Proven tricks to quickly resolve a clash of cultures in high stake environments.
Humans from very different cultures working together in a high stake technical environment, under pressure, can find themselves in tricky situations. Luckily, there are matching tricks you can use to dispel conflicts in time and restore team spirit. I had the privilege to learn two such tricks in my younger years, working as a technical interpreter on a very busy international construction site.
Just because today’s ad-hoc translation tools can return a stored meaning of your words in the target language, without a human in-between, must not mean all is automatically clear on a busy work site. Leave alone that sufficient communication has taken place, in the right form. More importantly, sometimes neither smartest verbal communication nor strictest rule frameworks will prevent or resolve cultural clashes. But some simple tricks will. I’ve seen it happen.
Here are two memorable lessons from the field.
The scene: A very busy construction site at Berlin city, amid the construction frenzy of the early 1990s. Zooming in: A technical meeting between the German and the Italian planners. One of many daily meetings held over the two years of that huge project. Works were in full swing, schedules were tight, working days were long and rich of operational surprises. Sunrise to sunset, altogether almost 200 workers and planners on that bustling site. My job at that moment was simultaneously interpreting that technical meeting.
IS IT MY FAULT THAT HIS MOTHER WENT TO BED WITH A TURTLE?
The face of the Italian engineer was calm and slightly amused – the classic kind of calm shown by someone who is very sure of what they say and at the same time, got very little to lose. He had put that question without hurry, slightly intonating each word just a bit. And just slightly raising his voice towards the volume level his counterpart had maintained incessantly since minutes by then. His eyes were calmly piercing the addressee, body language telling us “I was actually trying to enjoy my coffee here, but you poor devil may disturb me for another quick moment, thank you”.
I’ve seen the exact identical expression in the eyes of cats. And I bet you have, too: Those who calmly sit high on a pole, gracefully looking down on a wildly barking dog at the base of that pole. The dog barking its lungs out, paws pounding against the pole. Blind helpless rage calmly looked upon by a composed, dignified and slightly amused creature.
The face of the German Bauleiter was cherry red. His tone had been menacing since the very start of the meeting, like a thunder rolling in and growing progressively louder as it nears. Effortlessly making use of his solid tech knowledge and operational experience, he had laid out in crystal clear language and meticulous, triumphant detail how the Italian party had – evidently! – failed to comply with rule X, Y and Z and therewith, clearly caused the expensive delay: To communicate a delayed delivery in time which they easily could have anticipated. To then even allow a different work team on site earlier, without first asking the German site manager for permission. A team to come in and get their prep works done earlier than planned. Therewith – according to the German – messing up the entire, carefully balanced planning of who-does-what-when on site.
The Italian had tried to explain: Trusting that the delay would be prolonged a few days anyway, why fret or bother to chase after one delaying supplier. “Surprises happen all the time”. So they had “simply” let in that company to get their prep works done a week earlier than expected – and the subcontractor had been very happy with that to boot. It did create a disruption, admittedly yes, but such a small one!
“Simply”. “Surprises happen all the time”. “Small one”. By that time I had worked on that construction site long enough to know that a certain choice of wording can have explosive effects on the other side. And also that, for this reason exactly, both sides used such apparently innocent wordings quite consciously. It was aimed to let the other side flip out, lose their cool, say something incautious. Why? Because a lot of money was at stake and every day going by with a delay in construction works meant a spectacular fine to pay by the delaying party. So the interest to prove who stood in the way of whom – was strong. The resulting tension a constant undercurrent on that dynamic, bustling site.
Another work brigade had to be re-scheduled due to the delay. In the eyes of the Italians, a minor adaptation, fixed with a little shuffling here and there. I recall the Italian using another seemingly careless metaphor: “A bit of juggling, that’s all.”
To the Italians, a small thing, like indeed throwing a ball from A to B. To the Germans, an unthinkable event, without precedents. Giving way to who knows what next. A suspicious, unpredictable motion like a small snowball which had just began its unstoppable rolling down the mountain: The start of a planning Supergau.
