OGL 350 April 11, 2018

This discussion board was the response to participating in a simulation as a soldier in Afghanistan. The
goal of the simulation was to successfully gain the trust and help of a local rebel leader.
Understanding how to communicate within the Afghani cultural norms played a vital role.

Two out of the four times I ran through the scenario I was able to achieve success and gain
significant help from Haji Kamal.

Teressa Griffin mentions that “intentional consideration of … cultural identity, involves

understanding your own culture and its influence on how you think and see the world, as well as the
cultural norms of other group members” (Moore, 2008, p. 174). I found in the scenario that it was
important to consider the influence of American cultural norms when making decisions. One of the
situations that stood out to me as having a heavy American influence was skipping the small talk and
“cutting to the chase”. I learned in another class that “cutting to the chase” is a common American
practice in business, while in other cultures engaging in small-talk is polite and expected. It was clear in
this scenario that small-talk was a key component in gaining Haji Kamal’s trust.

After completing the scenario successfully twice, I ran through a few more times just to see
what would happen with the different options. I quickly found out that when you turned down both the
chai and the lamb that Haji Kamal wanted nothing to do with you.

Napier and Crow (2016) highlight the importance of a global mindset and the importance of
managers to be able to work interculturally in our globalized world (p. 35). They mention that “Bird and
Osland (2005) offer a framework suggesting that leaders must understand another culture before
acting” (Napier & Crow, 2016, p. 37). Since this was the Lieutenant’s first deployment, it was important
for him to have others with him who understood the culture. In addition to being able to set his own
cultural views aside, he needed to understand and engage in the cultural norms of Afghanistan. Griffin
mentions that “often the required adjustment goes beyond simply offering the current politically correct
platitudes. It may require a redefinition of approach and process” (Moore, 2008, p. 174). While the
accompanying soldiers sometimes offered the politically correct action, the scene often required the
Lieutenant to go beyond that correctness and fully engage in the cultural process before him.

In terms of assembling my own team in Afghanistan for this scenario, I would want to take
troops that were not only familiar with the culture, but sensitive to it as well. I would also want to
prepare myself by learning more about the culture and customs. Zakaria (2017), for example, talks
about considering the four cultural aspects of whether a community is individualistic or collectivist, uses
specific or neutral communication styles, if their time orientation is rigid or flexible, and whether they
are relationship or task oriented (pp. 204-210). Being able to understand these aspects of a culture can
help guide the approach of intercultural communication. Also knowing whether a culture is high or low
context can help determine the necessary body language, tone, and pace of the interaction. I think it
would be important to ask questions about these aspects of the culture before engaging with the
community, especially on a first deployment.

What I found to be most important in this scenario was engaging in the cultural norms by accepting the
chai and making (personal) small talk, remaining humble but not appearing feeble and meek, connecting
to Haji Kamal on an emotional level, and emphasizing (not belittling) the strength of Haji Kamal's people
while also portraying the strength of the U.S. military and the power of them all working together.
Success in this scenario relied heavily on respect towards the Afghani culture, and understanding how to
act/communicate with a sensitivity towards it.

Resources:

Moore, G.T. (2008) Effective Intercultural Communication. Chapter 7 in Effective Multicultural Teams:
Theory and Practice. ASU Library Electronic Collection.

Napier, N. K., & Crow, K. (2016). Moving Towards a Global Mindset: An Exploratory Process Framework.
In Global Mindsets: Exploration and Perspectives (pp. 35-48). New Routledge.

Zakaria, N. (2017). Chapter 16: How to Manage GVTs - Dos and Don'ts for Culture and Decision Making
for Global Leaders. In Culture matters: decision-making in global virtual teams (pp. 204-214). CRC Press.