Cool Stuff Transcends Language (A Lesson on Working Across Cultures)

I Don’t Know Spanish. But I Do Know Cars.

One of the coolest inventions ever created in automotive is the rotary engine (which in unfortunate because not many cars use them). If you’re curious why the rotary engine is so amazing compared to a standard 4-stroke internal combustion engine that is in your car, I’ll share at the bottom.

Back to the story.

The transmission in the car my friend I were using car blew. Transmissions are pretty big jobs, especially if it’s automatic (very difficult to rebuild and needs specialized tools), a 4WD car (that’s twice the transmission to deal with), and is an older model where those transmissions are only found in junkyards.

Needless to say, we had to take it to a shop.

We were fortunate to have another friend come with us to translate when we found a transmission specialist. During the conversation between our translator and the mechanic, my eyes wandered around until they landed on a site to behold.

A 2004 Mazda RX-8.

The RX-8 is a pretty car. But it’s what’s inside that counts (didn’t your parents tell you to never judge a cover of a book by its look?)

This car comes with a 13B-MSP Renesis engine which is – you guessed it – a rotary engine!

I ask our translator, “How do you say ‘Is that a rotary engine?’ in Spanish?”

She didn’t have to say anything before the mechanic looked at me and said, “Rotary engine?” while pointing to the RX-8 in the shop and nodded yes. He beckoned me to follow him and popped the hood to gawk at.

I was geeking out! I hadn’t seen a rotary in person in almost 10 years. The last time was working on my friends 1976 RX7 (predecessor to the RX-8). He brought me to the next bay where there was a Nissan Skyline (an incredibly beautiful machine and pretty rare to find one) rigged with direct-port nitrous oxide (it’s a gas that makes you go very, very, very, very, very fast).

Although we didn’t speak the same language, which in turn made our conversation a series of pointing at things, showing pictures, and getting hyped at cool car stuff, I left that shop that day with a new friend.

Your Team and You

Globalization isn’t going anywhere. Roles aren’t going anywhere. Different background aren’t going anywhere. More and more companies are opening offices around the world which in turn are producing international teams, each with their own different departments, each with their own individuals from different backgrounds.

Different people do things differently. They may communicate differently, they may have different priorities, different holidays, beliefs, etc.

Constantly, we are faced with the challenge of figuring out how those differences can coexist, and if they can’t, which party’s way of doing something takes precedence.

These are uncomfortable decisions, but they are ones that must be made. Because of this, there will always be the concept of the “other” as it pertains to your relationships with your coworkers. It may not be as clear as the conversations we’re having around race, age, sex, etc. It could also come to head as “our team in Germany” or “the marketing department”.

Otherness will exist. It will always exist. No two people will ever be the same.

Instead of ignoring what makes us different, why not accept we’re different and then choose to bond on the common things we love?

Take a moment and ask yourself, what is something you’ve shared with someone (or they’ve shared with you. How did that bring you closer? Try listing three.

Here are a few of mine:

1.    I had a manager that was having trouble on a boss in Final Fantasy X. I left him a gift before I left with a PS2 memory card that had two files. One had characters set up to beat that boss and the second was the game after the boss was defeated (in case it was still too difficult).

2.    My Japanese teacher taught me shōdo (Japanese calligraphy). I use it to calm myself if I’m ever feeling anxious.

3.    I was taught some basic principles of selling from a veteran IBM seller at the All Things Open conference in 2018. These principles of listening and paraphrasing needs and pains I use in my day-to-day

They Might Know Something You Don’t

Of course, all this goes beyond the workplace. As cliché as it sounds, the great thing about nobody being the same is that everybody has something new they can teach you. Maybe the lesson will be on conventional wisdom, maybe empathy, maybe just about something cool.

With that said, I’d love to hear a fun fact about something you’re passionate about below.

To get started, here are some cool facts about the rotary engine I promised earlier:

–     Rotary engines produce the most horsepower-per-liter compared to a 4 stroke engine.

–     They also have the fewest moving parts.

–     They are not-prone to catastrophic failure. This means that if you blow out your rotary engine, you can fix it versus a traditional engine which may be melted or blown to bits.

–     They redline high. It can grumble like a muscle car and rev up to sounding like a street bike.

–     While not a performance aspect, rotary engines tend to have unburnt fuel leave the exhaust which means big flames and backfires.

I hope you find something cool, share it with someone new, and accept the coolness they can give you in return.

I’d like to hear your thoughts in the comments!

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#culture #crossculture #crossculturalcommunicationskills #productmanagement