not just a sports team, not just a company, but to an entire culture?
II. Culture - What is it?
In business school (many moons ago!), we had two types of classes - one was highly quantitative and the other was highly qualitative. As a youngster, and an engineer by background, I found comfort in the quantitative courses like Finance. It felt as though I was learning something tangible. Gave me skills to secure a job. In the qualitative courses, where we endlessly gabbed (it seemed to me at that time) about organization and culture. The word culture was thrown about quite a lot. I suppose I knew what people generally meant. But I could not get my mind around what the word precisely meant.
As a consultant as I toured various companies, I would ask myself, does this place have a culture - and what is it. I myself, found it easy to navigate any company. Listen carefully, observe the mores, show respect, add value - that was my formula. Not until, I gave up consulting to join a company did the meaning of culture actually begin dawn on me.
My second observation was that there was a way of doing things. It was not right or wrong. It was the way everything evolved. If you did not do things that way, you were swimming upstream.
A third salient observation was that they had a particular language. Of course they spoke English. Of course they spoke business English. But words had history, baggage, context. I might for example say 'consolidate', and that would provoke a seemingly out of proportion reaction.
So perhaps culture could mean shared values, shared procedures, shared attitudes and customs. Culture could also mean community and belonging. Perhaps a smaller unit of culture is tribe. And a larger unit of culture might be national. With ethnicity, urban/rural and even companies as being in between those two bookends.
III. Switchback
I believe exogenous shocks force a turn in culture. The two world wars, WWI and WWII are examples where this happened. And impacted many countries in dramatic ways, none more than the British Empire, where it was said, that the sun never set.
In fiction, this transformation in culture due to the shock of the two wars has been beautifully captured. The nobel prize winning effort by James Galsworthy in his Forsyte Saga is a prime example. More recently TV series like Upstairs Downstairs capture the changes in eras. Random Harvest by James Hilton is yet another example. Of late the movie Gosford Park and the current hot series Downton Abbey also do the same. The old landed gentry and their manners give way to the new industrialization and shakes up the system.
The arrival of the automobile transformed the urban rural mix in the United States. The impact of cell phones in countries that were starved for communications technology is another example.
It is fascinating to think about tens of millions of people living a 'shared set of values, attitudes and practices' - and seemingly suddenly change and adopt a different set of practices - adjusting to new information, changes in environment and to threats and calamities.
IV. Mars and Venus
Cultural differences are interesting to observe! In the mid 90s I was doing a project in various countries in Europe (same project, same requirements, different countries). I remember arriving in Frankfurt, Germany. Before I showed up the GM from Germany sent me a note asking me exactly what I wanted to accomplish. Asked for an agenda ahead of time. When I showed up, at the start of the meeting, the GM had his entire staff there with binders of memos and data that I had asked for. When I had to speak to 'union' workers, I had a translator with me. The work was efficiently accomplished by end of the week. I did not make any friends. The evenings were spent by myself.
I did the same project in Japan too. However, I found the 'culture' impenetrable.
Same work, completely different approaches.
V. Layers
All this leads me to a related question: what turning points in culture has a country experienced? And is there a more permanent layer of culture below all the visible ferment? I have been mulling a hypothesis in this regard.
Fully giving into the possibility of a romance of an idea of nation in one's mind, I propose there are three layers to culture. The first layer might be the physical evidence of history through monuments, and churches and temples. These are signposts. An anthropologist can see the evolution of the culture in these landmarks. The tide of history has flowed and has left it's impressions much like the strata in the Grand Canyon.
A second layer is the hustle and bustle of today, including the crassly commercial. This is the present moment that everyone lives through and has forever lived through.
The third layer is a worldview unique to that particular culture. In the US, it can be construed as 'all men are created equal . .. '. The Indian mind that long ago viewed time in kalpas and space as ananta. This layer perhaps is neither visible nor exists at the level of the conscious mind. And perhaps regardless of the evidence of the first two layers, a more permanent heritage that asserts itself the fore now and then.
VI. A re-assertive core
Which brings me back to the question of the exogenous shock. Throughout its history there have been waves of change that have been brought about. The Indo-Chinese war that cost India dearly (and felled Nehru), the tragedy of Bhopal, Pearl Harbor, Pompeii, the great leap forward - and the list goes on.
Each time such a shock is administered, how does the culture respond? The impact on the first two layers are visible. For the first layer, monuments are destroyed and or created. The impact on the second layer is also visible - the economy rises or falls - people's lives are bettered or not.
But it seems to me, that what gives the culture its sustenance and allows it to regroup, regenerate, transform and re-emerge is a third layer. Perhaps one looking for this third layer in any country can spot it, flowing quietly by.
One imagines so, at least!
5 comments:
Regardless of the nationality, I think the inherent ability of the populace to persevere may be construed as the third layer.
