The Culture Map: Decoding How People Think, Lead, and Get Things Done Across Cultures
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- Create Date：2021-03-24 12:15:34
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Erin Meyer
- ISBN：1610392760
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Summary
Whether you work in a home office or abroad， business success in our ever more globalized and virtual world requires the skills to navigate through cultural differences and decode cultures foreign to your own。 Renowned expert Erin Meyer is your guide through this subtle， sometimes treacherous terrain where people from starkly different backgrounds are expected to work harmoniously together。
When you have Americans who precede anything negative with three nice comments; French， Dutch， Israelis， and Germans who get straight to the point （“your presentation was simply awful”）; Latin Americans and Asians who are steeped in hierarchy; Scandinavians who think the best boss is just one of the crowd—the result can be， well， sometimes interesting， even funny， but often disastrous。
Even with English as a global language， it's easy to fall into cultural traps that endanger careers and sink deals when， say， a Brazilian manager tries to fathom how his Chinese suppliers really get things done， or an American team leader tries to get a handle on the intra-team dynamics between his Russian and Indian team members。
In The Culture Map， Erin Meyer provides a field-tested model for decoding how cultural differences impact international business。 She combines a smart analytical framework with practical， actionable advice for succeeding in a global world。
When you have Americans who precede anything negative with three nice comments; French， Dutch， Israelis， and Germans who get straight to the point （“your presentation was simply awful”）; Latin Americans and Asians who are steeped in hierarchy; Scandinavians who think the best boss is just one of the crowd—the result can be， well， sometimes interesting， even funny， but often disastrous。
Even with English as a global language， it's easy to fall into cultural traps that endanger careers and sink deals when， say， a Brazilian manager tries to fathom how his Chinese suppliers really get things done， or an American team leader tries to get a handle on the intra-team dynamics between his Russian and Indian team members。
In The Culture Map， Erin Meyer provides a field-tested model for decoding how cultural differences impact international business。 She combines a smart analytical framework with practical， actionable advice for succeeding in a global world。
Reviews
Michael Duyvesteijn
，
Wake up call that I - being from the Netherlands - may want to re-evaluate my business conduct in Southeast Asia 😅 the Dutch can be found diametrically opposing ASEAN’s countries on the Culture Map’s dimensions。
Bahar
，
It was quite an interesting book at first。 I decided to read it as someone who has various social science fields background including social antropology -which denies the term "the culture" all together- and a Turkish person educated in an American style college working with Europeans in order to provide healty communication with them and our Turkish clients。 Talking about the average behaviors within a given country might be understandable and it was helpful at first even to understand the conf It was quite an interesting book at first。 I decided to read it as someone who has various social science fields background including social antropology -which denies the term "the culture" all together- and a Turkish person educated in an American style college working with Europeans in order to provide healty communication with them and our Turkish clients。 Talking about the average behaviors within a given country might be understandable and it was helpful at first even to understand the conflicts i had among people i born and raised in the same country。 However， after a while， book stars to over explain。 Of course it is normal that sometimes the topics are overlapping but using too many mediums: visualization， explanation， giving examples， then explaining the visuals and the examples， then the quotes， explaining the quotes。。。 Come together with the overlapping topics， made it hard for me to focus and go through the whole book without skipping any lines or small portions all together。 But maybe this is also what the book wants to explain :） in general it was helpful but not a good reading experience。 Also i guess i saw the book's name in an Alain de Botton book but i couldn't be so sure about that。 。。。more
Jake
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Insightful & actionable guide to chartering cultur waters around the world。
Alex
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I thought this was really great。 I don't work in business， but I do work with people from a range of difficult cultural contexts。 This book also made me reflect on my approach as a manager both in terms of working with people from a range of backgrounds， but also simply asking myself 'why do we do it this way？'。 I thought this was really great。 I don't work in business， but I do work with people from a range of difficult cultural contexts。 This book also made me reflect on my approach as a manager both in terms of working with people from a range of backgrounds， but also simply asking myself 'why do we do it this way？'。 。。。more
Shereef Sakr
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Great book。 The takeaway is consider the wide spectrum of how people think and act， as well as a classification of multiple aspects of different cultures。 It made me reflect on multiple situations in the past with a multi culture aspect in it。However my advice is to not take it for granted， but consider it， and don't stereotype a whole nation based on feedback from this book， there is a wide spectrum in each nation too。 Great book。 The takeaway is consider the wide spectrum of how people think and act， as well as a classification of multiple aspects of different cultures。 It made me reflect on multiple situations in the past with a multi culture aspect in it。However my advice is to not take it for granted， but consider it， and don't stereotype a whole nation based on feedback from this book， there is a wide spectrum in each nation too。 。。。more