In your left corner: A culture and working mode based on proven best practice developed throughout centuries, on the base of hard won knowledge and experience. Clear hierarchies, structured procedures, built to minimise risk and eliminate unpredictability. In your right corner: A culture and working mode based on that very unpredictability as the only unremovable constant. Requiring a high grade of flexibility and the capacity to pivot, improvise, find unconventional solutions at any moment.
Said differently – what one side prides itself to have eliminated, is the very thing the other side prides itself to elegantly dance with.
What could go wrong?
I knew both parties had little chance. Not right now, in this room anyway. And I definitely knew that they had no chance left once the Italian had uttered his spectacular phrase.
I had been with the project from day 1 which had not only greatly helped to progressively learn a myriad of unofficial, colloquial terms actually used by the technicians in that field. It also had allowed me to flexibly adapt to and appreciate the many different speakers I interpreted for: Various speaking velocities, coherence of thoughts, clearness of pronunciation, choices of wording. Mutual perception of the characters speaking. Body language, mimics. The more I learned about the work on site and the more familiar I became with my construction site crowd, the better I also could anticipate what might happen next in those meetings, and why.
Or so I thought.
Have to add, a simultaneous interpreter has a fine and basically neutral role: You interpret language on the fly, doing your best to convey the full meaning of what was said between parties. Nothing more, nothing less. In a technical environment like a construction site, it also allows you to safely observe the entire theater so to speak, first row. And when emotions run high, you stay as close to the truth as you can, trying to smoothen your wording just a tiny bit more diplomatically, without losing content or meaning. Language is powerful in that sense. Much can be expressed in more than one way and with different nuances. All you need to do a useful job is experience, a large vocabulary in both languages and a well developed sense for good wording.
So imagine my surprise when 27 year old me heard that Italian phrase. Imagine also that Germans have a century-long love for Italy as one of their most preferred holiday destinations. With many of them trying their lovely and growing best to speak at least some Italian basics. Especially those evolving around the classic small talk topics like love, family, food, where do you come from and so on.
In other words, there was not a snowball’s chance in hell that the meaning of those words would have escaped the target audience. “Sua Mamma” was in it. And another word was in it which many Germans may have learned in their teenage years already, probably during a first holiday when meeting Italian girls (and here and there, their angry parents or jealous boyfriends). And then that quizzical tone he had used, santo cielo.
ÜBERSETZEN SIE!!!
The German avidly waited for the one remaining straw that would break the camel’s back. And I could tell he dearly hoped I would hand him JUST THAT ONE straw right NOW so that he could finally explode. The Italian beamed at me – a tiny hint of “sorry” in his eyes, tribute to the camaraderie we all shared there on site – but that “regret” generously wrapped in pure devilish delight. Which is one of the many things I love about them, by the way. They transform the absurdities of life as a fuel to deal with its challenges using humour as the catalyst. So especially in stressful moments, they consciously try to tickle some occasion for laughter out of a situation, no matter how heavy – and very often with happy results. Before joining the site, I had just spent 3 years in the Italian South and had indeed observed them resolve all sorts of crazy situations with that priceless ability. But that was back home for them. The Germans in the room right now were definitely not amused. Oxygen felt scarce.
So I made my decision quickly as I had to: I slowly raised my two hands, arms extended, mimicking Jesus talking to the crowds and said, adding an ounce of theater pathos to my words: “What can I say? Mr. …definitely objects your accusations.”
It worked. Both sides exploded in laughter, tensions quickly dissolved. My 27 years probably played a part in that. Yet I had successfully shown a bridge between those two worlds – one we all knew was indestructible. It felt great. The cherry red face, now saved, gradually lost that dark red. The German soon even managed a “grimly grin”. The Italian grabbed his chance and made some offer to accommodate the planning changes needed. No animals were harmed in the spectacle.
