This is just so helpful for me to better understand my new company’s culture. I work with lots of folks in India, and there are times I’m offended by some of these things. Like why would someone say yes when they don’t know what I meant or need? It felt like I was being dismissed. It’s really helpful knowing that it’s not personal.
Nice video; I mentor a lot of Indian college students in entrepreneurship, business, including software, robotics, engineering, etc., as well provide them career advice, and most of this at least partially accurate. However, let me provide some extra guidance to help bridge the culture gap in the American workplace. 1) speak slower: your natural language has a very different syllabic emphasis as compared to English, making it very difficult for Americans to understand what are saying. For example, in this video the word "autonomy" is phonetically pronounced "auto-nomity", whereas we say it "au-ton-a-me"; I heard another word, "execute" pronounced "exec-ute" when we say "ex-a-cute". If you slow down, it will be easier for your colleagues to understand what you are saying; 2) This one is very important, and it builds on what was said early in the video about saying "yes" in order to please before you fully understand the assignment. This has happened with me and it led to some difficulty in my being able to count on this person as being capable of doing the job - this one aspect of culture will do the most damage to your reputation if you make promises you can't keep, lead your boss to believe you can execute a task when in fact you don't understand it, miss a deadline, etc., and this leads to internal reputational damage 3) We like self-starters and people who take the initiative, but find it very distasteful if we hand over a project based on your saying "yes" only to have it lead to more time being spent answering questions that should have been asked in the beginning, or, worse, having to redo the work ourselves. Don't try to please your colleagues or boss by accepting projects where you don't have the capability to successfully execute, or cannot deliver on time - deadlines matter in this country. 4) The observation about long-term vs. short-term is inaccurate; we care about both equally, but the subtleness of balancing both long and short term efforts is largely stakeholder based in terms of responsibility - it doesn't mean we don't care about long term success as we absolutely do, and, equally important, are measured on it. 5) Dealing with colleagues and superiors: a) be less formal and address everyone by their first name. - we care more about execution than generational formality, and don't be afraid to speak your mind; b) On the other hand, I've seen many times someone making an emphatic and impassioned point to the detriment of talking over one's superiors - take a pause periodically and look for non-verbal clues as to whether what you are saying is both appropriate and is resonating, and adjust as needed; c) your relationship with your boss is vital as they can make or break your career - their priority is knowing whether or not they can count on you to deliver in their department, and if so, they will have your back - don't forget it; d) saying "no" to a colleague may or may not be a good idea - one has to balance whether the request is something you can execute, even if it is not technically your responsibility - are you a team player and thinking about the company, or just your area of responsibility? This is one friction point with idealogical rigidity vs. thinking big picture. People who say no for reasons such as "it is not my job", "it is 5:00 and time to go home" are not viewed as not having a good team attitude; e) the 9-5 workday is a myth. Yes, there are some industries where this can be true, but for any white collar role, it is not true - you work until you get the job done. In addition, we don't do lunch or long breaks - that all went out in 2000. Bottom line, take some risk, go above and beyond, learn as much as you can, and you will have a wildly successful career in the US!
Thanks for sharing your experience. I work from mexico but my manager is in India and we've been having differences related to how the project should be managed. Your information help to understand that I need to find a middle ground between our work cultures. Instead of trying to force the other to adapt to the other's work culture.
Thanks for the helpful video. I’m actually looking to make the change from US (Los Angeles) to Bangalore this year. I feel I’m a very adaptable person and willing to blend my past experiences to create the best rapport with my colleagues and manager(s).
Thank u for this information!! It will be helpful for the people like me who have started their career recently after the long career break!! Thank you so much
Hi , can you please have a talk about the gun usages and mass shootings in usa. And is staying in usa safe in such a case? Especially for school going children?
A lot of suggestions are only applicable to big tech and not relevant for medium-sized IT shops. “We own such a small piece of the pie” this doesn't hold true for everyone based in the US
I've noticed there's excessive delegation. Managers hand their tasks to others. This has two contexts. 1). Director has people in the org do this job. 2), business unit or sub applies the least effort to collect monthly contract payments or outright redefines what they will or will not provide. By far, the mystery is why Indians in my company give preferential treatment to a subcontractor Indian, placing that company's interests first. I think it may be how business is done in India. Tit for tat. Jobs for cat. Cash for rat.
I work with 3 indian women in child care. They would sit all day with legs crossed and order my around. (I am europian). I feel like they treat me as "lowest cast" just because i am white. I complained to management so they backed away, but still trying. They dont clean after themselves and expect me to do all cleaning. What to do please ?
It was Britain who colonize india nit USA. How can you say going to USA for work is colonial mindset? The simple reason people are migrating is labour's laws. In india labour laws are not much strict which makes indian work culture toxic. Moreover income in USA is way more than that in india. So many Indian prefer working in USA because of better life standard.😊
Fantastic video! This is also great for US based teams working with India teams to understand some of those differences and how to navigate them.
This is just so helpful for me to better understand my new company’s culture. I work with lots of folks in India, and there are times I’m offended by some of these things. Like why would someone say yes when they don’t know what I meant or need? It felt like I was being dismissed. It’s really helpful knowing that it’s not personal.
