{"id":21129,"date":"2019-01-31T14:17:08","date_gmt":"2019-01-31T22:17:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/?p=21129"},"modified":"2019-01-31T14:18:12","modified_gmt":"2019-01-31T22:18:12","slug":"mind-the-gap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/mind-the-gap\/","title":{"rendered":"Mind the Gap"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Several years ago, me and my husband visited London for the first time and were impressed by the efficiency we experienced on the tube system. It became our most enjoyable mode of transportation and felt quite proud of our ability to navigate the routes throughout our time in the city. We also quickly noticed that although we were in an English-speaking country, as our lead mentor would say, we were speaking a different version of English and Londoners obviously had the proper version. We began taking particular interest in the various idioms, verbiage and customs that were different than ours. One in particular that we learned to appreciate was discovered while on the tube system, \u201cmind the gap.\u201d Anyone who has seen the news report of the person in Perth, Australia who failed to do so and was trapped between the train and the landing knows the dangers of not doing so.[1]<\/a><\/p>\n

I thought of this terminology while reading The Culture Map.<\/u> Erin Meyer utilizes her experience as an educator and international business consultant to tell stories that reveal what research has shown regarding globalization and multi-cultural relationships in business. Meyer gives eight scales based upon keep aspects of organizational practices and the global cultures\u2019 varied approaches and paradigms by placing them on a continuum.<\/p>\n

\u201cCulture has been defined as the total pattern of a people\u2019s behavior that is learned and transmitted by the symbols (language, rights, artifacts) of a particular group. These symbols focus on certain ideas or assumptions that become a worldview. Culture expresses the values and purposes of each community as well as its sensitivities and spirituality.\u201d[2]<\/a><\/p>\n

Culture is often downplayed, ignored, or underestimated rather than grasping the significant impact it has upon relationships at work and elsewhere. Not minding the gap in cultures can cause all sorts of failures that are often seen as personality clashes rather than cultural misunderstanding and communication breakdown. \u201cIf you go into every interaction assuming that culture doesn\u2019t matter, your default mechanism will be to view others through your own cultural lens and to judge or misjudge them accordingly.\u201d[3]<\/a><\/p>\n

It is quite natural to look at our own culture and see where we are plotted on the scale and believe that is the right approach. We may even get to know others and get an understanding of how they view the world yet \u201cwhat matters is not the absolute position of either culture on the scale but rather the relative position of the two cultures.\u201d[4]<\/a> Minding the gap between the two is where strategic intentionality can bring about effective relationship and synergistic impact as the differences are used to develop rather than divide.<\/p>\n

I have discovered an attitude, particularly in the church, that implies we are to be \u201ccolor blind\u201d and as a result, culture blind, in an effort to unify. When we do so we are actually acting inhospitable and denying the beautiful differences given to us by our Creator. \u201cColorblindness assumes that we are similar enough and that we all only have good intentions, so we can avoid our differences.\u201d[5]<\/a> True unity requires diversity, otherwise it is uniformity, which may seem easier to lead or work in, yet reflects a slothful care of the other and their uniqueness. To appreciate differences is to have a humble disposition toward learning and believing we are not complete as a mono culture, rather we are better together. Minding the gap is not eliminating it, it is paying attention to it and understanding it is necessary and appreciating the space that provides the ability for the train to have movement.<\/p>\n

In this era, leaders in any organization, profit and non-profit, must recognize our global context and fully engage the aspects of \u201cincreased uncertainty, complexity, and diversity.\u201d Meyers provides critical insights that will aid in \u201ctransforming a global organization to a global network of interconnected and integrated operations\u201d if followed.[6]<\/a> It will require leaders who appreciate the distinctives of each culture, who mind the gap between them, and who have \u201cthe ability to work with and influence individuals inside and outside the corporation, representing a diversity of cultural backgrounds\u201d in order to experience the greater outcomes possible with a multi-cultural environment. [7]<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=lIQxrArMI7M<\/a><\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Elizabeth Conde-Frazier, S. Steve Kang and Gary A. Parrett, A Many Colored Kingdom: Multicultural Dynamics for Spiritual Formation <\/em>(Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2004), 167.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Erin Meyer, The Culture Map <\/em>(New York: PublicAffairs, 2014), 13.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

[4] Ibid., 22.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Sarah Shin, Beyond Color Blind: Redeeming our Ethnic Journey <\/em>(Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2017), 5.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

[6] Nitin Nohria and Rakesh Khurana, Handbook of Leadership Theory and Practice <\/em>(Boston: Harvard Business School Publishing Corp., 2010), 336.<\/a><\/p>\n

[7] Ibid.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Several years ago, me and my husband visited London for the first time and were impressed by the efficiency we experienced on the tube system. It became our most enjoyable mode of transportation and felt quite proud of our ability to navigate the routes throughout our time in the city. We also quickly noticed that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":112,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1433],"class_list":["post-21129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-erin-meyer","cohort-lgp9"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21129","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/112"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21129"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21129\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21131,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21129\/revisions\/21131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}