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  • Mitigated Speech and the Help Desk Consultant

    Posted on May 4th, 2010 Dan Hughes No comments

    This article was written by me for my company, and reprinted here with permission.

    Mitigated speech is a method of conveying a concept while selectively choosing syntax that will soften the impact of the concept on the listener.  It can be in deference to authority or position, or to appear polite and not causing offense.  The reasons for mitigating one’s speech vary, but usually center around what one feels the proper interaction with the listener should be.

    Power Distance

    Geert Hofstede performed studies to demonstrate how culture affects the behavior of the people and their organizations and found that there are five specific ideologies.  In his book, Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind, Hofstede identifies the following as “dimensions” within society.

    I.                    More Equal Than Others (power distance)

    II.                  I, We, They (individualism)

    III.                He, She, and (S)he (masculinity versus femininity)

    IV.                What Is Different Is Dangerous (uncertainty avoidance)

    V.                  Yesterday, Now, or Later? (long-term versus short-term orientation)

    Mitigated speech is found most often in the first dimension of Hofstede’s work, in the realm of high “power distance.”  Power distance is a measure of how accepting society is of the fact that power is distributed unequally.  Cultures with a low power distance are “less distanced” from those who have authority in their society.  Hofstede says “In small power distance countries there is limited dependence of subordinates on bosses, and a preference for consultation, that is, interdependence, between boss and subordinate.  The emotional distance between them is relatively small: subordinates will quite readily approach and contradict their bosses” (Hofstede 1991, 27).

    Cultures that have a high power distance are “more distanced” from those who have authority; society acknowledges power based on the position held.  Subordinates are more dependent upon bosses and accept decisions made by superiors based solely on their position.  It is considered impolite or insulting to correct or question a superior’s decisions.  Culture dictates that superiors know better than their subordinates, resulting in a fear to disagree openly with one’s boss.

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