Culture, Diversity, Integration: A Compass in the Jungle of Cultural Differences

By Dan Wiener

Since he can remember himself, Dan Wiener has lived with cultural differences. His ancestors came from seven different countries. As a communication trainer who is active around the globe, he encounters very different worlds every day. Companies also have very diverse company cultures and, in turn, the people involved have the most varied personal communication expectations.

Cultural diversity can be seen as a big problem but also as a fascinating enrichment. After all, our society has become more multicultural and diverse as a result of migration and globalisation. Dan Wiener treasures the opportunity to foster exchange and understanding in organisations and companies.

The coach and artist shows how cultural differences can mark the beginning of enriching journeys and processes of fruitful integration, instead of serving as conflict-ridden dividing lines.
This book offers short essays and background for a deeper understanding of cultural contexts. It contains tips on how to live in a world shaped by diversity with more awareness and purpose. In the end, the author presents concrete integration examples from the community, international politics and business, school, social services, and healthcare. A systematic approach in three steps: culture, diversity, and integration.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Panta Rhei PR AG
• Release date: Apr 20, 2021
• ISBN: 9783952541241

Dan Wiener

Lives in Basel, actor and musician, communication-specialist, founder of his own company Communication & Culture - creating, coaching, consulting. develops concepts and events, moderator and coach, offers his services worldwide for companies and organisations, speaking fluently German, English, French and Russian.

Book preview

Kultur Vielfalt Integration. Ein Kompass im Dschungel kultureller Unterschiede

A book by Edition Panta Rhei – On Demand

www.pantarhei.ch

© 2021 Dan Wiener. All rights reserved.

Project coordination, proofreading and editing: Pantarhei PR

Cover design: fraufederer.ch

Layout and typesetting: fraufederer.ch

E-Book Zeilenwert GmbH

Illustration: Andrey Fedorchenko

Photo, p. 90: Alexander Preobrajenskij

Translation: Alisa Blokhina Alvares, Eloquent Words LLC

ISBN 978-3-9525412-4-1

Author's website: www.c-culture.com

Contents

Cover

Title

Copyright

Why Write This Book

Communication in Practice

Academic Foundation

Culture, Diversity, and Integration

ME! ME! ME! The Age of Egoism!

In the Beginning Was the Word (the Tower of Babel)

I Should Be Allowed to Say That!

The Three Wise Monkeys

Prejudices – Chauvinism – Racism

Can Xenophobia Be Healed?

Culture: Where Do I Fit In?

What Do You Understand by Culture

What Do I Understand by Culture?

Culture Is a Dynamic Affiliation

Depending on the Situation, I Belong to Other Groups

Diversity: I Am Many Things

I Am Many Things

People and Their Cultures – How Diversity Emerges

Dynamic Interplay of Cultures

Signs, Symbols and Nonverbal Codes and Filters

Verbal Codes and Filters

Translation – Cultural Code of Conduct

Integration: Me and the Others

Culture + Diversity?

Who Decides

The Five Mistakes of Integration

Common Denominators, Joint Solutions

Link Between Culture, Diversity, and Integration

From Colonialism to Partnership?

A Summary: The 3D Culture Method

School

Healthcare and the Social Sector

Police and Other Security Services

Business

International Politics and Diplomacy

Conclusion

About the Author

Why Write This Book

Since I can remember myself, I have lived with cultural differences. My ancestors came from seven different countries, so it was always clear to me that no country could be better than another. I did not like war games because I knew that war was not a game. It was fatal. But I was not especially peaceful either. I often liked to get into fights with other boys in the break. The reason was secondary. There was always a conflict to be found. In the schoolyard, there was a lot of diversity even then – not only due to geographic origin but because the children were raised differently in their respective families and led a different lifestyle.

For example, some children received money from their parents when they got good grades in school. This would have been out of the question for my parents. Other children were raised very strictly, while I could do almost anything I wanted. These different life circumstances at home undoubtedly had an impact on how we schoolchildren related to each other.

At the same time, my friends and I shared secrets that I would never have revealed to my parents. I knew very early on that there were as many commonalities as there were differences between people.

Communication in Practice

As a communication trainer I deal with the challenges posed by cultural differences every day. Whether I hold a seminar in Europe, Asia, North or South America, I literally encounter completely different worlds. Or, when I coach multinational companies, big and small organizations, I run into company cultures that could not be more different. The diversity of relationships is also complex in the tourism sector, where the host and the guest do not always find common ground from the start.

Cultural diversity can be seen as a problem but also as a fascinating enrichment. It would be naive to deny it in general, since international migration and advancing globalisation are part of our coexistence. Our societies have become more multicultural and ultimately more diverse as a result. Those who are able to take advantage of this will be rewarded – as people, but also as companies or organizations. Assisting in this process is a role I treasure.

Our world is made more diverse and complex not only by the linguistic and ethnical cultures. Diversification and specialisation concern all areas of our lives and understanding is becoming more and more challenging even for those who share the same language. When companies merge, two completely different cultures and mindsets often collide. If different generations within an organisation need to engage in dialogue, there are clashes between political or even ideological viewpoints.

In my work, I look for ways to see such cultural differences not as conflict-ridden divides but as opportunities for mutual enrichment and for setting a process of fruitful exchange in motion.

Academic Foundation

Obviously, I am not the first nor the last to dive into the subject of intercultural communication. A lot of research has been done and there are many publications out there. Thanks to a lecturer position in the University of Basel, I was able to learn many of these concepts years ago and comment on them from the perspective of my practical experience.

The longer I contemplated this subject, the more I began to question some aspects of the discussion. Many of the existing models related primarily to country-specific culture categories are very easily deconstructed by students. The dual dimensions associated with them are often inadequate: today’s reality cannot be sufficiently illustrated with categories such as foreign and local, traditional and modern, close and distant.

But deconstruction is not enough. I aspire to develop a practical approach that I can offer my customers, so that they do not see cultural differences as a problem, but are able to take advantage of them as an opportunity.

Culture, Diversity, and Integration

For a few years, I have been working reliably with three terms that I connect with each other: culture, diversity, and integration. Although each of them is much discussed and well-known individually, they are rarely connected as one concept.

I do this in three steps:

1. We use culture when we want to explain someone’s behaviour. But there is always a risk of stereotyping. To avoid these stereotypes, I use a flexible model that interprets the cultural category of the same person differently depending on the situation. Based on this approach, culture is not a fixed identity with specific values. I consider culture primarily as a dynamic resource or a motivation factor that empowers people to go through different situations successfully.

2. It follows logically that diversity is not an exception but the rule: we are many things because consciously or unconsciously we are a combination of very different cultures. So we are able to communicate differently and to understand and translate signals, codes, and filters in all of the facets. The more we can take advantage of this diversity consciously, instead of ignoring or even fighting it, the better we can assert ourselves in our environment.

3. Diversity would be a chaotic coexistence if we were not able to integrate our differences. But integration does not mean adaptation! If integration takes place on an equal footing, it means negotiation: How can the differences complement each other to result in something new and bigger? In this sense, integration is growth that happens when different partners engage with each other, assume and surrender responsibility, and develop something new based on common denominators.

In this book, I would like to bring up the relevant questions that enable us to reflect on the intercultural challenges in organisations and to provide tools that help in times of