[version_five]

I've worked with people from a lot of different cultures in various scientific and technical situations, with mostly North Americans in more nebulous "business" situations.

What I'd generalize is that on technical matters, there are few communication issues across cultures. People are able to make themselves understood and collaborate, even in the face of language barriers. On the other hand, even simple business discussions within one's own culture can because quickly ridiculous, with big misunderstandings, nobody saying what they mean, politics, etc. Cynically I think it's because business is mostly bullshit so comes down to irrelevant political stuff.

[neilv]

Unfortunately, technical communication can also bump into cross-cultural challenges.

When reading up on international business communication, to prep for one of my roles, one of the writers gave an example of a statement an engineer might make: that widget X will work in time. But you're supposed to know from context, at the times they repeatedly said that, that what they really meant is it definitely won't work in time.

Some differences of culture/communication that I recall hearing can happen:

* that it's bad to say "no" in some contexts (e.g., it's disrespectful, or a sense that the other would rather you say "yes" but not follow through than to say "no");

* that a person should do exactly the task they were told to do without second-guessing nor feedback;

* that one shouldn't contradict their superior;

* that one can't mention a mistake of someone else;

* that admitting a mistake one made would cause embarrassment or a loss of face to the person hearing it;

* how important trust is, and how it's established.

Engineers talking with each other about tech aren't necessarily immune to this.

Of course these are just possibilities for misunderstanding to be aware of, as people from different cultures find common ground to communicate. (In many ways, I've been very impressed with how well many colleagues and partners around the globe have performed. I've also been humbled by how many people not in the US meet US-born people like me well more than halfway -- in language, and in cultural faux pas tolerance, etc. I've also seen more consistently friendly behavior/mindset in some overseas company locations than we'd normally find in a US company location.)

Also, I'm sure that there are lots of US-isms that are baffling to others (even if they learned it through training or US media), and I'd bet I'm oblivious to many of them, having grown up with them as "normal".

[cultureswitch]

To me the most blatant US-ism is how feedback is biased all the way to positivity to a ridiculous degree. I've learned to understand that if someone from the US says that X is anything less than amazing, then they probably think it's shit.

What's funny about it is that in an environment where everyone is aware of this, the apparent intended effect of sugar-coating doesn't work at all. You'll just hurt people by saying their stuff is okay.

[jojobas]

We (Australians) have been hit with some serious stuff with our Filipino subsidiary. They've been asked to do something, they realized it was not the right thing to do a week in, still did what they've been asked for more than two months.

Later when we realized we asked the wrong thing, they said "oh yes of course we knew it was not the right thing". The convention that you don't argue with "the boss" cost us many man-months of work.

You can only successfully discuss technical matters if both parties are willing to do just that.

[stcroixx]

Sounds like incompetency to me. Knowingly wasting months should be a dealbreaker.

[akg_67]

> ... if both parties are willing to do just that

If only both parties created trust between each other.

You grow what you sow.

[jojobas]

That's a bullshit take. We had an Australian go there and hire everyone. If it were Australians he hired out the blue (i.e. with just that little trust), he would have heard about the problem as soon as they were discovered.

[kelipso]

There has to be an understanding that you won't be penalized for saying it's not the right thing. Which might be obvious in your company culture but not really obvious even for different companies much less broader cultural differences.

[jojobas]

Well what is it if not a cultural difference in discussing a technical issue that the thread-starting comment asserted don't exist?

[lmm]

Guessing those Australians would have had much better labour protections and a better social safety net if they did get fired, giving them the safety to criticise. Not "trust" exactly since it's more about not needing to trust a given employer, but a similar pattern.

[jojobas]

What's a more guaranteed way to get fired: report an issue with a task upfront or keep doing useless work for a couple of months until the boss finds out?

[jeromegv]

You’re looking at it with western eyes and a big salary.

Now imagine being at McDonald’s on minimum wage. Your manager asks you to do something that in your eyes make no sense. Last time he did, you said something and got réprimantes for it. Do you bring it up again? Or you let the manager decide and move on with your life.

[frogcoder]

Well, again it depends on the culture. Some boss wouldn't take any disagreement from subordinates well. No matter what the result looks like, if the boss doesn't declare the project failed, than that's not a failure. Even if it failed, the subordinate takes the blame, it's less serious than bringing up issues early because the boss's order is faithfully carried through to the end.

[j45]

The word ‘done’ can disproportionately mean different things culturally and geographically between average and above average developers.

[unsupp0rted]

Done = ready to be used to do what it’s made to do

I’ve lived in many cultures. In what culture, does “done” not mean that?

In some cultures you may lie about it being done, but internally you know what’s being asked and that you’re lying in reply.

[pjmlp]

In Portugal being done, means that if I need to place a blackboard on the wall and the screws don't fit, most likely we will get some creative solution to still hang the blackboard, consider it done, and if it falls down, no biggie, we hang it up again.

In Germany or Switzerland, in the same situation, you would be told that it is a security issue and it is dangerous to have a blackboard that might fall, to reschedule placing the board to when the proper screws are available. Only then will the blackboard be placed in position and it will only fall if the rest of the building falls as well.

Yes, steorotypes, yet quite real with two quite different kinds of what done actually means.

[j45]

Not the experience of many.

Done can mean I'm done my first pass but this is untested.

Done can mean I think I did what you asked but I never checked or verified my assumptions, nor were there enough input.