{"id":12361,"date":"2018-08-01T13:27:40","date_gmt":"2018-08-01T10:27:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/contribyte.fi\/2018\/08\/01\/kulttuurinen-empatia\/"},"modified":"2022-07-04T16:22:45","modified_gmt":"2022-07-04T13:22:45","slug":"cultural-empathy-requires-you-to-understand-or-accept","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/contribyte.fi\/en\/2018\/08\/01\/cultural-empathy-requires-you-to-understand-or-accept\/","title":{"rendered":"Cultural Empathy Requires You to Understand or Accept the Other Person"},"content":{"rendered":"

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ fullwidth=”on” custom_padding_last_edited=”on|desktop” _builder_version=”3.22″ background_image=”https:\/\/contribyte.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Fotolia_115438891_M.jpg” custom_padding_tablet=”50px|0|50px|0″ custom_padding_phone=”” transparent_background=”off” padding_mobile=”off”][et_pb_fullwidth_post_title author=”off” date_format=”j M Y” categories=”off” comments=”off” featured_placement=”background” text_color=”light” text_background=”on” text_bg_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0.38)” _builder_version=”3.0.106″ title_font_size=”48px” title_line_height=”1.2em” meta_font_size=”16px” meta_letter_spacing=”4px” meta_line_height=”3em” parallax=”on” parallax_method=”off” custom_padding=”200px||300px|” title_font_size_tablet=”” title_font_size_phone=”30px” title_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone”][\/et_pb_fullwidth_post_title][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ custom_padding_last_edited=”on|desktop” admin_label=”section” _builder_version=”3.22″ background_color=”#f2f2f2″ custom_padding_tablet=”50px|0|50px|0″ custom_padding_phone=”” transparent_background=”off” padding_mobile=”off”][et_pb_row padding_mobile=”off” column_padding_mobile=”on” _builder_version=”3.25″ background_color=”#ffffff” background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_post_title author=”off” categories=”off” comments=”off” featured_image=”off” _builder_version=”3.0.85″ title_font_size=”50px” parallax=”on” parallax_method=”off” custom_padding=”|50px||50px” title_font_size_tablet=”” title_font_size_phone=”30px” title_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” parallax_effect=”on”][\/et_pb_post_title][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row padding_mobile=”off” column_padding_mobile=”on” admin_label=”row” _builder_version=”3.25″ background_color=”#ffffff” background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|50px||50px” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.4.8″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” module_alignment=”left” use_border_color=”off”]<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is important to realize that understanding an action is not the same as accepting it.\u201d I read this quote by Arman Alizad<\/b><\/span><\/a> in an article in which he was interviewed about many things, including building trust in cultures that have a completely different set of values from your own.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

It is important to realize that understanding an action is not the same as accepting it.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u00a0<\/h3>\n

The Tweet That Went Viral<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n

It was evident from the article that Alizad had embraced and was able to express the key to establishing interaction \u2013 and trust in particular \u2013 between cultures. I was so glad about this down-to-earth explanation for cultural interaction that I tweeted <\/span><\/a>it (the quote above).<\/span><\/p>\n

Because it was the message of a public figure, it spread pretty quickly. Someone replied to it with a tweet that was blogged by Twitter as offensive. I was left to ponder what was so offensive about it.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/i>Cultural Empathy<\/i><\/span><\/a>\u00a0is the capacity, within a person, to identify with the feelings, thoughts and behavior of individuals from different cultural backgrounds.<\/i>\u201d \u2013 Empathic Perspectives<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A Sacred Ritual or a Crime?<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n

I discussed this with my friend, who asked me if I would truly understand if a little girl\u2019s genitals were painfully mutilated. I stopped. I would not understand within my own set of values, within my own cultural frame of reference. Would I accept it? Not in my own world. Then what could I do? Would I order the measure to be stopped and protect the girl? Would I leave? Would I say, with tears in my eyes, that I cannot watch because I hurt for her because of my own set of values?<\/span><\/p>\n

