Cultural Currency

In every work culture, I've noticed that there's always a currency that's harder than cash.

I've done some overseas living and travel, and one thing that always stresses me out is currency exchange. I remember traveling in Europe (long ago) and needing to exchange money at every border. Thankfully, the highway toll booths had charts - large charts - of some 10+ currencies and amounts that were acceptable and I didn’t need to do the math in my head.

Sometimes, I feel like workplace cultures are like that, but without the helpful conversion chart. Whether it's from company to company or department to department, I've noticed that there's always a currency that's harder than cash. And figuring out what that currency is can make or break you.

For example, I once came from a very perfectionistic culture to a culture where volume of deliverables was the name of the game. My previous job had taught me to be careful, paranoid in fact. I cross checked, asked for peer reviews and checked again. Shifting to a different economy where volume was more important than quality was difficult. I had to learn to balance the need to get stuff out the door with making sure it was of sufficient quality. It felt awkward, and I felt inefficient as well as frustrated about the lower quality work product. But I was doing what I was supposed to be doing.

I'm sure everyone can relate to that feeling of not quite getting it.

Here are some ideas on how to adapt more quickly.

• Find out what the currency of your new economy is. It could be anything to making sure you do enough chit-chat at the coffee machine to making sure you're visible at certain times to delivering visually stunning reports every quarter. Whatever it is, look for what "scores points" in your environment. If you start looking, I'm sure you can pick it up pretty quickly.
  
• Ask yourself if you understand how to produce that currency. Sometimes you don't. If you don't, start learning! For example, I see folks struggle with various types of small talk. They typical example is when a group is used to talking about sports and you don't know the first thing about it. Another example is when everyone's talking about the challenges of parenthood, and you don't have kids let alone a partner/spouse. In those instances, for your participation to count maybe you ask questions instead of making contributions.
  
• Are you willing to deal in that currency? Sometimes jobs and companies are awesome, but their cultures aren't. You might find yourself needing to leave the new gig in order to stay true to your values. I don't see a lot of value in handling currency daily that's poisonous to you. But on the other hand, maybe you do want to make the effort and flex your skills and learn.
  
• Can you exchange your old currency for the new one? And how much is it worth? I really hope that if you’re changing jobs that what you did before counts toward something in the new job. But let's face it - not all currencies are exchangeable. My family had to regularly leave things behind when we moved, because it wouldn’t fit or work in the new place (e.g. appliances that worked off a different voltage). Maybe you can bring some of the old currency forward, but if you’re in a different economy it’s likely you’ll lose some value in the exchange. Bear that in mind if you feel like you’re not being valued – maybe you’re trying to pay in the wrong currency, or your currency isn’t valuable enough.

Whether or not any of my examples were relevant, I hope that you find the concept of “cultural currency” useful as you navigate your future.