Dangers of cultures of similarity

Last week I discussed how we perceive the Israeli and American culture to be very similar, and how misleading this can be when conducting business.

This week I want to share with you a few tips when conducting business with Americans:

Negotiations: Try not to hold side conversations in Hebrew in the presence of Americans. It makes them feel uncertain and can cause distrust. Also, don’t argue in Hebrew as part of your negotiation strategy, it creates a negative image with Americans.

E-mail communication: When writing to your American colleagues, it is best to adopt American standards of politeness. At the beginning of the email ask about the recipient’s well-being or how he/she enjoyed the weekend If the correspondence occurs at the end of a holiday, ask how their holiday was, before you approach the subject of the email. Israelis are often perceived as impolite, angry and disrespectful toward their American colleagues, due to their direct and impersonal writing approach.

Personal communication: There is no need to make small talk before starting a business conversation. Although Americans are very friendly, unlike Israelis they do not need to build personal relationships to form business relations. In contrast to Israelis, Americans do not have the "Where do I know you from?" conversation and the reconstruction of different life cycles until they decipher from where they know each other.

Joint projects: The American culture advocates clarity, planning, clearly stated reports, goal setting, in short – order. On the other hand, Israelis are pitching an idea today, building a plan tomorrow and starting to implement it the very next week. Here lies the main problem – there is a disconnect between Israeli spontaneity and American planning. There is no escape from the setting of milestones, goals and solutions to the problems that arise on the way. Be more patient and you will achieve the joint project's goals more easily, and perhaps even learn a little about order and organization from the Americans.

Team meetings: Prepare a detailed schedule of work meetings: their content, subjects and goals to be achieved. Americans love clarity and avoid uncertainty, so the clearer you are about where and how the meeting goes, the more cooperation you will gain.

Punctuality: Americans value the phrase “time is money.” They expect you to arrive on time, conduct meetings according to a predetermined schedule, and not do everything at the last minute.

Work and family: In Israel there is no division between work and home, people are always connected to their phones and laptops, and do not think twice about writing emails at midnight. Americans appreciate hard work and will take their work home if necessary, but they have a clear division between family time and work time, and refrain from working during their family time.

Direct criticism: Although we, like Americans, advocate direct criticism, Israelis take it to the next level. It is important to understand that Americans start by pointing out the positive things, and only then move on to constructive criticism, such as: “I liked your idea…Your idea has interesting aspects… Did you check whether…” I suggest being more attentive to American speech and body language, and thus understand whether you have reached a line that should not be crossed. Be subtler when conducting direct criticism of Americans, and more alert when in a conversation you are told “this is very interesting…” about the idea you presented.

In summary, cultural competency skills teach you to embrace the similarities and respect the differences. Are you ready to flex out of your comfort zone?