 Cross-Cultural Competence. Date published 1 August 2016. Inside this chapter, Key Terms, Cross-Cultural Competence Model, Knowledge, Motivation, Learning Approaches, 12 Domains of Culture, Culture Tendencies, Collectivism, Individualism, Cross-Cultural Communication, Communication Skills, Communication Styles, High Context, Low Context, Impact of Cross-Cultural Competence, Subordinate, Senior NCO, Mission. Master Sergeant Williams is the team leader in a deployed unit that's responsible for meeting with tribal leaders on a regular basis to gain information about potential threats in exchange for support, supplies, security, etc. However, Master Sergeant Williams finds these meetings extremely frustrating. Since he's not very familiar with their customs, he's often misunderstood, which causes confusion or he misinterprets their actions, which makes his team nervous. Needless to say, Master Sergeant Williams spends the majority of his meeting apologizing for mistakes he's made so he doesn't get all the information he needs. This might put the overall mission of his unit and security of his team at risk. He knows he should do more to improve, but doesn't know where to start. What should Master Sergeant Williams do? One cannot expect positive results from an educational or political action program which fails to respect the particular views of the world held by the people. Such a program constitutes cultural invasion, good intentions, notwithstanding. Pablo Friere, Pedagogy of the Oppressed Upon completion of this chapter, you should be able to Terminal Cognitive Objective Comprehend cross-cultural competence concepts and or their impact on subordinate senior NCO and mission effectiveness Terminal Cognitive Samples of Behavior 1. Identify cross-cultural competence concepts and or their impact on subordinate senior NCO and mission effectiveness 2. Illustrate cross-cultural competence concepts and or their impact on subordinate senior NCO and mission effectiveness 3. Predict the impact of cross-cultural competence concepts on subordinate senior NCO and mission effectiveness Effective Objective Value cross-cultural competence concepts and their positive impact on subordinate senior NCO and mission effectiveness Effective Samples of Behavior 1. Enthusiastically dedicate yourself to read and listen to all material about cross-cultural competence and its impacts on subordinate senior NCO and mission effectiveness 2. Voluntarily complete all coursework related to cross-cultural competence and its impact on subordinate senior NCO and mission effectiveness 3. Openly accept cross-cultural competence concepts and their positive impact on subordinate senior NCO and mission effectiveness 4. Willingly develop a preference for cross-cultural competence concepts and their positive impact on subordinate senior NCO NCO and Mission Effectiveness 5. Strive toward a commitment to apply cross-cultural competence concepts and their positive impact on subordinate, senior NCO, and mission effectiveness. As the superintendent of your flight, you hold a weekly production meeting with your NCOICs from 1300 to 1400 hours every Monday. 20 minutes into this week's meeting, one of your people walks in while you're talking and everyone notices. What would you do? You'd more than likely address this violation at some point, especially since he should know better. Being on time is just how we do things in our Air Force and is expected behavior in our culture. However, it's not this way everywhere in the world. As a senior enlisted leader required to operate, lead, and succeed in environments that consist of people with different cultural beliefs and values, you shouldn't assume that because timeliness is valued in your culture, it should be that way in theirs as well. Since your mission's success may depend on how well you interact with others from various cultures, these kind of assumptions could result in misunderstandings, communication and relationship breakdowns, or mission failure. However, with the appropriate knowledge and skills, you can handle the potential challenges that may arise as a result of operating in cross-cultural environments, build better relationships, and increase the effectiveness of your mission. Arthur Foreman once said, Not everyone thinks the way you think, knows the things you know, believes the things you believe, nor acts the way you would act. Remember this and you will go a long way in getting along with people. This quote represents the essence of this chapter, understanding that every culture isn't the same as ours and appreciating the difference. You'll begin by learning a few key terms associated with cross-cultural competence, 3C, as a starting point to understanding 3C. Next, you'll cover the 3C model, which, among other things, the component of motivation and its importance in learning about other cultures. Then, you'll increase your level of cultural awareness by familiarizing yourself with the 12 domains of culture. Here, you'll explore broad categories, such as family and kinship, that are common amongst all cultures, just practice differently. After that, you'll take a look at two culture tendencies, collectivism and individualism, that can assist you when attempting to build relationships with other cultures. An understanding of these tendencies should help you in the next section, cross-cultural communication, where you'll learn how different communication skills, such as para-language, can help you maintain strong cross-cultural relationships. Finally, this chapter ends by explaining the impact of 3C on subordinate, senior NCO, and mission effectiveness. While there are many different aspects of 3C you'll need to understand, let's start the ball rolling by covering key terms to help you better understand the material in this chapter. Key Terms How can knowledge of the different terms associated with cross-cultural concepts help you to accomplish your mission? You and your airmen are deploying to various cultural environments more often these days. As a senior NCO, more than likely you'll need to know this material in some form or fashion before you deploy. Without it, you could be at a grave disadvantage to meet your mission. With this in mind, let's look at some terms associated with cross-cultural competence. Culture Culture is the creation, maintenance, and transformation across generations of semi-shared patterns of meaning, sense-making, affiliation, and organization by groups. It consists of shared sets of traditions, belief systems, and behaviors that are shaped by many factors, e.g. history, politics, resources, etc. Culture can be learned through a process of socialization or passed down generationally. Domains of Culture Domains of culture are universal categories of human interaction, belief, behavior, and meaning and values, e.g. kinship, gender, economic exchange, etc. People in all cultures share these broad categories, even though they have different ways of expressing them. The domains aren't exclusive of one another, they overlapped or intersect. So, activity in one area can cause change in other areas. Ethnocentrism Ethnocentrism is the tendency to negatively judge other cultures' beliefs, values, etc. by the values and assumptions of your own culture. This tendency can limit your ability to understand others since you may see their culture as inferior to your own. Some actions senior NCOs can take to mitigate and eliminate the notion that one culture is better than another culture is to suspend one's judgment, become educated on the culture, and educate others on the culture. Cultural Relativism Cultural Relativism, often seen as the opposite of ethnocentrism, is the tendency to understand people's beliefs and practices within the context of their culture rather than from your own cultural point of view. It includes understanding that people usually behave logically within their culture, but our logic and their logic may not be the same. Although practicing cultural relativism requires you to suspend your judgment about cultural practices, it doesn't mean you have to personally accept, adopt, or promote those practices, a common misunderstanding concerning relativism. Cross-cultural competence Cross-cultural competence, or 3C, is the ability to quickly and accurately comprehend then appropriately and effectively act across all cultural environments without necessarily having prior exposure to a particular group, region, or language. Holism Holism is the idea that all aspects of culture are interconnected and integrated. Therefore change and action in one area, sex and gender for example, may provoke a change in another area, family and kinship, or economics and resources, you might not expect. Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all people's cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other we may even become friends. Maya Angelou Worldview Worldview is the overall perspective from which a person sees and interprets the world, a collection of beliefs about life and the universe held by an individual or a group. For example, consider the role of the individual versus the collective, which do you think is more important, an individual's choice or the decisions of the larger group? Or what's your view on power and legitimacy? Who has the right to lead in our culture? How should they be selected? Paralanguage Paralanguage is the non-verbal features that accompany speech and contribute to communication but aren't considered part of the language system, e.g. tone, pitch, rate, and pauses. Power Distance The extent to which the less powerful members of a culture, organization, and or institution, e.g. family, unit, government, etc., accept and expect that power is distributed unequally. High Power Distance Culture Those in authority openly demonstrate their rank, the superior subordinate relationship is rarely close and personal, and class divisions within society are accepted. Low Power Distance Culture Superiors treat subordinates with respect and don't pull rank. Subordinates are entrusted with important assignments, blame is either shared or very often accepted by the superior due to it being their responsibility to manage, and managers may often socialize with subordinates. Macro Cultures These are the most powerful or most widely practiced cultures in a particular society, whether the society is a region or an entire country. It's the mainstream or dominant values, beliefs, and behaviors. For example, in the Japanese culture, the majority of the society values family, institutional affiliation, and homogeneity, being similar or alike. Micro Cultures These are the subcultures within the macroculture. They are the group of people living within a larger society who share values, beliefs, behaviors, etc. that are different from the macroculture. For example, the South could be considered a microculture in America. There are certain behaviors that the majority of Southerners share, sweet tea, dialect, etc. These behaviors might be seen as different by someone from New York, which has its own microculture. As a member of the Air Force, you belong to a macroculture, American values, beliefs, etc., and the microculture of the Air Force, specific rules that guide military people only. Understanding the different terms is the first step to learning how to become more cross-culturally competent. With deployments being the norm these days, a basic knowledge of them can make it easier to operate in cross-cultural environments. However, the key terms are just the beginning. Let's see how they fit into the next topic, the cross-cultural competence model, 3C model, cross-cultural competence model. Ruth Benedict, an American anthropologist, once said, the crucial differences which distinguish human societies and human beings are not biological, they are cultural. It might be easy for you to understand and deal with others' biological differences, maybe because you've been exposed to them since you were a child. However, can you deal with cultural differences as easily? As a member of the American profession of arms and a senior enlisted leader in your organization, you might be put into situations where you'll have to form working relationships with people from different cultures or with people that have different beliefs and values from your own. Your ability to understand these differences and adjust can have an impact on whether or not your mission succeeds or fails. This ability is nurtured in the 3C model developed by the Air Force Culture and Language Center, AFCLC. In this section, you'll break down the outer components of the 3C model, knowledge, motivation, and learning approaches, and briefly introduce the inner components as well. Let's get started by focusing on the first component of the model, knowledge. Knowledge. The knowledge component of the model addresses understanding how culture influences people's beliefs, values, and thought processes. It might appear that this component only focuses on understanding other cultures. However, it's important for you to be able to understand your own culture and the way it influences your beliefs, values, thought processes, and behaviors, as well as how they may generally impact or be interpreted by other cultures. For example, the average US citizen has access to news programs, entertainment shows, and other media outlets that aren't censored by our government. As an American, you can watch any program, listen to any radio personality, or read any newspaper you want, even if the program criticizes our governmental officials and our policies without fear of retribution. This right is protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution. Therefore, in our culture, citizens have the freedom to speak their minds, to express their thoughts, to disagree with policies of our government officials if we want. Now, imagine you're interacting with a culture where the government censors the programs they can watch, reality TV shows are banned, and the ideas that can and can't be expressed via the media. No one can criticize the policies of the government. If citizens in this culture speak their minds and express anti-government ideas, they may be subject to jail time. You might believe it's cruel and extremely restrictive for people to live that way. Why should government officials dictate to its citizens what they can and can't say or what they can and can't watch on television? You might think the government in any culture doesn't have the right to censor its people's thoughts, opinions, and choices. However, this is an example of how the American culture influences your beliefs and values, as well as how they may form the lens you use to examine other cultures. You should understand that just because freedom of speech is a valued right in our culture doesn't mean it must be in others, or that another culture is less than ours because it isn't. To do so could lead you to display ethnocentric behaviors, viewing other cultures using your cultural lens, judging other cultural views as inferior to yours. Therefore, before interacting with cultures different from your own, you need to understand how your cultural views and beliefs can impact your decision-making and behavior when dealing with other cultures different from yours. Regional knowledge and operational culture 1. No key elements of the dominant culture in each of the world's major regions 2. Know how international organizations and other non-state actors influence the world's major regions. CJCSI 1805.01B Preservation of one's own culture does not require contempt or disrespect for other cultures. Cesar Chavez. To avoid ethnocentrism, use strategies to practice cultural relativism, viewing other cultures beliefs and practices from their perspective, not yours. You could. Suspend judgments based on your own cultural perspective. Remember, what's normal for you may not be normal for others. Try to think about the point of view of the people from the other culture. What might not make sense to you may make sense to them. Adjust your behavior or advise your airmen to adjust their behavior to accommodate different perspectives in order to accomplish your mission and form cross-cultural relationships. Understanding how your own culture influences your beliefs and values and working to practice cultural relativism is an important piece of the knowledge component in the 3C model. However, you also need to acquire knowledge about other cultures so you can work to understand the differences. The OODA loop framework can help you accomplish this task. OODA loop. The OODA loop created by John Boyd consists of four stages. Observe, gather data, orient, make sense of the data you observed, decide, select a course of action, act, implement course of action. The stages of the OODA loop framework are natural processes you go through when making decisions and implementing them. In the context of gaining cross-cultural knowledge, you should pay attention to how you practice each of these stages. Observe people in other cultures as much as possible. For example, how do they go about their daily lives? How do they interact with each other? Orient yourself to the situation to understand what you've observed. You can compare what you see with what you know, asking questions to learn more, and questioning your assumptions. When deciding how to proceed, consider if your cultural beliefs, values, etc., are influencing your selection of a particular course of action. Are you making a decision based on what's appropriate in your culture? You shouldn't make decisions based on an ethnocentric way of thinking. Once you've gathered data about other cultures, oriented yourself to the situation, and decided on a way forward, it's time to put your decision into action. After you do so, you should review what happened as a result of your action. Reflect on what you've learned and what you might do better next time. Using the structured OODA loop, you can gain knowledge about a culture as well as use it to help you adjust your behavior to accommodate different perspectives while still accomplishing the mission. Institutional competency. Leading people. Diversity. As a senior NCO, you should promote collaboration and teamwork among diverse team members. You can use the OODA loop to help you acquire the cultural competency and leadership skills needed to effectively develop, mentor, and lead across gender, cultural, generational, and other diversity lines to maximize individual and unit performance. Mentoring. As a senior NCO, you should use the knowledge you gain to mentor your people and increase their awareness of cross-cultural differences. You can use the My Vector website to help in this endeavor. This website is a place for mentors and mentees to come together and develop positive, professional relationships, give helpful, honest guidance, and find sound advice. It's a resource to increase your knowledge of important military issues, such as challenges in cross-cultural situations or even best practices you can use to enhance these situations. Understanding elements of culture. Finally, you can build your knowledge through understanding cultural domains and other cultural characteristics, which will be covered in the next section. These elements of culture can help you recognize patterns in others' cultures that should lead you to greater understanding of people's beliefs, values, thought processes, and behaviors. They can also help you make sense of the knowledge you gain about other cultures by comparing them in both general and specific ways. Orienting Yourself. Critical Thinking. When attempting to understand the elements of culture you've observed, you should ensure you're using good reasoning. For example, you could use the reasoning element of assumptions to determine if your understanding of the situation is justifiable by evidence and to make sure your cultural point of view isn't impacting your assessment of the situation. While it's important, knowledge is only one component in the model. You must have the motivation to seek that knowledge. Let's cover the importance of motivation in the 3C model. POA and the Senior in CO. As an airman, you work in culturally diverse environments, both at home station and deployed locations. The intellectual dimension of the POA requires you to be sensitive to cultural differences and their implications as you conduct your duties and accomplish your mission. Therefore, ethnocentric behavior will not be tolerated by members of the POA and should be addressed immediately. Motivation. Motivation, the reason you act or behave in a particular way, is an important element of the 3C model. You should be proactive and positive about gaining cross-cultural knowledge and sharing it with your people, not because someone tells you to but because you want to in order to ensure you and your people are properly prepared. You can accomplish this by seeking out knowledge about other people and their cultures. As a senior leader, you should exceed the expectations you have for your people. If you expect them to be culturally aware, so must you. You can take a class, do research, or even talk with someone from a different culture. Additionally, the cultural and heritage events sponsored by your base, for example, Asian American Heritage Month, are fun, educational opportunities to learn about other cultures as well. Seeking to be proactive in reducing ethnocentrism in your unit. Be aware of your people's comments and attitudes pertaining to other cultures, correct substandard behaviors, or those that could be perceived as discriminatory or offensive. Also, help your people see the value of understanding other cultures and how that understanding can enhance their personal and professional lives. Seeking cross-cultural knowledge and strategies as resources and methods that help you accomplish your mission. You can try to learn a few key phrases in the native language, salutations, common foods, etc., to help you interact with others. Also, being familiar with the local cultural do's and don'ts can help you avoid situations that could result in a mission stall. Finally, you may receive local country briefings upon deploying to a specific location to help you interact safely and more effectively with the locals to accomplish your mission. Developing a positive attitude towards cultural differences Your attitude can have an impact on your level of motivation. If you possess a negative attitude towards a specific culture or even towards wanting to know about other cultures, it can have a negative impact on your motivation. Imagine if someone said, look, I'm only going to be in this country for a few months. I have no reason to learn anything about the locals or their culture since I'm going to be out of here as soon as possible. I don't have the time to do it anyway. How effective would this individual be at forming relationships with individuals from other cultures if they're not even willing to try? While motivation can be seen as an internal characteristic, your level of motivation in cross-cultural situations can have an external impact on your mission. For example, imagine you're in a situation where your people are running out of drinking water and you need to access more water quickly. There happens to be a body of water close to your location, but you must get approval to use it from the local tribe. This task or mission should motivate you to find information, knowledge, about the tribe so you can request permission appropriately. If you lack the motivation to acquire the appropriate knowledge, your mission could fail. No water. That's why motivation is an important part of the model. But for the outer part of the model to be complete, there's one more component to cover. Learning approaches. Learning approaches. When learning about culture, there are two approaches you can take depending on the situation. A general approach or a specific approach. Culture general approach. When we understand what culture is, specifically different ways of seeing relativistic versus ethnocentric and how culture works holistically, we establish a solid baseline for further learning which we can apply to any culture. Education is the foundation of culture general knowledge. However, training and experiences are important in developing the cross-cultural competency of today's airmen. This