It is the adventure of being far away and still feeling at home....

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martes, 13 de abril de 2010

Why cross-cultural training? Learning to look at the Argentines closer


Many Argentines and expats living in Argentina are curious about our Weekly Cross-Cultural Training & Coffee Sessions in Palermo. They often ask us “What is this whole cross-cultural training thing about? Are you a Meet & chat group? Do you practise English with foreigners?” The answer is no… what we do is something totally different. That´s basically because we work with diversity.

So, to be able to explain you what we do, let´s start talking  about yourself. Touchy topic, right? Take it easy. The journey is simply amazing, trust us.

Culture has a significant impact in everything you do: how you behave, how you perceive reality, yourself and others, what you consider right or wrong, or even what you find ugly or beautiful. You, as everybody else, are influenced by multiple cultural elements: the place where you were born and raised, the books you read, the religion you follow, the school you attended, among others. One of the most important influences in who you are is… your national culture. It is not the same whether you grew up in Argentina, Germany or China. And it´s definitely not the same if you spent your childhood years in Spain, US or India.
Thank God it´s not the same!... Being diverse is what makes us rich.


Learning the Argentine way

If you are Argentino or live or work with Argentines, then you need to ask yourself an essential question: Do you really know how Argentines think, feel and perceive reality? What is important to them? What do they fear, enjoy, respect or admire? Have you ever wondered why sometimes you see their habits and behaviors as awkward or illogical?

As any other culture, Argentinos have their own system of cultural preferences, values and beliefs. Through years and years, they lived in the same geographical region, developed common habits and  learnt to solve problems in a similar way. Their cultural response to reality is what makes them unique and different from other groups. We are unable to perceive those common values, beliefs and cultural responses at first sight. We only have access to the results at an observable level (how they dress up, what food they eat, how they communicate with each other etc). But we would be too naive if we thought that we can easily explain the Argentine world - or any other cultural world- based on simple, first-sight observations of their reality.

Look closer. 

The roots that explain Argentines´ observable reality remain untouched below the surface. You need to get involved with your own roots first, and with other people´s roots later, to be able to explain what motivates you and them to behave how you behave, and why you prefer to choose certain ways of solving problems, instead of others. Culture is about finding local solutions to universal problems every human being has.
Isn´t that simply amazing?


By learning to identify your own cultural orientation and your Argentine friends/colleagues/ Managers´s cultural background, you´ll be able to understand:

1- what motivates your behaviors and decisions
2- what motivates other people´s behaviors and decisions
3- how to bridge the gap across cultures and differences, and improve your relationship with people from other cultures.



As you see, if you live in this world, developing cross-cultural skills is an everyday need! This is what brought us to create our Weekly Tranings in Palermo.

And what can you expect from a cross-cultural training session?  By developing cross-cultural awareness, you will learn to:

Practice empathy: be able to see the world as other people see it! People prefer to work with those who are able to switch perspectives and perceive the world from different viewpoints.

Respect others: learn to tolerate what is different or unknown is a valuable attitude for effective communicators. Have you ever realized that YOU are also a “stranger” or “different” from other people´s perspective?

Tolerate ambiguity: intercultural situations are usually ambiguous and uncertain. This causes stress and frustration. Cross the bridge...get involved!

Avoid being judgmental: we tend naturally to use our own frames of reference to evaluate people´s behaviors. This leads to misunderstandings!

Become a global citizen: we are all world nomads, crossing cultures every day, always in transition. We are foreigners in our own world. Are you learning to be a global nomad?

So, now it´s time to answer the question: Our Cross-cultural training and coffee sessions are an innovative, interactive and practical method of exploring Argentina´s culture and values and developing effective cross-cultural strategies to adapt successfully to living and working in Argentina. In our sessions, participants (both Argentines and extranjeros)  learn about Porteños mentality, challenges of living as a foreigner in BsAs and cultural differences between Argentina and other cultures represented in Buenos Aires. They share their personal and work experiences in Argentina, and help each other find possible strategies to cross cultural bridges.All in a relaxed and informal atmosphere – el Café Porteño!

Look closer. Join us.
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