When are we ready to express an opinion?

When I started working with M.A., a Japanese language teacher and communication coach, she shared a story with me. In one of her university classes, the professor asked the students to express an opinion on the topic he was teaching. One after another, her British classmates offered either an opinion or a guess. M.A., however, felt she was not yet qualified to contribute. She wanted to read more, understand the context and only then form and offer a view.

How culture shapes our thinking

Her story reminded me of Richard Nisbett’s The Geography of Thought, in which he explores how cultural traditions shape the way people perceive, interpret and reason about the world. One of his central observations about Southeast Asians is that they tend, on average, to pay greater attention to context and relationships, while people in the West are more inclined to focus on the particular object or issue under consideration.

Different assumptions about what makes an opinion valid

M.A.’s classmates were comfortable treating the professor’s question as an invitation to think aloud, offering an initial interpretation that then they could develop through discussion. M.A., on the other side, wanted to understand the wider picture in which the question belonged before answering it. 

While some readers may interpret this discussion as one on critical thinking, it is more a discussion about what each considered a sufficient basis for speaking. For her classmates, an opinion was a starting point for learning, while for M.A., developing sufficient understanding was the prerequisite for offering one.

In day-to-day communication, we assume that everyone shares our understanding of what it means to participate, contribute or share knowledge. Yet, one person may interpret a question as an invitation to explore possibilities, while another may see it as a request to offer a well-informed judgement.

Each approach works well and has its own merits in its “native” environment where the people involved in the communication know “how things work around here.” (Edward T. Hall to explain what culture is.) The challenge comes when we interpret one approach through the expectations of the other and mistake a difference in intellectual approach for a difference in ability or interest. 

Unsurprisingly, Japanese students studying abroad are sometimes judged as lacking confidence or independent thought by their non-Japanese colleagues and professors. In Japan, on the other hand, a student who shares an opinion immediately when asked, may be perceived as speaking without sufficient knowledge. 

Speaking up in Japanese workplaces: context, position and expectations

This question is relevant in Japanese organizational culture. Japanese employees may be reluctant to express an initial opinion before understanding the broader context, considering the implications, or establishing how what they say fits into the discussion. While to non-Japanese eyes this may look as a lack of initiative, it is more often than not a matter of ensuring that their opinion is well-informed and appropriate to the situation. 

This doesn’t mean that Japanese people need to master a subject before expressing an opinion. In every culture there are broad cultural tendencies and there is no one rule governing individual behavior. Nevertheless, this is an example that people can approach the same question with different assumptions about the level of understanding that makes a contribution valuable.

What to work with multicultural teams

In multinational teams, if we expect everybody to show engagement by voicing an opinion immediately, we may overlook people who may need time to establish the context before contributing. Or, if we wait for everyone to develop a well-informed position, we may miss the insights and ideas that come into existence through spontaneous discussion. 

Since our expectations about participation, competence, and appropriate behavior are not universal, recognizing the difference is the initial step to understanding how different members of the team can contribute and to creating an environment where they can give their best, instead of mistaking a different approach for an absence of ability, interest, or engagement. Before that, if you wish to learn more about the unspoken assumptions in Japanese workplaces and communication practices, sign up for the self-paced Japan Business Communication course.

Additional reading: 

• When Nobody Tells You The Rules