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Cultural Intelligence
A Guide to Working with People from Other Cultures
by Brooks Peterson
Intercultural Press 2004
229 pages
In todays global economy, cultural intelligence is increasingly important.
Culture is a shared set of values and beliefs that can be measured and observed.
Compare different societies with ve essential scales of culture.
They are: risk versus caution; task versus relationship; individual versus group;
direct versus indirect and equality versus hierarchy.
Americans love risk, contrary to most other cultures, which avoid it.
Germany and Japan are caution-oriented societies.
Japanese society is group-oriented. Children are taught to color the same picture
at the same time with the same crayons. They work toward a common goal.
The French are puzzled that freedom-loving Americans allow themselves to be
micro-managed by seatbelt and smoking laws.
The Scale of Differences measures the cultural distance between societies.
Cultural intelligence consists of knowledge, awareness and skills.
7 8 5 7
Leadership & Mgt.
Strategy
Sales & Marketing
Corporate Finance
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Technology & Production
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Economics & Politics
Industries & Regions
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Concepts & Trends
This summary is restricted to the personal use of Dirk Tussing ([email protected])
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Cultural Intelligence Copyright 2004 getAbstract 2 of 5
Relevance
What You Will Learn
In this Abstract, you will learn: 1) The level of awareness you need to deal effectively
with other cultures; 2) That culture is like an iceberg because much more happens
below the surface; and 3) How to use cultural scales to distinguish the essential traits
of various cultures.
Recommendation
Imagine a guidebook that helps you navigate the uncharted lands of strange cultures or,
at least, cultures that seem strange to you. Author Brooks Peterson is less concerned with
social advice than he is with explaining how to manage broad cultural differences and
avoid cultural egocentrism. While he soundly reviews measures of cultural differences,
such as cultural scales, he avoids delving into complex, abstract theories with little
practical application. His clearly written book treats all cultures objectively, covering
broad tendencies without venturing into cultural generalities. He alerts you to the
nuances of other cultures and your own. getAbstract.com strongly recommends this book
to anyone who interacts with the values of other cultures on a regular basis and, these
days, thats just about everybody.
Abstract
How is Your Cultural Intelligence?
Youve heard of EQ, a measure of emotional intelligence, and of course IQ, which gauges
intellectual potential. But what about CQ? Cultural intelligence, especially for those who
seek to do business in the global marketplace, is every bit as important. Having EQ or IQ does
not guarantee that you will demonstrate capable cultural intelligence in your interactions
with those whose notions, beliefs and behaviors seem a world away from yours.
Even if youve never traveled abroad, you interact with foreign cultures virtually daily.
Look at the people you work with, live near, do business with, sell to and buy from.
If you notice a growing cultural diversity, well, of course, welcome to the real world.
Increasingly, you experience the cultures of other lands without leaving home.
Worldwide exports have consistently increased during the past 50 years. Today, about
one in ve U.S. jobs is tied to exports. Whether youre living abroad on a foreign
assignment, or interacting with people from abroad, understanding those who see the
world through different cultural lenses from your own is now a critical business skill.
Consider, for example, the different ways that Japanese and Americans raise their
children. Americans learn to think creatively, be individualistic, follow their muse and
dare to be unique. In the United States, children are allowed and even encouraged to
color their coloring books differently than their classmates. Teachers would be concerned
if all their pupils artwork appeared the same.
Conversely, the Japanese teach that, The goose that honks gets shot. Japanese people
work together very ef ciently because they see that as being in their best interest. One
reason Japan has become a manufacturing leader is that its culture values group harmony
and cohesiveness. So, in Japan, students are taught to work together as a group rather
than to think for themselves. Japanese children typically color picture books jointly.
Culture is the rel-
atively stable set
of inner values and
beliefs generally
held by groups of
people in countries
or regions and the
noticeable impact
those values and
beliefs have on the
peoples outward
behaviors and envi-
ronment.
We are culturally
groomed to think
and behave in
certain ways from
the time we are
babies.
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Cultural Intelligence Copyright 2004 getAbstract 3 of 5
They color the same sections at the same time with the same crayons, and the desired
outcome is that each childs drawing looks similar to the others.
One approach is not necessarily better than the other, but even childrens training
illustrates the degree to which cultures differ. Diverse cultures teach their children from
infancy to think, feel and behave different ways.
What Is Culture?
