To Adapt or Not to Adapt

Guidelines for Interacting Across Cultures

David Livermore, a cross-cultural communications expert and president of the Cultural Intelligence Center, says he’s often asked, “Who should adapt to whom?” when people from different cultures come together in a variety of professional or personal settings.

Livermore says these situations are rarely straightforward, and he stresses the need for understanding specific scenarios. “In some situations, you should fully adapt to the other culture, and in other situations it might feel insulting to people,” Livermore says. He recommends considering two questions when deciding whether or not to adapt to a culture’s norms:

How rigid are they? If you are in New York City, locals might think it strange if those from other cultures overtly try to adapt to cultural norms there, Livermore says. “But if you’re in Korea there is high expectation that you conform strongly to the norms there,” he says.

Will the cultural differences strengthen what we are trying to accomplish, or minimize it? Livermore gives the example of when Starbucks first opened stores in China. “Starbucks made most of those stores closely resemble a traditional Chinese tea house that mainly served tea and little coffee,” he says. “The Chinese were irritated because they believed they already had great teahouses and wanted the unique Starbucks experience with double mochas and lattes.”