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May 25, 2005 One of my passions is to train new staff members and to lead coaching and self-discovery sessions for my managers. I love the thrill of watching people's minds open to new possibilities and share their excitement as their heart grasps new possibilities. Recently, while doing some reading for my next training session, I came across a most amusing yet sad story involving miscommunication due to cultural differences. On December 20th last year, a Canadian seismologist sent a fax to the Sri Lankan Prime Minister's Office. He had been studying the geology and seismic events off the coast of Sumatra for many years. After much research and plenty of cross checking, he believed his assessment to be 90% accurate. An earthquake off the northern coast of Sumatra appeared imminent. Believing that most civil servants would not be able to follow his seismic thinking, he simply chose to send a warning to the Sri Lankan PM, warning him of the imminent danger that he believed his country faced. Similar warnings were sent to Sumatra, Thailand and India. However, the last three mentioned felt there was little value in the warning and took no action. You and I know the rest of the story. The Sri Lankan's however acted differently. The PM received the message which read: "Tsunami coming soon to Sri Lanka. Prepare for its arrival." He felt that Foreign Affairs would handle it best. They pondered it for a day and concluded that it fell more under the domain of Home Affairs. This department promptly set about to prepare for its arrival. First, they hired a limousine and parked it at the VIP exit of the International arrivals hall. Next, they had a huge banner made which they prominently displayed in the arrivals hall. The banner read: "Welcome Mr T Sunami" A few days later a tsunami devastated much off the coastline of Sri Lanka and other Indian Ocean nations. The banner fluttered at the international arrivals for a week before some highly embarrassed officials removed it. The miscommunication and the problem of international misunderstanding due to cultural differences rated a page 9 mention in the local national newspaper. The subject never made it onto any agenda of any department. Guess you know what they say about sleeping dogs... ------------ About the author: Ian Campbell is the author of the novel "The Fifth Cylinder." Ian tells us: "I love writing about issues that we as people wrestle with, both the big and small issues that can affect our lives. Looming just over the horizon are technologies that will utterly transform our communities and our lives. I love writing about how we as a society will live, love and war in that timeframe." Ian lives in Kuala Lumpur with his wife Kaz and is busy working on his second novel. Email: ianc28258@yahoo.com Tell a friend about this site! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
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