Cultural Intelligence - Themes and Action Plans

Shift Delta Learning Group

Cultural Intelligence Themes and Action Plans

By Alejandro Virchez, Alice Tang, Dan Schmitz, Jose Fiallos, Luis Morejon, Lingyu Jia, and Tami Cole

After debriefing our Teams individual CQ (Cultural Intelligence) assessment results and
learning about the collective insights gained through the reflective assignment, one common
theme emerged: High average score for CQ Drive and a nearly complete lack of familiarity with
French culture. Markedly, in sub-dimensions critical to successfully developing as global
practitioners such as: knowledge of Frances
values, social interaction norms, rules of
language, differences in people leadership,
business practices, etc.
The group agreed that strategizing and
identifying concrete ways to put those strategies
into action could have a positive impact on the
quality of the relationships we build with the
French and our overall effectiveness. There was
one other critical theme on which our group
agreed--We share it gladly at the end.
What follows, describes the Teams collective intent--expressed through individual
motivation and strategies for upgrading our CQ for France. Individually, we will also identify one
of Hofstedes cultural dimensions as an area of expertise to develop for the benefit of our
Learning Group.
Alejandro Virchez - At the time I answered my CQ report I thought that my cultural intelligence
was very high, after our first consulting assignment I am sure that there is a lot of work to do.
Now that my extrinsic interest is higher, I will work on my CQ score following the next three
strategies:

CQ Knowledge: I will listen to national business news in French.

CQ Strategy: I will get in touch with my French friends and have conversations about the
possible cultural roadblocks that we could encounter during our consulting assignment.
This will help me develop a strategy before we go to France.

CQ Action: I will see at least four French movies before France, and I will pay attention
to the accent, tones, gestures, facial expressions and communication.

I will share my insights with my learning group by posting a summary of the conversations with
my French friends; these conversations will focus on the being and doing dimensions.

Cultural Intelligence - Themes and Action Plans

Shift Delta Learning Group

Alice Tang - My CQ Drive, CQ Knowledge, CQ Strategy and CQ Action have scored in the
Moderate range. Personally, I have always had a high motivation in learning and a desire to
work in cross-cultural situations. In regards to the Uncertainty Avoidance, my self-rating resulted
in a moderate score and France resulted in a high score. I will help Shift Delta understand that
we need to be mindful of how France works by being conscientious by planning and not seeking
the other extreme of spontaneity. Due to Frances high uncertainty avoidance, I will remind Shift
Delta of the formality when we are working with our clients. To enhance our knowledge in the
Uncertainty Avoidance and the other Cultural Values, I ordered the books that Jack Schlafer
recommended to enhance this knowledge. I plan to read Handbook of Cultural Intelligence
Theory, Measurement, and Applications and Leading with Cultural Intelligence-The New Secret
to Success.
Dan Schmitz - Up until now, my trips to international destinations have been personal
vacations. I didnt need to familiarize myself with cultural differences in any meaningful way.
This helps explain why I have little CQ knowledge, strategy, and action. Fortunately, I have CQ
drive. I understand how a visit to a foreign country for the purpose of being productive in a
multicultural context requires more deliberate preparation. I intend to upgrade my CQ in
preparation for France by reading Polly Platts French or Foe and interviewing a work associate
who grew up in France. With regard to the latter, I intend to focus on developing a deeper
understanding of Geert Hofstede's Power Distance dimension. Ill summarize this conversation
for the benefit of my learning group. This fits an agreement among my learning group where
each member will research and summarize one dimension of cultural orientation for the benefit
of the team.
Jose Fiallos - I plan on upgrading my CQ by increasing my awareness of the French culture so
that I can have extremely positive interactions with French people. In reading about the French
culture, I understand that appearance is important to them, so I have set goals for myself to
improve my presentation, what I wear, how I look and feel. This though, has been a goal since I
found myself in Pajaro. How can my LG help me? I need my LGs support by sharing their
insight as to their findings about the French culture. I am really looking forward to the
experience and I want it to be 100% positive for myself and the French people I come across. In
preparation for Lyon, I am planning to spend 5 days in Nice to immerse myself in the French
culture.
Luis Morejon - Based on my CQ feedback, Knowledge and Strategy represent key areas for
development. I have identified three specific action items to improve the degree to which I