If I intervened in the ritual, would I be interrupting a sacred ritual in which the girl is protected from being plagued by desires? Would I cause a greater evil, shame, abandonment by society, the manifestation of evil, the death of the girl? Because I cannot understand the big picture, I cannot directly judge. A lack of understanding is the enemy of empathy.<\/b><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

I would say \u201ctell me why you are doing what you are doing; help me understand your action, so that I can accept it.\u201d The explanation may not sit well in your set of values, and it is difficult to make the other person change their way. So accept it. Of course, circumcision and other similar initiation rites are extreme examples. At best, I could save that one girl, but I would not be changing the culture even if I tried preaching as a tribal priestess.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/h3>\n
\"kulttuurinen

Photo by Heather Mount on Unsplash<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Deep-rooted Operating Methods Can Only Be Grasped Through Values and Beliefs<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n

Sometimes you may just about understand some horrible act, even if you do not accept it. Or sometimes it is simply impossible to understand another person, but you have to accept them in order to continue communicating with them<\/b>. If you are in a new environment, there is no use in preaching that something is \u201cwrong\u201d or \u201cstupid.\u201d You feel like telling your own \u201cright\u201d and \u201csmart\u201d view and blurting out: \u201cWhy would you not do this and that?\u201d Would they change the way they do things? No. At best, they might like to hear your views and try to understand you. In some rare cases, if the matter is not deep-rooted in the culture, they might actually accept your proposal.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

In order to grasp a hold of empathy, you need to dig deep into values and beliefs.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In order to grasp a hold of empathy, you need to dig deep into values and beliefs. They are not easily changed, unless you can first truly<\/i> understand the other person. Empathy arises from the effort to understand another person<\/b>. When the situation involves cultural empathy, you need to be open and dare dive down into beliefs \u2013 try to understand them or accept them.<\/span><\/p>\n

For this reason, I consider the following statement by Mahatma Gandhi<\/b> to be the foundation of my cultural view:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLet my house not be walled on four sides, let all the windows be open, let all the cultures blow in but let no culture blow me off my feet.\u201d<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

In order to operate in another culture, you must be open to new things while still holding on to your values and ideas. Not everything needs to be said out loud. Silence is another form of empathy.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Everyone Is Capable of Empathy if They Want to Be<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n

The same idea is involved in changes in organizational culture<\/span><\/a>. These changes are not made; they occur. In this sense, I want to remind you of the words of Jarkko Rantanen<\/b>, who said that changing the culture is a difficult and slow process, but it allows you to influence the emotional climate<\/span><\/a> of the company with faster results. The emotional climate is formed by empathy between individuals: understand and\/or accept, ask and listen, and contemplate values and beliefs. Find your own and identify those of others.<\/b> Everyone is capable of empathy if they want to be. This also applies to cultural empathy if you are ready to be open and understand that cultures have deep, inflexible roots.<\/span><\/p>\n

So begin by understanding and, if you cannot understand, accept if you want to get along. \u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_team_member name=”Maria Wan” position=”Service Design Consultant” image_url=”https:\/\/contribyte.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Wan-Maria.jpg” twitter_url=”https:\/\/twitter.com\/HanumanConsults” linkedin_url=”https:\/\/fi.linkedin.com\/in\/mariawan” admin_label=”Person” _builder_version=”3.19.1″ background_color=”#f9f9f9″ custom_padding=”30px|30px|30px|30px” global_module=”15712″ saved_tabs=”all”]<\/p>\n

Maria guides Contribyte’s clients towards more interactive teams and coaches organizations to a better customer understanding. Maria has experience in designing and managing services, multicultural and international activities, and developing cross-organizational customer-orientation. On a perfect summer day, Maria can be found biking to a tennis court or observing people in a foreign environment. Maria understands customers from developers to management teams, from teenagers to grandmothers and from Finns to Samoans.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt is important to realize that understanding an action is not the same as accepting it.\u201d This quote by Arman Alizad made me think about different cultures and how to successfully work with different people. 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