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Welcome to the Family!

Working in an Indian company, it is like living in an Indian joint family…

When I was working for Satyam in India, I felt it so strongly and I met so many people who were actually affirming being part of the “Satyam Family” that I could not resist dedicating it a post in my blog.

I noticed that many Indian families are built around 3 concepts: hierarchy, reputation and solidarity and I found exactly the same concepts in Satyam. Hence, I believe that the people who called themselves part of the “Satyam Family” were not that wrong. Let me introduce its members:

• My siblings: they were my colleagues. We were working for the same bosses, sharing the same responsibilities, the same deadlines; I felt close to them and shared my entire day with them (evenings and weekend sometimes).
• My cousins: they were the people who did not work directly with me, but I frequently had to interact with for work. Sometimes located in other cities around the world, they still made me feel we belong to the same family.
• My parents, the “senior leaders”, people to whom I owe absolute respect and obeisance. It is interesting to notice that in English, the word “senior” means “elder “but also “superior”, as if it was logically the same thing: the elder you are, the better position you get. It is a world where every white hair makes you closer to the CEO… Indian parents generally raise their children so they can support them in life; Indian managers generally hire employees to support them in their work. They want mainly executors who do not discuss the decisions. In the West, parents want to see their children independent. The Western bosses seek employees who can work as assertive partners and make decisions. Of course, advantages and disadvantages are there in both the systems.

I am sure many of you have heard about the huge financial scam happened in Satyam in January this year. Ramalinga Raju, our CEO who had an indirect but strong influence on all the members of the “Satyam Family” like a Grandfather, falsified the results which lead the company to a miserable financial state. Since June, Satyam has been taken over by Tech Mahindra and is now called “Mahindra Satyam”. Between January and June, it was the time I realized how strong was the solidarity amongst “Satyam Family” members. I was regularly receiving emails of associates grouped to help “our fathers” to save the company. They were ready to give up 2 or 3 months of their salary and were looking for more associates to rally to their cause. An impressive number of people accepted the idea and replied positively to the request! Fortunately, it has not been implemented in reality.

Furthermore, many of the emails were supporting the moral of Satyam associates in these troubled times because most of them were very afraid to lose their job. These emails were insisting how important is it to fight and to keep the head straight and most of them were ending with the famed sentence: “We are proud to be Satyamites!”

It is amazing to see how emotional people can get when the situation becomes difficult… just like in a family!

If You Are a Foreigner, I Will Tell You All My Shameful Secrets…

Many Westerners I spoke with often asked me if it is really possible for a foreigner to integrate in India. In fact, this interrogation came so many times in the discussions that I thought about writing a post on the topic.

A lot of foreigners’ testimonials describe the Indian society as an open world which is closed at the same time. Open because Indians are known to be very welcoming. Any foreigner who is in India as a tourist or a professional would feel that people are generally trying to help you and most of them are very hospitable. However, the society is also closed because Indian will always consider you as a foreigner who do not share the Indian values and thus cannot access the experience of the typical Indian life such as marrying someone from their family.

My own experience told me something relatively different: for me, the Indian society has always been extremely open. In fact, it depends on the definition of integration we consider and the attitude of the foreigner as well. In terms of being really closed to Indians and having true friends, I believe it is difficult (especially for a male foreign tourist to meet Indian women for example) but possible in case the foreigner really tries to integrate. I met so many Westerners who travelled in India for months or even for years and have not built any single relationship other than superficial contacts with tourist guides, shopkeepers or beggars. These foreigners generally interact with the local people only because they have to; it is part of their travel anyway so they cannot escape it. When these discussions are not bugging them, it becomes a game: interactions are considered as attempts or even opportunities to get the most with the less money. Most of the time, foreigners do think they are really entertaining deep relationships with locals and feel proud of being so well integrated. Some people call it integration in the Indian society, for me it is nothing but superposition of the Western culture on the Indian one. For example, I met during one of my travels in the Himalayas a group of tourists. There were sitting by a river. I joined the group and decided to spend the evening with them. It was very interesting for me: we were all sharing our experience and I came to understand how less they were trying to integrate in the society despite their beliefs of becoming almost like Indians! First they all agreed that fortunately in India there were other foreigners to hang out with so they do not feel too lonely. What a relief! According to them, Indians were there role models in terms of philosophy and spiritual way of living but it is however too difficult to live with such different people. One of these foreigners was Australian. He told us he took a year off after his studies to come to India and experience “the real life, far from the materialistic societies of the West”. He was here to meet “true people”. Nice program… The funny part was that he was convinced that the right thing to do so was by spending months, smoking and attending techno parties with other foreigners in Goa or Manali. I asked him if he was really happy wasting almost one year of his life doing nothing. He gave me a surprised stare as if I was coming from another planet and told me: “Come on! This is India man!” Dude, if this definition of India is yours, it is certainly not mine!

