When the term ‘culture’ is used, an association with ‘nationality’ often follows - French, Japanese, Chinese and so on. However, this is only one dimension of human difference and taken alone may tell us very little about the complex individuals we work with. This TMA World presentation offers a quick guide to effectively leveraging all kinds of diversity within your organization. For more advice on working with difference and the other skills you and your organization require to thrive in the borderless workplace, contact us today: enquiries@tmaworld.com or visit our website: www.tmaworld.com

1. A Guide To Working With Difference
Beyond Nationality
Terence Brake: Head of Learning & Innovation, TMA World

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2
Working With Difference: Beyond Nationality
Let me begin by first
asking the question,
What
Is
Culture
“
”One of the problems inherited from the past is that when the term
‘culture’ is used, an association with ‘nationality’ often follows -
French, Japanese, Chinese and so on.
Nationality, however, is only one dimension of human difference and
taken alone may tell us very little about the complex individuals we
work with.

3. © Transnational Management Associates Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
3
Working With Difference: Beyond Nationality
Let me define a culture, as follows:
“A culture is a group that shares
experiences and characteristics that
shape how its members understand
and act in the world.”

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Working With Difference: Beyond Nationality
Common experiences and characteristics facilitate the development
and maintenance of shared assumptions, attitudes, values, beliefs and
behaviours. Some cultural groups we are born into, and others we join
or become part of during our lives.

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Working With Difference: Beyond Nationality
Cultural groups can be shaped by many different types of shared
experiences and characteristics, not just nationality:
Age Cognitive Style
Education
Ethnicity Gender
Language
National Origin Organization
Personality
Physical Abilities Profession
Race
Religion Sexual Orientation
Skin Colour

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Working With Difference: Beyond Nationality
Some believe that
putting together a team
of people with diverse
nationalities will lead to
higher levels of creativity
and innovation.
Perhaps, but to be sure
we need to look deeper.

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Working With Difference: Beyond Nationality
We may, for example,
have different
nationalities on a team,
but very similar cognitive
styles.
Unless we take into
account a fuller range of
differences, we may not
derive the full benefits
we want from diversity.

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8
Working With Difference: Beyond Nationality
Harrah’s Hotels, Resorts,
and Casinos are focusing
on cognitive diversity for
achieving specific and
defined business goals.

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9
Working With Difference: Beyond Nationality
Once an issue has been
designed, ‘Diverse by
Design’ teams are
formed.
They use a brain
dominance instrument to
identify differences in
thinking styles and make
sure that their teams
have different styles
represented.

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10
Working With Difference: Beyond Nationality
The kinds of diversity
needed on a team will
differ, of course, by
business objective and
context.

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Working With Difference: Beyond Nationality
The bottom line is that
today’s highly complex
business environment
demands that we adopt a
more sophisticated
approach to
understanding and
utilizing human
differences.

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12
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Publications Written by Terence Brake, Director of Learning &
Innovation at TMA World.
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to us at: enquiries@tmaworld.com
Or visit our website:
www.tmaworld.com
About Us
Visit
www.tmaworld.com/insights
to discover the latest
thinking from our experts
on global, collaborative,
cross-cultural and virtual
working.