Start Working with Assumptions, with Sundae Schneider-Bean

Start Working with Assumptions—This Way

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When I hear “cowboy,” images of wide-brimmed hats, dirt-stained denim, and wild stallions come to mind.

It's me again, Sundae Schneider-Bean, intercultures* consultant based in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (West Africa). In this month's contribution, I will first share a snippet from my life involving a wholly different sort of cowboy to illustrate how strongly we are guided by our assumptions. You will come away with a clear direction on how you can both avoid harmful misunderstandings and build your global skills.

It was late afternoon, just before the sun set and the mosquitoes arrived. As I pulled into the driveway of a friend's house, the sun caused such a glare on the dusty windshield that I almost didn’t see the cows grazing where I intended to park. I stepped out of the car carefully to avoid scaring these large grass-grazers. In the best French I could manage, I expressed my amusement about these unexpected visitors to the small group of security guards nearby: “I can't believe that these cows are not behind a fence!” The gentlemen chuckled and smiled back. Approaching them, I continued, “My father is a rancher and where I come from we could never have cattle loose like that.” They nodded quietly, taking in this information. I asked curiously, “So who is watching over them?” One of the guards motioned with his hand to the ground. I looked down and a boy sitting cross-legged on the ground looked up– our eyes met briefly. I don´t know if it was his small stature or the young age that caught me off guard, but I hadn't imagined that these large animals could be managed by a pint-sized cowboy.

I smiled at him. He smiled back. I checked if he would let me take a picture of him with his cattle, explaining that my father would be delighted by it. He nimbly leapt up on one of the largest cows for the photo.

I thanked him, giggled quietly to myself again at how special this felt, and walked past these organic “lawn mowers” to finally enter the house.

As I drove home that evening, something inside felt humbled. Having been raised by a farmer and rancher in Western North Dakota, USA, this encounter had countered so many assumptions I was raised with:

    Cattle belong behind a fence
    Cattle graze in the countryside
    Cattle are managed by adults

This young cowboy challenges these assumptions. 

An assumption, by definition, is “a thing that is accepted as true or as certain to happen, without proof"[1]. Thanks to this experience, I can see the contrast between my assumptions about raising cattle and the practices here in Ouagadougou.

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You might also be interested in Sundae's other pieces, here:

• Expat spouse? My 3 steps to ensure greater happiness
• Top strategies to identify and deal with Expat Fatigue
• 3 things that will make your Expat Spouse's blood boil!

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When doing business across cultures, “proving” an assumption can be difficult, thus it is critical that we are proactive about understanding which assumptions guide our work.

Why is this important? Culture, by definition, is based on a set of assumptions, so when you work across cultures, the potential for operating from different positions is high.

When we unwittingly proceed about our business as if our assumptions are “true” for all, then we put ourselves at risk of creating misunderstandings, damaging important relationships or losing precious time.

It is time to start working with our assumptions. Be proactive by deepening your understanding of how your cultural preferences guide you– or may guide others.
Consider how culture may influence these answers:

•     Should conflict be dealt with directly or indirectly?
•     Shall we emphasize or minimize status differences?
•     Is it realistic to expect that deadlines are strictly held?
•     Who is seen as responsible for the project– the boss or each team member?
•     Do we follow the rules exactly as written or is there room for flexibility?
•     Are interruptions unwelcome or seen as a normal part of the day?

By investing time and effort to better understand our cultural preferences and how our assumptions guide us, we save ourselves from acting upon inaccurate perceptions and reduce the risk of harmful misunderstandings. We gain the freedom to state, test and modify our assumptions, and thus further build our global skills.

Join me in the comments section of my blog and share a real-life example of what can go wrong at work when we fail to recognize our cultural assumptions. 

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*This blog originally appeared  in a monthly newsletter of intercultures, a global consultancy firm.

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