Real Integration means trying to speak the local language, meeting different kind of people and building strong relationships. I believe that living in India, working there and trying to mix with Indians as much as possible really helps to build these relationships. One just needs to be as curious as possible about India as such deep understanding permits to build bridges across cultures as I explained in a previous post (read the article called “Understand Diversity”, posted on 24/06/2009 for more details). Thus, I met many of my friends in India when I was living in Chennai. I really consider them as my closest pals and will always cherish the moments we spent together the same way they will. It is true that they will always consider me as a foreigner, but this status always permits me to access information that they are not even sharing between them. In that sense, I found the Indian society extremely open to me. For example, I came to know that some of my Indian colleagues I was working with were divorced but absolutely nobody else within the company except me was aware of that. In India divorces are still not accepted in the society so the people who are living this situation generally prefer to hide it rather than having to face judgmental comments from the people around them. Of course, hiding such big thing every day is difficult so they feel released to share their personal life with an outsider. I do not know other societies in the world as much as the Indian one but I believe that the most conservative the society is, the easiest it is for a foreigner to access secret information and deep hided secrets within the same providing he succeeded to mix effectively with locals.

In conclusion, having lived in the Subcontinent for quite some time, I was often wondering if I was integrated or not. Now, I understood that the real question to ask myself would rather be: “in which way can I consider myself part of the Indian society?”

Do Not Spoil my Culture

I always thought Valentine’s Day in Switzerland is just made to sell fancy stuff to keep shop’s proprietors happy. In India however, Valentine’s Day happens to be a very important time. It is not only about celebrating love but it is considered by many to be one form of the westernization of the Indian society. Allowing Valentine’s Day Cards would be accepting that people express their love to each other. Some people find that love is not an Indian concept and thus expressing it is not acceptable. They are not happy with Valentine’s Day cards so they burn them in public, trying to attract the media and as many people as they can to their cause. Of course, there are lots of politics behind their actions but it also shows that conservative mindset has still a great future in India. The legendary difference between the North and the South of the country also divides these political groups: 2 different names to pollute 2 different regions but the same backward idea: protecting the purity of the Indian Culture (defined by them of course) against the so-called-decadence brought by the West. In the North, the disease is called Shiv Sena .

The South has no reason to be jealous either; there is also a bunch of cranky frustrated fellows who think girls should not be drinking in bars. They form a group called Ram Sena. I am still shocked about what happened in Bangalore and Mangalore earlier this year. Girls and women have been beaten up because they were with guys who were not their relative or because they have been seen in a bar. According to the Ram Sena, if women hang out with men, it has to be only with their father, brother or husband. If there is a man who does not belong to any of these categories it is a sin so he should marry the girl. Of course all these barbarian concepts are not decided by people who actually fight in the streets. Similar to a Mafia, there are political leaders sitting in their office and influence young people to do the dirty job for them.  Maybe we should all join the 10,000+ women throughout the world who are sending to Pramod Mutalik (Ram Sena’s leader) a pair of pink panties every year on Valentine’s Day.

In this post I am not debating on the subject. I am just sharing how shocked and disgusted I feel about it. I think it is difficult to discuss with such intolerant people anyway. However, the fact that such extremist groups exist shows a real problem in the Indian society. Some people are so scared that others could “spoil their culture” that it could be interesting to analyze what they mean by culture and how to bring tolerance and respect amongst all the members of the society. The real debate is thus about culture and would surely take much more space than a single post in a blog like mine.

Namaste, Aap Kaise Hain?

I am sure that most of us would feel very happy to meet someone from another culture with another mother tongue trying to speak our own language, even if there are mistakes. Just try it: hola in Spain, Guten Tag in Germany, bonjour in France or namaste in India, you will see smiles on people’s face. It just feels good. The relationship with these people will improve immediately after it, even if the language skill is limited and you have to switch the conversation in English. When I was in India, I have experienced many situations where knowing some words in Hindi or Tamil helped me to get more opportunities or discounts. For example, I remember when I had to negotiate with rickshaw drivers (the people who drive the famous Indian three wheelers taxis) for the price of the journey.  First I thought I was not comfortable enough with Indian languages to be able to interact with them in Hindi or Tamil so I was doing it in English only. Then I realized that English was helpful to be understood easily but was bringing also a feeling of cultural barrier between us. I was just one more foreigner tourist trying to get a lower price. Thus, I started to use the few words I know in Hindi and the prices went down drastically. I was becoming someone who knows about Indians, who is interested in them. They felt I was a nice guy, I got Indian prices.

The fact that the same journey which costs me 120 rupees when I bargain in English is charged only 60 rupees by using Hindi shows the advantages and opportunities you can get by trying to speak the basics of the language of the country you are in. The interesting question now would be: which are the basic words to know in order to impress people and make the biggest impact amongst your interlocutors?  I would suggest starting with the first conversation anybody would have when people meet for the first time: the greetings. You are going to Russia or China for holiday, for a business trip or to live there for few months? Learn at least how to say hello, how are you, I am fine thanks and you, what is your name, what is your job, where are you from in Russian or Chinese, even everybody you will meet speak English. You will see the difference, trust me.

