I don’t want to bridge US and French cultures. I want to embody the best in both
Yesterday, I discovered “When Cultures Collide: Leading Across Cultures” by Richard Lewis, a communication expert and social theorist.
This guidebook shows how leaders can understand cultural differences and fluidly manage across multiple regional markets.
Being a French-American dual citizen, one graphic in this book caught my attention, which I reproduced above.
Using a compelling framework (see end of this article), Lewis shows the big differences in the concepts and values that underpin the French culture vs. American culture, which in turn shape the perspective (horizon) of French vs. American managers.
Lewis also highlights the commonalities in French and American culture (center of the graphic above).
They say the language in which you “think” shapes your worldview.
Till 1989, growing up in Pondicherry, I used to think in Tamil, my mother tongue.
But after arriving in France for my higher studies, within 2 years, by 1991, I began thinking in French.
I immigrated in the US in 1999. Within 2 years, in 2001, I was mostly thinking in English (except when I counted mentally, which I still do in French).
I intuitively knew since my childhood my life purpose is to act as an “intercultural passeur”, that is a “living bridge between cultures”
But as the graphic above shows, it’s very hard to bridge French and American cultures which are so different !
So, lately, I decided to stop bridging distinct cultures.
Instead, I am learning to APPRECIATE, ENJOY, and EMBODY the “idiosyncrasies” (peculiarly unique attributes) of the French culture and the American culture — without JUDGING, COMPARING, or RANKING them.
I enjoy France’s haute cuisine and am grateful the French do appreciate intellectuality (since I am a scholar).
But I also feel comfortable with American informality and practicality — which you find in my 4 books, all written in an accessible style and filled with numerous case studies.
A big believer in bottom-up initiatives and individual empowerment — two core American values — I dislike the hierarchical structure and top-down management in French firms and government.
Yet, as I grow older, I prefer making decisions the French-style — cautious and calculated — rather than “shoot first, ask questions later” style of Americans (just look at Trump!)
I want to become a “living synthesis and noble expression” of the BEST that exists in both US and French cultures.
The good news is that I was born and raised (and now live again) in India, the land of Advaita (non-duality).
I grew up in Pondicherry, where the Indian yogi Sri Aurobindo theorized Integral Yoga or what I call Poorna Advaita.
Poorna Advaita — or Poorna Yoga — is a holistic life philosophy that invites us to “transcend and yet include” all dualities by broadening our consciousness.
I want to become a quintessentially Indian Poorna Yogi who combines the best of US and French cultures to make the world a better place
See below the framework used by Richard Lewis to create the graphic I show in my post that compares/contrasts US culture vs. French culture
