UTOPIA


May 24, 2006

When in Rome, behave like Romans

Filed under: General — Asset @ 12:22 am

I have been to Europe earlier and have now had to come to US on an official trip. One thing I found most wanting was my lack of knowledge of culture,attitudes, values etc etc. of people abroad.

When I dig deep,I can make out that how I cud have got this knowledge.Either thro. my own efforts of Googling, or through some colleague telling me all the details, which generally varies from one’s experience to another. These days, many companies in India have some orientation course which tells one abt all these details, but this practice is even not tht prevalent.
But wht wud hv been better is if I was more prepared b4hand, and had better knowledge of all these details instead of going abt the ritual of learning it through good/bad experiences.I wud have dealt with these ppl much better and say in a manner that suites my business needs.N i feel its an issue which matters to anyone who comes across initially.

Now, that Indian corporates are going global, ppl are moving places. Most of the ppl, esp. if they are in IT industry, will b going sooner or later to some foreign country.So, this demands the need to inculcate this teaching very early in ppl.
What I wud suggest is to get it going at the school level.Students shud have a course at HSC or SSC levels, which teaches them abt the foreign culture.
It shud give a brief history of their evolution, how they went abt building up their countries.Wht is the culture in these countries, and how is it diff. from our culture. Wht are their values, their attitudes towards various aspects in a broad manner.

The question of faculty can be tackled by involving ppl working in MNC’s who can be used as guest faculty. They can share their experiences with children at school level. If the course demands them to cover other topics like history, culture etc. as I mentioned earlier, then these corporates can brief their experiences with the concerned faculty.
All colleges of higher education shud make such a course compulsary.

There is a urgent need to make our skillset more in line at global levels.English as a language has already given us a headstart against other nations, but add to tht if v can bring up our youths to come up with better soft skills, tagged along with superior technical skills, nothing like it.

This idea thus seem worth experiementing.

Asset

3 Comments »

  1. I don’t think it can be taught theoretically. We have some orientation for every country in our company but believe me, it just sesitises you to the final truth, that all are not same and nothing else.
    You can bring up a person to understand other culture by theory. You can just tell them history, facts, traits etc but that’s just very superfical part of it.
    What I feel, you have to be there to know it.

    Comment by Apurva — May 24, 2006 @ 9:31 pm

  2. I do agree with u to some extent, tht experience is more important than theory.
    But I still feel, if s.one has a prior knowledge of sthg, experiencing it the first time makes it working much faster, as compared to a person who has just discovered it.

    Similarly, if ppl have some prior knowledge of alien culture, when they experience it the first time, then their theory will help them adapt to the situation much better.
    Tht was the point i wished to emphasize.

    Asset

    Comment by Asset — May 24, 2006 @ 11:38 pm

  3. hey there anshul, long time no post.

    cheers!

    Comment by SwB — June 27, 2006 @ 3:36 pm

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