You’ve got your rules, I’ve got mine, and for the most part we can get along just fine if we communicate them to each other and don’t try to impose them on each other. For after all, as seriously as we take them, they’re just funny little things that we made up for our Game Of Life, and like any good game, we can change them when the situation requires (Yes, I’m talking about that horrendous board game here- Coco is thirteen and she only just found out the ‘real’ way to play it- we taught her a severely truncated version that doesn't make you want to take your own life.-Alison).
Which is all fine for our personal rules, but what about the next layer? Sometimes we find that cultural rules are even more embedded in our psyche, and so can be trickier to recognise, hiding as they are under the guise of “this is true”.
A little while ago, one of our honorary Clickers, Derek Silva (yes, Caroline’s husband) posted a meme with the slogan: ‘Canadians will understand’ and it was a bag of milk, sitting in a jug. Apparently that’s how milk is transported in Canada, instead of in bottles and cartons. We were shocked: How can they do it like THAT? Are they monsters? What is going on in Canada? That’s not the RIGHT way to transport the cow pus etcetera. And the Canadians just smiled and moved on. As we all do when something is just so normal for us.
Which is all well and good whilst the cultural rule in question is just a funny little thing about dairy transport, and the method of delivery doesn’t impact on us in any real way. But what about (aboot for the Canadians) when it does? When the way another culture does their normal threatens something within us?
As you know, we are doing a Co-Lab with Lux and BDC this year, and we are observing distinct cultural differences between our companies in our delivery, as well as some things that seem to be just IN us. We have Sam with her reserved English ways (do it properly), Alison and her laconic Aussie vibe (don't try too hard) and Shawn being such a Yank (let’s make everyone rich and SELL).
The key to our success is that we are all aware of the different rules and strengths we bring, and we are openly noticing them. So instead of doing what people so often do in relationships where we say, “I like you, you’re like me” and then fluff over the differences, we are noticing the points of difference and using them to our advantage. After all, where we diverge from each other is what makes us so damn unique and interesting. It’s where the challenges lie, and the juicy stuff lives. And it’s the place where we can learn the most.
This week we would love you to notice some of the cultural rules you have- they can be from your country of origin, or your lineage, or your family, or even the culture that exists within your business. Everything flows from above down, so once you see it, you’ll be so much more powerful to make shifts in your day to day.
Have a play.