SYNOPSIS
What book are we doing?
The Culture Code, by Clotaire Rapaille
NOTE: This is not the one of the same title by Daniel Coyle, which is also a useful read, but on a very different topic
Why are we doing it?
Because it’s a reminder of the unconscious meanings that cultures hold collectively about specific things
How can we use it?
To make sense of some seemingly inexplicable behaviours and phenomena in culture
To use cultural context and codes to benefit your work rather than trying to push against them
To understand yourself (and those around you) a little better and how your culture has shaped you and your unconscious beliefs and norms
Like most meetings and gatherings in Canada, the APG Social in October started with small talk. This eventually evolved into a conversation about small talk. Our group was fortunate to include a few participants who are still relatively new to Canada, so brought fresh perspectives. One spoke about the big adjustment for her in navigating the inevitable off-topic chit-chat that happens before meetings here. Another agreed immediately. Having both come from cultures where the meeting norm is to get down to business, they were confused why people in Canada don’t do the same.
When you’re part of a culture, it’s easy not to notice everyday unstated behaviours, customs, and beliefs that your group embodies. To a newcomer, they’re glaringly obvious. Clotaire Rapaille describes his role as a “professional stranger” (or “visitor from another planet”), which he uses to uncover culture codes: the unconscious meaning we apply to a given thing. He tries to understand and define the unconscious and unstated meanings groups of people share around cultures, roles, places, products, and brands.
Rapaille describes some practical examples like having helped Jeep to redesign its Wrangler by identifying Americans’ culture code for Jeep as Horse; to change their messaging in France and Germany where the culture code for Jeep is Liberator; and to build a strategy for creating a coffee market in Japan (where tea is entrenched in culture) for Nestle.
He also provides readers with several examples of culture codes, including:
- The American code for cars is Identity while the German code for cars is Engineering[1]
The American code for doctor is Hero and the code for nurse is Mother, while the code for their place of work, hospitals, is Processing Plant[2] - The American code for quality is It Works, while the code for perfection is Death[3]
- The French code for France is Idea while the English code for England is Class and the German code for Germany is Order[4]
I don’t always agree with the culture code definitions Rapaille arrives at, but I do believe in the general principle he advocates. Missing the unconscious meanings in and around a brand often leads to failure. Understanding and leveraging them paves a much smoother path to success.
One way to practice and hone your skills with culture code principle is to apply them in everyday life. Often, when there’s a mass behaviour that seems inexplicable, culture codes can help to explain it.
For example, regardless of one’s political leanings, few people thought in June 2015 that Donald Trump would stay in the primary race at all, let alone become President. In 2023, despite (or perhaps enhanced by) civil and criminal legal filings against him, he remains the frontrunner for Republican candidate for next year’s election.
How can this be?
According to Rapaille, the American culture code for the presidency is Moses. Americans want a president “who makes us pay attention when he speaks. We want someone with a strong reptilian side who can take care of our country. We want someone who can help us rebel against our problems and lead us to the Promised Land because he knows what is wrong and how to fix it. We don’t want a father figure. We want a biblical figure.”
Most American presidents fit this description well.[5] In a country that Rapaiile describes as forever “culturally adolescent,” where the culture code for America is To Dream, the code for health is Movement, and where perfection means Death, it’s not surprising that citizens want a Moses to lead them and celebrate flawed adolescent presidents like Bush Jr, Clinton, and JFK. In a culture where money is Proof (of value – a barometer of success), it’s not surprising that a man who’s sold himself as a self-made billionaire is viewed as someone who’s earned his position as Moses and stokes the dream that voters can follow in his footsteps.
While the American culture code for America is To Dream (it’s a culture of doers, thinking big, moving fast and breaking things), the Canadian culture code for Canada is To Keep.[6] Rapaille suggests that, linking back to historical Canadian winters (storing “winter energy”), Canadians are conservers who try to keep things as they are. We don’t elect a Moses; we elect a guardian.[7]
While I love many things about my adopted home of Victoria, BC, the pace can be frustrating. A few years ago, I began calling it Canada’s Slowest Town. It’s rare to arrive at a traffic light here that isn’t red. Getting two greens in a row is unheard of. This year, the City began reducing speed limits on all neighbourhood streets from 50km/h to 30km/h.[8]I can appreciate that there are differences in opinion about speed limits. What I find most interesting, though, is how the reduction has been framed and the pride with which the City of Victoria implemented it. “We go slow” is the campaign, and the bold-face line on signs posted around the city.
Is there anywhere in the United States where these signs would ever be suggested, let alone printed, installed, and left standing? In a culture where the code for health is Movement, where movement confirms we’re alive, and where hospitals are disparaged as Processing Plants because they inhibit movement, would Americans tolerate the idea that their movement is restricted? That they go slow? Not a chance. How, then, can they be standing here?
The Culture Code.
[1] America prioritizes individuality and freedom, while Germany values structure and design
[2] An interesting tension arises here, given that the people we associate with healthcare are coded with great humanity, while the institutions of healthcare are seen as places stripped of humanity and where humans are processed industrially.
[3] If something is perfect, there’s no new frontier to explore and no opportunity to fall and then rise stronger. There’s nothing to do for a country of doers.
[4] France values thinking, England values hierarchy, and Germany values structure and design.
[5] There are a few past presidents who aren’t ideal manifestations of Moses. But Rapaille points out that they are more Moses than their opponents (e.g., Bush Sr. vs John Kerry). American voters elect the more Moses candidate available to them.
[6] This manifests itself quite literally in the Canadian national anthem (“God keep our land”) and in the country’s long-time reputation globally as a peacekeeper.
[7] I wrote on this previously in a post for APG Canada, in Spare some change: Positioning in Canadian politics
