2007-06-02 #1

The cultural difference - Planning, what?

As a German I am used to bureaucratic processes and know how important it is to know the right person to talk to. So, every now and then I try to find out who is responsible and what forms I might have to fill in. Apart from the fact that most forms are in Korean only (in a Korean-German co-operative!) I can now predict the conversation easily:

me: "Just in case, if I have to make a business trip I would like to know how I apply for one and who I have to talk to to book flights or train tickets."
colleague: "You have a business trip?"
me: "No, not now. I just want to know what to do when I have one!"

You can easily exchange "make a business trip" with "buy a book" or similar.

The response shows the difference in thinking. The Korean colleague assumes that I am asking because I have an acute issue, i.e. would like to book a business trip. My short experience here shows that most problems are completely ignored, even though they clearly show up on the horizon, until they hit you in the face.

Another example shows this in a slightly different way. In the process of planning a new office I have remarked that the planning team may please keep in mind that I am somewhat tall compared to Koreans if they buy new office furniture, so I fit under the desk. After a few days at least three colleagues wandered into my current intermediate office to ask me (remember, I never complained about my desk):

colleague: "I heard you have problems with your desk?"
me: "What? Oh, no this desk is fine. I just wanted to make sure it stays that way if you buy new furniture."

As it turns out the furniture is probably moving with me.