Margarita
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Despite having worked in an intercultural environment for 45 years， I found this book to be worth the read。 What Meyer states jibed perfectly with my own experiences， and since we never know it all， I learned some things about the cultures with which I've had little to no interaction。 Recommended reading not only for people in business， but for teachers， professors， activists， NGO， and government employees---virtually anyone who has the opportunity to interact with people from different cultures Despite having worked in an intercultural environment for 45 years， I found this book to be worth the read。 What Meyer states jibed perfectly with my own experiences， and since we never know it all， I learned some things about the cultures with which I've had little to no interaction。 Recommended reading not only for people in business， but for teachers， professors， activists， NGO， and government employees---virtually anyone who has the opportunity to interact with people from different cultures。 。。。more
Jirka
，
Working with colleagues and friends from multiple cultures this book is really good guide into various aspects of cross culture cooperation。 On the matrix of eight main characteristics is illustrates the way how the cultures communicate， give feedback， treat the time and work together。 It has already helped me to adjust the way how I cooperate with my peers and helps me to avoid possible mishaps。
Anirudh
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The Culture Map is a book explaining the cultural differences between various places and why it is important to understand them in order to make multicultural teams work。 The book is from the American professor based in France， Erin Meyer， and she describes eight scales required to understand cultural differences and navigate through them。 The eight she describes are communicating， evaluating， persuading， leading， deciding， trusting， disagreeing， scheduling。 And for each of these， the writer has The Culture Map is a book explaining the cultural differences between various places and why it is important to understand them in order to make multicultural teams work。 The book is from the American professor based in France， Erin Meyer， and she describes eight scales required to understand cultural differences and navigate through them。 The eight she describes are communicating， evaluating， persuading， leading， deciding， trusting， disagreeing， scheduling。 And for each of these， the writer has a binary scale （example: for leading – egalitarian vs hierarchical） and the book is split into eight chapters for each of them。 Most of them are supported by her own experiences in the corporate world and occasional references to books or studies。 The only takeaway I had from the book is that we need to be conscious that people behave in a certain way for cultural reasons or some other reason and not necessarily to offend the person the other person。 This is a benefit of doubt that I believe people ought to be given regardless of cultural differences （even your next-door neighbour from childhood）。 It was interesting to note that cultural perceptions are relative – where in her book – she states how Germany is strict about timings， France relatively less and India is flexible and thus， a German feels that the French are too flexible with timings and Indians feel they are too rigid。 Having been raised in India myself， I would say that for me， coming late for no reason is not good behaviour anywhere， including India。 There was an occasion where she mentioned that some of her observations are ‘dramatic oversimplifications’。 I would go further and say that it was not some， but most of her book – building on stereotypes and biases。 While it is true that some stereotypes could be true， acting on them as the author suggests could lead put oneself on a very slippery slope。 The book seemed low on research – no references on studies or the data or sample size she had used to build her eight scales axes for the various parameters。 The book was entirely based on her personal experiences， while individual experiences provide valuable lessons， the conclusions she has drawn from these personal anecdotes are too strong。 This is pertinent considering this was not a book recounting her experiences in the corporate world across geographies， but a book providing instructions on how to prepare presentations or engage in corporate negotiations to its readers。 Owing to her personal experiences， she appears to have knowledge on US and western Europe （particularly France， UK， Germany and the Netherlands）。 However， her knowledge of Asia seemed superficial and often contradictory， where on the one side， she refers to a supposed Confucian culture sphere which courts a very large territory from Vietnam， China， Korea till Japan and on the other side， talking about how different Chinese and Japanese cultures are。 Culture is a factor that is not solely influenced by nationality， it could play a large part but there is also the question of environment， rural or urban upbringing， etc。 There could be various distinct cultures within the same sovereign state – where the author herself often refers to herself as a Minnesota mother， not an American mother or even the subnational Midwestern mother。 I would have been perhaps interested if she touched upon what enforces the culture among large groups of people – is it the family traditions？ The school system？ She does partially try to answer this by saying her son has a ‘French culture’ because of attending a French school but does not elaborate on that。 While she comfortably puts people in boxes as per their passports， she does avoid placing multicultural states in Europe in any of the axes or even discuss them – like Belgium or Switzerland。 For that matter， when France， Germany， Netherlands and the UK can be seen as being so distinct， it is rather naïve to paint large multi-ethnic countries like India or China with one brush。 While it could be important to navigate the cultural differences， this book does not provide solutions。 I have met the equivalent of nearly every person in her anecdotes during my period in the corporate world and they were not necessarily from the countries that the author described and sometimes， from the ‘opposite culture’ （according to this book）。 This book is largely targeted at Americans and plays on American stereotypes and biases， it could provide some insights to people who have hardly had interactions with people from other parts of the world。 To those who have had， this book is inaccurate and does not help。 On that note， I award the book a rating of four on ten。 。。。more
