#054
Two teams across different regions felt "the other side just doesn't get it." It's not a cultural difference; it's failing to untangle decision-making authority.
两地团队互相觉得“对方不懂”。不是文化差异，是没把决策权拆清楚。
一位国际设计公司的CEO找我。1:1教练，三个月。
第一次聊了两小时。
他说：“伦敦和深圳团队合作一个项目，双方都很专业，但沟通成本极高，反复修改。不是语言问题，是决策文化不一样。怎么办？”
我问他：“一个深圳司机第一次在伦敦闹市开车，他需要什么才能安全到家？”
他想了想：“需要两地司机多交流……我们以前也提过同事交换计划，但没批。”
那天我们没再聊“交换计划”。我们一起做了一个决策矩阵 - 把“选谁参与跨文化项目”拆成五个维度，每个维度打分、赋权重。
他把这套方案带到了董事会。不是说“我们搞个文化工作坊”，而是说“把这笔钱算进HR培训预算，用可衡量的标准选人、评估效果”。
他说：“以前做文化培训，听完就忘。现在我们知道，谁该上、为什么上、怎么算成功。”
计划还在推进。不是问题解决了，是终于知道怎么下手了。
如果你也在跨团队、跨文化的‘互相不懂’里消耗 ，与我联系。一起找到问题的根。你的时间与精力，应该花在高回报的目标上。
(案例已脱敏，经本人同意分享)
徐敏聪
商业教练 ｜为赢而练
我帮创始人及CEO先赢，再长。
The CEO of an international design company came to me for 1:1 coaching over three months.
We talked for two hours during our first session.
He said, "Our London and Shenzhen teams are collaborating on a project. Both sides are very professional, but communication costs are extremely high with endless revisions. It's not a language barrier; it's that our decision-making cultures are completely different. What should I do?"
I asked him, "If a Shenzhen driver is navigating heavy traffic in London for the very first time, what do they need to arrive safely?"
He thought about it and said, "They need more communication between drivers from both places... We actually brought up a staff exchange program before, but it got rejected."
That day, we didn't talk anymore about the "exchange program." Instead, we built a decision-making matrix together, breaking down "who gets to participate in cross-cultural projects" into five dimensions, with scoring and weighting for each dimension.
He took this framework to the board of directors. Instead of framing it as "let's run a culture workshop," he pitched it as "let's allocate this budget into the HR training budget, using measurable criteria to select people and evaluate results."
He said, "With past cultural training, people would forget everything right after hearing it. Now we know: who should step up, why they should step up, and how success is measured."
The plan is still moving forward. It’s not that all problems are magically solved, but they finally know where to begin.
If you are also burning out in the mutual "misunderstanding" of cross-functional and cross-cultural teams, get in touch with me. Let's find the root of the problem together. Your time and energy should be spent on high-return goals.
(This case has been anonymized and is shared with the individual's consent)
David Tsui
Business Coach | Coached To WIN
Helping founders and CEOs WIN, then GROW