Understanding Diversity

Many forms of diversity can be experienced in a work environment. It is not just about people coming together from different cultures but also about people coming together from different age groups, different mindsets, different personalities, different work skills, different genders and many much more.

Thus, we all have to face a form of diversity in our work. The question now is: how to deal with it? In other terms, how to make diversity an asset rather than an inconvenience for business?

To this question the answer would be: understanding situations and values which stand behind everyone’s behavior. Understanding does not always mean accepting or adopting, it is just about being aware that other ways of thinking and other contexts exist outside our own community.  The moment we start realizing why someone is acting in a different way, we can relate better to it and accept that behavior, maybe even making the most out of it to achieve our own goals. For example, as a Westerner, it is important to understand that if my Indian colleagues ask too many personal questions, I should not feel offended. In my culture, it is considered to be rude to step into someone else’s privacy by asking personal questions, especially in a work environment but I have to understand that it is different according to the Indian culture. I can accept more easily my Indian colleagues’ behavior if I know that they were born and brought up in a group oriented society in which talking about personal matters helps to build trust between business partners. Keeping this in mind, I will try to incorporate the advantages of having colleagues with a group oriented mindset by affecting them in positions where they can use their specific skills (e.g. ability to work in a team, bringing high support between members etc.) This example is about cultural differences but the same logic applies in a broader perspective: understanding the link between values or situations (generally not perceptible, difficult to change) and behaviors (more observable, easy to adapt) is the key to appreciate any form of diversity.

People often consider this diversity as a fatality, an obstacle to business we cannot avoid. All efforts are put to reduce its impacts. However, leaders across organizations are slowly realizing that if they understand it, they would be able to leverage more efficiently on the different skills of the various team members. Hence, from the idea of being an obstacle, diversity can be also considered as a tool which permits to increase business efficiency!

Experiencing Cultural Diversity at Work

People across the world work differently depending on the culture they belong to. For example, Westerners are known to differentiate their private life and professional life, while Indians tend to generally mix both. However, here I would like to add that culture is not black & white but has different shades of colors. So it may not be good to stereotype people. Moreover, I am not being judgmental while pointing out the differences in work style between Indians and Westerners. In fact, there are advantages and disadvantages in both situations depending on the context. This is exactly why I think that a diverse team brings about positive results. Let me take an example from my own experience. As a Swiss national in India for many months, I have been exposed to both cultures. In other terms, I have discovered different work styles. When I was working in Switzerland, I appreciated the professionalism of my European colleagues. After coming to India and working with Indians, I realized the importance of focusing on relationships too, in order to build a good business network and also understood the advantages of being flexible at work (e.g. regarding office hours). As a result of this diverse cultural experience, I can choose what suits me the most according to the context in which I am working in. In other terms, I now have a bigger choice of tools to improve my efficiency provided by two diverse cultures. Moreover, working with people from different cultures made me understand team dynamics and better relate to individual team members based on their specific skills in the cultural context.

Poll of the Month

Women at Work

Regarding professional life, women around the World are having tough time…

In almost all the societies around the world, the sex ratio for people who occupy the highest positions in organizations is clearly unbalanced. Moreover, in Switzerland, the disparity between genders regarding salary is apparent: men earn on average 25 % more than women for the same position in the same company. That is quite a surprise for a country which claims to be an egalitarian society. In India, the situation is different: the salary is more equal between genders than in Switzerland but there are more cases where women do not have as much opportunities as men to get a job. When I was working in India, I noticed that there were 3 men for 1 woman at my workplace. At that time, the reasons struck me immediately and my Indian colleagues confirmed: the illiteracy rate is bigger for women than men in all the states of India (except Kerala) and traditionally, Indian women often stay at home to take care of housework and children (“inside work”, “inside responsibilities”) where the men have the responsibility to bring money home (“outside work”, “outside duty”). However, the government helps women to get a job by reducing  taxes on their incomes and entertaining the glory of those who achieved a successful career such as Kiran Bedi, India’s first female police officer (she is today one of the most famous people in the country). These measures try to influence the conservative mindset of the majority of the Indian population regarding the professional life of women.

Of course, in India and in Switzerland, the way of thinking is changing and the societies tend to become more equal. However, there is still a long way to go. I think it would be interesting to consider both cases (Switzerland and India) in order to find solutions to improve the equality between genders.

In Switzerland, the mindset which claims that men and women should be equal and have the same access to job opportunities is widely accepted in theory, but in the facts the philosophy is too rarely implemented.

In India, the government has launched many successful initiatives to promote equality between genders, but in a society which still has a quite conservative mindset in this field.

Hence, each entity of these two different worlds has its set of challenges:

For most of the western countries like Switzerland the question should be: how to bring concretely the notion of equality for genders in the daily life.

For India, the question should be how to improve the efficiency of the different actions taken in order to have the maximum impact on the population.