What kind of idiom says THAT?

This week’s LeadingMinds Tip comes to you from Haider Imam of Kaizen Training.

John in England calls Javier in Spain...

John: Javier, this week’s sales results are completely topsy-turvy. Tell me if I’m being a back seat driver, but I’m concerned that these results could be like an albatross around my neck going into the exec meeting next week. The last thing we need is for that meeting to go pear-shaped - you know the writing’s on the wall at the moment, since they brought the US on board? Can you do a Jim’ll…and fix it for me?

Javier: (sounding confused) Err…You…want me to… ‘fix’ the sales results? You mean… lie?

John: (slightly irritated) NO! I mean get it back on track again! It’s sink or swim… What can you do to give us the biggest bang for our buck?

Javier: (cautiously) Ok. I think I understand you… I could get a Pareto report showing our top 20% high-spending customers and make a quick campaign or I could get some sales development for the teams; perhaps we could increase their average sales order value with some training?

John: Well, it’s all sixes to me, Javier, just be mindful to not eat the elephant. But it’s a last ditch attempt, so make it count.

Javier: (feeling increasingly frustrated at the unclear communication) OK, don’t worry, John. Each has his way to kill fleas. We could strip one Saint bare to clothe another, I’m sure.

John: (confused) WHAT?

What you’ve just read above is a farce based on our use of ‘idiom’: “An idiom is generally a term which requires some basic knowledge, information, or experience of a culture where parties have common references. Idioms are therefore not considered a part of the language, but rather a part of the culture.” (Wikipedia) It seems to me that we cannot escape the rapidly increasing ‘cross-culturisation’ of modern times (nor should we want to) and the challenges that brings with it. And one of those challenges is communicating cross-culturally. Our language is literally littered with references to our culture and as beautiful and precious as that is, it’s sometimes not the most efficient way to communicate with our internal or external customers, people, suppliers or bosses if they aren’t originally from our culture. Your getting it wrong might mean missed sales opportunities, unfulfilled actions or confusion in the workplace – possibly even worse if it relates to issues of Health and Safety, for example. Getting it right means a higher level of internal and external engagement, clarity, rapport and action, so only put this tip into action if you want that.

So this week’s Call to Action:

• Review your next communications that are going out (verbally or in writing) to cross-cultural teams. Remove any idioms that might be confusing.

• When speaking to customers, colleagues or suppliers from other cultures, catch yourself being ‘a total idiom’, apologise and explain what the idiom means in useful terms.

• Call us for an informal chat on 01923262278 to talk about evolving how your people communicate in your organisation, cross-culturally or otherwise.