MG5001 Engineering Communication

Cultural Intelligence Quotient

Content created by Otago Polytechnic

Modified by Mark Schatzdorfer
Contents

1. What is culture?
2. Culture matters
3. What is cultural intelligence quotient (CQ)?
4. CQ capabilities
5. Overcoming cultural barriers in communication

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 What is Culture?
• Defined as ideas, customs, and social behavior of a particular people or
society
– "A pattern of shared basic assumptions learned by a group as it solved its problems
of external adaptation and internal integration, which has worked well enough to be
considered valid and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to
perceive, think and feel in relation to those problems” (Edward Schein)
– “Culture is the unwritten book with rules of the social game that is passed on to
newcomers by its members, nesting itself in their minds” (Geert Hofstede)
• A culture is identified when a large group of people share a distinctive set
of manners, morals, arts, and traditions including knowledge and history.
Culture Matters

• Often how we do things is what comes to us naturally.

– But how did we learn these things?
• Things we take for granted are inherently cultural.
• The following examples were developed by graphic artist Yang Liu to
contrast some aspects of Western and Chinese cultures.
– Liu was born in China and educated in Germany.
– The blue boxes represent Westerners.
– The red boxes represent Chinese.

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Culture Matters: Queue Behaviour

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Culture matters: Freedom of Expression

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Culture matters: Noise Level in Public Places

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Culture matters: Relationship with the Leader

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 Culture matters: Own Ego

• Ideas of human rights, personal integrity and private property have a long history in Europe.
• Collectivism is one of the characteristics of the Chinese.
– The ego is criticized both in traditional teachings (Confucianism, Taoism) and in Buddhism.

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Culture Matters

• A few short videos by HSBC (a bank) about some different cultural

practices

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Culture matters

• We may not see things as they are; we may see things as we are
• Starting to think about what things build our own cultures, and why
we do things the way we do can help us appreciate and function in
different cultural settings
• We often think of cultures as being only the things we can easily see,
but consider the iceberg model on the next slide…

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• Elements of culture above sea
level are often easy to recognise
and be responsive to.
• Tend to be things that take low
emotional energy to adapt to.

• Elements of culture below sea

level are often more difficult to
recognise and be responsive to.
• Tend to be things that aren’t
widely spoken about as they are
unconscious rules or ways of
doing things.
• Being aware of and responsive
to these elements can take high
amounts of emotional energy.

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 What is Cultural intelligence Quotient? (CQ)
• The ability to relate and work effectively with people from different cultural
backgrounds.
– National, ethnic, organisational, generational, etc.
• The main way to develop CQ is through exposure to different cultures.
– Through this your personal awareness will be challenged and changed
• If you’re not willing to step outside of your comfort zone, to try new things,
to think about things from a different point of view, and to be flexible, it will
be very difficult for you to develop cultural intelligence.
Cultural Intelligence

• Not about pretending to be

someone else, but the more
time you spend in an
environment, the more it will
affect your behaviour and the
more you may accept it as
normal and logical.

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Core and Flex – a model for considering intercultural
interactions

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izeiRjUMau4&ab_channel=TEDxTalks

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What is your Core and your Flex?

• This is a reflective exercise, there is no right or wrong answer.

• Think about yourself and what makes you ‘you’, your experiences
and beliefs.
• What are three ‘core’ aspects of yourself, that you couldn’t change
without stopping being yourself?
• What are three ‘flex’ aspects, that you could change or adapt while
working in other cultures without losing yourself?

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 Why is Cultural Intelligence Important?

• Cultural intelligence allows

you to function effectively
across different cultural
contexts.

• The world is increasingly

globalised, you will meet
people from different
cultures in business and
personal lives.

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CQ Broken Down into Four Capabilities

• This model was

developed by social
scientist David
Livermore, a trainer and
consultant practicing in
over 100 countries of the
world.

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CQ Capabilities – Drive

Your interest, drive, and confidence to adapt to multicultural situations

• A motivated person must have an interest in cross-cultural differences
and the drive to understand them.
• This can help you
– Working abroad
– Leading a culturally diverse team
– Prevent cultural embarrassments

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CQ Capabilities – How to improve Drive

• All of us have biases that we need to challenge, these are usually

unconscious and include things like stereotypes, prejudices, and
discrimination.
• How to improve CQ Drive?
– Face your biases, connect with existing interests (e.g. if you like reading, pick
up a book by an author from a different culture)
– Visualise success from your efforts, reward yourself, recharge your batteries
(this helps you to be more motivated)
– Be open to friendships with people from other cultures
– Travel

