What #TheDress can teach us about #CrossCulturalCommunication
My family was not exempt from the arguments surrounding #TheDress over the past week. I held the majority view that it is white & gold, but the majority in my house was not demographic; I was definitely outvoted.
My brother, who was visiting from America, tried to blame the fact that I have to wear corrective lenses, but that didn’t play out as we polled others. Then it came out that #TheDress is actually royal blue and black lace.
The article that revealed the truth behind #TheDress to us (which you can find here), however, left me feeling frustrated and marginalized. Why? It showed 3 pictures of #TheDress: the first was the original, the second was a modified version, and the third was further modified to near perfection, so everyone would see it as the correct blue and black (if you fancy #TheDress, by the way, you can purchase it here).
The problem is that I see a white & gold dress in all 3 photos! The authors of this article made a critical error that a great many of us do in communicating with others; we assume a starting perspective—our own. Because the authors are starting from their own point of reference, they assume that when they “fix” the error for the rest of us, we are all seeing what they are seeing. But in trying to help us and come to a point of agreement, they actually frustrate and marginalize those who see things differently.
As this article reveals, it is our fundamental assumptions—our initial point of view—that determines how we see #TheDress; however we believe the world to be colored determines how #TheDress is colored.
That is how worldview works. Everyone has fundamental assumptions, their initial point of view. However we believe the world to be colored determines how we see any given issue, event, or discussion. Trying to take someone from your perspective to your perspective in working through to mutually beneficial solutions is an endeavor destined to fail. If you want to be successful in #CrossCulturalCommunication, do this one thing: forget what you see, and start asking what others see.
Which leaves me with just one question: what color is #TheCardigan?
