You have to modify ideal behavior.

Question: Do you have a personal philosophy?

Melissa Chiu: I think if my world view . . . and I think that in itself sounds quite grand . . . but I think that if I were to say anything about the way that I see the world, I think that one of the most important elements to remember is cultural sensitivity. That when we deal with . . . when we have relationships with other people in other parts of the world, I think that we can never assume that what we think we’re communicating is in fact how they see it; but I think that that’s what I’ve learned from living in different places around the world and also being, I guess, bicultural. Being bicultural, I think that that’s the one thing that has influenced all of the work that I do.  I think that one of the . . . One of the interesting things about working with people who are based across the world is the way that you have to modify ideal behavior, or the way that you communicate to suit that local environment. And I think that, especially in Asia where people are often coming from their totally different cultural background with totally different expectations of how you might behave . . . I think that that’s both one of the challenges of what . . . what we do, but also one of the wonderful kind of abilities to engage with others. While there might not be one specific instance, I would say that it’s more about learning how to kind of . . . how to fit in in a different way.

Recorded on: 7/11/07