The Magic of Commonalities

An Impulse by Prof. Dr. Julika Montecinos & Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tobias Grünfelder

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In global business, we are often confronted with questions like: How do we manage differences? How do we avoid conflict in multicultural teams? The transcultural approach invites us task different — and more powerful — questions:

“How can we intentionally create new commonalities — without ignoring our differences? How can we develop a sense of belonging, so that cooperation becomes easier, stronger, and more innovative?”

Instead of reducing colleagues to national labels or fixed categories, let´s focus on what connects us: shared experiences, learning, and ways of working. This mindset shifts our attention from “us versus them” to “what can we build together?”.

“Seeing collaboration as a shared capability helps us move away from blaming ‘silos’ or ‘other teams’ and towards asking: what do we need to build together so that this works for all of us?”

Putting collaboration into practice means turning intention into concrete behavior: making goals explicit, clarifying roles and expectations early, inviting different perspectives, keeping agreements visible, and adapting how we work together as conditions change.

Our Understanding of Key Terms

Commonalities

  • Can include shared meaning. Shared purpose, shared ways of working, shared actions
  • Are not the same as similarities: similarities describe how people are alike, commonalities are created together
  • Do not eliminate differences: you can develop commonalities without being or becoming similar
  • Help build connections while honoring and preserving diversity

Cooperation and Collaboration

Cooperation

  • Working towards the same goal, often by coordinating individual and independent tasks Collaboration

Collaboration

  • Actively working with one another by co‑creating solutions, solving problems jointly, sharing responsibility, and making decisions together

Culture

  • Is not something people simply “have”, but actively “do”
  • Is dynamic and continuously evolving
  • Emerges through shared meanings, norms, ways of working, and relationships
  • Is always shaped by context

Transcultural

  • Goes beyond separate or fixed culture categories
  • Recognizes that cultures are interconnected and constantly changing
  • Focuses on developing commonalities across differences and valuing diversity rather than ignoring it
  • Enables cooperation and collaboration in complex environments
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