Both sides knew what they were doing as a company, had solid experience and reputations to protect. It had simply been a famous classic clash of worlds: Italian creative flexibility and relaxed resistance against rigid systems versus German efficiency and meticulous, precise planning, ranking structural frameworks high in importance. The identity and pride of either side firmly rooted in age-old principles which right there right then only appeared irreconcilable.
So. Lesson learned and warm advice #1: This kind of impasse can especially quickly be resolved by humour. In that moment, in that room, this was my own empirical evidence.
“Best of both worlds” is always the ideal. Yet in a tension-rich high stakes environment like this, generosity in such matters can feel like carelessness. Tolerance for the unfamiliar working methods of a different culture can easily be perceived as a menace to the own one. When that happens, bringing everyone back to the best of both worlds / bigger picture factor is a fine idea. The simpler and more neutral the method,the more effective. Next time I might place two playful puppy dogs into the room and see what happens. Or two gracefully built parrots trained to theatrically swear at each other with dirty words, who knows.
The clash of cultures back then was a frequent occurrence which by then did not shock me at all. Because I knew it was an eternal sort of tidal ebb and flow anyway. I was a young technical interpreter and translator on that site. One that also helped to coordinate deliveries and movements from and to that site: Materials, repairs, site inspections. Cooperation between the Italians and Germans was fine – both sides respected each other. Yet turned out in that environment, a myriad of events can help your blood pressure up. Day after day.
Like I said, huge penalties for each day without construction progress made it a real important past-time to track who possibly stood in the way of whom on that site. Or was about to. The daily technical meetings quickly got a nickname: BAUBAU-Besprechung. A German word play with wauwau, the barking of a dog. Only the cat, to stay with my above mentioned metaphor – the cat in this case was a solid, successful company in its own right, with a 200+ year tradition in the Italian North. Not your average punchball. And of course they knew that too. The Italians were not immune against that high blood pressure factor either.
On a site like this it becomes important to effectively bring the waves of high tensions down again and again, in time.
Which brings me to lesson learned / warm advice #2: Choose your tricks wisely – and in doing so, look first among your top winning assets.
The Italians in fact had done something truly ingenious: They had flown in their own cook. For the entire duration of the project. In a large tent set up on site, at some meals red and white wine was offered and always: Their legendary delicious, hearty food for lunch, for dinner. Albeit with more accent on carbs for the energy of the technical workers.
Tech project planners out there: If you ever plan a similar large scale project, bring in a first class cook to cater quality food for both sides, for the entire duration. Let them cook food which is appreciated by both sides. And create a space for comfortable sitting to eat the delicious food – for workers and planners alike. It is a timeless, mighty factor since the night of the times. I saw many issues being discussed in a relaxed manner before or after such meals. Oh and in our crazy climate changing times that entails: Set up that canteen with shadow for everyone eating, no exceptions, no two-class arrangements. Try it out and watch what happens.
And granted, one could also organize music events in between – which in our times with big screens and internet, should be a piece of cake. Food and music are two of the universal languages of pleasure, if chosen well. But from what I observed on that site, the repeated and daily feeding together did something much more powerful. Frequency matters. So does a match of portions. Daily recurring stress and tension? Daily recurring relax and pleasure together.
Mind you, nasty tongues said that without that Cook and his fine equipment, Italian workers for this site would not even have set food in the country. That might be true as well. Certain things do not touch them, certain things. Getting only cold sandwiches for lunch, for instance.
The Germans indeed soon got invited to join in. And they did. It is truly tricky to stay pissed with one another if you get the alternative to have such a lunch a few hours later. I marvelled at the effects of that simple move. I also marvel – and love – that the memory of those two highly instructive years is still so vivid. The lessons I learned and the many great experiences I had on that site have changed packaging and form over the years. But they helped me quickly recognise and read similar situations years later. They still do. More about that in a different post.