Just trying to de ne culture shows how elusive it is. Some de nitions focus on a
geographical location or on history. Some focus on socially transmitted behavior patterns
or on cultural aspects of society, such as fashion, art and speech. Dictionary de nitions
tend to cover common traits, location, language, religion, race, history, music and
so forth. These de nitions usually do not provide anything concrete for professionals
seeking to interact more productively with another culture. A functionally useful
business de nition might explain that culture is a societys core set of values and beliefs
that has an observable impact on the outward behavior of its people. Human beings are
more than their circumstances or where they live. Their innermost beliefs and values
ultimately in uence how they act.
Culture is like an iceberg. You may see whats on the surface, but be aware that much
more is going on invisibly below the waterline. Business people who fail to account for
cultures unseen aspects risk watching their endeavors tank like the Titanic. Most people
in business welcome learning about the tip of the iceberg. The above-water aspect of
culture is apparent, obvious and intriguing. People are aware of it because they can sense
it, see it, hear it, smell it and touch it. Perhaps the above-water aspects hold our attention
because they are the most obvious and potentially offensive.
Most of the world is aghast that Americans are often obese and speak very loudly.
Brazilians often run red lights at night, even when they see a police car nearby. Orderly
Germans would probably never think of doing such a thing. Americans have trouble
understanding why the French allow nonstop smoking indoors. The French are puzzled
that freedom-loving Americans allow themselves to be micro-managed by speed limits
or laws against indoor smoking. South Americans wonder why U.S. bars close at 1 a.m.,
and much of the world sees U.S. drinking laws as petty and ridiculous.
When you see these super cial aspects of culture, remember that 80% of what is
taking place is below the waterline. This include attitudes toward time, the place of
the individual in society, human nature, relationships, the signi cance of work and
the workplace, preferred communication styles and a full set of values, beliefs and
assumptions. When above-water behavior catches your attention, be aware that it is
guided by a below-water sensibility that you are unaware of and that if you knew the
unseen aspects, your understanding would be much more complete. The below-water
aspects of culture cause problems because people are not aware of subtle cultural cues.
This lack of awareness causes confusion and embarrassment.
Cultural Scales
Scales of culture de ne cultures by their positions, relative to other cultures, on a variety
of measures. Five scales are particularly relevant in becoming more culturally aware:
1. Equality versus Hierarchy Some cultures take order and hierarchy very seri-
ously, and always work within a chain of command. Others have a more informal
approach and expect individuals to interpret broad instructions creatively.
Most people think
culture stuff is a
soft skill. This can
be a serious mis-
take, with a nega-
tive impact on the
business bottom
line.
Even if everyone
at the table speaks
English, cultural
differences can
create powerful
barriers to under-
standing.
Just because your
cultural style
makes you
fantastically suc-
cessful at home,
it is not guaran-
teed to charm your
international cus-
tomers, clients, or
partners. In fact,
you can almost
count on the oppo-
site being true.
Across Asia
people show
respect by handing
papers to
someone with two
hands. If you were
handling a valu-
able document,
you wouldnt casu-
ally extend it to
someone using
one hand.
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Cultural Intelligence Copyright 2004 getAbstract 4 of 5
2. Direct versus Indirect Some people communicate in a more frank, face-to-face,
direct manner than others. In Asian culture, the notions of face and harmony are
important. Because of this, Asians behave differently from, say, Americans, who like
to speak directly and get all the issues out on the table. Asians prefer to set con icts
aside for the sake of group harmony. Dealing with an indirect culture, you are likely
to experience dif culty in getting clear feedback from the workers you supervise,
even when your intent is sincere and constructive. People with an indirect style focus
on how things are said, and count on the listener to interpret the speakers meaning.
3. Individual versus Group Focus How important are the needs of the group, com-
pared to the needs of the individual? If youre doing business within a society with
an individual culture, you may get faster response times, because an individual in
authority will make the decision. In countries that value group dynamics, decisions
are more likely to involve group consultation, which can result in delays. Those who
take an individual approach may focus on themselves and may be nonconformist at
times. People in more group-oriented cultures tend to act cooperatively, make loyalty
to friends a priority, nd their identity in group af liation, put the groups needs rst
and emphasize conforming to social norms.
4. Task versus Relationship This scale is a very important if youre doing business
with those from other cultures. If you come from a task-oriented culture, you may
share a little chitchat about the weather or traf c, and then you are likely to get right
down to business. However, those from a culture that values relationships more, will
rst seek to spend time socializing to build trust and connection. Relationship build-
ing takes center stage, rather than practical business.
