Carl Lewis, an athlete I admire was in Singapore recently. He was quoted in the Straits Times:

?I was speaking to some coaches about how to train, and they told me: ‘Oh, that’s not how we train here’. I got mad because there shouldn’t be a way ‘we train’ or ‘they train.’ There’s only the right way to train and that’s universal. You have to think global and see how everyone else who is successful is training.”

We should apply the same advice in organizations too!

For example, an area where I am constantly confronted in this manner is in 360-degree feedback. I am often told, 360-degree feedback will not be effective in Asia. ?We Asians don’t like to confront; especially those in authority. It is not in our culture.?

Yet, should we not be judging whether it is a good practice. The relevant question is “Will the 360-degree feedback enable me to improve my performance as a manager?

PS: Carl Lewis blogs here

• Deepa