approach provides foundational knowledge that fosters an understanding that characteristics of culture such as family, kinship, community, etc. may vary from your own. An awareness of cultural differences and influences can assist you no matter where you find yourself in the world. It can also be beneficial if you're going to a specific country but have no time to learn its unique characteristics. For example, you are more than likely aware of the difference between how your culture views women in the workplace and how other countries view that same issue. However, this understanding is a general understanding until you start to make a comparison between your cultural view and a specific culture's view. Culture general is an approach that emphasizes common aspects and domains of the culture concept, providing individuals with knowledge, concepts, theories, processes, etc., and skills that offer broadly applicable general principles and serve as a framework for culture-specific learning. AFCLC. Culture-specific approach. This learning approach, unlike the general approach, centers on a specific culture. Using this approach, you tend to delve deeper into a country's beliefs and value systems, learning key elements to enhance your interactions and or relationships. This approach orients you more effectively to various cultures and country-specific situations. Examples include country orientation briefings and other regional specific courses and trainings. Additionally, you may be required to attend specific trainings based on your AFC and duty assignment. For example, if you are in a medical career field, you might have to receive training on medical procedures that might differ based on the culture you are in. Culture-specific is an approach that emphasizes specific aspects of particular cultures, affording individuals much of the knowledge and or skills necessary to interact more competently with individuals of other cultural backgrounds. AFCLC. Both approaches, general and specific, are essential for cross-cultural competence, since you will encounter many cultures and unique situations throughout your Air Force career and may or may not have time to prepare yourself with all the specific knowledge necessary. But there are a few things you can do to maximize both approaches. Pay attention to how you and your people learn best. In the course introduction chapter, you were introduced to different ways adults learn, auditory, visual, and tactile. Regardless of the approach, for example, if you have a visual preference, you might want to learn about other cultures by reading about them or just watching how they go about their daily lives. If you have a tactile preference, you might want to get involved, interacting with them as much as possible. Try to tailor it using your learning preference to make the learning experience more effective. Take advantage of others' experiences. You can learn from others by reviewing products such as after-action reports, lessons learned documents, notes on key leader engagements, unit diaries, etc. These products contain historical information you can incorporate with the knowledge you've already acquired in order to get a more complete picture, both idealistic and realistic, of the culture. Learning as much as you can, generally and specifically, about culture in the way you and your people prefer, can help you navigate the unfamiliarity of cross-cultural situations more effectively. However, before you end this section, there's one more thing you should know about the 3C model, the center. Although you've probably learned about the center of the model at previous levels of enlisted professional military education, it represents three specific skills that are key to successful cross-cultural interactions. They are Communicate Talk with others as much as possible to avoid misunderstandings that could potentially have a negative impact on the cross-cultural experience and relationship. Negotiate When presented with mission stalls or conflict, rely on your negotiation or mediation skills to overcome differences. This can show that you're willing to listen and collaborate if applicable, versus forcing or taking over. Relate In order to cultivate a positive cross-cultural relationship, you should attempt to relate with individuals from other cultures to work effectively. Again, this might require you to put your point of view and judgments aside. When these skills are used in conjunction with other components of the model, you increase your ability to influence what happens in your immediate environment. Additionally, you can increase your chances of influencing those around you to help build and sustain more productive cross-cultural relationships. In this section, you explored the outer three components of the 3C model. In order to gain appropriate knowledge about other cultures, you can use the OODA framework to acclimate yourself to other cultures in order to gain the basic knowledge you need to begin to build cross-cultural relationships. Then, you covered the importance of the motivation component of the model. Without the proper motivation to learn about different cultures, you may keep yourself and your people stove-piped in an ethrocentric box. With it, you can acquire the skills you need to be successful in different cultural environments. Finally, you learned about the final component of the 3C model, learning approaches. Both approaches, general or specific, can help you orient yourself to any culture regardless of the situation. Once you understand and appreciate other people's cultural backgrounds, then you can also connect with them more. Dr. Belle Wei. Since cultural differences might be harder to understand than other differences you're exposed to, it's important that you do your due diligence using the 3C model as a tool to help you and your airmen acclimate to any cultural situation in order to ensure your mission is successful. According to Ruth Benedict's quote, cultural differences distinguish societies. So, let's use a general approach to learning about these differences by taking a look at the 12 Domains of Culture. 12 Domains of Culture. You've probably deployed to another country at some point in your career, or you may deploy sometime soon. Depending on the location, you might find that what you see is totally different from what you're used to in the United States. Not only is the language unfamiliar, which you expected, but the local people dress differently, interact with each other differently, and at first you might not be able to make sense of it all. At this point you may think, how am I going to make it through my deployment in this unfamiliar environment? If you take a step back and really assess the culture you're in, you'll probably notice some of the same basic structures you see in American culture, family, social relationships, recreation, etc. These structures, or domains, are present in all cultures. They're just practiced differently. As a senior NCO and member of the profession of arms, you should use a basic understanding of the domains to help you and your people understand cultural differences so they can accomplish the mission more effectively. In this section, you'll learn about the 12 Domains of Culture. Using a basic culture-general learning approach, you will cover each domain in order to gain a point of commonality and comparison amongst all cultures, how each domain is generally understood. Additionally, you'll be presented with a specific example of how each domain might be experienced in our culture, American, and how it might be experienced in another, various culture. As you read this section, think about how the different practices in certain domains impact the practices in other domains, as well as how they would influence your world view. With this in mind, let's start with one of the easier domains to relate to, family and kinship, family and kinship. Family and kinship refers to the different ways people recognize relatives and the rights and status afforded to those relatives. This domain covers cultural practices, structures, beliefs, and values. It also includes the relationships with people you treat like family, regardless of your actual genetic relationship to them. They're the first social affiliations in a person's life. They help to define what's culturally acceptable and unacceptable, who are friends and enemies, how a person's identity develops, who a person or group will turn to in times of trouble, and the ways the culture will be transmitted to future generations. Beliefs about family and kinship can influence ideas and practices regarding origins, ancestry, residence, inheritance, etc. Examples of this domain are culture general understanding. Everyone is born into a family. This is their first introduction to culture and society. Typical American experience. As an adult, a person generally looks outside of their family for a life partner or mate and usually makes decisions concerning residence based on individual goals. Typical Senegalese West Africa experience. Marriages are frequently arranged by parents. Once the individuals are married, a couple usually resides in the same home as the husband's parents. Religion and spirituality. Religion and spirituality refers to a culture's way of defining and relating to the sacred and supernatural. Religion is the organized system of practices, structures, beliefs and values related to the sacred and supernatural. As an organized system, a religion can be a part of the social order, the system of status and class, of a culture because it advocates certain practices and beliefs as different from others. Spirituality refers more generally to less organized and more personal practices, beliefs and values related to the sacred and the supernatural. Examples of this domain are culture general understanding. Everyone has beliefs about the origin of earth, the purpose of their existence, and the proper ways to act. Most religions have beliefs or practices members should adhere to in varying degrees. Typical American experience. Religious faith is private but not a secret. Due to the diversity of the American culture, there's no penalty for practicing or not practicing a specific faith. Typical Iranian experience. Religion is the foundation of all authority in the country to include political and legal. Iranian citizens may be severely punished if they don't follow certain religious dictates on behavior. Learning and knowledge. Learning and knowledge refers to the means and methods for learning and distributing, teaching, knowledge. Learning is a cognitive development process that occurs in formal or informal settings to include personal experiences, institutional academic programs, reading, and one-on-one or group interactions. Learning which increases knowledge is essential to a culture's survival. Knowledge is a cultural resource that can be taught, manipulated, or withheld depending on a culture system of political and social relations. Examples of this domain are Culture General Understanding. All cultures teach children what they need to know to be successful in their particular society. Typical American experience. Kindergarten through 12th grade is the standard, minimal expectation. School subjects include a wide variety of topics to equip children with basic skills for the modern, technological, highly interconnected world. Typical Afghani experience. The terrain and harsh climate make it difficult for children to access education. Additionally, cultural norms oppose the education of girls. And for some, early marriages often interrupt the education of girls fortunate enough to have entered school. Sex and gender. Sex and gender pertains to ways different cultures acknowledge biological differences between men and women, sex, the ways they assign roles, responsibilities, and status to masculine, feminine, or other identities, gender, and their beliefs and values that support gender differences. People's sex and gender often influence or even fully determine their relationship to parts of every other cultural domain, such as their access to resources, their work, the kinds of social and political relations they can