In my Global Business Communication class, I required students to interview someone who had international experience. One student recounted the story his subject shared about villagers he encountered in Uganda who routinely eat with their hands. He summed it up this way: “First you have Culture Shock, then you have Judgment, and finally you reach Acceptance.”
It’s a useful framework for cross-cultural communication, but I believe it has broader implications for all types of change. People often have an initial shock reaction when they first learn of the action, and their immediate response may be negative as they dismiss the idea purely because it is a change. Once the new way settles in and people learn more about the idea, there is often acceptance (or at least not overt pushback).
There is so much change happening that it may be beneficial to work on derailing the above pattern to minimize the Shock and Judgment stages. Instead of being surprised when you encounter something new, come to expect it and approach the differences with curiosity. Just because something is not the way you would do it does not make it wrong.
