Cultural Diversity and Communication

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I just finished reading "Outliers: The Story of Success" by Malcolm Gladwell. It is an outstanding book, and I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in success and how to achieve it. While the book focuses primarily on populations of individuals, demographics and the dedication of successful individuals, there is one chapter in particular that focuses on communication, and how the lack of it can lead to failure.

Chapter seven: The Ethnic Theory of Plane Crashes.

The chapter centers around a few airline crashes and the communications between pilots, their first officers and air traffic controllers. In particular, it focuses on a Korean Air Lines crash (KAL 801) and the Colombian airliner Avianca 052. Both were absolutely devestating crashes. Both were caused primarily due to poor communications in the cockpit.

The NTSA investigated both (though one was abroad), and in both cases came to several conclusions.

1. No fewer than 7 mistakes were made before each of the crashes. No single mistake would have been fatal, but the the compounding of them (i.e. one mistake was the basis for decisions that led to other mistakes, etc), eventually led to the passenger's and crew's demise.
2. Cultural communication styles based on cultural norms, as it relates to position and respect for authority, led to "Mitigated Speech" between those in the know and those who were not aware of the criticality of the situation until each of the crashes occurred.

Lesson #1: Get the Facts Before Making Conclusions

I began to think about how that relates to IT projects. How many times do we think we know what is going on, but actually have bad information. I came out of a meeting a week ago where there was considerable concern about one of my project's adoption rates (in this case, an internet application). We have been running stagnant for about 4 weeks. Adoption rates are flat. Of particular concern was a large client of ours, and the fact that they did not seem to be using the platform hardly at all.

Many in the meeting jumped to conclusions about the quality of the code, the stability of the platform, features that were not yet released that were holding a considerably sized client from moving forward etc. I mentioned that while we had problems, things seemed stable for sometime now, performance was good. We certainly have our share of defects, but all seemed relatively stable, but even with that, I still had my concerns and doubts as to why this client had not jumped on board.

The project leader and I huddled after the meeting and we began playing through the numerous scenarios as to why this large client's adoption rate was so low. We determined we needed to speak to them, and come to agreement on a prioritized set of features that would allow them to go for a full push.

When we called the client, we were relieved to find out that the reason the client hadn't adopted the product was because they were busy with an internal rollout of another initiative and made the decision to postpone their launch until this Friday.. (i.e. tomorrow). They would ALL be on tomorrow, all 600 of them.

Now, while that was somewhat refreshing to hear, I look back at the meeting where we were guessing (without accurate knowledge) and compounded a scenario based on a building set of assumptions that could have led to a "fatal" situation (i.e. I get fired, my project leader gets fired).

Lesson #2: Understand Cultural Diversity and how it affects communication

The second finding of the NTSA in Outliers, was that Mitigated Speech was a significant factor that led to the crashes. I contend that Mitigated Speech is a HUGE problem in IT shops, (though, not as fatal as in airliners). The author points to a hierarchy of mitigated speech. In summary it goes like this:

1. Command
2. Obligation
3. Suggestion
4. Query
5. Preference
6. Hint

In each of the airline crashes, the pilots, copilots and the tower communicated in some form of mitigated speech that did not escalate into a situation that was salvageable. Lets see how these forms work:

1. Command - Turn 30 degrees to the right
2. Obligation - I think we should be turning right about now
3. Suggestion - Lets go around the weather
4. Query - Which direction would you like to deviate?
5. Preference - I think it would be wise to turn
6. Hint - That weather up ahead looks mean!

The conclusion for the airlines is "there is no room for anything in the cockpit but the command form in a known emergency situation." However, due to cultural norms and customs, the first officers were talking to their bosses, and downplayed the delivery of the information... usually to the Hint level in most cases!

We did an informal study of our IT department last year and discovered that there were no fewer than 22 distinct and different native languages spoken by our employees. That's a lot of cultural diversity. But, in today's IT world, that's not that all uncommon. Each of these speakers come from different backgrounds and cultures. Communication styles vary tremendously.

In Outliers, the author speaks of a "Power Distance Index" and the attitude towards hierarchy. In particular, it deals with how much a culture respects and and values authority. In low PDI countries (like Austria, Netherlands) authorititative figures downplay their position by renouncing formal symbols and formalities. In high PDI countries (e.g. Belgium, France), not so. In the case of the Avianca Airliner that crashed near JFK in New York, the Colombian first officer did not challenge the authority of the tower, and ultimately followed a command that he should have contested. The conclusion of the reviewers was "there must be significantly reduced PDI in the cockpit."

In IT, we also experience PDI. I can walk into a project meeting with 30 people, and you can see the pockets of people who do not speak until they are asked to, and those who are chomping at the bit to challenge, etc. The important thing for managers is to recognize that there is PDI, and you may be getting mitigated speech. The simple query "do you think it would be best to back up the database before we proceed?" may be a subtle warning that you are seconds away from making the mistake of your life.

In summary, take the time to learn about the culture of your employees. Teach them what you have learned about mitigated speech, solicit clear and direct communication, and begin to recognize what they are really telling you. The IT mistakes we make may not be fatal, but they are at least costly in most cases, so it is in your best interest to make sure you are getting the straight scoop!

What are the communication challenges in your organization?