Israeli-American Intercultural Advantage
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When an American says…. |
The American may mean… |
An Israeli may hear / think… |
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Our approach towards X poses some challenges. |
Our approach has problems that must be solved. |
Great — finally things are getting interesting, challenge is good. |
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There are issues with X. Or… I have a concern regarding X. |
There are problems with X that must be addressed - they might be serious enough to make X not doable. |
We can continue with X as we had intended - there might be some more discussion over some aspects that are worrying you, but nothing serious is wrong. |
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I might do this differently |
The way it is being done now is wrong and needs to be changed. |
How you would do it isn’t relevant, since there doesn’t sound like there’s any problem with the way we’re doing it already. |
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Did I understand you correctly when you said Y? |
I am amazed that you said something so wrong or stupid. |
Looks like I need to explain again because they didn’t understand the first time. |
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I would appreciate if you could get this to me by Thursday. |
The drop dead deadline for this is Thursday. |
It would be nice to get it done by Thursday, but not essential. Later than Thursday will also be OK. |
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I’ll make an effort to get this to you by Thursday. |
I didn’t really commit, so it’s optional whether I’ll change priorities or try harder than usual. |
I can count on you doing everything possible for this, including working extremely longer hours than usual. |
| When an Israeli says… | The Israeli may mean… | An American might hear / think… |
| You have to listen to me | I want to get your attention | You’re ordering me around in a very arrogant way! |
| You are wrong | I disagree with your point of view and want to discuss it some more so that we can reach agreement on the best approach | You are insulting me. Also, clearly there’s no room for discussion because you have negated me. Looks like I should back off and not discuss this any more. . |
| OK, I understand, let’s move on | I understand and agree with your point, i.e., you have persuaded me. | You’re not really willing to listen to me because you actually think that what I have to say isn’t of any value, and you just want to avoid further discussion. |
| It’s your fault that we did X
Or You were the one who decided on X. |
I need you to acknowledge that is wasn’t my fault. However, that has nothing to do with our working together as respectful colleagues. | You don’t respect me because you’re blaming me. I don’t think we are going to be able to work together. |
| Your presentation was OK | Your presentation was really good | You didn’t like my presentation. |
| Why don’t you do it another way? | I’m giving you a helpful suggestion I’m interested in bettering the result | You are really insulting my work. |