Nice video; I mentor a lot of Indian college students in entrepreneurship, business, including software, robotics, engineering, etc., as well provide them career advice, and most of this at least partially accurate. However, let me provide some extra guidance to help bridge the culture gap in the American workplace. 1) speak slower: your natural language has a very different syllabic emphasis as compared to English, making it very difficult for Americans to understand what are saying. For example, in this video the word "autonomy" is phonetically pronounced "auto-nomity", whereas we say it "au-ton-a-me"; I heard another word, "execute" pronounced "exec-ute" when we say "ex-a-cute". If you slow down, it will be easier for your colleagues to understand what you are saying; 2) This one is very important, and it builds on what was said early in the video about saying "yes" in order to please before you fully understand the assignment. This has happened with me and it led to some difficulty in my being able to count on this person as being capable of doing the job - this one aspect of culture will do the most damage to your reputation if you make promises you can't keep, lead your boss to believe you can execute a task when in fact you don't understand it, miss a deadline, etc., and this leads to internal reputational damage 3) We like self-starters and people who take the initiative, but find it very distasteful if we hand over a project based on your saying "yes" only to have it lead to more time being spent answering questions that should have been asked in the beginning, or, worse, having to redo the work ourselves. Don't try to please your colleagues or boss by accepting projects where you don't have the capability to successfully execute, or cannot deliver on time - deadlines matter in this country. 4) The observation about long-term vs. short-term is inaccurate; we care about both equally, but the subtleness of balancing both long and short term efforts is largely stakeholder based in terms of responsibility - it doesn't mean we don't care about long term success as we absolutely do, and, equally important, are measured on it. 5) Dealing with colleagues and superiors: a) be less formal and address everyone by their first name. - we care more about execution than generational formality, and don't be afraid to speak your mind; b) On the other hand, I've seen many times someone making an emphatic and impassioned point to the detriment of talking over one's superiors - take a pause periodically and look for non-verbal clues as to whether what you are saying is both appropriate and is resonating, and adjust as needed; c) your relationship with your boss is vital as they can make or break your career - their priority is knowing whether or not they can count on you to deliver in their department, and if so, they will have your back - don't forget it; d) saying "no" to a colleague may or may not be a good idea - one has to balance whether the request is something you can execute, even if it is not technically your responsibility - are you a team player and thinking about the company, or just your area of responsibility? This is one friction point with idealogical rigidity vs. thinking big picture. People who say no for reasons such as "it is not my job", "it is 5:00 and time to go home" are not viewed as not having a good team attitude; e) the 9-5 workday is a myth. Yes, there are some industries where this can be true, but for any white collar role, it is not true - you work until you get the job done. In addition, we don't do lunch or long breaks - that all went out in 2000. Bottom line, take some risk, go above and beyond, learn as much as you can, and you will have a wildly successful career in the US!
Thanks for sharing your experience. I work from mexico but my manager is in India and we've been having differences related to how the project should be managed. Your information help to understand that I need to find a middle ground between our work cultures. Instead of trying to force the other to adapt to the other's work culture.
Glad that the video helped you. Hope you find that middle ground with your manager
Thanks for the helpful video. I’m actually looking to make the change from US (Los Angeles) to Bangalore this year. I feel I’m a very adaptable person and willing to blend my past experiences to create the best rapport with my colleagues and manager(s).
Good luck
Thank u for this information!! It will be helpful for the people like me who have started their career recently after the long career break!! Thank you so much
Very informative and detailed oriented approach
Thanks ❤
Hello
Your speech is very attractive
Thank you Girl
Hi , can you please have a talk about the gun usages and mass shootings in usa. And is staying in usa safe in such a case? Especially for school going children?
is not about "USA" but which city do you live in
In short, we have jugaad fixes over here, no merit celebrated! Over there 👉 you have smooth/ hassle free systems and processes!
in india the lala baniya companies will not change for maybe a 1000 years.
A lot of suggestions are only applicable to big tech and not relevant for medium-sized IT shops. “We own such a small piece of the pie” this doesn't hold true for everyone based in the US
Thanks aunty
I’m Indian and I personally feel working with such colleagues isn’t Healthy work atmosphere. Find another job or manager and move on!
I've noticed there's excessive delegation. Managers hand their tasks to others. This has two contexts. 1). Director has people in the org do this job. 2), business unit or sub applies the least effort to collect monthly contract payments or outright redefines what they will or will not provide.
By far, the mystery is why Indians in my company give preferential treatment to a subcontractor Indian, placing that company's interests first. I think it may be how business is done in India. Tit for tat. Jobs for cat. Cash for rat.
Sub chalta hai, 👍 yaar
I work with 3 indian women in child care. They would sit all day with legs crossed and order my around. (I am europian). I feel like they treat me as "lowest cast" just because i am white. I complained to management so they backed away, but still trying. They dont clean after themselves and expect me to do all cleaning. What to do please ?
They are testing your limit. You need to stand up and let them know that they need to do their job properly!
Still colonial hangovers, that’s why we see brain drain! Otherwise, who leaves home and hearth 😢
It was Britain who colonize india nit USA.
How can you say going to USA for work is colonial mindset?
The simple reason people are migrating is labour's laws. In india labour laws are not much strict which makes indian work culture toxic. Moreover income in USA is way more than that in india. So many Indian prefer working in USA because of better life standard.😊