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It's in the book Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell. More info: http://blogs.wsj.com/middleseat/2008/12/04/malcolm-gladwell-on-culture-cockpit-communication-and-pla

by znt 11y ago

It's in the book Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell. More info: http://blogs.wsj.com/middleseat/2008/12/04/malcolm-gladwell-on-culture-cockpit-communication-and-plane-crashes/ http://blogs.wsj.com/middleseat/2008/12/04/malcolm-gladwell-...

malkia 11y ago
Thank you! Yes, I believe this was the original article, but I've never bothered to read the book. Maybe I should! Edit: From the last comment found this article - which goes a bit against Malcolm Gladwell's findings - interesting read indeed - http://askakorean.blogspot.kr/2013/07/culturalism-gladwell-and-airplane.html http://askakorean.blogspot.kr/2013/07/culturalism-gladwell-a...
- jasonwatkinspdx 11y ago
  Thank you for posting this. I wish more people were aware that Gladwell needs to be read with skepticism.
- studentrob 11y ago
  Gladwell is definitely hand-wavy. I think this article's most compelling point is that Gladwell apparently did not ask a person of Korean culture to interpret the copilot's speech. In particular, one wonders, were the copilot's warning of adverse weather put lightly? Or did Gladwell misinterpret this man's usage of English language + Korean culture which, while seemingly more polite, may have different signals for urgency? I work in Taiwan and disagreeing with the boss, while unpopular everywhere, is certainly less tolerated here than my experience in the west (east coast US). So Gladwell's story is compelling and built on a known difference in cultures. Yet, as usual, he is missing some facts to make his case. The real question is, how is the airline performing now after the culture change brought in by the "western professor" as noted in the above comment by malkia? Are they still operating with his suggestions and have they been operating more smoothly? How do employees there feel about the change?
  - shard 11y ago
    There's exaggeration on both Gladwell and Ask A Korean's side. I have been living and working in Korean for the past 5 years, and have been married to my Korean wife for 6 years. Based on the transcript that Ask A Korea posted, it's very clear that that first officer is acting deferentially to the pilot. Specifically, the first officer uses polite speech with the pilot, and the pilot uses familiar speech with the first officer. In my company, neither my manager nor my manager's manager uses familiar speech with me, I'd have to go up 3 levels for that to start happening. Also, when I described what Gladwell mentioned in his book about hierarchy to my wife, she didn't think it was exaggerated. There's likely a large grain of truth to Gladwell's representation of what happened. Also, Ask A Korean is usually fairly nationalistic in his posts, which is a common trait amongst Koreans that I have interacted with.

by znt 11y ago

malkia 11y ago

Thank you! Yes, I believe this was the original article, but I've never bothered to read the book. Maybe I should! Edit: From the last comment found this article - which goes a bit against Malcolm Gladwell's findings - interesting read indeed - http://askakorean.blogspot.kr/2013/07/culturalism-gladwell-and-airplane.html http://askakorean.blogspot.kr/2013/07/culturalism-gladwell-a...

jasonwatkinspdx 11y ago
Thank you for posting this. I wish more people were aware that Gladwell needs to be read with skepticism.
studentrob 11y ago
Gladwell is definitely hand-wavy. I think this article's most compelling point is that Gladwell apparently did not ask a person of Korean culture to interpret the copilot's speech. In particular, one wonders, were the copilot's warning of adverse weather put lightly? Or did Gladwell misinterpret this man's usage of English language + Korean culture which, while seemingly more polite, may have different signals for urgency? I work in Taiwan and disagreeing with the boss, while unpopular everywhere, is certainly less tolerated here than my experience in the west (east coast US). So Gladwell's story is compelling and built on a known difference in cultures. Yet, as usual, he is missing some facts to make his case. The real question is, how is the airline performing now after the culture change brought in by the "western professor" as noted in the above comment by malkia? Are they still operating with his suggestions and have they been operating more smoothly? How do employees there feel about the change?
- shard 11y ago
  There's exaggeration on both Gladwell and Ask A Korean's side. I have been living and working in Korean for the past 5 years, and have been married to my Korean wife for 6 years. Based on the transcript that Ask A Korea posted, it's very clear that that first officer is acting deferentially to the pilot. Specifically, the first officer uses polite speech with the pilot, and the pilot uses familiar speech with the first officer. In my company, neither my manager nor my manager's manager uses familiar speech with me, I'd have to go up 3 levels for that to start happening. Also, when I described what Gladwell mentioned in his book about hierarchy to my wife, she didn't think it was exaggerated. There's likely a large grain of truth to Gladwell's representation of what happened. Also, Ask A Korean is usually fairly nationalistic in his posts, which is a common trait amongst Koreans that I have interacted with.