Missions Minded

Happy Monday! Yes, we’re still in the series on the book Serving with Eyes Wide Open: Doing Short-Term Missions with Cultural Intelligence by David A. Livermore. But aren’t you enjoying it?!

The topic is “Sharpening Our Focus and Service with Cultural Intelligence (CQ).” Today we’re going to wrap up the key dimensions of cross-cultural differences (i.e. some of the components of knowledge CQ). Here are some definitions and highlights from the book:

Event Time vs. Clock Time

- “…people in [industrialized] cultures live by ‘clock time.’ Punctuality and efficiency rule the day…The clock is what determines when things start and end. Respect, excellence, and conscientiousness are communicated by our punctuality.”

- “In contrast, less-industrialized cultures are far more interested in emphasizing the priority and obligation of social relationships. Levine refers to these cultures as ‘event-time’ cultures. Events begin and end when all the participants feel the time is right rather than artificially imposing clock time. Spontaneity is a core value among these people.”

High Context vs. Low Context

- “High context refers to places where people have a lot of history together. Things operate in high-context cultures as if everyone there is an insider and knows how to behave. Written instructions and explicit directions are minimal because most people know what to do and how to think.”

- “In places such as Latin America, Korea, and the Middle East, information is much more likely to be assumed and embedded within people rather than explicitly stated. There aren’t a lot of signs or detailed information about how to act. High-context cultures are difficult places to visit as an outsider.”

- “Places such as Western Europe and the United States are categorized as low-context cultures. Many of our connections with particular people and places are of a shorter duration, therefore less is assumed. Instructions about where to park, how to flush the toilet, and where to order your food are often displayed. Low-context cultures can be easier to enter than high-context cultures, because even if you’re an outsider, much of the information needed to participate is explicit. Extra attention is given to providing information about how to act.”

- “As Americans we’re often frustrated by life in a high-context environment. Signs at the airport might seem unclear, and locals might spend little time giving us instructions about how to order at a restaurant. But as we begin to see the realities of high and low contexts, we begin to grow our knowledge CQ.”

Individualism

- “Cultures that score hight on the individualism scale are places where people are most concerned about the life of the individual. Decisions are based upon what the individual deems is best for his or her life. Nowhere is this more apparent than in our own culture.”

- “…countries that score low on the individualism scale are called ‘collectivist’ cultures. In these places, people view themselves less autonomously and more as members of groups. They’re concerned about the effects of actions upon the group as a whole, and decisions are made by consensus rather than individualistically.”

Power Distance

- “Power distance refers to how ‘far apart’ leaders and followers feel from each other. Countries that score high in power distance — such as Mexico, India, and Ghana — offer a great deal of formal respect to leaders. Titles and status are revered, leaders and followers are unlikely to socialize together, and subordinates are not expected to question their superiors.”

- “A student from Iran said, ‘The first time my professor told me, “I don’t know the answer — I will have to look it up,” I was shocked. I asked myself, “Why is he teaching me?” In my country a professor would give a wrong answer rather than admit ignorance.”

- “The United States is by no means the lowest on the scale of power distance. Our score is forty, and trailing behind us are Canada, Germany, and Finland. Austria and Israel, with respective scores of eleven and thirteen, are among the countries lowest in power distance. In these contexts, followers feel at ease socializing with their leaders and addressing them as peers. Students feel free to question their pastors, teachers, and parents, and they expect to have input in the decision-making process.”

Uncertainty Avoidance

- “…the uncertainty avoidance dimension measures the extent to which a culture is at ease with the unknown. Cultures that score high on uncertainty avoidance are places where people have been programmed to have little tolerance for the unknown. They focus on ways to reduce uncertainty and ambiguity, and they create structures to help ensure some measure of predictability. For example, cultures such as Greece, Japan, and France want clear instructions and predictable timetables for completing assignments in order to reduce any ambiguity.’

- “On the other hand, cultures low in uncertainty avoidance, such as Britain, Jamaica, and Sweden, are not as threatened by unknown situations and what lies ahead. Open-ended instructions, varying ways of doing things, and loose deadlines are more typical in countries with low scores in uncertainty avoidance.”

In reading through these five cultural dimensions, I see that the United States and Latin America (Nicaragua in particular) are at opposite ends of the spectrum in all five areas! No wonder the adjustment is so difficult! The two areas you hear the most about are “Event Time vs. Clock Time” and individualism. I’ve learned (to some extent!) how to adjust in these areas. But the other three are new concepts to me…and they help to explain many of the “cultural meltdowns” I’ve had in Central America over the past couple of years! This is very interesting stuff to me. And great concepts to keep in mind when serving cross-culturally.

How about you? Which concept do you have the hardest time with when serving in another culture?

We’re back tomorrow with the second aspect of cultural intelligence: “interpretive CQ.” I hope to see you then.