One of the most fascinating things I find about culture is perception.

What means one thing in one culture can mean something entirely different – even opposite – in another.

If we don’t know these (often subtle) divergencies in perception of behavior or communications styles, it can get us into some pretty uncomfortable situations at best.

And in the work environment it can mean the difference between closing the deal; implementing that change; establishing those critical relationships – or not.

A native American Tachi Reservation Elder tells the story of a young child of the Cheyenne nation that was put into school even though he didn’t speak or understand English.

To punish the boy, the teacher put a dunce hat on him and made him sit in the corner all day.

When he learned to communicate in English, he told his classmates that he had no idea that he was being punished that day.

In the Cheyenne culture, when you do something good, they decorate your head.

So the child had sat there beaming and proud all day long – in his mind, he had been given a distinction of honor!

Click here to watch the video, as told by the Tachi Reservation Elder: