Guest author Diana Klochkova helps lead the Levi’s Social Engagement team in San Francisco. She recently spent a month in Shanghai with her digital marketing team and brought back some tasty insights about global teamwork.
We all speak the same language, but that doesn’t mean we’re all communicating in the same way. While this can be frustrating, to me it has always been a fascinating and fun challenge – one that I have tried to solve with layers of process, regular conference calls, and lots (and lots) of Basecamp messages.
The trick, it turns out, to communicating effectively: pizza, tofu, and walnuts.
Let me explain.
In my two years working at Levi’s Global Office, one consistent challenge has been collaborating with local markets and teams around the world. You see, global communication isn’t just a logistical issue. It’s a cultural one.
A recent visit to Shanghai helped me uncover the root of all our miscommunications. As a team, we lacked the understanding and trust that can only be built through good, old-fashioned bonding time.
During my one-month stay, my gracious hosts educated me on Chinese culture, and they quickly came to understand that food was the best way to connect with me. Imagine their pleasant surprise in finding out that a Westerner like me would eat and love nearly everything they offered. (Chicken feet – they taste like chicken!) They never tired of learning or teaching, and while we were mostly talking about what was on our plates, the understanding I gained of the team and their culture reached far beyond what was on the dining table.
On my last night, determined to repay my hosts for their hospitality, I organized a pizza cook-off. The pizza, I figured, would be familiar, yet all the bread, tomato sauce, and cheese would still put it outside the realm of a typical Chinese meal. How right I was.
I prepared the basics in advance. The dough, marinara sauce, slices of tomato, shredded cheese, and dried figs were laid out. I asked my guests to bring additional toppings, only to find that the Shanghai team brought tofu and noodles – in case this pizza thing didn’t work out. (To be fair, my American and British guests hadn’t managed to find toppings, either. They brought beer.)
So we got started with the pizza dough. At first, not enough pressure was applied, then too much. Eventually, we got it right. I stepped in to wipe off the excess marinara applied by most of my cooks, explaining that it would make the dough soggy. I added cheese where only a microscopic amount had been placed by the Chinese guests.
All these little details were entirely obvious to me, but they almost ruined most of the pizzas. I had made too many assumptions based on my own knowledge, rather than looking at things from the perspective of someone who had rarely eaten, and certainly never made, this foreign dish. Luckily, everyone maintained a sense of humor, and all agreed that their pizzas were delicious.
So, let’s look at how this pizza preparation process mimicked, almost exactly, the ways our different teams worked together. It’s all about the pizza, tofu, and walnuts.
The Pizza – Dough and Marinara
All kinds of things can go wrong when we assume others will understand our perspective. Even simple projects can get complicated, as we go back and forth, trying to identify the disconnect.
Not everyone knows how much “marinara” to put on a pizza, or how much pressure it takes to roll out the pizza dough. Understanding different perspectives is important.
The Tofu
“Tofu” is what happens when local teams prepare their own content without Global review. The Global team might get frustrated by what they interpret as “going rogue”, but it’s to be expected. Local teams, often justifiably, are nervous that the campaigns and strategies coming down from Global simply won’t “taste good” in their unique market.
Tofu is the Plan B.
The Cheese
Some things just won’t work for a local market. Cultural differences transcend food preferences. A Chinese person will never load their pizza with cheese.
Certain aspects of marketing campaigns and strategies may not always translate well. We need to be okay with that.
The Walnuts
My favorite part of this analogy, though, are the “walnuts” we often overlook when working together. Walnuts are great ideas that can come from anywhere. This is especially true when it’s a fresh set of eyes on a well-established idea.
One of my guests added walnuts (intended for the salad) to her pizza. I didn’t notice until it was fully cooked.
“Connie, this is going to taste so weird! You should take off the walnuts,” I instructed, confident in my knowledge of what does and doesn’t work on my favorite food.
“No, it’s great, try it!” she countered.
I was suspicious. I made a face at her, but tried it anyway. How was it? Well, now I always add walnuts to my pizza dough. Connie was right, despite knowing next to nothing about pizza. Her walnuts were a true inspiration.
What started as a silly little anecdote, has turned into a truly life-altering realization. We shouldn’t get caught up in our way of doing things because we think our perspective is the most relevant. We need to listen to our colleagues. We need to understand them. We need to trust them.
And we should always be searching for walnuts.
Diana Klochkova, is the Assistant Manager of Levi’s Social Engagement. Over the past two years, Diana has been responsible for driving meaningful connections with fans around the world, while ensuring the Levi’s voice is consistent and relevant to each market. During her time in Shanghai, Diana worked with the local digital marketing team to develop the Levi’s vision and investment approach to social media marketing in China.
