What is Cultural Intelligence?

We all know the good old-fashioned intelligence IQ (Intelligence Quotient), and we can agree that it is important. However, at some point of time it was clear that we needed more than IQ. Something that made it possible to understand what is going on between people. That is when EQ (Emotional Intelligence) came into the picture. Later on, reserachers found out that we also need competences to understand what is going on and how to act in a world with many different cultures. So, we need more than EQ. From around 2000, a global research project has been ongoing which has defined CQ (Cultural Quotient) as the four capabilities needed to succeed in any cross-cultural setting.

Culturally Intelligence (CQ) consists of four capabilities:

Drive: Your motivation, the benefit you and your team gain from being in a cross-cultural setting

Knowledge: Your knowledge about how the involved cultures and alike and different

Strategy: Your ability to use your knowledge to prepare and adjust your actions

Action: Your ability to adjust your actions, body language, language and the way you speak

If you score high on each of these capabilities your chance to succeed in a cross-cultural collaboration or interaction is high.

For more information on CQ and especially for how to use CQ in an Indian-Western setting, contact Culturewise – line(a)culturewise.dk – or click on the following link to learn more about Cultural Intelligence Center.