WHEN CULTURE DECIDES WHETHER LEARNING LANDS

One of the biggest mistakes organisations make in training is assuming that learning is universal.

It isn’t.

The same training program can land beautifully with one team… and fall completely flat with another.

Not because the content is wrong.

But because the culture is different.

I’ve seen this in hotel training rooms, restaurant floors, and on cruise ships where the crew represents over 100 nationalities.

In some cultures, people speak up immediately.

In others, silence is respect.

In some cultures, questioning the trainer shows engagement.

In others, questioning a senior person feels uncomfortable.

And sometimes the difference becomes very visible.

I remember facilitating a POSH training session for a multicultural crew once.

That module is intentionally graphic and visceral. It has to be. The subject demands honesty.

The Americans spoke openly.

Europeans too.

Eastern Europeans had some very strong views.

The Latin American crew were even more frank.

The Asian crew were the quietest in the room. Some were almost hesitant to even acknowledge the topic of sex in a professional setting.

Then someone across the room joked,

“You Asians are so shy talking about sex… yet your countries have the highest birth rates.”

There was a brief pause in the room.

Some people laughed.

Some didn’t.

But what struck me was something else.

The exact same training moment had landed very differently across cultures sitting in the same room.

Moments like that remind you of something quickly in Learning & Development.

Content is rarely the problem.

Culture is.

And unless you understand the culture in the room, even the best training will struggle to land.

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