On a recent trip to India, Mr. Yang, a prominent Chinese executive, dined with his client Himanshu Jain. Mr. Yang commented that the food was spicy, which Mr. Jain interpreted as an opportunity to discuss Indian cuisine. After lengthy explanations, Mr. Yang commented again that the food was spicy. Question: What happened here? What barriers are likely getting in the way of clear communication? How is it that people speaking the same language may still miscommunicate?
What happened?

Mr. Yang most likely did not like the food.
Spicy meant that it probably was not tasty.
Mr. Yang is probably not used to this type of flavors. Chinese cuisine tends to be sweet, and sweet and sour, however, Indian cuisine is considered spicy.
Mr. Yang could have been more straightforward and asked for another dish and/or water.
Mr. Jain took the comment as positive.
Since one of the characteristics of Indian cuisine is that it is spicy, Mr. Jain probably think that Mr. Yang meant tasty.
He should have asked what he meant by spicy and that if he could get something else for him.
Barriers:

Indirect Communication: For Chinese individuals, cultural rules dictate some kind of indirect, discrete, subtle and even complex communication. It is possible that the message is not expressed with words but with indirect messages/phrases, gestures, actions or taking measures designed to solve the problem, taking care of the image of all those involved. Therefore, Mr. Yang probably did not feel confident to engage in direct communication when it comes to him not enjoying the food.
High Context Culture: Mr. Yang comes from a high context culture, which means that the verbal information offered by negotiators is limited and imprecise. This is connected to the previous point, the only difference with this one is that, usually, “external observers will never know the explicit message that is being communicated” (Sapienza). This is what happened with Mr. Jain, he did not get Mr. Yang’s message.
Indians are extremely good at hospitality: Perhaps this is not a barrier, but should be considered as a positive thing, which it is. However, in this case, it acted as a barrier because, since Mr. Yang was the guest in his country, Mr. Jain probably just wanted to make him feel at home and explain more about every aspect of India and its culture. He just wanted to be a good host and make him feel comfortable and that is why he decided to take the chance to explain about Indian cuisine.
Miscommunication:

Despite the fact that both cultures are considered high-context cultures, both tend to engage in indirect communication, and both were speaking the same language, there was a misunderstanding between both of them. However, individuals from two different cultures, despite all their similarities, will not be able to communicate with excellence in an intercultural meeting if they are not able to decode the utterances in other’s language. This can only be achieved by studying the other individual’s culture.
Another aspect could be that there may have been non-verbal communication aspects, gestures, to be specific, that Mr. Yang made and Mr. Jain did not understand as showing a displeasing emotion. Moreover, other aspects in communication such as tone, volume, and silence influenced the situation. Instead of bringing up the issue again, Mr. Yang decided to stay quite while Mr. Jain kept explaining about Indian cuisine. The Chinese’s silent is powerful because it can show that the person is so disgusted, upset, or even mad, that saying nothing is better than actually offending the other culture. (Bryant, 2018).
Indians do not make much eye contact. Whereas Chinese prefer direct eye contact. This means that, perhaps, Mr. Yang did make eye contact to make his counterpart understand what was going on, but Mr. Jain did not notice it because his culture avoids looking at others directly in the eye.
Based on your readings and lectures, how would you develop a high CQ (Cultural Quotient) team? How would you train your team to work effectively with other cultures? How would you train yourself?
How to develop a high CQ team:

The first step is contact with diversity in general and with other cultures. Individuals have to have intercultural experiences in order to analyze situations that create conflict and then learn from them.
Depending on the budget, companies can send individuals to other countries in order to help them experience and learn from different groups of people.
If the budget is tight, the organization can set a cultural immersion program.
Courses, training and intercultural coaching can help the team analyze and understand different experiences through a conceptual framework that explains the roots of the why and how of human behavior.
Understanding one’s own cultural roots: The personal values ​​and behaviors are the results of the individual’s origin and of what he or she has been exposed from his/her earliest childhood. A complete appreciation of one’s own cultural profile will allow employees to contemplate the real magnitude of its impact on their behavior
Recognize and interpret cultural roots in others: If employees do not know these differences, they most likely attribute a meaning where there is none or they lose a meaning where there was (what happened in the previous example in question #1). This way they can react emotionally; feeling confused, angry or frustrated. The important aspect here is that others hold their values ​​as unquestionable truths just as each person holds theirs.
Develop strategies and adjustment skills: It is important to let employees know to remain authentic. As stated during the class sessions, developing cross-cultural skills does not mean compromising one’s personal values. It means that individuals will be able to recognize the signals and adapt their behavior to them. In this way, I would make sure to show the employees how to look for culturally adaptable alternative methods to achieve these behaviors without compromising their values.
Training program:

Recognize the impact of one’s own culture: Cultural behaviors are external signs of deeply held values ​​and beliefs that have been built in a society over time. By understanding what culture is, how they have been shaped by it and how their cultural values ​​differ with people from other parts of the world, they can become more perceptive and successful in a global culturally diverse market.
Analyze the situation in a new culture: When analyzing possible scenarios, the first step is for them to ask themselves a series of questions. These help them to be observers while interacting with a new culture. Sometimes they will not have answers, but nothing happens, since its purpose is to awaken their conscience in a new situation and collect information.
Raise their focus within the cultural context: After analyzing the possible scenario and collecting information, they can define their approach based on your strengths and weaknesses in that context. An intercultural mentality involves analyzing the situation and formulating a strategy on how to approach it. The key to success is how they adapt.
Evaluate progress and get feedback: Employees will have to define what success means depending on the culture and time orientation of their new situation. I will make sure to give them feedback from trusted experts so they find out if they have made progress in those circumstances. The last step would be for them to ask themselves what they could have done differently and what they have to know about that new culture.