tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9006673250886122803.post8744558570232921458..comments2023-04-24T10:58:04.691-04:00Comments on The Monk who Stole the Cow: Cultural differences: High Context and Low ContextJack Keoghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17382043901379998330noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9006673250886122803.post-32983917705432993692012-10-09T16:52:45.024-04:002012-10-09T16:52:45.024-04:00haiti?haiti?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9006673250886122803.post-16714370806742529592010-02-02T12:09:50.994-05:002010-02-02T12:09:50.994-05:00The Legion is essentially a high context organizat...The Legion is essentially a high context organization. In the same sense, the Jesuits, IBM and Michelin are high context.<br /><br />In high-context communication, only a part of information is expressed verbally. A great portion of a message is understood from the context: the person, his appearance and nonverbal behavior, personal history, the communicative situation, and the interaction process. <br /><br />These messages are often called metamessages. They are interpreted with the help of cues which carry cultural meanings. The Legion uses words like "integration","fidelity," fisonomia Legionaria" which have special, loaded meaning for "insiders." They use use and interpret more of the elements surrounding the message to develop their understanding of the message.<br /><br />Other traits of high context organizations:<br /><br />Strong awareness of who is accepted/belongs vs. "outsiders"<br /> <br />Knowledge is situational, relational <br /><br />Conflict either must be solved before work can progress or must be avoided<br /><br />Thinking is deductive, proceeds from general to specific.<br /> <br />High context cultures have a strong sense of tradition and history, and change little over time.<br /><br />Once the congregation began to expand beyond the confines of Mexico, the founder sought to make his guidelines explicit in the form of rules. A superficial observer might think that it is a "rule-oriented" group (explicit rules are characteristic of low-context).<br /><br />However, in my experience, the core is high-context: just think of the clear differentiation between "insiders" and "outsiders." Those who are not for us are "against us."<br /><br />Please do not think that one type of context is better than the other - and no one organization or person is ever entirely one or the other. I think the distinction can help people from different cultures gain a little more insight either into their experience of the Legion or their analysis of how the Legion is reacting to the astounding revelations about Fr. Maciel.Jack Keoghhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17382043901379998330noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9006673250886122803.post-22697158423717771882010-02-02T00:36:45.338-05:002010-02-02T00:36:45.338-05:00from your 20 plus year experience as a Legionary o...from your 20 plus year experience as a Legionary of Christ, would you consider the Legion a High Context or a Low Context society?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com