enter, and how they can worship. Examples of this domain are Culture General Understanding. All cultures have beliefs and values that underlie different approaches to mixing the sexes. Typical American experience. There is very little distinction between activities that are appropriate for males versus females. Males and females can have nearly identical opportunities and educational levels at all ages. Typical Middle Eastern experience. Dating usually takes place under the supervision of parents. Being alone with someone of the opposite sex who isn't a family member is not customary. People of the same sex holding hands while walking is considered an ordinary display of friendship. Economics and Resources. Economics and resources pertain to the ways people allocate, produce, distribute, and consume goods and services. Among other topics, it includes attention to the variety of practices, structures, beliefs, and values related to raw natural materials, human labor, careers, means of production, and means of exchange, such as monetary exchange, gift giving, reciprocal exchange, and so forth. Information about economics and resources can help one understand the importance assigned to different resources, jobs, and forms of exchange. Examples of this domain are Culture General Understanding. Location and environment, both natural and man-made, have a large impact on this domain and how it plays out in a culture. Political and social relations, particularly the stability of, also have tremendous impact. Typical American Experience. Generally leads the world in the industrial, technological, and communication spheres. Americans have an abundance of natural resources to include rich and healthy farmland. Since the country is surrounded on three sides by oceans, Americans have long enjoyed a strong free market with ample accessibility of transport, along with a stable economic and monetary system that feeds our high values of individualism, achievement, and success. Typical Moroccan Experience. Only gaining independence in 1956 and maintaining government control over industries until 1993, Moroccans have the largest slums in the Arab world. Along with widespread illiteracy, this society is slow to gain traction in benefiting from their natural resources and strategic position near major trade routes. Political and Social Relations. Political and social relations pertain to how people interact with each other and includes the cultural practices, structures, beliefs, and values related to societal organization and governance. Political relations refer to a culture's patterns of dividing power among people, exercising that power, and governing groups of people. Social relations refer more generally to a culture's patterns of relationships created outside the government or legal structure to survive and accomplish life's tasks, which include dividing food, celebrating traditions, educating children, and practicing religion. Examples of this domain are Culture General Understanding. All cultures must organize in ways that help to protect resources and reinforce acceptable behavior. Typical American Experience. With democracy and the ideas of fair play, equality, and freedom of expression, we generally practice a concept of pluralism, giving all groups a say in governments, whether it's a school project or our federal elections. Typical Tribal Society Experience. Many cultures still rely heavily on the authority and hierarchy of tribes that work in tandem with social and political institutions. This often manifests itself in a form of patronage, giving representation or financial benefits to various powerful groups, i.e. warlords or tribal sheiks, in return for support or restraint of violence. Aesthetics and Recreation. Aesthetics and recreation refers to people's expression of beauty and style as well as people's methods of recreation. Aesthetic and recreational practices, structures, beliefs, and values surpass what's needed for physical survival, but they may also be an integral part of everyday life. These aspects are often what people associate with culture since they're very observable in classical or folk art, clothing, music, games, and sports. Examples of this domain are Culture General Understanding. Recreational activities tend to both segregate by interest and unify groups of people. Typical American Experience. There isn't one nationally recognized sport. The major sports in American culture include baseball, football, and basketball. Since the sporting leagues are divided by region, sports tend to create microcultures within the country based on the team and its players. Typical Iranian Experience. In this region, a particular sport usually represents a society's culture. For example, notions of strength and bravery are valued in the Iranian culture so weightlifting, wrestling, and taekwondo are popular sporting events. Sustenance and Health. Sustenance and Health covers the ways humans feed themselves and treat their bodies. More specifically, a focus on sustenance leads to discussion of the patterns of subsistence, such as what people produce and eat at different times. The focus on health includes the values placed on food rituals, taboos, and beliefs regarding food properties, discussions pertaining to healthy lifestyles, and how to become or remain healthy. Examples of this domain are Culture General Understanding. In nearly any society, you can find food that's surrounded by tradition or rules about its consumption. Typical American Experience. Americans can generally relate to burgers and hot dogs for Memorial Day celebrations and turkey and stuffing for Thanksgiving. Additionally, we keep elbows off the table and shoe with our mouths closed. Typical Japanese Experience. Loudly slurping soup is considered a complement, but lodging chopsticks vertically into a bowl of rice or using them to pierce food isn't normally acceptable. Technology and Material. Technology and material refers to the material resources that cultures have access to or can procure. Each culture maintains practices, structures, beliefs, and values concerning its technology and material and range from how to use tools to the beliefs about who can use certain tools and who can't based on the structural hierarchy of people within the culture. This domain also incorporates both artistic and practical uses of technology and material. Examples of this domain are Culture General Understanding. Use of technology in a culture is highly dependent on interplay from the economics and resources and political and social relations domains. Typical American Experience. Some landowners in Nebraska are pitted against some government officials on the development of an oil pipeline from Canada to Nebraska. The Nebraskans believe the pipeline would damage the fragile ecosystem and groundwater in the area. The governmental officials believe the construction of the pipeline would provide economic relief by creating jobs and contracting opportunities. Typical Djiboutian Horn of Africa Experience. With only 1,900 miles of roadways of which about 10% are paved and an electrical grid that covers only half the country, the economics and politics of Djibouti tend to concentrate infrastructure around the ports in Djibouti City. History and Myth. History and Myth pertains to a culture study and acknowledgement of the past, both its own and others, and includes history, scientific knowledge, firsthand experiences, testimonies by credible sources, as well as existing mythology. The practices, structures, beliefs and values that relate to history and myth may also improve the group's understanding of its creation, origin, existence, predicted end and the individual roles within the group. Examples of this domain are Culture General Understanding. Myths and the stories people tell can reveal much about that culture's values. Typical American Experience. The story of George Washington chopping down a cherry tree represents the importance of honesty and integrity. Typical Afghani Experience. A popular Afghani story highlights the value of always keeping at least one trick in reserve in case you need to use it, even against a friend. Language and Communication. Language pertains to the means and methods humans have for exchanging information. Language, both verbal and non-verbal communication, is crucial to establishing and maintaining social relationships. By translating experience into language, humans gain knowledge that can be exchanged with other members of the group or society. Examples of this domain are Culture General Understanding. Communication shapes culture and culture shapes communication. Typical American Experience. English is the official language adopted by society, educational institutions, government, etc. Although more accommodations are being made for other cultural languages, the English language unifies our culture. Typical Middle Eastern Experience. Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan. This regional area is one of the world's most linguistically diverse areas. It includes Farsi, Dari, Pashto, and Urdu. As a result of the multiple languages, which are sometimes different based on educational status or governmental affiliation, it's difficult to build strong national identities. Time and Space. Time and Space refers to the practices, structures, beliefs, and values that people of a culture apply to the concept of time and the use of space. This includes a culture's interpretation of time, e.g. past, present, and future, as well as the use of calendars, space, e.g. living space, personal space, etc., and communication, verbal pauses, standing distance, etc. Attention to time and space helps a culture order its world and interact with its natural surroundings. Examples of this domain are Culture General Understanding. The ways that people in a culture structure their time and use space and distance can communicate and indicate cultural priorities and beliefs. Typical American Experience. Most of us make a clear distinction between social lives and work lives with work time being dedicated to getting results. Additionally, we tend to want more personal space when communicating with individuals other than intimate partners. Typical Middle Eastern Experience. Spending time to build and solidify relationships is essential. If a meeting is scheduled and a need arises with family or friend, it's understandable to be late or reschedule. Also, it's common to see people of the same sex stand much closer to each other. At this point, you should have a general knowledge of the 12 domains. Additionally, you were provided examples of how they're experienced in our culture and others around the world. But, as a member of the profession of arms, why is it important for you to understand them? Well, here are a few reasons. First, the domains can help provide general knowledge of what you might see and experience in a multicultural environment. As a result of this information, you can organize what you see and experience so you can use it to understand others' cultural perspective. Having general knowledge of the 12 domains provides insight into the cultural differences that exist between your culture and others. Once you can understand the difference and not just judge it as right or wrong based on your cultural lens, you are more prepared to make sound decisions. For example, you should understand that, based on what you generally know about the time and space domain, other cultures might not have the same expectation you do as a seasoned senior NCO about meetings, how long they last, when they start, etc. By understanding there's generally a difference you should be motivated to fine-tune your cultural lens in order to figure out how the people in the specific culture you're interacting with view time and meetings. That way, you're more prepared to interact with the individuals more effectively, not getting offended when they don't share your same views about time and meetings. This should help you begin to build new positive relationships based on your knowledge and help the meetings run more smoothly. Regional knowledge and operational culture 3. Comprehend the importance of regional and cultural awareness in a JIIM environment to include its influence on joint operations. 