Does being an Aspie make working globally easier?

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Hi there,

I'm a technical project manager who has been running projects globally since the early 2000s. I have had a lot of success in dealing with offshore folks, to a degree that exceeds that of my NT colleagues. I haven't really given it a lot of thought, till recently - within the AS context.

I'm thinking that my literalness and attention to detail has really helped me with communicating with people who don't speak English as a first language, and whose culture is very different from my own.

This is true, whether folks are from Asia, the subcontinent, Eurasia, Europe, Latin America, Africa, etc.

I don't make a lot of assumptions that my NT counterparts do. And people from around the world really seem to enjoy working with me. I'm clear, I'm detailed, and I don't use colloquialisms that never made sense to me in the first place. And somehow the jokes I tell actually "translate" - even though humor isn't supposed to cross cultural lines.

I seem to have a much easier time communicating directions and getting results from folks overseas, than NTs around me who rely on cultural assumptions for... oh, just about everything.

Anybody else have this experience?

Hey VisualVox,

Yea I totally get this too. Interesting to see someone else who feels this way.

The way I conceptualized it though was a bit different:
1. There is far less pressure to understand subtle meanings - if you don't understand it, its fine, and written off as cultural differences
2. Everyone communicates at in a fairly low-context manner so its far easier to understand. And slower - easier for my inattentive brain to process.
3. I generally don't care about a lot of things that people like to talk about when polite small-talking. However, I am fascinated by history, geography, economics. I'm great at getting along with people from obscure countries - they always appreciate the fact that I know so much about their country, while at the same time, I really enjoy talking to them about the home place.

I've never thought about whether I'm actually better at communicating to someone from a foreign country than an NT is, though. However, I can remember situations that seem to suggest this - thanks for bringing this to my attention, I'll have to keep this in mind to see if it holds true in my case. I've always just thought that I get along well with people from countries, better than I do with people from my own country or related countries.