In the MGA network's second webinar (April 6th), Frans Evers, chairman of the MGA network, discussed cultural misunderstandings in the application of the Mutual Gains Approach. The first question he raised in his presentation is a fundamental one: what are we actually talking about when we talk about culture?

The word "culture" is used widely. Consider: the culture of a country or people, corporate culture, a culture of fear, pop culture, etc. And can we really talk about one specific culture? We quickly risk generalizing or even creating a caricature of cultures. According to Frans Evers, cultures are less homogeneous than they appear, and therefore it’s better to talk about cultural elements. These cultural elements are decisive in how we communicate, but especially also how we interpret. It is in this process of communication and interpretation that misunderstandings arise, according to him.
We frequently see such misunderstandings in our work at WesselinkVanZijst.
Fortunately, there are interventions and tools to prevent these misunderstandings as much as possible. For example:

1. The ANNA Principle. Misunderstandings arise from assumptions about others and their culture. We form these assumptions, for example, based on our own experiences, a newspaper article, or a colleague's opinion. Before you know it, you're mistaking such an assumption for the truth. You are thus unconsciously setting yourself up for failure. So, be very aware of this! Verify whether your perception from the press or your colleague is in line with reality. We call such a verification conversation an ANNA conversation: Alles Nquestions, NSomething AYour mother.
2. Joint Fact Finding. During the webinar, Frans Evers showed a picture of a pipe (see image) and stated: ‘this is not a pipe.’ It is, after all, a picture of a pipe. Misunderstandings also arise when one relies on an image of reality, rather than the actual situation. We often see this reflected in our work, for example, when it comes to facts; the knowledge underlying a topic discussed in a dialogue. Different images and assumptions about the facts lead to different conclusions. And then try to reach an agreement with each other. One way to prevent this is to jointly investigate facts, or to apply Joint Fact Finding.
3. Making appointments. Finally, we see that misunderstandings arise from ‘vague agreements.’ Agreements that are not clearly documented. It regularly happens that parties believe they have reached an agreement, only to discover much later that they remember the agreements differently or give them a different interpretation. If both parties only realize this misunderstanding after informing their constituents or after a presumed agreement seems to have been violated, it can be difficult to revise the agreements and often leads to persistent conflicts. It is therefore good to explicitly focus on making clear, traceable, and enforceable agreements. In which not only the concrete agreement, but also the spirit/intention of the agreement is recorded.

A key lesson from Frans Evers is therefore that it doesn't take much to cause misunderstandings
to arise. Assumptions, different views of reality, and different interpretations of agreements can be the cause of this. Cultural differences between negotiators make these pitfalls even more likely. All the more reason to take measures to prevent misunderstandings. Hopefully, the tips above will help you with that.

If you want to rewatch Frans Evers' webinar, you can do so via this link.
Would you like to know more about the MGA network, check out www.mga-network.nl.