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CQ Capabilities – Knowledge

Your understanding about how cultures influence how people think and
behave, and your familiarity with how cultures are different
Knowledge in the following:
• Business: economic and legal systems
• Values and Norms: worth, social interaction and religious beliefs
• Socio-Linguistic: language and communication norms
• Leadership: managing people and relationships across cultures

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CQ capabilities – How to improve Knowledge

• Study culture up close including interactions and body language,

improve your global awareness
• Go to foreign movies, read a foreign novel, learn about cultural
values, explore your cultural identity, try to understand differences
• Learn a new language
• Watch local media and entertainment when abroad

Try reading the ‘culture smart’ book for a specific country to help develop a knowledge
foundation. There are over 100 countries in their current catalogue.
E.g.: New Zealand – Preview of one of their books

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CQ Capabilities – Strategy

Your awareness and ability to plan for multicultural interactions

• Your core and flex can change
• Planning: Strategising before a culturally diverse encounter
• Awareness: Sensing the perspectives of self and others (slow down
your decisions; no knee-jerk reactions!)
• Checking: Checking the assumptions and adjusting mental maps
when experiences differ from expectations

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CQ Capabilities – How to improve Strategy

• Planning: Plan and research social interactions, manage

expectations, create checklists, ask questions
• Awareness: Notice, think widely, focus deeply, keep a journal
– Question your assumptions about why things happen in different ways.
• Checking: Reframe a situation, test for accuracy, ask better
questions

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Close up on ‘checking’ – D.I.E

• Initially it is safer in cross-cultural situations to describe behaviour than

to interpret it.
• Interpreting behaviour involves assigning meaning, and the meaning you assign to
a behaviour is bound to be one taken from your own culture
– This won’t necessarily help you if the person exhibiting the behaviour comes
from a different culture.
Think D.I.E.
• Describe
• Interpret
• Evaluate

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Activity: Describing or interpreting behaviour?
• Write down either “D” or “I” the following statements

1a. That man is very angry. I Our own culture can

1b. That man is talking loudly. D make it difficult to see
2a. My boss doesn’t trust their subordinates. that things are
I
2b. My boss doesn’t delegate responsibility. happening for
D
3a. That women stands far away from me when
different reasons than
D we may assume.
she is speaking to me.
3b. That woman is cold and reserved. Consider actions
I carefully from
4a. That man is afraid of his boss.
I different points of
4b. That man never contradicts his boss in public.
D view before assigning
meaning.

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CQ Capabilities - Action

Your ability to adapt when relating and working interculturally

• Following through of your flex
• How to react when things don’t go according to plan
– It’s okay to respectfully ask people when you don’t understand
– Apologise if needed!
• Speech Acts: Modifying the manner of communication content
• Verbal: Modifying verbal behaviours (e.g. accent, tone)
• Non-Verbal: Modifying non-verbal behaviours (e.g. gestures, facial
expressions)

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CQ Capabilities – How to Improve Action

• Speech Acts: Involve yourself

in conversations, join a
multicultural team
• Verbal: Use basic vocabulary,
try new vocal sounds, slow
down
• Non-Verbal: Develop a
repertoire of social skills, be an
actor, have someone record
you when you present and
watch it later

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How May We Overcome These Barriers?

• Begin with positive intent: Your first response to someone else’s behavior should
not be to assume they are being rude, and also keep in mind that others may
misconstrue your own behavior.
• Seek more information: Most behavior makes sense once explained.
• Prepare: Consider frustrating situations you’ve encountered before and decide in
advance how you’ll handle awkwardness graciously.
• Be yourself, but adapt: You likely dress, speak, and behave differently in various
familiar settings.
– Be similarly willing to shift in intercultural encounters.

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SCORE

When your communication isn’t working, think SCORE.

• Simplify + Specify - Can you make your concept easier to grasp?
• Clarify + Confirm - Ask questions to see what needs clarifying, check that you’ve
done this
• Organise + Outline - Think carefully about how you’re communicating, structure it
well
• Rephrase + Reframe - Can you explain this another way?
• Explain with Examples - Examples can help provide real world context and make
things clearer

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Easy Ways to Expose Yourself to Other Cultures

• Read a book by an author from a different culture

• Watch a foreign language film or documentary
• Try cooking something from a different cuisine and read about where this
dish came from
• Learn about a different country
• Think about people from different cultures in your life, how do your cultures
shape your interactions?
• As you go through daily life ask why you are doing things the way you are.
– Start to actively think about your own culture.

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