If you’re highly motivated to develop
change in your organisation, you need understand that skills are needed to support
change.
University research show us that the lack of
skills is what holds businesses back. A
government priority is skills for growth.
Lack
of Skills is the Number 1 Reason for Business Failure.
The Top Two Causes of Failure
-
Incompetence at 46 %
-
Lack of
Managerial Experience at 30 %
Source:
Entrepreneur Weekly, Small Business Development Centre, Bradley Univ,University of Tennessee
IBM’S 2008
study Making Change Work, identified that of the 20% of companies who represent
“change masters”, could attribute their success to four factors:
·
Realistic awareness and
understanding from leadership of the complexity of change
·
A systematic approach to change (e.g.
a methodology)
·
Dedicated change managers
·
Change resourcing permitting the
right investment for change.
See more at: http://conversationsofchange.com.au/2013/09/02/70-of-change-projects-fail-bollocks1/#sthash.eLQBd0IT.dpuf
Even though many organisations are committed to support change and develop
policies and strategies by spending money on training, the one the factor that
is missing is the development of those collaborators and connectors they have within
the organisation to support change. It has become increasingly difficult as our
teams reach wider across continents and communication methods have varied, to
support change and improve communication. It is imperative to find ways to
overcome these challenges.
This would build the foundations of growth, we can build a
business that is supportive to change and also that supports the staff to understand
the change. That is why strengthening those
structures and processes we already have in our business is so important; it is
a return on the investment (ROI). Developing those change makers is a must if
you wish to thrive not just survive. When you improve the skills of the people around
you, you can build a better businesses and grow leaders to drive forward the change.
Cultural intelligence is the capability to
work across cultures and is a skill you can develop.
Cross Cultural
Communication
Cross Cultural Communication is a super
skill needed to develop Cultural Intelligence.
If you are one of those highly motivated people within your organisation
you will understand the need to use the nine mega skills needed on your journey
to improve your cultural awareness.
Over the next few weeks we will
endeavour to guide you to understand a little more about these nine mega skills.
These
skills are;
·
Understanding our own cultural
identity
·
Check our cultural lenses
·
Global consciousness
·
Shifting perspectives
·
Intercultural communication
·
Managing cross – cultural conflict
·
Multicultural teaming
·
Managing bias
·
Understanding the dynamics of
power
Mega Skills 1
Understanding our own
Cultural Identity
Culture is
organic and fluid it changes as we react and adapt to the environments and situations
that we come across.
In the words of
E.B. Tylor, "that complex whole which includes
knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and
habits acquired by man as a member of society." (Tylor 1871:1)
Culture is
learnt through our own understanding of our values and beliefs and is the
essential learning of all human societies. There are aspects of our behavior
such as language, social practices, kinships, gender and marriage. These also include
expressive forms such as music, dance, ritual, religion and technologies. Culture
embodies the principles of social origination and includes both written and oral,
mythology, philosophy and literature.
Our Culture
• Influences the way we see and interpret the
world around us, it gives us both an individual and a shared worldview.
• It is
through this worldview that we make sense of the reality around us.
•
It is
possible to belong to and enter several worldviews; these are shaped by our
experiences in relation to who we are.
So the first
step to understanding others is to understand our own cultural identity.
For an
organisation to develop this skills the workforce has to recognise that Cultural
Intelligence is a skill you can learn but there has to be a buy in from you and
your staff.
A person with a
higher Cultural Intelligence is better able to adapt to changing situations.
Cultural
intelligence is essential in building competencies and the knowledge of cultural difference is the key success
with your global markets whether that be your diverse teams or your engagement
with the countries you’re trading with.
Tips to improve your understanding of our own
Cultural Identity
Self-reflection is crucial
Without the
understanding that everyone has a culture and knowledge of your own culture, we
tend to apply the manual based approach, looking at the dos and don’ts that
stereo type individuals. To become more cross culturally skillful we need to
learn about our own culture first
Self-reflection
is the process that begins with us gaining the knowledge of our own culture and
applying these informed generalizations to our own culture first.
We then begin to develop a base line for making effective comparisons
about our own cultural differences and we will begin to understand why we respond
to different situations the way we do.
Culture can be seen
as an integrated pattern of learned beliefs and behaviors that can be shared
among groups and includes thoughts, styles of communicating, ways of
interacting, views on roles and relationships, values, practices, and customs.
(Robins et al., 1998b)… Culture should not be considered “exotic” or about
“others.” We all are influenced by and belong to multiple cultures that
include, but go beyond, race and ethnicity. (IOM)
As human beings
we develop our self - esteem and identity within a private context
Why Understand Cultural Identity?
Without a clear cultural identity we would experience confusion
and isolation. Our resistance to cultural difference is natural. Cultural difference
produces misunderstanding
which leads to ineffectiveness in communicating which is why it is important that
we recognize the resistance
we feel. This resistance is only a phase we pass through on our way to becoming
more culturally aware and skilful
It
is helpful to learn how other people see you your culture, it is something that
people around the world are keenly aware of, and learning about others will be more meaningful and
more pleasurable. You’ll be able to replace the paralysis of political
correctness with an intercultural playfulness.
How Do We Start to
Learn About Our Own Cultural Identity?
Here
are few questions to assist you to understand your own culture better .Try to
go beyond a Yes or No
·
Do you feel as if there’s enough time
in your life to do all the things you want and need to do?
·
When you ask someone a question, do
you expect a straight answer? If they give a long story as an answer or “beats
around the bush,” does it frustrate you?
·
How important is a person’s being
direct? Do you depend on others to “say what they mean, and mean what they
say”?
·
Do you respect a person who knows his
own mind and can think for himself and doesn’t need several other people to
help?
·
Do you believe in the ideal that
everyone should be treated equally?
·
Do you believe that technology and
science should be trusted to provide new solutions to replace the old solutions
to common problems?
If you want
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