Pulse Legacy Archive January / February 2013 | Page 48

“During my time in the U.S., I observed how children and students are taught
to assert their individuality…On the contrary, in Norwegian universities,
I often find it challenging to have just one hand raised in response to a
question. I discovered that such behavior is influenced by the existence of
Jantelagen—an unwritten code . . . to not elevate oneself.”

are competitive, highly communicative and in many cases,
extrovert individuals?
On the contrary, when presenting in Norwegian universities, I often find it challenging to have just one hand raised in
response to a question. I discovered that such behavior is influenced by the existence of Jantelagen—an “unwritten code”
popularized by the Norwegian-Danish author Aksel Sandemose
in 1933. The code describes how it is frowned upon to elevate
oneself or claim to be better or smarter than others. It is often
remarked in the Nordic countries that the influence of
Jantelagen often maintains the values of the Danish and other
Nordic welfare states, in particular, their stress on social equality and their emphasis on fairness for all.
A Connected World
Interest in cross-cultural issues has been growing, as increasingly we come into contact with people different from us. But
with the world becoming “flatter” through the upsurge of
social media, the Internet and cheaper air travel, aren’t we all
becoming closer in our tastes, interests and behaviors?
In Thomas Friedman’s Book, The World is Flat, he describes
that we are now living in times in which we are more interconnected than at any other time in history. Globalization has
indeed created a world which provides access to goods and
services on an unparalleled scale.
Today, we can easily enjoy eating a Big Mac in Russia, have
a cup of Starbucks skinny double latte in Beijing, listen to Lady
Gaga over Spotify and enjoy the same spa experience in one
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January/February 2013

country as in another while using English as the lingua franca
to communicate.
But the danger is a false sense of security that our counterparts not only now dress, speak and eat like we do, they also
behave, act, think and do business as we do. We tend to view
the world through our own glasses and see it according to our
paradigms. This would be like a Parisian going to Seoul and
trying to navigate the city using a map of Paris in his head as a
reference. He will get lost very quickly.
Recognizing Differences
It is imperative that we recognize that one culture and, therefore, its people are neither right nor wrong in comparison with
others, but they are just different in how they think, feel and
act. This permeates into differences of communication style,
etiquette, concepts of space and time and aspects of how business is conducted, ranging from differing negotiation
techniques to meeting etiquette.
Keeping to a linear agenda list, as is often the case in the
U.K., U.S., Germany and the Netherlands, could not be further
away from the Mediterranean, Latin American or many of the
Middle and Far Eastern cultures that place greater value not on
time but in building relationships.
Trust, in many Western countries especially those mentioned earlier, is derived from a company’s credibility,
reputation and competency. For many countries in the East,
India and China for example, trust is more likely to be associated with who you know rather than what you know. The