Blogs and Articles from Third Way Forum Membrs

・ One of the main issues for not speaking up is the perception not having the authority to speak. People feel that they might not be experienced enough to state their view. Depending on the environment, they think that they are also not ranked high enough within the underlying hierarchy. Worst thing for young people is to embarrass someone else.

・ This authority is not explicitly stated but it is an established protocol, indirectly defined by the environment. Even foreign people who work in traditional Japanese companies get pressed into this system. They adapt and thus speak not up or ask no questions as they usually used to do in a more global working environment. The same applies often in arts / martial arts or -do (〜道) arts, where the student does not question the master. For instance, in Western culture it is natural to ask the teacher if something is not understood or unclear. Contrary, if one asks questions in a traditional Japanese environment, it happens that the questions are not answered, even ignored or postponed to a time when the teacher or manager thinks it is appropriate. Over time, people learn better not to ask and if at all to discuss the topic with peers first. Consequently, people get reluctant to speak in general, even if the protocol would allow this. This might go that far, that people say they cannot do some task although they are capable to do so.

・ The Western culture can be described by the quote "ask forgiveness than asking for permission" which in this context means to speak up and apologize if this was not appropriate.

・ In Japan, it was part of the education from childhood on not to question the teacher, the teacher is always 100% right. Even kids were educated not to ask repeatedly why?-questions. This authority mentality is rooted in the Japanese history until mid of last century but changing, particularly during the recent 10 - 20 years. The change however is not happening uniformly. There are still very traditional Japanese companies but also more and more companies who embrace the Western style.

・ Not questioning authorities can be seen even in sports. Where soccer and baseball use more and more video for supporting decisions and to state the fact when a referee was wrong, reporters in Sumo or Judo for instance do not question decisions of the referee, even if the replay clearly shows that the decision was wrong. At most they say something like "very close“. On the other hand the referee decision might be seen as right, because the winner did not win clear enough. In business world it might happen that a business manager decides "against the numbers“ based on authority. Although nobody knows at that time, this might be the right decision.

・ Brainstorming is one example which has potential for embarrass others, but it might lead to results which would not be achieved without weird or non-conforming comments.

・ Another important observation is that people behave different in different environments. There is a sort of global business standard for interaction between people from different cultures. This de-facto American standard is more or less adapted from all - in particular globally exposed - people and regardless of their cultural background. Also Japanese who are used to work globally switch themselves and their behavior to a sort of global or bridge personality. In their local environment they might look like a completely different person.