When Cultures Diverge (or so they think)

Lately, I’m enjoying visiting Serbian blogs and forums. Being away from social gatherings in the old country for more than a decade, I am now getting to know new generations growing up with the Internet, budding web professionals and a variety of local pundits and homesick expats.


To spice things up, our foreign spouses, still figuring out what they signed up for by marrying a Serb, joined the fray only to find out that they are now in-laws with the whole country! These well-meaning people, lead by an American business woman known by her nom du blog Rosemary Bailey Brown, are now having to discuss “from their perspective” all kinds of topics from politics to sarma recipes. All in all, it’s lively and fun.

As Rosemary herself is a successful web entrepreneur, now enjoying her semi-retirement traveling and living part-time in Serbia, conversation often revolves around business and the power of the Internet. Always generous with her advice and support, she belongs to a new breed of post-Web 2.0 business establishment that stays on the front lines with the masses.

For the most part, the English language and a vast pool of common pop-culture references make communication a breeze. We easily understand each others’ opposing views on smoking in public and agree that doting on your grown up kids might be considered over-parenting. But, when it comes to business and work related issues, the cultural gap suddenly seems wider and harder to overcome.

Situated on the fault lines between the provisional East and West, Serbia, like the rest of the pebble-size Balkan countries, never fully embraced nor rejected either. Unfortunately, an opportunity to have the best of the both worlds is a packaged deal: you also get the less savory parts from each side. Western-minded business people thus face a hodge-podge of capitalistic materialism, dog-eat-dog attitude, socialist egalitarianism, Slavic nonchalance, Byzantine networking, Turkish passion for lengthy coffee breaks, Latin love for fiestas (and siestas) with traces of Austrian orderliness. A lot to navigate!

The list of traditional complaints and misunderstandings usually goes like this:

W (est): Time is money.
S (erbia): I prefer to be rich in time.

W: Anticipate problems.
S: What problems?

W: Ask questions related to your job.
S: Why?

W: Don’t ask questions or offer opinions unrelated to your job.
S: Why not?

W: Follow the rules.
S: What rules?

W: Bottom line, bottom line.
S: Your bottom line is not my bottom line.

W: Make sacrifices for your career.
S: Make sacrifices for your family.

W: My bank account is my security.
S: My family is my security.

W: Meritocracy rules.
S: Only if my cousin happens to be the best candidate.

W: You are arrogant in your ignorance.
S: You are arrogant in your infinite wisdom.

W: Shape up!
S: Loosen up!

At this point, you might be tempted to play Dr. Phil and ask both sides: How’s that working for you? After all is said and done, more than likely, there would be an honest self-assessment of our respective ways and a desire to change, improve and accommodate.

If people in Serbia (or any other country in transition) could only experience realities of working and running a business, particularly the American style, they will understand why their leisurely ways drive foreigners crazy. In an environment where an invisible meter is running around the clock and everyday is a Bill Pay Day, a relaxed attitude towards time and work is not an option. They will also understand why it’s so important to find the best person for the job and that nothing is taken for granted, no position, benefit or a roof over your head. On the other hand, most regular folks around the world strive for nothing more than a job well done, a pay well earned and a rest well deserved. In Serbia, too, despite evidence to the contrary and the current state of general affairs.

No one is operating in vacuum anymore, the Web is penetrating the last isolated pockets of the world as we speak. The Enrons and the bubbles, the unrelenting pace of life and a lack of security nets in the “far West” are on full display. So is the price countries pay, including the richest ones, for appeasing the gods of fast, cheap and plenty. Maybe questioning a notion that profits and 24/7 work schedule should take precedent over everything else is, after all, a legitimate issue to be raised.

Today, social media is enabling direct conversations across the globe, stripping us in the process of many preconceived notions and national posturing. It is a perfect tool for sharing our collective experiences and finding common grounds and goals. Empathy, the ability to imagine yourself in someone else’s place and see the world from a different point, lies in the heart of every successful interaction. How about a global Walk a Mile in My Shoes Day to put things in perspective and everybody on the same page?

P.S. To avoid any appearance of gooey, feel-good idealism, it can be sponsored by Zappos ;)