I work with a team largely based in the Philippines.
There are differences between how I operate and how my team operates. Is that cultural? Or are we just different people?
I’ve traveled the world. I think I’ve learned that people are more or less the same — we all want someone to believe in us and be our fan. My team in the Philippines, they want to be believed in the way I want to be believed in. We’re similar like that.
What’s different is not who or what we are, it’s how we are. For instance, when. I grew up I used a knife and fork. Now I use a spoon and fork to eat. Why? I watched how friends from Philippines and Indonesia ate, and now I eat how they eat.
Another example. How I communicate needs and priorities may not be as nuanced as my team in the Philippines. What we need to communicate is the same, how we do it is different.
I don’t believe how we do things is a result of who or what we are or need. Instead, I see it as the difference between how a group of people do things.
If you want to get to know a people — group, team, family, friends in another country — watch and listen to how things are done.