标题: the differences in value standards [打印本页] 作者: rightaway 时间: 2003-8-23 11:13 标题: the differences in value standards By Paul Tu
After living and working in the US for many years, on reflection, nothing stands out more in my mind than the differences in value standards, the conflict of culture values, and the difficult choices one has to make. So I would like to share my thoughts on this subject. 1. Modesty Being modest is not always viewed as a virtue in the work environment. It is viewed, instead, as a lack of confidence or even incompetence. What we deem as a virtue, the boss deems as a demerit. It is double damage. We certainly would not look good by boss’s standard. Just watch how our colleagues respond to the same situations; it would be enlightening, and we could learn a lot from them. 2. Aggressiveness We were taught not to actively seek opportunities beneficial to ourselves. We were encouraged to be a hard worker, a silent worker. Here, being passive is considered a loser’s and a non-achiever’s quality, and sometimes even worse. Perhaps, because of this different point of view, because our conduct is guided by different set of values, it is hard to say how many of us were by-passed in promotions or career opportunities which we thought we deserved. It is nobody’s fault. It is just that we value things differently, and we act differently. 3. Leadership Leadership quality is highly valued and praised in the corporate culture here. Apparently, the emphasis is different than what we were accustomed to. Keep in mind, though, being in leadership does not simply mean seeking to be in a position of high authority; it also means great responsibilities and risks, visions and ideas, strategies and management skills, aggressiveness and the fighting spirit to win. 4. Communication Skills and Interpersonal Skills These skills are cultivated and trained through schooling, and are not only highly valued at the work place, they are valued higher than technical skills. Have you heard the saying that success at work is 80% communication and interpersonal skills and 20% technical skills? After years of working, I have gradually seen the truth of it. Without effective communication, how can we get our ideas across? Without good interpersonal skills, how can we motivate people to work with us as a team for the success the project? Although I am sure there are other areas where our old values are not the same as here, the above four are the ones stand out most prominently in my mind. We can not say which one is right or wrong, they are just different. I can see virtues in both value systems. As an immigrant to this great melting pot, probably it is the best policy to adapt to the new value system and play by the rules of the land. But to some, it is hard to abandon a well-established value standard so deeply ingrained in us and choose instead a new opposite value standard. Unfortunately, choices have to be made, and it is up to us, like it or not, to choose the new or the old. Either choice is not easy. Choosing the new values requires changes of our thinking and behavior, but retaining the old values requires the acceptances of unpleasant realities. Ultimately it boils down to the final choices each of us decide to make which are most acceptable and comfortable to us while keeping in mind that we will be judged and measured by the value standards of this new land we are trying to assimilate into. To those new immigrants who have just started their careers, my advice would be to adapt to the new society as much as you can and as early as you can. The adaptation of new value systems may require brainwash and thought reform, but it may be worth it. Paul Tu, recently retired. A sensible ordinary soul who dreams dreams, fancies fancies, laughs laughs, sorrows sorrows, questions questions, queries queries, cries cries, fights fights, loves loves, hates hates….