Introducing the Cultural Intelligence e-book

© Transnational Management Associates Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

2 2

The decision to write

an e-book on the

subject of cultural

intelligence was an

easy one.


3 3

The borderless

workplace brings

millions of diverse

people together every

day – both face-to-

face and virtually – to

do business,

collaborate, and

innovate.


4 4

What are some of the learning points in the book that can be useful to you and your company?

Every company – as a matter

of competitive commonsense

– must fully understand its

own diversity landscape –

differences in its workforce,

as well as among customers,

partners, suppliers,

governments and

communities.


5 5


Diversity has evolved since

the 1960s when the focus

was on compliance to

‘diversity by design’ – the

formation of a workforce and

teams that contain

differences that promote

value creation, e.g. cognitive

diversity.


6 6


The business case for diversity is founded on at least four well-researched value propositions:

Diversity generates higher financial returns

Diversity drives new market opportunities

Diversity supports complex problem solving and innovation

Diversity increases employee engagement and performance


7 7


One trend in the diversity

field is to focus on the

uniqueness of each

individual.

While I applaud that trend, it

is important we not neglect

the impact that group

cultures have on forming our

identities.


8 8


If we only focus on the

individual, we are much more

likely to make the

fundamental attribution error

– assuming someone’s

behavior or thinking style is

driven only by personal

choice rather than situational

factors like group culture.


9 9


A group culture can form around any kind of shared experiences, e.g.

age, race, sexual orientation, profession.

Nationality has dominated the cross-cultural field for a long time, but

nationality is only one form of group culture that influences our

identity-formation.


10 10 In developing readiness for handling borderless diversity, everyone needs to develop or strengthen 10 key competencies:

Curiosity Risk-Taking

Perceptiveness Mindfulness

Self-Awareness Restraint

Tolerance of Ambiguity

Flexibility

Confidence Resilience


11 11

These competencies are crucial to applying the cultural ADAPT cycle effectively

Analyze Decide

Apply

Process

Tune

Analyzing differences

Deciding on appropriate adaptations

Applying adaptations skilfully

Processing what happens in the interaction

Tuning adaptations to increase effectiveness


12 12 For the power of diversity to be realized, inclusion must become a strategic priority. The concept of inclusion is brought to life by the day-to-day application of three principles (and their associated outcomes)

RECOGNITION

Recognizing the reality of others’

differences?

‘I am known’

RECEPTIVITY

Being open to seeing the world through

others’ eyes?

‘I am heard’

RESPECT

Communicating regard for

differences?

‘I am valued’


13 13

If you go to China for a week, you’ll be able to write a book about it.

If you go for a month or so, you might be able to write a paper.

If you go for a year or more, you won’t be able to write anything at

all.

While the decision to write the book was easy, writing it was difficult

Not because I knew too little about the subject, but because I knew too much. A Chinese colleague once said to me,

“

”


14 14

While the decision to write the book was easy, writing it was difficult

Download the e-book http://www.tmaworld.com/e-book-series/

After 20 plus years working in the cultural space, I hope I have been able in the e-book to respect complexity while distilling my experiences into useful concepts, tips, and tools. Only the reader can judge if that is the case.

What he was saying was that the more you know about something, the more you realize how much you don’t know. You start recognizing the great complexity of what it is you are trying to understand.

http://www.tmaworld.com/e-book-series/

http://www.tmaworld.com/e-book-series/


15 15

Written by Terence Brake, Director of Learning & Innovation at TMA World. Our new Borderless Working e-book series

Webinar Twitter Blog Viewpoints and articles

Publications

About Us

Visit

www.tmaworld.com/insights

to discover the latest

thinking from our experts

on global, collaborative,

cross-cultural and virtual

working. There you’ll find

links to our:

http://www.tmaworld.com/news-insights/books/

http://www.tmaworld.com/news-insights/webinars/

https://twitter.com/tmaworld

http://www.tmaworld.com/news-insights/blognews/

http://www.tmaworld.com/news-insights/viewpoints-articles/

http://www.youtube.com/user/TMAWorldVideos

http://www.linkedin.com/company/210855

http://www.slideshare.net/StevenParkinson


16 16

Above all we’d like to hear from you directly, so please don’t hesitate to send any comments, questions or feedback

to us at: [email protected]

Or visit our website:

www.tmaworld.com

About Us

Visit

www.tmaworld.com/insights

to discover the latest

thinking from our experts

on global, collaborative,

cross-cultural and virtual

working.

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.youtube.com/user/TMAWorldVideos

http://www.linkedin.com/company/210855

http://www.slideshare.net/StevenParkinson

Introducing the Cultural Intelligence e-book

Business

Transcript of Introducing the Cultural Intelligence e-book