Leading in Four Worlds: Cultural Intelligence as a Critical Success Factor in the Global World of Work

The Global Workspace

Early in 2006 I read a Microsoft white paper predicting that “Political and economic dynamics are forging a single global market, a global workforce, global customers, partners, and suppliers”. This global workforce would collaborate across time zones, organizations and firewalls in “A Single World of Business.” I wondered if the workspace becomes a single global entity, would this mean that working habits, management patterns and leadership styles would also become global? Will there really be one world of work? Or would culture still have a strong impact on our values, communication patterns, ways of solving problems, how we build trust, notions about teamwork – that is, our basic idea of how we collaborate?

A little later the same year, I came across the answer whilst on an assignment in a call centre in Bangalore. The CEO of the company had invited me there to develop a cross-cultural skills training program for their call centre and back office process operators. In particular, the Training Manager of the company told me, their communication style was “Too Indian”. Asked to explain this, he quoted me an example of an operator who was working on the help desk for a well-known computer brand. This young graduate, on receiving a call from a lady in the US who had said her “lap-top was on fire, can you help me?” had replied – with typical Indian politeness - “Yes, Madam, I will try.”  This is, the Training Manager explained to me, the Indian way to say “No”: unfortunately the American caller took it literally and they spent 14 minutes exploring how in fact he couldn’t help her! “So, David, could you teach our employees (there’s only 7000 of them) how to say “No” – when necessary!”

Cultural Intelligence

I got a flash of inspiration in that call centre in Bangalore: as the world of work has become global, then understanding and adapting to different cultural styles has become increasingly important for individual and organizational success. The world has become more interconnected and the work space is increasingly distributed and diverse. In fact, in the five years since I was first in Bangalore, the demand for cross-cultural training has grown tremendously. From call centres in India, to the World Bank in Washington DC, to the Head Office of a Finnish telecom and countless other organizations around the world I have been asked the same thing again and again – please can you improve our abilities to work across cultures?

To work effectively in a diverse environment requires cultural intelligence:  the ability to see yourself from different perspectives, to shift your thinking and behaviour to work effectively with others in multiple contexts. Cultural intelligence requires an awareness of one’s own cultural biases and those of your partners: values, communication style, ways to build trust, handle conflicts and so on. It does not mean that we abandon our own culture, but rather as Ghandi said “Let my house not be walled on four sides, let all windows be open, let all the cultures blow in, but let no culture blow me off my feet.”    

Four Worlds of Culture

One tool for increasing cultural intelligence is the Four Worlds Model developed by Pertec Consulting. In this model there are four different worlds or areas of cultural behaviour:  Rationalism (North), Humanism (South), Pragmatism (West) and Holism (East). Some of the key features of each of these cultural types are presented below:

It does not mean these features are exclusive to one particular cultural area, but it does mean they are given more value or emphasis. The Four Worlds Model gives a mental framework for understanding cultural differences as well as providing practical behavioural tips. For example, the emphasis in the Humanist (Southern) cultures on Family and Relationships generally produces much more hierarchical organizations than in, for example, the Rational (Northern) cultures. According to the model, a manager from for example Brazil when working in Sweden should not expect to be treated with the usual respect or deference and that people will want to get to know him or her in an informal manner - with little protocol or etiquette. Good advice for the Brazilian manager would be to be more inclusive in his leadership style as being overly directive will be poorly interpreted. Involve others in decision making and do not base judgments of people on appearance, demeanor, privileges or status symbols.

The Four Worlds Model also gives some practical help in improving cross-cultural communication. For example the emphasis on Harmony in the Holistic (Eastern) cultures generally produces a less direct, more implicit and formal communication style than in the Pragmatic (Western) cultures where communication patterns are usually more direct, explicit and less formal. According to the model, a manager from for example the US when working in China should not expect to get results following the KISS principle (Keep it Short and Simple). Rather he should pay much more attention to context in communication, i.e. who says something, how it is said, what order they say things in and even what is not said can all be more important that what is said in Holistic Cultures.

Leading in Four Worlds

The global world of work requires leaders and managers to have a high level of cultural intelligence. The global leader is “at home” within the four worlds and is able to use the four different capabilities: Pragmatic, Rational, Holistic, Humanistic. As well as the Four Worlds model Pertec Consulting has developed an on-line cultural assessment for individuals and organizations to assess their affinity with each of the Four Worlds and gauge the ability to move in and out of each world as needed. For each of the Four Worlds has particular strengths, as outlined below, and today as work moves between Helsinki, New York, Bangalore, Shanghai and so on, we need to be able to access all these strengths

David Goddard

Pertec Consulting

+358 50 9185793