Tina
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A must read if you lead teams or business on a global scale。 To understand people， is to understand where they come from， how they are influenced and what their belief system is。 This was super valuable and I highly rate it。
Lesley Rivera
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Despite being business focused， I actually found the information really useful in my daily physical therapy practice and meeting many cultures throughout the day。 I may not be travelling to other countries， but I have noticed different styles of communication and this helped me understand what those differences were and think more thoroughly through my own style of communication and how it can be adapted。
Natalia Kudriavtceva
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Great book。 Its not always about personal traits， culture we raised in impacts our decisions and ways of communication， got many good insights from the book。 Definitely recommend it toanyone working in cross-cultural environment。
Kelly Casteel
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3 stars = liked it。 There are so many ways to be human in this world。 I was fascinated by many of the things Meyer shared。 I have zero workings in the international business world， and this book was definitely written directly to that audience （with clear， step-by-step instructions for some business situations）， but even so it still felt relevant and interesting to me。 And it definitely sparked some fun discussions with people in my life。I listened to this on Audible while doing other tasks， and 3 stars = liked it。 There are so many ways to be human in this world。 I was fascinated by many of the things Meyer shared。 I have zero workings in the international business world， and this book was definitely written directly to that audience （with clear， step-by-step instructions for some business situations）， but even so it still felt relevant and interesting to me。 And it definitely sparked some fun discussions with people in my life。I listened to this on Audible while doing other tasks， and it worked well for me that way。 。。。more
Leonor
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The only reason I gave 4* was because I wanted more on the book。 From what is there I still have so many questions on other topics。
Mónica
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A very dynamic book that reads almost like a long article。 I don’t work in a multicultural setting but still I found the principles and advise very useful to understanding my work culture。 To get the most out of this book， have a notebook at hand and classify yourself， your teams and your country on each of the eight categories as you go。The only issue I had with this book （hence the 3 stars） is it focuses too much on American and Northern European / Scandinavian cultures。 Each chapter analyses A very dynamic book that reads almost like a long article。 I don’t work in a multicultural setting but still I found the principles and advise very useful to understanding my work culture。 To get the most out of this book， have a notebook at hand and classify yourself， your teams and your country on each of the eight categories as you go。The only issue I had with this book （hence the 3 stars） is it focuses too much on American and Northern European / Scandinavian cultures。 Each chapter analyses the USA versus other cultures， with Southern economies getting way less exposure than they merit。 How can it be that China gets less pages than the Netherlands？ Surely， way more people will be looking for ventures in Southeast Asian markets over making business with the Finish。 。。。more
Jitka Müllerová
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I had a really great laugh so many times in the book dating a French claiming he hates French people （for which he moved to the Czech Republic to complain about Czech people）， having worked so far for two huge American corporate with clients from about 40 different countries and myself being Czech with not only a German surname， but also genes and mindset。 On top of that in times like this， as travelling is next to impossible， I wandered back in time to our vacation in India - if only I had read I had a really great laugh so many times in the book dating a French claiming he hates French people （for which he moved to the Czech Republic to complain about Czech people）， having worked so far for two huge American corporate with clients from about 40 different countries and myself being Czech with not only a German surname， but also genes and mindset。 On top of that in times like this， as travelling is next to impossible， I wandered back in time to our vacation in India - if only I had read this book before our trip！ Many misundestandings could have been avoided。 This book should really be read by anybody that is in general working with clients from a different country - it may be just your neighbour， but it all makes a difference。 On the other hand I missed more analysis （German-me speaking） of how to approach the culture mapping and the last chapter just did not do it for me。 But if we ever move to Paris。。 I would definitely love to work for Erin as she seems to be a charming person with （hopefully） a better sense of humour than a British。 That was a joke。 Or not？ 。。。more
Sterre Coenen
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A nice book with a lot of information about exploring global cultures to operate better in business。 It is not a book that ready very easily。
Brian Gallacher
