Beyond language translation: crossing the cultural divide

Working in and designing for other cultures con lead to communication breakdowns. The author explores how this happens and suggests ways that we con use potentially problematic situations to our advantage. Although it is fundamentally difficult to establish successful cross-cultural collaboration, we should not avoid it. On the contrary, we should exploit cross-cultural work opportunities: encountering cultural breakdowns is the best way to widen our perspectives, understand ourselves more deeply, and consequently, be more creative, Finally. if communication breakdowns are unavoidable, why not use them? These breakdowns can be a driving force for coordinating cross-cultural collaboration-whether among people from different nations or different work cultures.