1 The cultural cockpit

Greetings. I am pleased to see we are different. May we together become greater than the sum of both of us.

Vulcan greeting from Star Trek

Taking time to understand how others think, feel and behave helps to create a more harmonious workplace, increases productivity and empowers global teams. We all do things differently because we have different cultural backgrounds, backgrounds that give us the feeling of ‘how we do things around here’ and ‘how we think of ourselves’. We learn these rules as children and often they are so deeply embedded that we don’t even question them.

So what does that mean?

As an example, people from the English-speaking world and north-west European societies are very individualistic. It’s normal for them to talk about ‘using initiative’ and ‘being empowered’, but someone who comes from a group-oriented culture, like Japan, won’t understand those concepts in the same way and will respond differently. A smiling Jamaican might easily misinterpret the soft laughter or shy smile of an Asian; Jamaicans smile readily and easily while Asians do so when they are uncomfortable or embarrassed. Behaviour is relative to context.

People are people the world over with different perspectives and views. The cultural trick is to develop the ability to blend beliefs.

Eilidh Milnes

Enlightenment comes when you see things differently. There is an old adage: do unto others as they do unto you. This may seem sage advice – however, it does make the assumption that there is an underlying similarity and general understanding. Standing by the coffee machine recently, we overheard this comment: ‘I cannot understand his attitude. I treated him just the way I would like to be treated...’ ‘Mmm,’ we thought, ‘you could try treating him the way he wants to be treated.’

Better communication skills don’t solve this problem. Understandably, you see the world through your own eyes and behave accordingly. To create better rapport, first you have to understand what lenses you are using and how they influence the way you see the world – rather like looking through a pair of spectacles. Next, you need to see how the world looks through other people’s spectacles. Then you need to develop the attitude, skills and behaviour to adapt your communication to build bridges of intercultural understanding. Ultimately, this is what cultural intelligence (or intercultural competence) is all about: awareness, knowledge, attitude and skills.

Because, without this intercultural understanding, the ‘MIS’ Factor is at play: MISperception leading to MISinterpretation, causing MISevaluation that creates MIStrust. Which doesn’t engender a happy workplace. (See Chapter 20 Cross-cultural competence)

The cockpit metaphor

Imagine going on a journey and boarding an aeroplane. You are the pilot. You take your seat in the cockpit and systematically check all of the instruments before you take off. You’ve logged your flight plan with air traffic control, you know your destination. Now you need to check the weather forecast during your journey and that you have enough fuel on board. You’ll do a few calculations to establish what bearing you need to take, how long the journey will last and make any adjustments to ensure you arrive at the right place, at the right time and with passengers in the right frame of mind, thanks to your preparation and planning.

You can do the same checks when working across cultures.

The cultural cockpit is a device to help you navigate across a culturally diverse workforce. It helps you to take your bearings (understand yourself), guides you in how to adjust your heading (assess the culture you will be working with), and set your speed (the pace at which you can do business). In fact, the cultural cockpit has all the instruments and tools you need to safely travel across the globe, address any turbulence and have a safe landing in a multicultural work environment.

The book cannot possibly cover 101 ways to work in 101 different cultures, but what it can do is guide your thinking and help you adjust your flaps in order to have a turbulence-free flight. The main feature in the cultural cockpit is the Diversity Dashboard which has fifteen instruments to check against to calibrate your flight path (your journey of discovery). Once you have assessed these and logged them into your internal flight management system (your modus operandi) you will be good to go! Like first learning to drive, once you have identified what to do and made the first somewhat self-conscious and awkward initial attempts, confidence and competence quickly come with practice.

But there is one important factor to take into account before you can take off. You need to get your wings. You need a triple A rating to operate your plane. Facts about another culture are not sufficient for you to fly. You need to understand yourself and your own culture first. Then you need to be able to compare and contrast other cultures with your own (have the tools and techniques) to understand the gap. Finally, you have to have the right attitude and willingness to be flexible in your approach.

Getting your wings: the triple ‘A’ rating in cultural intelligence

These are the three As you need to attain your wings and become culturally competent:

•   Awareness of your own culture: knowledge about yourself and your core values and how these are expressed in attitudes, behaviours and communication in the workplace.

•   Assessment of other cultures: awareness of others and the ability to compare and contrast otherness with various tools and techniques.

•   Action: continuing curiosity to learn more, the willingness to adapt and be flexible, and the ability to identify and respond creatively to cultural challenges and conflicts in ways that both respect and engage the other person.

Cultural competence check

The shortest road to cultural intelligence is knowledge of other cultures.

True or false?

Answer: False

Yes, knowledge is needed, but the culturally intelligent person has developed both the skills and attitudes required to interact successfully with people of different cultures – an essential competence in today's multicultural societies.