The Culture Map
Breaking Through the Invisible Boundaries of Global Business
by Erin Meyer · first published 2014
85% recommend12% neutral3% critical
Why HN recommends it
Framework of scales for comparing how cultures communicate, give feedback, disagree and make decisions; useful for people on multicultural or remote teams and managers who want practical ways to adapt.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
"As today's business world becomes ever-more global and virtual, executives and managers are expected to work harmoniously together with counterparts from a broad array dramatically different cultures and backgrounds, often without leaving their desks. But when you throw people together who come from starkly different backgrounds and cultures- from Americans who precede anything negative with three nice comments to French, Dutch, Israelis and Germans who get straight to the point ("your presentation was simply awful"); from Latin Americans and Asians who are steeped in hierarchy to the Scandin
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That's a cultural and personal thing. Consider the recipient's preferences. If you would like to learn about these cultural preferences, read Erin Meyer's The Culture Map. https://erinmeyer.com/books/the-culture-map/
on “When your coworker does great work, tell their manager” ↗For anyone interested in this type of cultural difference, I would strongly recommend Erin Meyer's "The Culture Map" (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01KSXNFJQ), which presents and argues for a series of scales that create a heuristic useful for comparing (not judging!) different cultures. The goal is to realize and understand…
on “In Brazil, it is considered rude to be on time to a party” ↗…communicate. But here in Europe the standard way of giving, say, a presentation is to begin with all the theory, definitions, concepts, and only then move on to case studies. It was when I read Erin Meyer's The Culture Map that the whole thing clicked for me. I think it's worth reading the whole book, but here's a quick summary: https://www.mdttraining.vn/post/on-our-bookshelf-the-cultura... One of her axes of comparison…
on “How to Learn Everything: The MasterClass Diaries” ↗…on culture. For example, US culture is very much, get to the point, start with the conclusion. German culture requires you to outline how you got to the conclusion. Interesting book on this topic: The culture map, by Erin Meyer. (https://www.amazon.com/Culture-Map-INTL-ED-Decoding/dp/16103...) It has a whole chapter on this topic: 3 - Why versus How, the art of persuasion in the multicultural world.
on “To find great remote employees, prioritize candidates with strong writing skills” ↗This is very similar, but somehow not the same as this "The Culture Map" [0], which I thought was great and would highly recommend. https://www.amazon.com/Culture-Map-INTL-ED-Decoding/dp/16103...
on “The Culture Map: How to Navigate Foreign Cultures in Business” ↗Depends on the culture, cf. The Culture Map from Erin Meyer
on “Startup engineering hiring anti-patterns (2021)” ↗This isn't specifically about tech, but The Culture Map by Erin Meyer is really worth reading. I'm not 100% sold on it being correct, but it does give you a framework to think within when you're working with other people, no matter which culture you're from.…
on “Ask HN: Best book / resources on leadership, especially for tech teams?” ↗…contract", and it is not a "co-operative". It may be worthwhile to spend time understanding this closed culture, the decision making, and its overall impact on the business. I recommend reading "The Culture Map" by Erin Meyer.
on “Ask HN: How to disagree with the rest of management?” ↗Along these lines, it's worth reading The Culture Map by Erin Meyer. It gives some interesting insight into how different cultures approach management and decision making. I think it also applies when thinking about people from within the same culture to…
on “Toxic positivity does more harm than good” ↗I really liked book by Erin Meyer "The Culture Map" it gives a lot more insight into those kind of things. She is American that moved to France and was working with multicultural teams. "Americans precede anything negative with three nice comments; French,…
on “Why Russians do not smile (2002)” ↗Interacting with strangers, Russians are coconuts whilst Americans are peaches. I've found Erin Meyer's Culture Map[1] a good guide to navigating different cultures. [1] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22085568-the-culture-map
on “Why Russians do not smile (2002)” ↗If you want to improve your understanding about these sort of differences between cultures, I highly recommend reading "The Culture Map" by Erin Meyer.
on “Why Russians do not smile (2002)” ↗Read the book Culture Map by Erin Meyer. Goes beyond negotiation and instead touches on more underlying patterns of behavior, communication.
on “How to Negotiate Around the World” ↗Yes, there is more on this in "The Culture Map" by Erin Meyer. If I recall, it is not all of Europe that does that, but mainly Latin Europe. This is one of the things I learned moving to the UK working at an American company. Lead with the conclusion,…
If this is a fun question for you, the book The Culture Map covers a lot of differences in how different cultures communicate, set expectations, express disagreement and displeasure, etc.
on “Should error messages apologize? (2013)” ↗