This mail is doing its customary rounds on the net, and not for a wrong reason! Though there are obvious pitfalls of stereotyping people, it also serves as a handy learning guide, even a field manual, when the similarities are generic in nature, and far outweigh the minute differences that might make an individual unique and different from others, but not dramatically different from other fellow tribesmen. The fact is we are all different, and success at workplace is also impacted by our ability to recognize, appreciate, respect and work through such cross-cultural differences. In today’s increasingly globalized world, this serves as a good starting point to recognize that there are people different from us, and a team’s success is impacted by mutual understanding of such differences.
These icons were designed by Liu Young who was born in China and educated in Germany. She is an accomplished designer…check out her work at http://www.yangliudesign.com/. I found her usage of metaphors captured in nice little icons very interesting, and even if it is a gross generalization of human beings, it is a nice piece of creative work!
Legend: Blue -> Westerner, Red -> Asian
Opinion
Way of Life
Punctuality
Contacts
Anger
Queue when Waiting
Me (I)
Sundays on the Road
Party
In the Restaurant
Perception of each other
Things that are new
The child
What is trendy
The Boss
Moods and Weather
Shower timing
Elderly in day to day life
Transportation
Three meals a day
Handling of Problems
Travelling
Stomach Ache
Neeraj says:
Nice article, TV. Pretty cool way to sum-up our behavior.
30 January 09, 4:11 pmA Friend says:
Interesting, and lots of truth about it. We wonder, though: if it was a Westerner who did this, would it be viewed as some kind of discriminatory work?
3 February 09, 2:04 pmdonate a car says:
Hey Nice Post…Keep Posting About Our Different Different Behavioral Traits.
3 February 09, 2:14 pmbinesh says:
Really intresting…she has captured a lot in these little icons..
10 February 09, 11:42 ammiumiu says:
wow ,i have never see it in my friends’ blog.
16 February 09, 6:09 pmconnymaniac says:
I’m really a westerner - besides the points “in the restaurant”: Coming from Vorarlberg (western part of Austria. In Europe if you just wanted to ask…
one is always sitting on the loudest table. Especially if with other people from Vorarlberg.
20 February 09, 7:11 pmLara Wallace says:
So many of your visual representations capture these complex cultural phenomena in such a simple and direct way. I love it! Great job.
21 May 09, 1:19 amTV says:
Thanks…but I have just quoted Yang Liu’s work here. She is the genius who came up with simple yet so powerful icons. If she ever lands on my blog, I do want to go on record to say that it is her work
21 May 09, 9:09 am