Speaking of India: Bridging the Communication Gap When Working with Indians

by Craig Storti

Book Overview

"Storti's cultural observations about India are spot on." - Ranjini Manian, CEO, Global Adjustments and author of Doing Business in India for DummiesWesterners and Indians are working more closely... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1931930341
• ISBN13: 9781931930345
• Release Date: September 2007
• Publisher: Intercultural Press
• Length: 195 Pages
• Weight: 0.77 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.1" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Essential for Understanding India/US relations

If you are a Westerner with a mission to understand your Indian colleagues, you can not afford to miss this book. If you're an Indian wanting to decode your Western colleagues motivations, the same applies. This book changed my life and completely revolutionized my perspective on the key issues of cultural miscommunications and how we can combat these on an organizational and personal level. Our company IT Hands has used this books on multiple trainings for our Western and Indian staff. It has become a requirement for working for the cross cultural branch of our company. [...] IT Hands has greatly benefited from this book and it has been one of our secrets of success!

Very useful book

I read this book after being in India for a month, working with an all-Indian team. It clarified a lot of the situations I was coming across and provided some straightforward tactics to make sure we all got on the same wavelength quickly. As the business I'm in has Indian clients, the advice was obviously transferable to client meetings and ensuring we followed up in a way that made sense to all. I shared the book with the General Manager of the team and he's also gained a lot of insight out of it, especially in regard to working with the US team. I'd recommend the book to anyone who's working with indians either remotely or on site.

Highly recommended

This book is essential for any American working with Indians. He gives clear descriptions of the differences in how the two cultures tend to function. I am an American living in India, and this book has made a huge difference in my ability to communicate well. Highly recommended.

Finally Hearing India!

As a project manager for a US-based software and web development company, I had some apprehension about working with a new off-shore programming team in India. As a second-generation American, paired with my experience teaching English and citizenship classes to refugees from around the world, I've come to know first-hand how challenging, and disastrous, culture misunderstandings can be. Now, with regular cross-cultural global communication also becoming a part of my career, I felt the pressure to make sure my misunderstanding did not interfere with business and project success. Craig Storti comes to the rescue in a quick, yet comprehensive, read. I kept this book with in my laptop case to read a chapter whenever I had a free moment. I was able to absorb the content, even in short reading sessions. I found the introduction of the book helpful in expressing the crucial importance of cross-cultural communication in today's business world. There are many features that set this book apart from others in its category. I really appreciated the scripted examples of conversations between an Indian and a Westerner that are included with the chapters. These examples really helped to make a connection in my mind between the lesson of the text and real world application. Storti points out the missteps in each of the example conversations, and how it could have been prevented. The extensive section of the book devoted singly to the "Indian Yes" and other agreements is especially invaluable and a must to any Western individual seeking to prevent the biggest road-block for Westerners in Indian communication. Non-verbal communication is also included, seasoned with rich content regarding cultural and familial backgrounds which create the foundation of differences in our communication styles, both of which give a comprehensive understanding. The end of chapter summaries give you the necessary points for your own comprehension check and review. I recommend this book specifically for Canadians, Americans, British, and Western Europeans working with East Indians in the business world. Although the book is written in a business context, teachers, volunteers, and vacation travelers would also benefit from the communication elements of this book, for a richer experience in India. I shared this book with some Indian colleagues here in the US, who are quite Western. They found the book quite humorous, but said the accuracy and truth of it all is right on. Speaking of India has expanded my cultural understanding, and the effectiveness of my communicational understanding, with both East Indians here as "Westernized" long-time Americans, and Indians completely outside of my Western-centric experience.

A short bridge across a long communication gap

Craig Storti provides a straightforward, fact-based and eminently useful guide to culture and communication issues that complicate business between Westerners and Indians. Much of the literature on culture and business is vague and theoretical - so this book stands apart. The author targets the problems that are most likely to arise in commerce, offers detailed real-life examples and shows what practical solutions businesspeople can implement. He is evenhanded in his advice, offering tips to both Westerners and Indians. Most importantly, getAbstract finds that he is businesslike in his approach, focused, practical and realistic about what is achievable.