What it means to be a Canadian worker in a globalized world
Culture is all around us, in music, art, language and most importantly for this blog post, behaviour. If like me, you have gone through all your schooling from kindergarten to university in Canada, there is no “Canadian behaviourisms” its just normal to you. This was my reality until I began working for a multinational company where my boss and closest colleagues were an ocean away.
Quickly I learned that we Canadians are a quirky people. We do many things that leave our friends around the world scratching their heads. Here are a couple of the most common things I observed/were pointed out to me.
1. “Why can’t you ever say what you mean”?
I got this one a lot! The truth is we Canadians are, well, bad at saying what is really on our minds. Think about this one: You are in a meeting and a colleague presented what is really a bad idea. What is most likely going to happen is everyone will say “good idea, just maybe not what we had in mind”. Other things that are likely to come up would be “Hmm, save that idea for later” or “we will think about it”. We simply do not have the heart to tell people, “That’s a really bad idea. What made you come up with that”?
Sure, it might hurt someone’s feelings, but in the working world, this will help colleagues quickly learn and realize what good work is and what bad work is and how they can improve it. Our sugar coating of everything can lead people on the wrong path right up to the point they fall of a cliff. This is incredibly frustrating to many around the world, who just want to know if something works or not without any fluff or comforting words.
2. Being too nice seen as suspicious
We Canadians pride ourselves on how nice we are. We smile at colleagues, ask how they are doing and apologize about everything. This sounds normal right? Not so for many around the world.
For example, in Russia, if you go and smile at a complete stranger they will think you are strange. In Russia, people do not walk around smiling all the time and it is not because they are serious people, it is simply because if you smile at someone, you are happy to see them. We will give a smile to everyone regardless of whether they are our work bestie or someone we cannot stand. This can make Canadians come off as fake and suspicious.
Another frustrating thing in this category is how we tend to ask everyone from the coffee shop clerk to a colleague, “How are you”? In Canada, the only acceptable answer is “fine thanks and you”. This is frustrating to many for two reasons.
If you ask this to someone who does not know who you are, it comes off as invasive, because they will genuinely think you want to know how they are doing, whether that be good or bad. Furthermore, if you ask someone ‘how are you?’ as you walk down the hallway and break eye contact, it shows you do not care what the answer is.
Do not get me wrong, we Canadians are loved for the most part, but it is important to be mindful of how our “normal” behaviour may be perceived around the world or to new Canadian colleagues right here at home. As the world becomes more and more integrated, we need to not just be conscious of what other cultures are like, but also look closely at ourselves.
Further reading
Many of these “Canadianisms” can be explained using the Hofstede Cultural Dimensions. I will leave the link here for further reading on this. The website also includes a great tool to examine other cultures and their norms and typical behaviours. It is important to note that these studies are based on a generic and most common overview of different countries and their norms. Every person is an individual and no one aligns perfectly with the dominant traits in their country.
- Victor Santiago, IABC Board member