A.L.A.R.M.ing Access
By Dr. Chris Seiple on 02 February 2012
The question is unavoidable. How do you engage globally? How do you communicate across culture toward enduring effect?
It's probably the most practical question we can ask in a globalized world; for all global engagement is local. In fact, there are only two things I am absolutely certain of as pre-conditions to global engagement: 1) if you can't live it at home, don't go abroad; and, 2) you cannot overstate how much you don't know.
Global engagement literally begins in your home. Marriage, for example, begins when you wake up one morning and realize that your spouse is not you. It is the human condition to project our opinions and values on those around us; even our closest and most intimate friends. It is no accident that the Ten Commandments are focused on idolatry, warning us not to put ourselves first.
Don Rumsfeld famously said that "[T]here are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns – there are things we do not know we don't know."
I would simplify this statement further regarding cross-cultural engagement: there are things we think we know, things we don't know, and things we will never know. It is through a glass most darkly that we might see, let alone understand, the dynamics and issues at play in any foreign context.
From the sub-conscious hold of culture on a mindset, to the long-held views, positive and negative, about America or religion, and from bureaucratic turf wars at the national and local levels, to particular personalities, it is mind-numbing and almost paralyzing to consider how many ways there are to offend, to really screw something up.
It is in this context of enabling humility, that I offer some reflections about how to engage globally. If you don't do these simple things—at least—then the alarm will go out, and you will not have access to the culture and community that you want to engage.
Authentic. Be yourself. Let them be themselves. Don't fear difference. Don't push the purpose of your trip. It's OK not to have all the answers. Let your heart speak, sometimes with words. Never compromise your integrity. Steward your reputation: it is the only currency you have.
Listen. Listen for their lexicon. Understand and respect it. Expect the same from them. Discern and name the differences in order to build on the common. What we say is not always what they hear, and vice versa. Be patient. Listen more.
Anchor. Anchor your logic in the "already:" we want to serve and come alongside what you are already doing, according to the best of who you already are. Celebrate don't tolerate them as a people and culture. They will reciprocate. Talk to everyone, engage a few.
Relationships. Relationships reveal strategy. They take time. The second and third trips are only proof that you're serious. Only relationships resist ethnic, religious, national, and bureaucratic boundaries. Only relationships enable risk. Give each other permission to participate in a new paradigm. Agree to disagree, without anger. Consensus comes. Walk in each other's shoes and the road ahead becomes clear.
Methodology. Methodology must reinforce message. Write down your agreements; hold each other accountable. No action is sustainable unless deeds match words. It is not what you do but how you do it. Work top-down and bottom-up. Be the same with government officials and grassroots leaders. As trust yields tangibility, become their ambassador, as they become yours.
I have learned most, if not all, of the above the hard way; usually because I didn't know any better. But I felt called, I was always myself, and people worked with me anyway. Love people for who they are, in their own context. Serve your community. Engage the world.
Note: This article is based, in part, on a keynote lecture Dr. Seiple gave at the Foreign Service Institute's "Religion and Foreign Policy" course on 10 January 2012.
Last updated 02 February 2012