Cultural Intelligence - Themes and Action Plans

Shift Delta Learning Group

understand how culture influences how people think and behave and my level of familiarity with
how cultures are similar and different. More specifically, I want to obtain a deeper knowledge of
Frances economic and legal system and their leadership and management preferences and
practices.
As a Cuban-born-US-raised-Global organizational executive, Im curious about how
low/high context in communication will show up. In my world today, for example, our Latin
American colleagues complain about our US employees communicating in ways they find
condescending, conversely, US employees feel like they have to constantly fill in the
communication blanks from Latin America. Here are my three action items:

Complete Hofstedes Culture Compass in an effort to further identify gaps and receive
specific feedback on things I can do to close the gaps

Finish reading Expand your borders: Ten Cultural Clusters and share my insights

Share a summary of the final presentation from my Globalization and Cross-Cultural

group during one of our LG scheduled calls

Lingyu Jia - I especially want to increase my CQ knowledge and CQ strategy start from
planning the trip to France. Actually I have little knowledge about France and this will be my first
time to visit Europe and France. I feel excited and also a little nervous since I don't speak any
French and based on what I heard about French. I plan to learn a few basic French words to
show my respect to their culture and for fun from the online program Pepperdine offered. I also
plan to watch 2-3 French movies out of the Top 10 Best French films listed on IMDB. I will read
the book French or Foes and borrow other travel books from public library about France, Lyon
and Paris. I am going to spend a few days before and after the program to experience more
about the people, culture, food and beauty of France.
In fact I don't know any French nor have any French friends. The only person I can think
of is an old acquaintance who used to work for a Chinese company in Paris but originally from
Hong Kong. I plan to reconnect with him and if he still remembers me, I would like to conduct an
informational interview with him and ask about his view about French culture, especially
regarding the Long term vs. Short term values. I will take note for our conversation and share
with my LG.
Tammy Cole - Latin Europe (France) falls in the middle of the Cultural Values chart, leaning
more towards the Cooperative scale. In contrast, Anglos are solidly competitive. In France, we
might see this relationship manifest through its general culture, as well as its business culture.

Cultural Intelligence - Themes and Action Plans

Shift Delta Learning Group

Those with an Anglo background can be perceived as expressing assertive behavior and
competition edge, by placing a high value on tasks, achievement and accomplishment. Hosted
refers to this (The Hofstede Center) orientation, masculine. Anglos should be mindful of this
and resist the temptation to take control of conversations, or jump into business relationships
before they have established (to the degree it can be in the abbreviated timeframe we are
allotted), a relationship with our hosts.
The masculine orientation above can easily clash with the more feminine orientation of
Latin Europe. Here, emphasis is placed on nurturing and cooperation. There is a strong
emphasis on the family and on relationships. In France, this might manifest itself through the
rambling hours of an evening meal, where the focus is as much on nurturing and cultivating
relationships, as it is on the experience of l art de cuisine.
I can help my colleagues by modeling appropriate behavior for the situation myself, and
by reminding others of the lessons learned in Dana Point regarding task versus relationship.
As I lean more towards relationship as expressed in the Latin Europe orientation (although I can
be task-oriented), my colleagues can help me by gently keeping me on track with tasks should I
pause too long on relationship, and consider my orientation when I, or others, express our
concerns related to the above.
Before we end, there was one other theme we felt deserved attention: Lets not
assume that we have figured out the French!
Despite the research and invaluable awareness we are acquiring, we must remain committed to
consistently accessing our ignorance when visiting and working with cross-cultural organizations
and the people who live and work there.
The reasons why go far beyond the tacit understanding that
culture is one (of many) element of who a person is and the
humility and professional grace expected from guests.
As organizations continue to expand commercial and
geographical borders and collapse functional silos in favor of
matrix environments, OD practitioners with highly developed
Cultural Intelligence can play significant roles in the success
of organizations, leaders, and the people they serve--and

in turn--showcase the values that drive and sustain our

profession.