What do commercial plane crashes between different countries’ airlines have to do with our attitude for how we train in the martial arts?
In Malcom Gladwell’s Outliers, he points out that in the 1980’s Korean Air had a crash to flight ratio that was 10 times that of any other airline in the world. While this statistic is certainly alarming and surprising, another detail arose that was equally surprising. It was more likely that there would be a plane crash or an incident when the captain was the one flying the plane rather than the first officer. You would think that it would be the other way around provided that the Captain would have more experience in flying.
The reason for both of these statistics was how power distance applies in Korean culture. Power Distance Index describes how we interact with our superiors. In North America, where the power distance is very small, It is perfectly acceptable to tell our managers that something they said was incorrect or give direct suggestions of how to do something different. We are treated as more of an equal to our managers. In Korea where the power distance is much greater, there are certain practices that are carried through into our martial arts culture where the superiors are put on a pedestal. A junior student is not allowed to eat before the senior member does. The junior student is also expected to buy the senior student a drink if they feel that they want one.
There are 6 different ways and levels of formality in communicating in the Korean Language whereas in English there is just one. In the Korean Language the Junior member is always required to hint at suggestions instead of directly saying things. In Korean language it is more up to the listener to understand what the speaker wants rather than the speaker to convey the message properly. When the listener is preoccupied they might not be able to pick up on the hints coming from the junior member.
Delta Airlines was tasked with fixing this issue. One thing that they did was standardize the English Language as the Language spoken when in flight. In this situation, communication was much more clear and incidents were less.
There are times where we are forced to have uncomfortable conversations with our superiors whether it be in work or in the studio. Maybe we will have a conversation with a junior student. In either case, unless you are in Korea itself, try to communicate as directly as possible and decrease the Power Distance. You will be able to more easily and more quickly communicate and resolve issues. Surely, it won’t hurt you to allow a student to eat before you or allow them to ask questions openly. If it helped reduce the chance of plane crashes, surely it can help you develop and foster better relationships with your students or instructors.
