What Does It Mean To Be Effective Across Cultures?

It’s important to define the terms we use. A term I often use in my work is intercultural competence (somewhat interchangeably with intercultural development and intercultural learning).

I define intercultural competence as the capacity to communicate and act effectively, appropriately, and authentically across cultural differences, locally and globally. It’s not something we simply have or don’t have, but a developmental process whereby we increase the complexity with which we experience—and can navigate—cultural differences and similarities. Developing intercultural competence involves increasing the complexity of our mindset (a topic I discuss in more depth here).

This post is the first in a series in which I dive deeper into this definition. This month, I’m discussing what I mean by “effective.” The next two months, I’ll explore what it means to be “appropriate” and “authentic.”

Of course, concepts such as these are dynamic, not static. The terms we use and their definitions can and should evolve over time. So I share my definition not as a statement of fact, but as an invitation to conversation.

What does it mean to communicate and act effectively across cultural differences? Use of the word “effective” highlights that we’re talking about goal-oriented situations. There’s something we’re trying to do—some outcome we’re trying to achieve—that necessitates navigating cultural differences. So an important step in practicing intercultural competence in any situation is identifying our goal. What are we trying to achieve?

However, this step is often glossed over. Sometimes people don’t even identify a goal. There are many intercultural situations in which there is no goal. For example, I’m often asked, “How can I be interculturally competent if there’s a cultural difference I morally disagree with?” Well, is there something you’re trying to achieve that requires navigating that cultural difference? If not—if you’re simply in the vicinity of cultural differences without any need to navigate those differences to achieve something—then minimal intercultural development is required. Practicing cultural humility or open-mindedness may be more than sufficient.

Another situation I see is that there’s a goal, but it’s been hastily defined. We may think our goal is one thing, but that’s not what we’re ultimately trying to achieve. Or the goal is mired in culturally-influenced assumptions. It’s important to slow down and get to the root goal. Otherwise, it’s like shooting a bow and arrow without knowing what your target is.

Here’s an example of identifying the goal too hastily (and, as a result, choosing one laden with cultural assumptions):  A middle school with a large Hispanic student population has low attendance at parent-teacher conferences among their Hispanic students’ parents. The staff wants to increase conference attendance among Hispanic students’ parents. However, this is not really their goal.

To get at the root goal, I find it useful to use the “5 Whys” technique. Essentially, this process involves asking and answering the question “why” repeatedly until you get to the root of the issue. Let’s try this on our example…

Goal as initially stated:  To increase attendance of Hispanic students’ parents at parent-teacher conferences.

Why #1:  Why do you want to increase attendance of Hispanic students’ parents at conferences?

Possible response:  To build a trusting relationship and open lines of communication between parents and their kid's teachers.

Why #2:  Why do you want to build relationships and lines of communication between parents and teachers?

Possible response:  So we can work together more effectively.

Why #3:  Why do you want parents and teachers working together more effectively?

Possible response:  We want to better support all students’ learning and address any issues they may experience as early as possible.

We’ve only asked “why?” three times here (the number five is a bit irrelevant), and you can hopefully see that now we’re getting closer to the root goal. The staff wants to support student learning as best they can and address issues early. Their initial goal represented an assumption that parent-teacher conferences are the way—or at least a good way—to do that.

Imagine they’d stuck with their initial goal and achieved it. It’s one year later and conference attendance rates for Hispanic students’ parents are now on par with attendance among White students’ parents, for example. Maybe the school changed the time and/or location of the conferences, brought in interpreters, or started offering childcare—as well as food—during the event. But, unfortunately, this increased attendance doesn’t seem to be having any impact on students’ learning. Oops! What a waste of time and energy!

That’s why it’s important to take time considering what your goal is up front. It’s also critical to be willing to re-examine the goal as you learn more.

If the “5 Whys” technique doesn’t work, you can also look at your goal and ask, “What assumption am I making that I may not be aware I’m making?” In the previous example, asking such a question of the original goal may have helped administrators at the school realize they assumed increasing attendance at parent-teacher conferences would support student learning. Or that all parents would experience conferences similarly if they could just attend.

Once you think you have your goal, ask yourself, “If I achieve this goal and nothing else changes, will I feel I’ve succeeded?” Again, if administrators had asked themselves this question of their original goal, they may have realized that just increasing attendance at parent-teacher conferences wasn’t really their idea of “success.”

The goal you choose will impact how you go about trying to navigate the situation in a way that’s also appropriate and authentic. So first clearly identify your goal. If you suspect it might be somewhat superficial or possibly contain culturally-influenced assumptions (or you want to ensure that’s not the case), use the “5 Whys” technique or one of the other questions shared here to help you drill down to the root goal.

Next month, we’ll discuss what it means to navigate cultural differences appropriately.

Photo credit: Norbert Braun, Unsplash