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Deepak Gupta my SUCCESS! my CHOICE
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removed. We selected them. More importantly, we also found several who still communicated poorly.

We rejected them.”

“A global company like ours communicates in the global language, English. Everyone, irrespective

of their ethnic heritage or location, communicates in English; some are fluent in English, others are

not. We focus on understanding the ‘intent’ of the communication rather than on the ‘exact meaning’

of each word while talking to people from ‘low-English-skill-countries’ like Japan or China; we accept

that their choice of words is not deliberate due to poor English proficiency. On the other hand, when

we communicate with nationalities that are English fluent, we follow the normal practice of focusing

on the ‘exact meaning’ of each word.”

“I have found this to be a potential cause of misunderstandings. ‘Language fluency does not

mean cultural congruence’; people use English words differently based on their cultural

background. Let me illustrate with a simple example. What does ‘couple of them’ mean to you?”

“It means ‘two people or two similar things. It is pretty simple,” replied Dan.

“Probably not that simple Dan. Most people in Asia use ‘couple of them’ not only to represent

‘two’ but can also use it to represent ‘few’. If you were talking to an Asian and he used this expression,

there is bound to be misunderstanding if you are not careful.”

“I have found that we must be more cautious talking to a non-native ‘supposedly fluent’ English

speaker and must vet their words with the filter of their cultural background; especially with someone

who is not very well known to us.”