4. Comprehend the influence of international organizations and other non-state actors in military operations. CJCSI1805.01B Next, since these domains or aspects of culture are holistic, activity in one area can overlap or intersect with another. These intersections show how change in one area can usually cause change in several other areas. For example, some Middle Eastern countries frown upon women in the military because they consider it to be men's work. If you're a female airman that happens to be deployed in a country that has this view, they may frown upon your job or responsibility and may not give you the same respect they would give your male counterparts. The following chart shows an example of how cultural views can ultimately impact your ability to accomplish the mission in a multicultural environment. Culture frowns upon women in the military. Views based on sex and gender domain. Military not appropriate work for women. Views based on religion and spirituality domain. According to religious beliefs, women can't conduct business with men. Beliefs impact U.S. in economics and resources domain. Airmen finds it difficult to exchange needed information. Can't get needed resources, locals won't conduct business with her. Mission impact. Lack of information exchange puts security of team at risk. Failure to acquire resources could result in mission failure. In the example, the female airman should have a basic understanding of the sex and gender domain and be able to use that information to apply it to her specific cultural experience. If she does so, she might find that as a female, she may have to be more assertive or submissive in order to get what she needs to take care of her team and complete the mission. If she were in America, this type of behavior wouldn't be tolerated. If she were to judge their culture as inferior and act accordingly, she could put her mission and people in jeopardy. However, by understanding the difference between American culture and their culture and not judging it as right or wrong, she can operate in unfamiliar cultural environments more effectively. In this section, you learned there are general structures seen in all cultures but maybe expressed differently based on beliefs and values, the 12 domains of culture. You took a look at each one and were provided a general American view and the view of a different culture to compare the differences. Based on these examples, you should see the differences between cultures aren't necessarily good or bad, right or wrong, they're just differences. Understanding the general domains can help you acclimate faster to a culturally diverse environment while you learn specific details about the culture you'll have to interact with. This should help you make sound decisions when working with other cultures in order to effectively accomplish your mission. You should now have a basic knowledge of cultural differences so you can process what you see and experience by lenses other than your own in cross-cultural situations. Being motivated to learn as much as you can should help reduce the anxiety and frustration you may feel when you're initially exposed to another culture. While the domains can help you initially orient yourself, you also need to understand the cultural tendencies that can have an impact on how you interact and form relationships to accomplish your mission. Good and evil and beauty and ugliness are only ornamental fruits of perspective whose sole value lies in their linkage to what chance made our fathers think and feel and whose finer details are different for every race and culture. H.P. Lovecraft Culture Tendencies Did you grow up in a close family with lots of relatives around? Or did your family unit just consist of those closest to you? Whether you know it or not, your answer to these questions had an impact on how you experienced your culture. They helped shape your cultural lens. In a cross-cultural environment, the tendency towards family can have an impact on how cultures interact with each other, how much influence the family holds in the society, and how these tendencies impact individual actions. By understanding the relationship between family and influence, you can approach situations more prepared and use your knowledge of this relationship to improve the effectiveness of your mission. In this section, you'll cover two culture tendencies, collectivism and individualism. You'll see how these tendencies can impact family structure, individual values and beliefs, and influence how decisions are made. The information provided in this section is based on cultures and organizations software of the mind by Geert Hofstede as cited by the Air Force Culture and Language Center Hofstede G 2010. Let's get started with collectivism. Collectivism. In Hofstede's book, most cultures in the world, with the exception of North America and Western Europe, tend to lean toward collectivism. In a more collectivist culture, the group is more important than the individual. People tend to defer to its hierarchy and put their personal interests and needs second to the needs of the group. Those cultures that are collectivists in nature tend to exhibit the following characteristics. Collectivism is the tendency to consider extended family affiliations and being a member of a larger group, ethnic, national, tribal, etc., as very important throughout a person's life. Relationships and status are important. Therefore, individuals might be more resistant to make agreements or commitments since they understand that they may be speaking for the group and not just for themselves. As a result, they may decide to wait or defer a decision to the group. Family consists of blood relatives of multiple generations. On both parents' sides of the family, including in-laws, an individual usually lives with their family of orientation until marriage, and even may live in the same household, building, or neighborhood after marriage. Usually, a wife moves to her husband's family household. The family maintains importance through adolescence and adulthood as a source of group affiliation. This affiliation can influence but doesn't absolutely determine where one lives, what political candidates and parties one supports, one's religious identification, and so on. People tend to remain economically and legally dependent on their family of orientation until marriage, and even sometimes after, instead of turning to the government or other institution to borrow money, buy a house, find a job, or find someone to do home repairs. Individuals in a collectivist culture tend to turn first to their extended family network. When interacting with a culture that has collectivist tendencies, you should understand how decision-making is made and the impact that can have on your ability to perform your mission. You might have to wait an extended period of time for answers to questions because the collective must be consulted. Additionally, since those that are considered elders are at the top of the social hierarchy, information might only come from them, so you must respect this information flow. Because of the importance of social hierarchy, they may only want to talk with the senior person in your team, regardless of experience. Try not to be offended by this. You should respect their beliefs and values so you can build better relationships with the leaders in your area. While collectivism is one tendency typically seen in some cultures you'll deploy to, you're probably more familiar with cultures that have individualistic tendencies. Individualism In Hofstad's book, individuals in the US and most Western European cultures tend to be more individualistic. Individuals in this culture tend to seek independent living situations and value their ability to make their own choices. The most meaningful definition of family is the nuclear family, the parents and children. Those cultures that are individualistic in nature tend to exhibit the following characteristics. As a child grows into adolescence, he or she becomes less dependent on family and identifies more strongly with other groups or microcultures, for example, sports, political, religious, etc. After basic education is finished and or they go away to college, they normally maintain their permanent residence with their family. As the individual matures, he or she pursues their own goals and interests which may differ from their nuclear family. When the individual initiates his or her own family unit as a result of procreation, they usually live apart from their family of orientation. Typically, adults turn to financial institutions, government, banks and money lenders, as well as their family for economic support or assistance, for example, getting a loan, finding a job, etc. Individuals value self-sufficiency and only seek help if needed. Individualism is the tendency for the individual's needs to take precedence over the extended family's needs. Extended family ties play a less important role. Since American culture displays more individualistic tendencies you're most likely familiar with, let's take a look at something a little different, an example of how you might see a blend or continuum of both types in your work environment. Let's imagine you have a new female airman in your work center. She's barely 19 years old and is from a large family in the Midwest. Even though she's only been on the base a few months, she's already staying out late with her friends, hasn't been adhering to the standards like she should, and has told other airmen that just because she's young doesn't mean she doesn't know more than some of the older, crustier technical sergeants. Based on her actions, you decide to counsel her. During your conversation, she shares that she didn't have much independence growing up due to her family's beliefs and values. She couldn't go out with her friends and she had to focus on her schoolwork, taking care of her siblings, and helping out around the house. She shares a story about a time when she decided to leave the house after bedtime in order to spend time with her friends. She was caught by one of her father's friends, the local sheriff, and was promptly escorted home. After a stern lecture from her father, he ended by expressing his disappointment in her and said she should feel ashamed for embarrassing her family. When she asked about joining the Air Force, her father didn't support her decision since he wanted her to get married to a local boy, have a family, and continue living the same lifestyle she grew up in. However, she decided that she was old enough to make her own decisions and joined anyway. Eventually, she told you she was ashamed of her behavior and promised to do better. While listening to her background, you determined that she came from a family that exhibited collectivistic tendencies and after joining the Air Force was having a hard time adjusting to a situation that was more individualistic in nature. You decided that she needed mentoring and closer supervision in order to help her make the transition more successfully. You want to get her to a point where she can make better decisions while exercising her independence as an adult. Additionally, you introduce her to another female airman, a peer, that can introduce her to other positive young airmen in order to get her involved in more productive and positive activities. While you may have experienced situations like this one in your unit, you might also see this same type of transition or blend of tendencies occurring in the younger generations of people in cultures that have historically displayed collectivistic tendencies. Globalization is a process of interaction and integration among the people, companies, and governments of different nations. It is usually driven by international trade and investments aided by information technology, SUNY Levin Institute. No culture is entirely collectivistic or individualistic. In today's environment, maybe as a result of globalization and generational differences, most people live somewhere along a continuum between the two tendencies. In this section, you