Recently as I worked with a Norwegian company to define their brand we had a lot of fun with them educating me about being Norwegian, and what it meant for their brand.
A simple example in the brand profiling process was that they did not rate themselves clearly as successful, despite being an absolute world leader in their work. If taken at face value, this result would mean that their brand would be expressed as potentially an efficient follower or stronger in areas other than thought leadership. However, when questioned, it was revealed that it is so typical for the highly collective Norwegians to down-play their own success that there is a term for it, Jante Law, a concept similar to the Tall Poppy Syndrome in Australia.
As a result, we worked through it and they admitted leadership is integral to the nature of their game-changing business.
Reflecting on this, I want to share 10 questions to ask of your contacts to gain a rapid understanding of a new country (or culture). It created a lot of debate and laughter and was a useful excercise for us all.
1. How would you describe Norwegian people to someone?
2. What is Norway known for?
3. Is it true? If not, what should it be known for?
4. What are the biggest brands and retailers in Norway?
4. If I called you __this__ nationality, it would annoy you. (note - you don't want to confuse Norwegians and Swedes!)
5. What do you folks do for fun?
6. Where do Norwegians sit on the scale between hedonism and altruism?
8. How punctual are your trains?
9. What subjects could I bring up over drinks that would incite most conversation? A riot?
10. Tell me about how how families work together, or not, in Norway.
11. What Norwegian food should I try?
My final tip is a few words go a long way, even in English-fluent Norway. Try downloading a free app for basic phrases in the appropriate language and you could have the basics ready to go by the time you touch down to meet your client!
You? What questions would you add or change?
p.s. When I asked a colleague who's job it is to travel the world challenging and helping teams to higher sales performance how he immerses effectively he added these great points:
1. Know their local data as well as they do - spend considerable time to know their perspective.
2. Spend 2-3 days walking amongst the customers / business - observing, cataloguing and asking questions.
3. (my favourite) Laugh at yourself first! Have a little fun at your own cultural sterotypes first, to open up the way for them to share anecdotes with you.
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