[MUSIC] Good morning, today I would like to answer with you a crucial question. When preparing for a cross-cultural negotiation, how much emphasis should you place on culture? Indeed, on the one hand, it may seem that the impact of cultural differences in negotiations is overestimated for several reasons. The first one is cliche. Cliche's flourish because they simplify what is in reality much more complex. This simplistic reductionism provides a comfortable starting block for elaborating a strategy. That starting block, however reassuring it may seem, is constructed on a false foundation since the typical Russian or the typical Senegalese just does not exist. It's important to avoid these cognitive biases, but how? In order to fight against cliches, the 5R Tool of Foster can be helpful. Recognize the natural inclination to judge. We too easily allow ourselves statements such as, that's a typical attitude from a Russian, from a teacher, etc. We stick labels on people without thinking and we display automatic behaviors in order to deal with the complexity that’s around us. It's essential to recognize this and to develop the reflex to say "I'm judging again. Refrain from doing so". Let's try to step back a little from these judgments and give the other the benefit of the doubt. Retracing in own identity, the "foreigner" attitude, into something more familiar. If I judged the other as being quite different from me, it is because I find something she does either "too much or not enough". She is too formal, too competitive, not polite enough, etc. Before judging another, it's important that we remind ourselves of our own culture, attitudes and preferences, in which people and even myself could also be too formal, too competitive, etc. Reclaim this attitude. When I succeeded in remembering a moment, when I had the same attitude as the other, I become aware. It's because I am unhappy with this behavior that I judged it without always admitting it. If certainly I can accept that these attitudes are not so different from my own sometimes, I will have made some progress interpersonal and multicultural relations. Resurface. Once having done all the previous steps, it is possible to come back to the negotiation table with a new outlook even a smile, knowing that the other is not so different from me. It is easier to continue the conversation and connect to the other. The second reason that cultural differences in negotiation are overestimated has to do with self-fulfilling prophecies. For example, I am convinced that negotiators coming from a certain culture are competitive. Thus, if I am negotiating with someone from that culture, I will have a tendency to be competitive myself rather than cooperative. The other negotiator, who may not be by nature competitive, responds in turn to my behavior and the prophecy is fulfilled. The third reason has to do with the tendency that globalization is accompanied by a cultural harmonization and even homogenization. Fourthly, it is important to remember that the cultural variable is highly relative since we all belong to several cultural circles. And last but not least, focusing too much on culture can backfire. More to come on this in our next video.