Do Chinese and Brazilians communicate in the same way? And should an American apply his own view of communication dynamics to either? Sometimes, it can all be so public.
Yesterday, I caught, quite by accident, a piece of the Bronze Medal match in women’s beach volleyball for the 2012 Olympics. Women’s beach volleyball is one of those sports that catch your eye (well, my eye). Athletic, powerful, scantily clad women jumping around on the beach. It’s hard not to watch, at least for a few minutes.
I happened to tune in at a critical moment. The Chinese were playing the Brazilians and the Brazilians were against the ropes. Having been trashed by the Chinese in the first game, 11-21, the Brazilians trailed the Chinese 18-19 near the end of the second game, and the Chinese had service. Two more points and the Chinese would go home with the Bronze Medal and the Brazilians would go home empty handed. It was a tense moment.
Unfortunately, I don’t have access to a transcript of the commentary that came along with the TV feed for this match. I wish I did because it was classic. At the moment that I tuned in, the American commentator said something along the lines of: “The Brazilians seem to be losing it. Look at the way they are arguing right there on the court. That looks like an angry exchange of words going on there. Compare that with the Chinese who seem so composed, sitting courtside during the time-out, quietly confident. The camera moved from the Brazilian players to the Chinese players as the commentator spoke, sharing the sight of the two teams, one falling apart, the other composed and confident.
In fact, the commentator was not providing much insight into what was happening with the teams.
Brazilians are famously animated, public, and emotional in their communications. The Brazilian team that seemed to be falling apart was simply communicating in a style that was familiar and comfortable to them and the commentator clearly applied his American understanding to what was going on and completely misinterpreted it.
Chinese, on the other hand, while equally direct and often emotional in their communications, are usually less public and certainly less physically animated about it. The “composed” and “confident” Chinese team may well have been quite tense and nervous, just less public or animated in expressing it.
Given that confidence and team play are critical factors in the success of Olympic level sport, one would assume that the Chinese would have had a relatively easy time finishing off the Brazilians at this point. Certainly the commentator seemed to expect that.
I was intrigued because I interpreted what I saw on the sands very differently from the commentator and I was curious as to what would happen, so I watched this match a little longer than I normally would have.
The Brazilians won back the serve and the next 3 points to win the game 21-19. They then went on to win the next game 15-12, which gave them the match and the Bronze Medal. The team that the commentator branded as “losing it” was, in fact, going through their culturally appropriate process of getting it together. I don’t think the Chinese ever “lost it,” either. They remained tough and agressive, but they were simply up against a better team.