Cultural Intelligence and Cultural Experience - Research Paper Example

Cultural Intelligence Culture is a powerful component of the human existence. It has an influence on gestures, perceptions, and speech patterns (Earley & Mosakowski, 2004). Business transactions and interactions create platforms for individuals from different cultures to interact at a personal level. The ability to understand the gestures and practices from different cultures makes it easy to interact with people from different places. Cultural intelligence is characterized by the ability to read and understand gestures made by people from different cultures naturally. Cultural intelligence can also be learned via experience and practice. The paper analyzes cultural intelligence in relation to cultural experience. It focuses on cultural intelligence development pattern and growth. Cultural intelligence is made of different components that mark the development of an individual in its application (Earley & Mosakowski, 2004). The components include behavioral, cognitive and motivation. The cognitive part of cultural intelligence entails the use of one’s brain to learn about different cultures. It is all about the experience and knowledge obtained from interacting with different people. Experience is crucial to the development of cultural intelligence because it provides firsthand information that is critical to the application and development of the acquired knowledge. Personally, I understood the importance of cultural intelligence when I had a chance to stay together with Afghanistan soldiers/translators to discuss national security matters. I faltered in some aspects, but the cognitive part of my cultural intelligence helped in facilitating successful interaction with the soldiers. The best way to develop the cognitive part in a given situation is the development of learning strategies. The learning strategies ensure one learns without jeopardizing the relationship with the group involved in the experience. In retrospect, my learning strategies entailed observation and adaptation. I focused on how the soldiers related with each other and the other foreigners. The observation yielded information that could help in comprehending the most important practices among the Afghan people. It was an opportunity to assess their attitudes toward different aspects (Boonghee, Donthu, & Lenartowicz, 2011). It became to retain the information because I could compare it to the practices in the Western culture. Self-awareness and knowledge played a cultural experience with the soldiers. Self-awareness made it possible for me to focus on how I behave and act in front of the soldiers. The success of the experience heavily relies on all people being at the same level. The combination of self-awareness and knowledge on cultural interaction techniques helped in developing the learning strategy. The learning strategy was chosen based on the practices depicted by the soldiers in social interactions. During my time in with soldiers, I had to ask questions concerning practices related to religion, eating manners and the accepted ways of treatment. The whole experience was enlightening. The behavioral component of cultural intelligence covers communication and behavior while one is interacting with individuals from a different culture. The effective forms of communication can vary with the type of culture and common practices. It is also a fact that communication is highly influenced by behavior. Based on my experience, the Afghanistan soldiers were very keen on reactions (Rowley & Poon, 2009). Satisfaction or dissatisfaction can read easily from behavior and bodily response. Furthermore, the experience made me pick up some behavior, which including the accepted form of greeting between teammates. It was also an opportunity to understand collectivism in its entirety (Hofstedes Intercultural Dimensions, n.d.). The adoption of behaviors from the culture of the soldiers made it very easy to mingle in one tent. The adoption of some behavior and practices is viewed as acceptance. The whole experience was beneficial to my understanding of the values and practices considered crucial to their survival by the people of Afghanistan. The motivational part of cultural intelligence is what drives one to learn and adapt practices from a different culture. The effectiveness of motivation is enhanced by the metacognitive component, which deals with the development of methods to understand a different. The metacognitive component touches on factors like interviews, assumptions, and stereotypes. Motivation was key to the growth of my cultural sensitivity when I was interacting with the Afghanistan soldiers. I was determined to understand the soldiers to ensure that the discussions on national security matters went smoothly. The success of the project relied heavily on the effectiveness of communication, which could aid in enhancing unity between our team and the Afghanistan soldiers. Prior to the experience, I read the important practices and values among the people of Afghanistan. I also tried to understand the attitude of Afghanistan soldiers towards foreigners. The reason for narrowing to the soldiers is due to the fact there is the development of small groups within the bigger groups. Soldiers tend to have their culture, which affects their perceptions and views on respect and development. The information led helped in facilitating the start of a mutually beneficial interaction with the soldiers. We did everything together, which included eating, working and sleeping. It