A SPANYARD WORKING WITH FRENCHS!!

In all the trainings about the adaptation to work in other country, it is stated that you will pass for 4 phases:

1. Over-excitation: You like the culture, you appreciate all the new things and you think that they are much better than your original culture... "you prefer the new beer".

2. Dissapointment: After a while, you start to see more negative points, miss your culture  and not understand the differences. "You are tired of the new beer and  missing your native beer".

3. Adaptation: After the previous shock, you start gradually to adapt yourself, you really enjoy and practice the differences  that  are better and give less importance to the differences that you do not like. " I like this different beer"

4. Satisfaction: At the end, you start to enjoy the new langue, culture, country, people.. "This beer is excellent. It is good that I came here to discover it"

But unfortunately some people never arrives the 4th phase. 

A tale to explain the main difference between a French and a Spanyard:

"In a factory, there is a problem: An only plant pot in a building floor lacks water and there are  two people in charge of finding a solution: 

1) The Spanyard: He will try to solve the problem as quicker as possible. He will try to find the water from the closest place  to the plant, then there are two possibilities:  1.1) Best option: There is water in a very closer place and the plant recovers quickly.  1.2) Worst option:  There is a coffe machine in front of the plant, he is mistaken and throws coffe instead  of water to the plant, because he thought that it was water. The plant is dead!.

2) The French: He has to involve all the key people and all think together about the root-cause problem and design a plan, considering  not only  this plant, they have to consider what is the better solution for all the plants in the factory. 2.1) Best option: There are few people to be involved and in one meeting the decision is taken. The plant   recovers quickly. 2.2)Worst option: There are  a lot of people to be involved and after a lot of meetings, the decision   is  not  taken or  taken very late,  the plant is dead!."

The Spanyards, we are orientated to take decisions and find the solution for the problems as quickly as possible, and if necessary, the solution appears intuitively or out of the structured thinking or procedures. If we do not know what to do, our boss usually can give us a solution, because he is usually more expert than us and part of his role is to help us to solve problems. In our ADN, it is to be very flexible, intuitive and adaptable. Then I arrived to France and I started to become crazy  when in meetings to solve problems, I heard sentences as:

" Your answer to your question is other question"

"Let´s think together"

" Your question is not rightly stated"

" I do not know, what do you think?"

"Are you sure that this is really the problem?"

At the start I thought that it was a problem of langue, but after some time, I realised that some part of the French  culture is completely different to our Spanish culture. 

The Frenchs. There are some very important points:

1) The communication and agreement is key: The Frenchs involves everybody to have a decision. That makes sure that  all impacts are considered and everybody is informed and buy the product.

2) Planning, planning........The plan is critical. It is necessary to plan all steps and roles and responsabilities of each one. That gives a vision and a structure of the next steps and anticipates all risks and their solutions.

3) Honest but without personal punches: Avoid the personal conflicts but if necessary to be completely honest even blunt if necessary to find the best solution.

4) The role of the bosses is not to find the solution for the employee, it is helping the employee to find the solution. In this way, he improves himself and agrees easily with the decision that if the decision is imposed by the boss.  This part can be confusing for people that search for a clear answer.

5) In a presentation, first the solution. The Spanyard start the presentations in a cronological order, first how we arrived the solution and after the solution. For the French, it is only important the solution and then, to discuss it. No need for explanation of the logical thinking, it is taken for granted, the famous "French cartesian thinking".

6) My favorite part of the culture is the part that I less appreciated when I arrived.. hands shakes and kisses all mornings to everybody. At the start, you do not understand it and it is very tiring. I was usually  hidden behind my room to avoid all this loss of time.. but after some time I started to like it. It is a signal of respect and good relationship every morning that helps to have better deals and  I find difficult to argue  personally  with someone that  I shake hands or kiss all mornings.  It is part of the "buen rollo" in the office. 

In summary, very happy to enjoy this experience and recommending everybody to travel and work in other countries.... and out of work, it is even better.... French cheeses, wines, breads,....the paradise!!!...until someone offers you an "andouillette" ( A food made of smelling tripes) :-)