learned about the two culture tendencies, collectivism and individualism. Cultures that have a tendency toward collectivism normally put the group, collective, first, the individual becomes subordinate. Cultures that have a tendency toward individualism focus more on independence once they leave the nuclear family. The culture tendencies can help you better understand the reason behind some of the cultural differences you might experience in cross-cultural situations. Why so many generations of family live in one dwelling? Why one person can't make a decision for the group? It could help clear up any confusion and uncertainty when interacting with others so you can build relationships by exhibiting respect and understanding, ultimately leading to mission success. How a person grows up, their family beliefs and values, the closeness of the family unit can have an impact on their behavior and decision-making ability. They can also have an impact on how you view their actions and how you can form positive and productive relationships while influencing their actions. Building relationships in cross-cultural situations is an important part of the 3C model. However, your understanding of communication in these environments should help you maintain the relationships you worked hard to build. Cross-cultural communication. You're getting ready to lead a team project that consists of airmen and individuals from a different culture. You've taken the initiative to learn about their customs and etiquette. At this point, you're prepared to sit down and have a discussion about the project. The meeting starts and you're so excited because you believe you're thoroughly prepared to kick off the project. You stand up and clear your throat. Everyone in the room is looking at you. All of a sudden, you hear, in a language you don't understand, a rising voice that sounds angry. You think what just happened. In this example, what do you think the outcome of the meeting and project will be? Earlier in this chapter, you learned about the 3C model and its components and skills. One of the skills needed to be able to influence your situation and people is the ability to effectively communicate. As a senior NCO in a cross-cultural situation, you might not know how to speak the local language without an interpreter, but you can be aware of how you and others are communicating non-verbally. A mistake or misinterpretation can have a negative impact on your ability to influence and might cause those from other cultures to be insulted or refuse to establish a positive relationship with you as a representative of the Air Force. In this section, you'll learn the nuances you need to be aware of when communicating in these situations. You'll learn about verbal and non-verbal signals such as paralanguage and haptics. Next, you'll cover two different culturally-based communication styles, low-context and high-context. Let's continue to improve your cross-cultural competence by starting with non-verbal communication skills. The most important thing in communication is hearing and understanding what isn't said. Peter Drucker Communication Skills In the communication and language domain, you learned about the importance of communication, verbal and non-verbal, in establishing relationships. While learning the local language might take some time, you can recognize verbal and non-verbal signals that can relay communication without understanding the actual words someone is saying. Paralanguage In Ting Tumi's paper, Toward a Theory of Conflict and Culture, the author notes this skill influences the way you perceive and are perceived by others. Different aspects of paralanguage include. Rate of Speaking Faster or Slower In the U.S., speaking slowly can be associated with below-average intelligence. It could also indicate that one person doesn't believe another understands what's being said, so he or she may slow down the rate of speech to increase understanding. Additionally, sometimes when someone is translating a question into a different language, it takes time for the individual to formulate a response. This has nothing to do with intelligence. Intonation, the rise or fall of voice to emphasize words or phrases. Research has shown that when Arab speakers ask information seeking questions in English, they are perceived as accusatory because they end the question with falling intonation, whereas in English, we end the question with rising intonation. For example, think of the sentence with both rising and falling intonation. Why did you do that? Pitch, the highness or lowness of the tone of voice. Arabic speakers use a higher pitch range which native English speakers perceive as aggressive or possibly threatening. In the Thai language, the same word may have very different meanings depending on the context and on whether the tone is high, low, rising or falling. Please reference page 20 for a Thai language example. Nonverbal Communication Nonverbal codes are a type of paralanguage too. Nonverbal communication sends messages without or in addition to words. You must be observant since all nonverbal behavior has communicative value. Haptics involve the functions, perceptions and meanings of touch. When you think about haptics from a cross-cultural perspective, factors related to who touches whom, when, where and how are all connected to your cultural upbringing. Research has shown that touching in public places occurs much more frequently in countries such as Venezuela and Italy than it does in countries like Japan or the U.S. Proxemics is the study of the communicative effects of space or distance. Because you have needs for both privacy, distance, and to be interdependent, nearness, one way you manage this tension is by defining or defending a territory. For example, in the U.S., we typically learn through our culture how close is too close to stand when talking to a colleague at work versus how close one might stand next to a loved one. These distances vary across cultures and can affect communication success if not properly observed. Chronemics is the study of how people perceive the use of time and how they structure it in their relationships. This is a form of nonverbal communication because your use of time sends a message without a single word. Whether in an academic, business, or social environment, members of different cultures use and perceive time differently. Some expressions in American language reveal our culture's preoccupation with time. Phrases such as time is money, out of time, and wasted time are indicators that a good deal of emphasis is placed on punctuality in our culture. This, of course, isn't the case in many Latin American and Muslim cultures whose attitude about time is much more flexible. Also, time plays into certain cultural practices. For example, many Scandinavian countries don't conduct business during summer months while Muslims fast between sunrise and sunset during Ramadan. Chronemics is the most complex of the nonverbal communication styles and requires further examination. Anthropologist Edward T. Hall spent years studying chronemics and discovered that most cultures fit into one of two categories, monochronic or polychronic. Here is a list of their characteristics. Monochronic, linear view of time, time is spent or wasted, work in a systemic manner, one task at a time. Punctuality, schedules, deadlines are important. Polychronic, time is cyclical and naturally disorderly, time is uncontrollable due to unpredictability of life, work on multiple tasks at once, delays are a part of life, allowances are made for unforeseen circumstances. Kinesis is the technical term for the study of movement and gesture. It comes from the Greek word motion and includes gestures, body movements, facial expressions and eye behavior. The Hookam-Horns image is very common at the University of Texas football games but in Norway it means salute to Satan. Former President Bush was photographed many times making this gesture and it made the front page of Norwegian newspapers. Paying attention to para-language and other types of nonverbal communication in a cross-cultural situation can help you better understand the culture you're being exposed to. Another communication area you should understand is the two types of communication styles. Communication styles. In Hall's book Beyond Culture he states that two different communication styles can create roadblocks in building relationships if they're not understood. High context and low context. The terms high context and low context are used to describe broad cultural differences between societies. In terms of cultural communication and messages context as well as other factors can be influenced by the roles of the people communicating and those around them. The hierarchy between the people present, the speaker's relationship to the group, the history of the people involved, etc. However, you should keep in mind that no culture completely adheres to high context or low context communication styles. They're merely tendencies. High context culture refers to societies or groups where people have close connections over a long period of time. Many aspects of cultural behavior are not made clear because most members know what to do and what to think from years of interaction with each other. High context communication. High context communication focuses on how something is said. People in relatively high context cultures favor the listener's ability to read between the lines, understand intonation, and slight gestures. Therefore, understanding and utilizing elements of pair language are important. Speakers tend to choose words that are ambiguous knowing that an adept listener should understand based on the context of the interaction. In fact, listeners bear the responsibility of correctly interpreting a speaker's message and can be criticized if they don't get it. Lessons are taught through analogies, parables, or other stories that illustrate knowledge and wisdom. These aren't attempts to be sneaky, disrespectful, or obtuse. This is the way people in high context cultures have grown up communicating and it seems natural to them. They may even highly respect people who are good at communicating in this way. People in cultures that tend toward high context communication aren't likely to refuse a request outright. Doing so might offend the requester and damage the long-term relationship between the parties. It might not be up to that person to give his or her approval or disapproval because of the hierarchical nature of their group relationships, saying no might also draw undue criticism to a person for making promises that may not be kept. As a result, a high context communicator may be vague in their responses using phrases such as it might be difficult, it would not be a problem, or inshallah, which means God willing, that wouldn't definitely commit them to a course of action. A culture's worldview also influences the way people interpret the meaning of context in communication. Many collectivist cultures, like those predominantly in East Asia, Japan, Korea, and China, as well as most Middle Eastern, Arab, Latino, and Mediterranean cultures tend toward high context communication styles. In these cultures, one's relationship to the group is a dominant factor in any interaction. It must be preserved and enhanced at all times. That's why group loyalty, patronage, and hierarchy are so important to people in more collectivist cultures. They're more likely to postpone making decisions since that would be disrespectful to those in the hierarchy above them. They're also less likely to disagree publicly with someone or openly criticize another person since that would reflect poorly on the other person's family or reputation. For example, in Japanese culture, preserving harmony within the group and avoiding humiliation and embarrassment are critically important. So an understanding that Japanese nationals may lean more toward high context communication could require you to adjust your communication style, resulting in more positive relationships. However, there may be conflict if you communicate the way you're used to in the U.S., which is low context in nature. Low