Of all the complexities that one can encounter in a company, cultural blindness must be the most unpleasant surprise. A complete opposite to the cultural segregation, it is nonetheless humiliating and upsetting for the employees involved into the conflict caused by cultural blindness.
As for the definition of the notorious phenomenon, Newton & Ender (2010) have put it quite right: “Like color blindness, cultural blindness is difficult to deter because it can disguise itself as helpful behavior. Cultural blindness occurs when you are aware of a cultural issue, but choose to pretend it does not exist or to ignore it” (87).Surprisingly enough, I have had an experience concerning cultural blindness quite recently.
In West Delta Corp., the organization where I happened to work for a short period of time, the cultural blindness of the head of the company was obvious. Mr. Patterson could not see the boundaries between the American and the Asian cultures, which his employees belonged to; as a result, the situation in the office left much to be desired.
I must mention that there were five key factors which triggered the cultural blindness. The first and the foremost one was the fact that Mr. Patterson belonged to the dominant culture, i.e., the American one. As for the second reason for him to behave in such inappropriate way and treat the ethnical minorities like anyone else in the office was the fact that Mr. Patterson himself had been living in Europe (France) for a considerable amount of time.
Having lived in the USA for long enough to assimilate and integrate into the American culture, Mr. Patterson yet knew little to nothing about the ethnicity issues which Asians have in the majority of the American states. The latter, doubtlessly, added to his cultural blindness and made him see no difference between the Asian and the American employees.
The third reason for the boss to have no idea of the difference between the two cultures whatsoever was related to the previously mentioned one. Being deeply integrated into the American society, Mr. Patterson had forgotten his roots and has accepted the American culture completely, thus, presupposing that his employees would act in the same way.
Mr. Patterson obviously decided that the Asian people working with him must have accepted the American culture in the same way he did. As for the fourth reason for the boss to be so unwilling to accept the employees’ culture and national specifics, one must mention that Mr. Patterson’s key concern is the corporation’s income.
Thus, focusing on whether the company is going to benefit from another idea, he forgets about the relationships with the employee and, consequently, does not pay attention to such trifle as the employees’ culture or national specifics.
Finally, the last, but not the least reason that causes Mr. Patterson’s cultural blindness is the unwillingness to acknowledge that he is mistaken. During my working experience in the company, I noticed that at certain point, Mr. Patterson was about to admit that his behavior was wrong, yet something would not let him do so.
To understand the drastic effects of cultural blindness, one has to consider both the causes and the effects of each of the factors mentioned above. To start with, the reasons for the first two factors are inherent, since the factors are predetermined by the nationality of the head of the company.
As for the consequences of these factors, one must admit that they have led to the boss’s cultural blindness for the most part. Since the boss cannot change his nationality, his world picture will stay the same throughout his entire life, which will lead to the misunderstandings during the communication with the people of different ethnicities.
Speaking about the third issue, it should be mentioned that the problem of losing the touch with one’s own culture is rather a psychological one; hence, it can be solved once applying a specific strategy.
Anyway, the given factor triggers Mr. Patterson’s frustration and unwillingness to come to terms with the representatives of different ethnicities in the workplace. Mr. Patterson’s system orientation leads to the fact that the employees feel they are elements of a company mechanism, which hurts their feelings and lowers their self-esteem. Finally, the director’s unwillingness to acknowledge his mistakes depicts him in unfavorable light to the employees.
Thus, an obviously upsetting phenomenon, cultural blindness is yet a part and parcel of everyday reality in West Delta Corp., which means that the phenomenon must be somehow stopped from taking place.
Despite the fact that at certain points, breaking the boundaries between cultures can be useful, e.g. in developing the relationships with the employees and the managerial, and making these relationships more trustworthy (Häyrynen, n.d.). However, when it comes to neglecting the cultural norms of a certain nationality, the process must be terminated and the cultural specifics of a certain ethnicity must be appreciated.
Reference List
Häyrynen, S. (n.d.) Defining the role of cultural policy in cultural impact assessment. Web.
Newton, F. B., & Ender, S. C. (2010). Students helping students: a guide for peer education on college campuses. New York City, NY: John Wiley & Sons.