Straight to the point

There are more cultural differences between Europe and the US than I thought, I get often reminded when I screw up on one!

This morning I was setting up an appointment in Paris with friends of friends to discuss a potential partnership, I would love to get to know them and their company better, but there is a clear agenda too, both can usually be accomplished: the get to know each other fun and the agenda. I will also be in Paris for only two days and many people to see, so time counts.

After two years in the US, I learned sometimes the hard way that you always have to go straight to the point to organize meetings, say clearly why you want to meet, what is the goal and the opportunity.

When I got introduced to these friends, they offered very kindly to setup a tour of their offices for me. While I would love to see them since they also have studios and meet the team, my new go straight to the point american way of business got me to reply with an email saying that tour would be fun but explaining clearly what would be my agenda for the meeting and our time.

I pressed "send" and immediately realized my mistake, in Paris you generally don't announce that first, you meet, have lunch, discuss without always a very clear agenda, then if we all get together well you go to the point. Certainly what you don't do is send an email like mine, while it is an absolute necessary preliminary in California.

I apologized and went back thinking about both ways of approaching business.

There isn't one better than another, just different styles that I enjoy. The French are very efficient when needed and the americans totally know how to take the time to get to know each other. I don't want to generalize too much of course, but I can feel this difference very often.

There is a deeper cultural difference than I thought though, do you agree?