Since arriving, all I could think about was what American/tourist stereotypes I fell into. At one point today, a couple men stopped our group and asked “tourist?” and I realized it must have looked very obvious. And during our Docusign visit, I thought it was really weird how Michael talked about other foreign stereotypes in the workplace. For example, things like the Dutch are so direct it sounds rude, or how Indians rarely say no and its hard to differentiate an enthusiastic yes when conducting contracts. Hearing these criticisms of other cultures and their habits was really different from Google’s approach of embracing their differences within their internal team. Hearing Arman talk about the different cultural food places on site and working to collaborate given different backgrounds and experience, there wasn’t a negative thing said. Maybe these viewpoints differ because of the demographics of the team, or maybe because of their target markets, seeing how Google is so globally spread, but Docusign is hardly used in Europe. Regardless of the reason, I did think it a little strange how the topic of international business was presented at Docusign, because I would usually air on the side of caution with making and/or maintaining these assumptions. I will say, that these things may be indicative of the speakers views (and not on behalf of all of Docusign), but if this is the case, that shows a weaker company culture where respect for business partners isn’t universally shared. Maybe I think too far into accidentally offending someone, but even walking on the street I find myself trying not to contradict how others around me conduct business in something as small as a gift shop, under the impression of who I’m representing.
Hearing our speaker at Docusign talk about other downsides of international business was also something I notice outside of business contexts. Trying to communicate with my friends and family back home, I have to be aware of timezones and when to expect a response. Sometimes I will text them pictures of my morning and realize its still long before 5 AM for them. In this way, I definitely resonate with Google’s flexibility in their work times, recalling Arman talking about a kind of “asynchronous” model where employees could work on different schedules. When I send my family pictures of the day, I recognize that they’re on a different schedule and it’s not a problem. While timezones are something to be mindful of, rejecting a potential area of business for it is definitely not a good idea. Overall, I thought Google’s approach to talking about diversity in culture was practically common sense, but Docusign’s felt a little bit lacking, and may just be the reason for not being as widely used in Europe as it is in the US.
Later in the day, we decided to take a walk around St. Patrick’s cathedral, and the same standards apply, if not more, to be aware of those around you. We sat in the park, but were sure not to be too loud, or too close, or disrespect the history and culture around the cathedral. Because even though its not a business exchange, I don’t want to be subject to the assumptions and stereotypes that could appear.
