Frequently Asked Questions
There a quite a few offers around for intercultural dispute resolution. What is different about the Transculture approach?
If you want to be able to manage the characteristics of the several cultures that we encounter daily in the workplace or in the personal sphere more efficiently, it is easier to look for common denominators that will support relationship-building.
The transcultural paradigm supports this process by:
- pragmatically consolidating cultural specifics as they relate to recurring core questions in new contexts, as well as
- taking advantage of the reciprocally explicative discoveries made in brain research, psychology and sociology
Inner censors can be instrumental in blocking access to basic attitudes towards ourselves and in the construction of projections on others. This is why the transcultural method prescribes a revealing investigation and analysis of our own belief systems and convictions. What we learn can help us to reach a consensus and promote understanding in culturally diverse environments. As a result, the method gives us access to important resources in conflict situations.
Why is transculture important?
Studies have shown that:
- multicultural teams either under- or out-perform mainstream cultures, in other words, the level of their achievements is never average
- statistically, Swiss managers lead the world in regard to the number of international mandates
- according to the Harvard Business Review, Diversity Management and Inclusion belong to the top six management challenges in the world today.
By developing a transcultural mind- and toolset we learn how to custom design interventions, which can help reveal demotivating factors in teams. In addition, it can signal when to choose between interventions emphasizing empathy vs. assertion, hierarchical structures or respect. This approach, which is essentially attuned to derived individual profiles, promotes a constructive confrontation with preconceptions and social conventions that can be obstacles in human interaction.
Isn’t there a danger with this approach, that important cultural specifics might be missed?
A pragmatic transcultural strategy clearly also entails the recognition and not the marginalization of cultural specifics – these dynamics in their interaction potentials have to be given due respect. Indeed, this is reflected in the sequencing of the possible tactics, which should be developed after a productive foundation has been laid. This means for us that is must be clear:
- which shared conceptions and values and
- which cultural specifics our cultures transport.
This is why it is important to use real cultures in the training sessions and not „surrogate“ cultures.
But if every culture is different, what could they have in common?
The transcultural approach is derived from the assumption that all of our brains basically function in the same way. This means that in stress situations, for example, in culture conflicts, we all react similarly. When we are stressed, our perception of others is narrowed, negative contexts presumed to exist and lastly our ability to develop empathy for them is reduced.
However, empathy is something that we all can develop. (Re-)activating our predisposition for empathy contributes to a reduction in the importance of cultural difference and presents opportunities to use it productively.
When we learn to understand certain brain functions and processes that we use in social interaction, we enable access to important resources. In other words, the availability of our personal resources can make the difference between focussing on culture, that is difference or, promoting transculture ie the surfacing of shared values.