context communication. Low context communication focuses on what is said. People in relatively low context cultures pay more attention to the explicit meaning of the verbal message. Low context communicators often stress lots of detail, facts, and statistics with little regard to how the message is delivered. They favor communication that gets directly to the point rather than communicating through analogies and high context hints. It's the sender's responsibility to provide a clear message that can easily be decoded by the receiver. Low context culture refers to societies where people tend to have many connections but of shorter duration or for some specific reason. In these societies, cultural behavior and beliefs may need to be spelled out explicitly so that those coming into the cultural environment know how to behave. Many relatively individualistic cultures, like those predominantly in North America and much of Northern Europe, have tendencies toward low context communication styles. This isn't to say that group membership and hierarchy aren't valued, but people pay deference to their role in the hierarchy by taking responsibility on themselves. They need to prove their point with verifiable information since they don't rely on the power of their social group to back them up. Additionally, saving face for the group is less of a concern. Saying what you mean and meaning what you say are more highly valued characteristics in low context communication. When people with these differences in communication style interact, they often experience conflict based on communication rather than on their dedication to a particular mission. For example, high context communicators are apt to become impatient and irritated when low context communicators insist on giving them information they don't need like preaching to the choir. Conversely, low context communicators are at a loss when high context communicators don't provide enough explicit information about how to proceed or whom to talk to. They may also tire easily of hearing analogies instead of facts. The American military exercises a low context communication style. We consider direct, concise, and clear language valuable, and we expect people to quickly deliver their message. Anything else is typically reacted to with impatience, confusion, frustration, and even contempt. Often, low context communicators assume that high context communication is ineffective, not true. The effectiveness comes from listeners knowing how to interpret the speaker's message and how to reply in a way that's culturally appropriate. However, people who have worked closely with coalition forces, local populations, and non-governmental organizations can attest that mission success is often directly linked to their ability to adapt to unique, high context communication situations. Your counterparts may judge you as more respectful and trustworthy if you can understand, respect, and adjust to their way of communicating. However, if you only use a low context approach, it can hinder communication with those same counterparts. In turn, you should explain your way of communicating to them so that each party better understands the other's style. Once again, you should remember that while all cultures use low and high context communication patterns, one form becomes the tendency. While most Americans tend to be low context communicators, there are certain situations when we may adopt high context communication techniques. For instance, we roll our eyes at a friend during a boring meeting or begin an inside joke that we don't need to finish since others already know it. Also, many microcultures found within the U.S. or in other countries may deviate from the communication context adopted by our macroculture. In this section, you covered cross-cultural communication. You looked at a few communication skills that can help you when dealing with different cultures. Paying attention to para-language can give you invaluable communicative information even though you might not speak the local language. Additionally, you learned how cultures can use nonverbal elements during a communication exchange. Understanding these nonverbal cues can help ensure you don't make any mistakes or misinterpret cultural norms related to items such as space and touch. Then, you learned about two communication style tendencies, high context and low context. In cultures that have a tendency toward the high context style, you have to really listen and correctly interpret the message in order to understand the communication. You may even gain respect if you learn to communicate in this way. Cultures that are more inclined toward low context communication, such as the American culture and military, may get impatient with high context tendencies. Finally, you briefly covered some of the cultural differences between high and low context cultures that could have an impact on how you communicate in order to build relationships. When operating in a cross-cultural environment, learning the local language can be extremely beneficial to accomplishing your mission. However, that might be a lofty goal. If you can understand how other cultures communicate using para-language and other nonverbal elements, you can lessen the chances that you'll accidentally insult someone or damage a relationship due to a language barrier. So, when in situations when you're leading teams with multicultural members, learning about their customs and etiquette are important to positive interaction. However, when attempting to get the team moving toward its goal, you have to learn their cultures' nuances of verbal and nonverbal communication to make up for the language gap and increase your level of cross-cultural competence. These actions, along with the others in this chapter, can have an impact on your effectiveness as well as the effectiveness of your people and mission. Impact of Cross-Cultural Competence Up to this point, you've learned a great deal of information about cultural differences. You are expected to have a general understanding of the ways our culture is different from others to be cross-culturally competent. As a member of the profession of arms, you could be deployed to any of the world's major regions, Middle East, Asia, etc., and must perform as effectively as possible by building positive relationships and influencing others in order to accomplish the mission. This chapter provided you with culture general knowledge and skills via the 3C model to help you orient yourself and team to any of the dominant cultures in these regions. Doing so can help you, your people, and your mission become more effective. Let's start with how 3C can impact your people's effectiveness. Subordinate Effectiveness As members of the profession of arms, your people are responsible for adhering to the Air Force's guiding values and standards. They're deeply rooted in sources such as the Air Force core values and, when internalized and combined with the 3C model, can help your people become more cross-culturally competent. One core value, service before self, is especially needed in order to be cross-culturally competent. Service before self, duty Your subordinates should display a sense of duty, doing what's necessary to accomplish the mission. In a cross-cultural environment, this could mean taking a more proactive approach to learn about the culture they'll be exposed to. They should understand that in order to accomplish the mission in a JIIM environment, ethnocentrism can have a negative impact, possibly causing their sense of duty to be called into question. Judging other cultures as less than their own could prevent them from establishing positive relationships they may need in order to accomplish the mission. Therefore, practicing ethnocentrism interferes with their obligation to do what they need to in order to get their job done. They should be motivated to understand the beliefs and practices of other cultures through the lens of the local people, not their own. By practicing cultural relativism, your people can make decisions based on what they've observed and oriented to without making judgments about what should or shouldn't be normal to them. This perspective makes it easier to understand other cultures, helping your people create and maintain relationships that could help them meet their mission and related obligations. Air Force Core Values The service before self-virtues of duty and respect should be displayed by subordinates in the JIIM environment. Duty is their obligation to do what's required for the mission. Respect, treating others with dignity and valuing them as individuals, is required to build positive relationships. Additionally, in order to fulfill their obligation to the profession of arms, your people should acquire the knowledge necessary to meet the requirements of the POA's intellectual dimension. These requirements state that your people, military professionals, must be culturally aware. Learning about different cultures increases this awareness and can have a positive impact on the operational environment they're working in. As a member of the POA, serving in a joint, interagency, intergovernmental, multinational environment, you're required to know key elements of the dominant culture in each of the world's major regions. An understanding of 3C can help you meet this requirement. CJCSI1805.01B Service before self-respect The only culture some of your people might be familiar with is their own. Therefore, when put in situations where there are noticeable differences in cultural beliefs and values, especially those they don't agree with, it can be a challenge to treat those in that culture with dignity. However, in order to build positive relationships with other cultures, respect is vital. Encourage your people to take a step back and look for some of the same types of structures they would see in their own culture. They should start to see some of the aspects of the 12 domains if they take the time to observe the people in the culture. For example, every culture has a concept of family and kinship or religion and spirituality. It may just be practiced differently in the local culture than in theirs. Once your people start to recognize that the same broad categories present in their culture are present in others, it may be the spark needed to start building positive relationships. Encourage them to explore how the culture views family, what they do for recreation, find out how the individuals in the culture interpret certain nonverbal signals. If motivated to learn, not only can this be a fun experience for your people, it can also establish connections that evolve into positive, productive relationships. Comprehensive Fitness Cultural awareness in JIIM environments can help to improve your people's social fitness. Being disconnected from their friends and families can cause their overall well-being to decline. However, you can encourage them to make new connections with the people in the local community or members of their team from different cultures, hopefully improving their level of well-being and performance. Senior NCO Effectiveness Being a senior enlisted leader in a JIIM environment isn't an easy task. Not only are you responsible for your Air Force people, but you may be responsible for sister service members and or coalition partners. According to AFI 36-2618, you are expected to provide highly effective leadership. You must lead and manage teams regardless of cultural background. Cross-cultural competence and the 3C model can help you meet this responsibility. The center of the 3C model houses the relate, communicate, and negotiate skills. As you attempt to lead and manage multicultural teams, these skills are beneficial to ensuring the mission is effectively accomplished. Institutional Competency Enterprise Perspective Enterprise Structure and Relationships As an Air Force senior NCO, you may be assigned to a unit in a JIIM environment where you have dual reporting relationships, matrix, or alliance organizations. It's your responsibility to use your 3C knowledge and skills, along with your leadership toolbox, to reduce any adverse implications that may arise as a