make yourself understood.
My goal with Greybeard Intercultural is to help people in organizations communicate and cooperate better. We cannot communicate effectively with each other, until we understand why we act the way we do.
That knowledge is the most decisive factor for success in every country, relationship and organization!
During my work in various countries, I have learned that our beliefs and underlying values are not unique, they come from our culture. Beliefs and convictions about what normal communication is, how our society works. These cultural values have been passed on by our parents and programmed in our earliest childhood.
Culture controls our communication.
Whether with a Chinese or American business partner, with your team member, friends or spouse, communication problems have essentially the same cause. We all have different values and different communication patterns. Deep down we are not all the same, deep down we believe in different rules about how ‘normal’ communication should be. Within certain groups (countries, subcultures, friends, regions) we naturally share certain values and ways of communicating. But that often hides the fact that there are more differences than similarities.
Every time you hear someone cry out ’to behave normally’, the next thought should be: who’s normal are we talking about?
Successful communication and making yourself understood is one of the main keys to success in this ever developing global world.
Since the mid ‘90’s I have worked as a consultant and entrepreneur in tourism and nature conservation in o.a. Ecuador, Surinam, Costa Rica, Uganda and Indonesia. In 2010 I settled in Amsterdam and have been associated with educational institutions in the field of international business, research, tourism and hospitality. At the request of publishing house Noordhoff, these experiences resulted in the writing of books on Intercultural Sensitivity for higher education.
As a researcher for the Research Institute for Cultural differences (Emergence Global) I have developed, in co-operation with Anne-Marie Dingemans the Model of Dingemans en Janssen for Cultural Differences and a Culturetest to measure the practical application of cultural differences.
Take a look at my books here.