Polish people are like coconuts 🥥 – what we can learn about our culture during an Indian 🇮🇳 training

A few weeks ago, I had the chance to attend a fascinating training session by Paulina Kozub-Chwastek focused on understanding Indian work culture.
Initially, I expected a theoretical lecture — maybe some historical facts, a few stereotypes, and a checklist of „do’s and don’ts.”
Instead, it turned out to be an eye-opening, inspiring journey that challenged my assumptions and gave me practical insights I now use daily.

And yes, somewhere between learning about time perception and feedback styles, I discovered that Polish people are like coconuts.
More on that in a bit. 😉

Why should we even care about culture?

When working in international teams, it’s tempting to believe that professional standards are universal.
We assume that what feels polite, efficient, or respectful to us, must feel the same to everyone else.
But in reality, culture shapes how we communicate, collaborate, trust, make decisions — even how we say „yes” or „no.”

Ignoring these differences is like trying to play a piano with oven mitts on.
You might eventually hit the right notes, but not without a lot of misunderstanding, frustration, and wasted energy.

Understanding cultural differences isn’t just a „nice-to-have” skill anymore — it’s essential for building trust, efficiency, and innovation.

The surprising facts I learned about India 🇮🇳

To work well with any culture, it helps to understand the basics first:

• Hindi and English are both official languages under the Indian Constitution.

• However, only about 10% of Indians are fluent in English — around 140 million people.

• India officially recognizes 22 languages, but in daily life, people speak hundreds, even thousands of regional languages and dialects.

• India now has over 1.43 billion people, with the largest diaspora in the world.

• The average population density is 434 people per km² — that’s a very different reality compared to Europe.

Another interesting fact: India’s official name recently changed to Bharat in some legal contexts, reflecting a deeper cultural and historical identity. There are some plans to change the official name, but the potential magnitude of the problem can’t be estimated…

Western vs. Indian work mindset: two different worlds

The training made me realize how deeply ingrained Western business habits are:

In the West, success is often measured by how quickly and how efficiently you achieve a goal.
In India, success is more relational — how well you protect the group dynamic and maintain personal connections while achieving goals.

Communication: more about relationships than information

One idea that really struck me was:

„Relationship is a contract.„

In Indian culture, building a relationship is not a side effect of work — it is the work.

Some key takeaways:

• Small talk matters — Asking „Which holidays do you celebrate?” is a great ice-breaker.

• Names are meaningful — In India, names often have deep spiritual or cultural significance.

• Visible presence (even remote) is important — Regular messages, small check-ins help maintain trust.

• Positive feedback should be formalized — preferably via email, so it can be shared and remembered.

And one important nuance:
When an Indian colleague says „yes,” it often means „I intend to do it”, not „It’s guaranteed.”
It’s a signal of goodwill, not final confirmation.

„Kulurary”: The hidden conversations before decisions

In many cases, the real decisions happen before official meetings.

Pre-meetings („kuluary”) — casual chats, WhatsApp conversations, informal alignments — are crucial.
If you wait for the official Zoom call to influence decisions, you’re already too late.

To support better collaboration:

• Create spaces for informal sharing (like Miro boards, small working groups).

• Understand that saving face is important — both your own and others’.

• Remember: Hard on the issue, soft on the person.

Feedback: a softer, more relational approach

Another fundamental difference: how feedback is given and received.

In the West, we often aim for direct, timely feedback, believing it shows respect and commitment.
In India, feedback needs to be:

• Gentle,

• Indirect (e.g., „a mistake happened” instead of „you made a mistake”),

• Spread over multiple conversations („feedback dilution”),

• Embedded in collective language („we noticed” instead of „you forgot”).

As one trainer put it:

„If something is not mentioned, it’s often feedback by omission.”

It requires more patience, sensitivity, and emotional intelligence — but the result is deeper trust and more sustainable improvements.

Polish people are like coconuts 🥥

Now, about that coconut metaphor…

According to the trainer:

• Poles can seem cold, tough, and reserved at first glance.

• But once trust is built, we are incredibly warm, loyal, and emotionally involved.

Compared to many Western cultures, Polish people value relationships more — but we tend to hide it under a layer of „professional seriousness.” During our talks we’ve acknowledged that Polish history gave us the possibility to teach both sides of Western and Eastern culture. In PRL times, almost everything was emotion-based. Think about finding a good mechanic or renovation team; even though they can be skilled, you usually need to create some form of bond with them to deliver the proper outcome. The Western world introduced more task-based reality for Polish people, so I think we can understand both sides and create a kind of bridge between cultures.

During the workshop, we used: https://erinmeyer.com/tools/culture-map-premium/, so if you’re interested in different nations, I think you can find something useful for your case.

This realization was surprisingly emotional for me.
Maybe, just maybe, the things we sometimes criticize about ourselves (being skeptical, slow to open up) are actually strengths — in the right context.

Practical changes I’m implementing

Since the training, here’s what I’m actively doing differently:

• Mapping Indian holidays onto my project calendars to avoid unnecessary pressure.

• Checking in regularly with remote team members — even without a formal agenda.

• Using Miro boards during workshops to give everyone a voice.

• Accepting slower decision cycles and preparing for flexibility.

• Framing questions differently — avoiding closed „yes/no” questions, favoring open dialogue.

• Sending visible positive feedback by email.

Small steps, big impact.

Final reflections

Culture is like an operating system running silently in the background.
We don’t notice it — until we try to connect with someone whose system runs completely differently.

This training reminded me that working across cultures is not about „tolerating” differences — it’s about learning new ways to build trust, collaboration, and shared success.

And sometimes, understanding others starts with understanding ourselves:
Yes, we Poles may be like coconuts — but inside, there’s plenty of warmth to offer. 🥥