result of integrating people and resources. Relate How can you lead effectively if you can't relate to the members of your team? You probably couldn't, at least not effectively. Just like you don't get to pick the individuals in your work centers normally, you don't get to pick your team members in a JIIM environment. Therefore, you should acquire the knowledge you need in order to relate to those that are different from you. For example, you should learn how those that have different cultural beliefs and values view certain aspects, such as time and space. If you don't, you could schedule a meeting during an inappropriate time, or you may not be able to explain to your other teammates why the individual had to leave the meeting unexpectedly. Relating to those you lead can help bridge the gap between those from your culture and those from other cultural environments. This can have a positive impact on your team's ability to accomplish their mission. Failure to do so can cause cultural divides or increase them if they're already present. Full range leadership. The transformational leadership behavior of individualized consideration can help you bridge cultural divides more effectively. Treating others as individuals with different needs, regardless of organizational affiliation or culture, helps you empathize with them more. You can facilitate a one team mentality with a focus on a singular mission. Communicate. Sometimes it's easier to communicate with those that are most like you. However, in a JIIM environment, this mentality could cause mission failure. As a senior NCO, you should learn the communication nuances of the cultures you're interacting with in order to be cross-culturally competent. Although you may not know the local language or the communication nuances of individuals on your JIIM team, you can use your understanding of para-language and nonverbal cues to reduce misunderstandings. Additionally, understanding that cultural communication styles differ can also help you become more effective in leading your team as well. Since our culture has a tendency toward low context, interacting with cultures that have a tendency towards high context can make situations seem more ambiguous or even give the impression that those from a low context culture are disrespectful. Understanding the differences and using your leadership skills, you can prevent or reduce any negative consequences, conflict, cultural obstacles, etc. that may arise from within a JIIM team you might be leading. Ignoring these differences, maybe even thinking they'll work themselves out, could result in interpersonal issues within your team and may reduce your team's productivity. Negotiate. While effective communication can help reduce negative consequences of melding a JIIM team, it may not eliminate them. Therefore, you may have to rely on your negotiation or mediation skills in order to get everyone refocused. As the leader of this unique type of team, your people have to believe that you are an impartial party. This is especially important because you don't want your team to perceive that you have loyalties, for example, to only Air Force people or Americans. Otherwise, your negotiation and mediation efforts might fail. You should be able to show that you are willing to listen to everyone's viewpoint and encourage collaboration whenever possible. Since the essence of leadership is the ability to influence, mastering the relate, communicate, and negotiate skills at the center of the 3C model can help you gain and maintain influence over your JIIM team. In a deployed environment, one of your major responsibilities may be to take your group from various backgrounds and cultures and mold them into a functioning team. You need influence in order to do this. Without this influence, your ability to lead your diverse team can decrease, negatively impacting their ability to complete the mission. However, in a JIIM environment, where the mission requires us to establish relationships with various cultures, the impact is much bigger than what you or your airmen see at the tactical level. In order to understand how cross-cultural competence impacts our mission effectiveness, let's take a look at the big picture. Critical thinking. When attempting to negotiate or mediate a conflict in a JIIM environment, practicing the universal intellectual standard of fairness can help you consider all viewpoints in good faith, regardless of whom it belongs to. Additionally, by developing the essential intellectual trait of fair-mindedness, you can reduce the chances that your own feelings or vested interests will cloud your judgments when working through conflicts. These attributes can support and increase your level of cross-cultural competence. Mission effectiveness. Regardless of the environment, as a senior enlisted leader, your task to effectively accomplish the mission. However, in a cross-cultural environment, there are specific tasks you have to complete in order to maintain and sustain your mission's effectiveness. Apply knowledge and skills to meet cultural challenges. Applying the framework of the OODA loop can help you gain perspective when faced with a cultural challenge simply by collecting information, observe about it and making sense of your information using cultural relativism, orient. Additionally, you can use the culture general and specific knowledge you've gained in order to make the most appropriate decisions, decide, you can. Without this knowledge, you may make an uninformed decision that could negatively impact your mission and your people, possibly by failing to communicate something vital or misinterpreting what you've observed. Finally, before implementing your decision, act, you should consider the ramifications your decision might have on their cultural categories. For example, when taking action, you may violate a religious rule or, on a larger scale, damage relationships between your team and the local people. Either of these could potentially halt your mission. In 2010, General Petraeus, Commander, U.S. Forces Afghanistan, issued his counterinsurgency guidance. In this document, he stated that in order to be successful in the region, U.S. and NATO forces should live among the people. He also stated they can't commute to the fight. Although these statements were made over five years ago, they're still relevant today. In order to complete our big picture missions, we should understand the culture, their beliefs and values, how they communicate. We must be cross-culturally competent. This means the effectiveness of our missions hinge on our ability to be motivated to approach cultural challenges proactively with a positive attitude so that we can build relationships. We must use our ability to effectively communicate, relate and negotiate to maintain these relationships. Otherwise, if we don't live among the people and allow ethnocentrism to cloud thinking and decision-making, missions might fail. Maintain focus on success. At the end of the day, when it's all said and done, we want you to come home from a mission successfully. In order to do so, our people should rely on their cross-cultural competence to help them handle cross-cultural challenges. According to our national military objectives, as a force, we must work to strengthen our global network of allies and partners. This means you and your people have a responsibility to apply your cultural awareness to help establish and maintain these alliances and partnerships. At your level, you may be leading a unit that consists of individuals from this global network, so you must exercise due diligence to strengthen relationships others before you worked so hard to build. This diligence may include understanding the way low-context cultures communicate, or even how decisions are made when dealing with a culture that has collectivistic tendencies. By showing that you and your people are open to and respectful of their beliefs and values, you help keep our global network strong. The complex undertaking of the profession of arms requires us to harness the ingenuity, expertise, and elbow grease of all airmen. This is especially true in cross-cultural JIIM environments. Therefore, your subordinates must remain effective by exhibiting a sense of duty and respect when interacting with other cultures. You must remain effective by dealing with the consequences of combining a diverse set of people in order to get them to operate as one team. We all must act with cultural relativism, understanding the beliefs and values of those different from us in order to ensure the success of the larger Air Force mission. Institutional competency, enterprise perspective, global, regional, and cultural awareness. As a senior enlisted leader in a JIIM environment, you should effectively handle cross-cultural challenges by applying your 3C knowledge and skills when meeting cultural challenges. That way, you and your people can focus on mission success. Summary This chapter began with an examination of the terms associated with cross-cultural competence. Hopefully, these terms provided the foundation for you to start increasing your level of cross-cultural competence. You also learned about the cross-cultural competence 3C model, which included knowledge, motivation, and learning approaches in the outer part of the model and the skills relate, communicate, and negotiate in the center. Remember, this model works to not only improve your competence, but to also improve your ability to influence your people and your environment. Next, you learned about the 12 domains of culture. Even though on the surface it appears we're all different, most cultures share the same broad categories. It's how they are practiced in each culture that highlights our differences. Then you looked at culture tendencies of collectivism and individualism. Understanding the difference between these culture tendencies can help you acclimate to some of the 12 domains, such as the family and kinship domain, in your cross-cultural situation. After that, you jumped into a very important part of 3C, cross-cultural communication. In this section, you covered communication skills such as paralanguage and other nonverbal cues, as well as the low and high context communication styles. When exposed to various cultures, you can use general cues like haptics and kinesics to provide insight into how the culture communicates without actually learning the local language. Finally, you wrapped up the chapter by gaining an understanding of how 3C impacts your subordinates, you as a senior NCO, and your mission. You should emphasize to your people the importance of the service-before-self virtues of duty and respect in cross-cultural situations. By upholding their obligation to their mission and respecting those in other cultures, they can become more effective as they carry out their missions on a daily basis. Additionally, as a senior enlisted leader in a JIIM environment, you should lead using the skills of the 3C model in order to gain and maintain influence. This helps the Air Force as part of the profession of arms meet the intent of the National Military Strategy, strengthening our network of global allies and partners. Since the Air Force and DOD are sending members of the profession of arms into cross-cultural situations on a daily basis, all members should have the necessary tools to accomplish their mission in the most effective manner possible. As a senior enlisted leader, these tools can enhance your ability to lead others from diverse backgrounds to ensure mission success. Not everyone shares the same cultural beliefs and values that we do. Although being on time for meetings is an expectation in our culture doesn't mean it is in others. So, if you can understand and adjust to these differences, you can be the cross-culturally competent leader the profession of arms requires you to be. Key Terms 3C Model Page 4 Collectivism Page 16 Cross-Cultural Competence Page 3 Cultural Relativism Page 3 Culture Page 3 12 Domains of Culture Page 10 Ethnocentricism Page 3 High Context Page 22 Holism Page 3 Individualism Page 17 Low Context Page 22 Paralanguage Page 19 Power Distance Page 4 World View Page 4