Julien S. Bourrelle explains how culture shapes behavior, perception, and everyday interaction. He opens with a moment in Brussels where a stranger speaks to him and he instinctively reacts like someone who has lived in Norway for years. The experience shows how cultural norms rewire expectations without people noticing. He says newcomers respond to unfamiliar cultures in three ways: confront, complain, or conform. Only the last path creates real connection because it forces you to observe, learn, and adjust your behavior instead of assuming your norms are universal.
He illustrates how cultural lenses distort interpretation. A tour guide in Spain misreads his friend’s neutral face as disinterest. She uses her own emotional expectations to decode someone from a different culture and gets it wrong. Bourrelle argues that perception is never objective. People see behavior through filters shaped by upbringing and social norms. Shifting the lens changes how you read others and how they read you.
He moves to structural diversity through his own experience in Norway. He was denied access to a leadership course for women because the university used the program to accelerate female academics into senior roles. He frames this as equality of results. It reflects Norway’s larger effort to correct representation gaps in leadership. Bourrelle links this to research showing positive relationships between diverse leadership teams and stronger performance, especially when cultural diversity is present.
He then breaks down how cultural differences play out in daily life. Friendship norms vary. Personal space varies. Ideas of politeness vary. What feels respectful in one society can look distant in another. Even simple interactions, like sitting on a bus bench or speaking at an international conference, turn awkward when two people operate from different cultural expectations. These small misunderstandings accumulate when people do not understand the norms that shape another person’s comfort zone.
His core message is consistent. Everyone views the world through cultural glasses. Misinterpretation happens when people assume their lens is the default. The path to benefiting from diversity starts with awareness, observation, and small shifts in how you interact with others.