helped in the development of a strong bond over time. The level of cultural sensitivity improved as time passed. However, there were occasion problems with communication. It was challenging to adapt to the behavioral patterns associated with effective communication in the group. All issues were solved in everyday meetings in which everyone had the opportunity to air their grievances to avoid dangerous assumptions and stereotypes. The experience was also an opportunity to analyze the practices and attitudes of the Afghan people based on Hofstede’s cultural dimensions. First, it is a very masculine society where men are expected to be the breadwinners. The level of masculinity explains why the majority of the soldiers are men. The masculine attitude is supported by both culture and religion. Conversations with the men also revealed the collectivist nature of the Afghan culture. The soldiers tell stories of extended families and the importance of putting the needs of the group first. Most of them would ask questions on how the Western culture encouraged individualism, which is viewed as selfishness in their culture. The uncertainty avoidance index was high among the soldiers. However, it is possible that the attitude has been influenced by military training, which supports certainty. Uncertainty is viewed as the potential loss of life. The insistence on certainty was notable in conversations and practices. The collectivist attitude made it very easy for soldiers to thrive in teams. The collectivist attitude was very strong because it had been enhanced by military training. Military training is against individualism. The military recommends groups since groups are considered better. Cultural intelligence strategies involve all the methods employed in learning, and adapting behavior and values from a different culture. The most effective strategies used during the cultural experience project were observation and general conversations. It is because at this time the soldiers would talk freely about their views and experiences, which helped in understanding the dominant perceptions and attitudes among them (Earley & Mosakowski, 2004). The application of some cultural intelligence strategies was challenging. For example, the soldiers were not comfortable with being questioned about matters pertaining to religion and family. Therefore, it was easy to let them talk in general conversations. Questioning would be met with general responses that do not reveal any information in relation to cultural attitudes and values. A setup that encourages equality among all the members involved was influential in the development of trust. It is easy to open up to people considered of the same rank as opposed to superiors especially in the military where everything is governed by rules. The cultural experience was a learning experience. It was an opportunity to analyze my cultural intelligence level by analyzes CQ motivation, strategy and behavior. The assessment of cultural intelligence strategy examines the ability of an individual to adjust behavior when interacting with different people. I had a relatively east time to adjust my behavior because of high motivation, which made me research prior to the start of the project. The information from the research made it easy to adapt new behavior upon interaction with the Afghanistan soldiers. However, I was not successful in developing effective communications strategies when the project started. The group experienced many challenges because of communication breakdowns, which led to the start of meetings where everyone could speak. The meetings helped in improving communication and understanding. I also learned that I enjoy interacting with people from different cultures. It is easy for me to accommodate practices from strange cultures. The analysis of behavior patterns shows that I find difficulty in adapting some behaviors. The adaptation of new practices is relatively easy compared to the adaptation of behavior and gestures. My personal strengths revealed by the project are collaboration, interaction and performance of tasks. The process of delegation and completion of tasks in a multicultural environment is easy. Collaboration, interaction and tasks performance are very important values in leadership. My ability to accommodate different cultures makes it possible for me to lead a multicultural team. The extensive knowledge on task performance ensures that I can delegate all duties to the right individuals. Collaboration can make a good leader because I can find effective ways to make people form teams that can achieve the set goals and objectives. The weaknesses that can affect my leadership is the inability to adapt behavior from different cultures. It can interfere with communication with people from strange cultures. References Boonghee, Y., Donthu, N., & Lenartowicz, T. (2011). Measuring Hofstedes Five Dimensions of Cultural Values at the Individual Level: Development and Validation of CVSCALE. Journal of International Consumer Marketing, 23(3/4), 193-210. Earley, P. C., & Mosakowski, E. (2004). Cultural Intelligence. Harvard Business Review, 82(10), 139-146. Hofstedes Intercultural Dimensions. (n.d.). Retrieved from Kwintessential: http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/intercultural/dimensions.html Rowley, C., & Poon, I. (2009). The Importance for Managers and Organizations of Cultural Intelligence. Cass Knowledge. Retrieved from http://www.cassknowledge.com/sites/default/files/article-attachments/360~~chrisrowley_cultural_intelligence.pdf Read More