5. Risk versus Caution Americans welcome risk and, in many instances, owe their
success to an ability to embrace change. Other cultures, such as in Japan and Ger-
many, are caution-oriented. Each approach has advantages. A risk-oriented style
means quick decision-making, a focus on the present and future not the past, an abil-
ity to change quickly in mid-stream, an openness to new things and a comfort-level
with an unexpected change of plans. Those used to more cautious cultural styles
prefer to collect additional information, change slowly to avoid risk, seek more regu-
lations and guidelines, refer frequently to past precedents, hesitate to venture beyond
proven problem-solving methods and dislike any last-minute change in plans.
Those who believe the credo just be yourself go awry when they work abroad
because they do what they feel like doing. They overlook the concept that others may
not feel comfortable with their actions. Americans suddenly faced with international
business dealings often discover the importance many other cultures place on building
relationships prior to trying to do business. U.S. business people may schedule short
trips abroad, expecting to get something accomplished. Then, they are frustrated when
business moves slowly. The non-Americans involved may feel pushed or rushed and,
therefore, uncomfortable. Be sure you understand if you are in a culture that puts
business before pleasure or pleasure before business.
Cultural Programming
Your culture is programmed into you, much like the software that runs a computer. Be
aware that culture is equally programmed into the people from other countries. If you
put a Macintosh operating program into a Windows PC, it wouldnt boot up. Youd be left
with an ineffective, inoperable system. Similarly, you probably cant completely change
who you are and how you work for the sake of cultural literacy. On the other hand,
You cant learn
about other peo-
ples cultures until
you develop
awareness of your
own.
The United States
has indeed been
successful in var-
ious ways spe-
ci cally because
Americans
embrace change
and welcome risk.
I dont nd it
useful to minimize
cultural differ-
ences. Nor do I
nd it useful to
exaggerate them.
The process of
increasing your
cultural intelli-
gence is just that,
a process. It is
sometimes analo-
gous to walking
uphill in sand: two
steps forward, one
step back.
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Cultural Intelligence Copyright 2004 getAbstract 5 of 5
under certain circumstances say sending and receiving e-mail Macs and PCs can
communicate effectively.
How big is the gap you must bridge across cultures to communicate and work? You can
measure it with The Scale of Differences. For example, people who visit Canada from
the U.S. nd many cultural similarities and some differences. On a scale of one to 10,
with 10 being utterly foreign, Canada might only score a 1.5 level of cultural divergence
from the U.S. Visitors from the U.S. rarely return from Canada complaining of severe
culture shock. The same visitors might well be surprised by the much higher scoring
differences they would encounter in Nigeria, where people believe trees have spirits, or
in India, where they might see a body oating down the Ganges a form of burial.
Global executives have more options than ever, but a total lack of restraint isnt among them.
Westerners once could act abroad in their own cultural fashion and get away with it. Those
days are gone. Business people from the U.S. need to make themselves more culturally
compatible, or risk losing their deals to others who are willing to be culturally exible.
Getting Smarter
Cultural intelligence has three components. The rst is knowledge, the facts that you
need to know about places, politics, cuisine, fashion and so forth. The second is
awareness, that is, being mindful about your traits and the traits of others that are
relevant to your cultural IQ. And, the third is skill, which is different from knowledge in
that it implies an ability to do something. In some cultural situations, it is important to
know how to do something properly, whether its how to shake hands (or when not to) or
how to hand prospects your business card and receive theirs.
To increase your sensitivity to other cultures, become more aware of your own. Study how
your culture falls on the various differentiation scales. Develop tolerance for ambiguity and
accept that more than one cultural meaning may be attached to any given behavior. Practice
being open minded and foster a sense of humility about your cultural assumptions.
Many cultural misunderstandings could be avoided by communicating more clearly.
Speak slowly and clearly, but not loudly, when you wish to be understood. Repeat
yourself if necessary, perhaps choosing slightly different words. Be precise. Try to use
at least a little of the language of the person youre interacting with and learn to say
these six basic messages: yes, no, please, thank you, hello and good-bye. Learn as much
about the country you are visiting as possible. Most importantly, never assume it is the
other partys responsibility to understand you and your culture. Cultural intelligence is
a two-way street.
About The Author
As founder of Across Cultures Inc., an international consulting rm serving global
business, Brooks Peterson is the creator of a variety of tools designed to assist business
leaders focused on the global marketplace. Peterson is an experienced cross-cultural
trainer. He developed the widely used Peterson Cultural Style Indicator.
People from
group-oriented
cultures tend not
to greet or even
acknowledge
strangers on the
street. Because
the strangers are
an out-group, its
not necessary to
even say hello.
Even if you have
never traveled
abroad, get ready
to mix with other
cultures, because
more immigrants
each year come to
live in your coun-
try.