Brainstorming on Culture and Negotiation

From Peacebuilding

Contents 1 Purpose 2 Participants 3 Time 4 Materials 5 Process 6 Note

Purpose

• To explore the concept of “culture”;
• To explore how culture affects the way people negotiate.

Participants

2 to many. It can be difficult to facilitate with over 25-30 participants.

Time

At least 10-15 minutes; or longer if needed.

Materials

• Flip chart papers;
• Markers.

Process

I) Write the following question on the flip chart:

“What is culture?”

II) Have participants answering. Stimulate participation, quantity is more important than quality. Write all emerging ideas on the flip chart. If necessary use more papers and tie written papers on the wall in order to be visible to everybody.

III) Stimulate discussion between participants’ different views.

IV) If participants ask for it, after brainstorming you can provide one or more definitions of “culture”, for example:

“That complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society”.

E. B. Taylor

“The essence of culture – shared tacit assumptions”.

E. Schein

“Culture as a learned set of shared interpretations about beliefs, values and norms which affect the behaviours of a relatively large group of people”.

M. Lustig and J. Koester

“Culture is the cumulative result of experience, values, religion, beliefs, attitudes, meanings, knowledge, social organisations, procedures, timing, roles, spatial relations, concepts of the universe and material objects and possessions acquired or created by groups of people, in the course of generation, through individual and group effort and interactions”.

C. Moore and P. Woodrow

V) Write a second question on the flip chart:

“How does culture affect way people negotiate?”

VI) Repeat the procedure at steps II and III.

Note

This is a brainstorming session; as a facilitator you should prevent yourself from exercising judgement on ideas expressed by participants. Every idea is welcome and must be written down.

You can divide this activity in two parts and facilitate these at different times during the workshop. The first part includes steps I to IV; the second part includes steps V and VI.