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We are all the same， but very differentThis was an interesting and enjoyable that looked at keys way which can be assessed to show generalised differences between cultures。 Being Scottish and having worked with English has some cultural differences， but not as much as working with Canadians or Americans or Australians or French。 We need to understand each of these deltas and use them to our advantage。
Aisya
，
Brilliant book that I didn’t know I needed， especially after my experiences working in different parts of the world and rambling as I went along。 And my have I learned through this book; visually， systematically， articulately。 It is also a book for everyone who travels internationally for work and works in/with multicultural teams， which in this digitalized and globalized world have become the norm。
Inky
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Great resource if you work with different cultures。
Anna Kravchuk
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It's like someone has taken all the things that I've already figured out based on comparing my own experience with others in the same cultural situation， combined them with the things that I've already noticed but haven't quite connected the dots yet， and finally put them into THE right words。 And then added some structure and enriched with lots of useful details。 It doesn't answer all the questions but it provides a good framework to start finding this answers on your own。 It certainly helped m It's like someone has taken all the things that I've already figured out based on comparing my own experience with others in the same cultural situation， combined them with the things that I've already noticed but haven't quite connected the dots yet， and finally put them into THE right words。 And then added some structure and enriched with lots of useful details。 It doesn't answer all the questions but it provides a good framework to start finding this answers on your own。 It certainly helped me to see things clearer and to feel myself less insane。 Or at least I think so。 But that's already a good start。 。。。more
Bjorn Martensson
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Practical book on how to interact more effectively with people from other cultures。 Also a great reminder of how quirky we all are， even though we are often blind to this and "everyone else is weird"🙂 Practical book on how to interact more effectively with people from other cultures。 Also a great reminder of how quirky we all are， even though we are often blind to this and "everyone else is weird"🙂 。。。more
Diane
，
5/5 There are a few books that I read that I believe fundamentally change the way I will consider myself and other people， and this is one of them。Cultural differences and expectations in business and life are explained here with graphs， examples， logical cause effect explanation involving language and history， and a practical list of points to apply to improve your own communication relative to your own culture and your counterparts’。As a mixed raced and third culture kid， I felt this book in m 5/5 There are a few books that I read that I believe fundamentally change the way I will consider myself and other people， and this is one of them。Cultural differences and expectations in business and life are explained here with graphs， examples， logical cause effect explanation involving language and history， and a practical list of points to apply to improve your own communication relative to your own culture and your counterparts’。As a mixed raced and third culture kid， I felt this book in my bones。 Which， for a management science book， is something！！I loved being able to see the frustrations and biases I have laid out on a clear graph， so that I can just see which way to adapt。 I wish I had this book when I moved from the French education system to a British university and nearly failed a class because of different feedback styles。How was I supposed to know that “Very good！ Maybe take a look at this part！” wasn’t a suggestion？？ I was used to French teachers explicitly telling me in front of everyone all my failings and give me compliments behind my back。If only I had known， I wouldn’t have failed that class！（I was also really bad at that class lol） 。。。more
Veena
，
I enjoyed reading Erin's （the author） experience in working with different cultures。 She definitely makes you think that how it is important to consider culture in building strong relationships。 What I enjoyed the most how she showed different cultures with parameters in charts and visuals。 I enjoyed reading Erin's （the author） experience in working with different cultures。 She definitely makes you think that how it is important to consider culture in building strong relationships。 What I enjoyed the most how she showed different cultures with parameters in charts and visuals。 。。。more
Patrick Gurgel
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It is certainly a good book to read in times of globalization。 Reading the book early in one’s career might save them a lot of frustration， embarrassment， and possibly humiliation when dealing with people from different cultures。 You can get most of the knowledge in the book from experience as well， but that will take a lot longer。。。
Muneeb Ahmed
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Great book， did not realize how collectivist cultures share so much in common。 Being from an individualistic society， I see many things we can incorporate into our day to day i。e doing things for people for the sake of it， without expecting anything in return。 There are certain claims in the book which I would consider problematic， namely the lack of appreciation of having a diverse workgroup。 Often， the author insinuates that cultural diversity would be a hinderance and not an asset - I complet Great book， did not realize how collectivist cultures share so much in common。 Being from an individualistic society， I see many things we can incorporate into our day to day i。e doing things for people for the sake of it， without expecting anything in return。 There are certain claims in the book which I would consider problematic， namely the lack of appreciation of having a diverse workgroup。 Often， the author insinuates that cultural diversity would be a hinderance and not an asset - I completely disagree。 It also goes against the essence of the book - there are numerous examples of how individuals from certain cultures can provide incredible perspectives for a certain product or service。 Overall， good read but there’s better books on culture。 。。。more