Speaking of emergence from exogenous shock, Japan is the first thing that comes to my mind. From the aftermaths of bombing during World War II to the recent catastrophe brought forth to her by nature and man-made devices, this country has proven its resilience time and again by rising like Phoenix from the ashes. Hard work, Integrity and a sacrificial mentality are ingrained in their system. Perhaps these attributes together define their characteristics enabling them to never get fazed by any obstacles.
Here is a link to one of stories illustrating what I described above.
http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-574017
Since I work with Japanese people very closely, I fully agree with your views on their "strong" culture. You rightly pointed out the three factors (Hard-work, Integrity and Sacrifice) which is very accurate. It's amazing you could narrow down on these three unique factors very precisely. Out of these three, I would pick "integrity" as something that no other country in the world can match with Japanese people, I believe. Another amazing factor is their "humility". I keep getting some amazing experiences every time when I visit Japan. I wish I had better writing skills like Susee and SPK so that I can share those stories with you. If there is one place that I want to be born in my next birth, it's certainly Japan!
you have not touched upon cultural aspects that are forced on people. For example, There is no where in Koran that ladies should wear a 'Burkha'. But still some one along the way through centuries thought up of that idea and started enforcing it.
It has come to a point even women started agreeing that it is O.k. So, this is a case of forced culture. In the beginning of last century, women were not given voting right and blacks were enduring slavary. Atleast these were cultural aspects that were wrong and corrected. So, we can also broadly define cultures as evolved and hence changeble and those that are imposed and hence difficult to change. Further, culture is a pretty vague word that can be applied to many situations. From tribal cultures to corporate culture. From National cultures to religious cultures and so on. But one thing is sure. No culture is static. It does evolve and change with time however fast or slow.
It's a keeper! I got up this morning (after some late night TV) and read this mail first. The write-up carries your usual magnetic style and is very engaging. I particularly liked how it reminded me of the stages through which I had to understand the culture of a French bank (and how every talks in code at first) in my few years of work. It reminded of a quote that Dad keeps sayings every now and then "there is a method to every madness... unless the fellow is truly mad".
It also left me wondering how the Japanese hospitality was, following your trips to Germany and Italy. Pardon my curiosity but your awesome style of narrating left a little suspense - and a lot of imagination, perhaps like a Hitchcock film.
I briefly side tracked my thoughts to wonder what the Japanese corporate culture today would be like. I recently read the book, Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson. Jobs was a fan of the Japanese culture and frequently visited Sony's research facilities, during development of the first Macintosh. He kept wondering why the engineers dressed in a uniform and Akio Morita, "a little embarrassingly", shared that the people had no clothes or shelter following war. Sony contributed its share to Japanese society and culture by sheltering them, giving them clothes and making them feel part of a family - the uniform comes from there.
Jobs tried replicating this back at Apple and got booed off the stage. Just shows how cultural impacts can't be copied and pasted that simply. Ironically, the Japanese designer friend he contacted for a few samples of the uniform, Issey Miyake, designed his iconic black turtle neck. I had the privilege of visiting Apple's campus, briefly, in fall 2008. Everyone except me and Kartik, wore black turtle necks and jeans.
Momofuku Ando's extraordinary tale was another that I was reminded of. Following the war period, he wanted to create a simple, affordable, long-lasting, fast-cooking, hunger satisfying food to feed Japan. It seemed Ramen noodles were commonly eaten during that time and after accidentally frying a few of them in tempura oil, he got the idea of Instant Noodles. The rest, as they say, is history. As of 2008, 94 Bn packs of instant noodles were consumed per year. Though I'm not sure of the statistic, I eat a few bowls myself every week (survived on them for 4 months in 2009).
The connectivity and flow in your write-up is terrific; it flows as seamlessly as the conclusive third layer of culture itself.
I think an argument can be made that the Ottoman, Austro-Hungarian and Czarist Russia were more dramatically changed (because they went away) than was the British Empire which was reduced to the Commonwealth and which to this day maintains fourteen British Overseas Territories.
Perhaps what you’re talking about might be thought of as more like the three rules of flocking than layers in that you have interdependent drivers of cultural change. Though, like in physics where light is both a wave and a particle, there is also a layering. But as you suggest, this layering is in terms of time or evolutionary speed. For instance you might consider the work being done in cultural evolution (The Origin and Evolution of Cultures (Evolution and Cognition), Evolution in Four Dimensions: Genetic, Epigenetic, Behavioral, and Symbolic Variation in the History of Life (Life and Mind: Philosophical Issues in Biology and Psychology) and how, from genes to memes, it’s all dynamically interdependent, as per Not by Genes Alone: How Culture Transformed Human Evolution.
The layering part comes in then during these gales of civilizational creative destruction you mention because these four layers don’t move at the same speed. From genetics, to epigenetics to behavioral and finally symbolic (that is, memes or the historical artifacts) change becomes ever more dynamic. And the stickiest memes are those that are metaphysical in nature as they’re the ‘turtle’ underlying the behavioral and symbolic architecture
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