Hots Hartley
，
Three positive aspects that set Erin Meyer's Culture Map apart from other books:1） The culture map is a unique， visual tool。 Each topic discussed comes mapped onto a line， with two extremes on the spectrum。 Erin Meyer then places a number of countries and their cultures onto the spectrum， indicating where they fall relative to one another。 For example， in the "Decision-Making" map， at once extreme is the slow consensus-building decision-making pattern seen in the Japanese ringi system， where eve Three positive aspects that set Erin Meyer's Culture Map apart from other books:1） The culture map is a unique， visual tool。 Each topic discussed comes mapped onto a line， with two extremes on the spectrum。 Erin Meyer then places a number of countries and their cultures onto the spectrum， indicating where they fall relative to one another。 For example， in the "Decision-Making" map， at once extreme is the slow consensus-building decision-making pattern seen in the Japanese ringi system， where everyone signs off， and once the decision is made， it becomes difficult to change during execution。 At the other extreme lies top-down boss-driven decision making， made quickly but flexible to change during implementation as markets， specifications， and client requirements change。 Each country， with the reasoning for its placement， falls somewhere on this spectrum， from Japan to the USA， several European countries， and Asian countries。 She doesn't focus a lot of time on every single country， and different charts show different countries， but she always discusses the extremes in depth， and spends time comparing and contrasting the USA， Japan， France， India， and China， the countries in which she has had the most direct experience。 She includes anecdotes from other countries， too， like UK， Germany， and the Netherlands， but smaller countries like Portugal and Belgium don't receive as much mention。 She has to draw the line somewhere。 The topics span areas as specific as expectations of time/scheduling， hierarchy vs。 egalitarian structure， task-based vs。 relationship-based trust， decision-making， and confrontation。2） Erin doesn't hesitate to rely on stereotypes。 She embraces the information they provide rather than outright rejecting them as a racist or lazy label， which so many people do。 So many American business and leadership books dismiss culture as something too general and discriminating to apply to individuals; those books shove cultural background under the rug under the moral ideal that adults should be treated as individuals， with their own quirks， preferences， and motivations。 I am glad Erin Meyer didn't take this stance with this book。 Instead， she embraces cultural stereotypes for what they are: a background of norms in which people grow up， that shapes their expectations and viewpoints。 3） She discusses both sides of every cultural misunderstanding。 For example， when a speaker goes over time for a scheduled presentation， both the viewpoint of catering to an interested audience and the viewpoint of saving time and respecting the schedule are discussed in a cultural backdrop。 Furthermore， in situations of debate between sides， Erin discusses the internal mental model of both sides -- the challengers as well as the challenged。 She does a good job of jumping into the minds and thought processes of both sides， presenting the cultural background that led to those thought processes。If there was any minor flaw， it was that there were so many characters -- people interviewed for one chapter and then forgotten in another -- that it was hard to stay invested in anybody except the author。 The stories are interesting， and she does circle back sometimes， but it would have been easier to follow and invest if each culture had a （real-world） representative that she used in multiple stories， to help us build a better relationship and put names to faces。 Having so many names isn't bad， per se， because she tells a lot of anecdotes， but the net result is I find it harder to remember who did what when thinking back to the book's lessons。Highly recommended for all -- whether leaders in business or employees of a company where foreigners work。 。。。more
Yomna Eldawy
，
Interesting book。 Great for people working with culturally diverse teams。 I found it a bit stereotypical in some areas， though。
Toni Freger
，
This is a great book that provides a lot of information about different nationalities and cultures from a business perspective。 It is full of useful information that you need to reread from time to time。
Wolfgang
，
When this book was on my course list， I was REALLY not thrilled to read ANOTHER book on "how to deal with intercultural problems in business settings"。 Therefore， I was pleasantly surprised to not only find Meyer's eight scales of categories very appropriate， but also supported by relatable examples from the author's own experience。 Moreover， Meyer gives tips on how to deal with multicultural groups and instead of a one-size-fits-all， she suggests to openly address the conflicts and their cultur When this book was on my course list， I was REALLY not thrilled to read ANOTHER book on "how to deal with intercultural problems in business settings"。 Therefore， I was pleasantly surprised to not only find Meyer's eight scales of categories very appropriate， but also supported by relatable examples from the author's own experience。 Moreover， Meyer gives tips on how to deal with multicultural groups and instead of a one-size-fits-all， she suggests to openly address the conflicts and their cultural background， so participants can be more aware of the other's motivations and act accordingly。 What really did it for me is the statement， that A） not every individual from a certain culture fits the mold and B） that the points on the scales are not fixed， but relational to the culture they are compared with。 。。。more
James
，