Have you ever asked yourself?
§ Always late, what is wrong with this person?
§ Here they go again, opposing to everything that’s been said, delaying the process. Why can’t we just move forward?
§ Again with those long explanations. Get to the point! This is common sense!!
Such questions may not relate to personality types or universal respect. Exploring cultural differences can provide insights and help build collaborative, empathetic relationships.
That’s where Le Culturoscope comes in handy! Developed by Michel Sauquet and Martin Vielajus, this tool combines academic and practical experience with the power of questions. It covers four cultural domains, with 70 questions in 15 themes:
- Visions of the world
- Identities
- Language and communication
- Professional questions
The tool had been available for download in French and English. In 2019, I coordinated the launch of the Spanish version with a group of brilliant and engaged students at ICP who worked collaboratively throughout a full semester. Thanks to Michel Sauquet’s immense generosity and availability to answer questions and clarify ideas, they analyzed each theme and found the best linguistic and cultural equivalents in Spanish.
Let’s try it!
§ Always late, what is wrong with this person?
For this first question, we can explore the theme Visions of Time and Time Management. Here, you’ll find some useful questions to enhance your perspective:
- What are the modes of response timing, with quick reactions or, on the contrary, with delayed reactions to allow referral to other parties, etc.?
- Do we share a common idea of punctuality, of urgency?
§ Here they go again, opposing to everything that’s been said, delaying the process. Why can’t we just move forward?
For this second question, we can explore the theme Attitude towards Disagreement and Conflict. Some useful questions are suggested:
- Are our respective cultures inclined to open confrontation, or on the contrary, do these cultures avoid head-on clashes?
- To what strategies and postures does one resort, in case of conflict, in our geographical or professional cultures : favouring clash or domination, or on the contrary avoidance and bypassing?
- Is there a tendency to search for consensus or compromise? Is confrontation considered as always useful, or is there a general effort to avoid it?
§ Again with those long explanations. Get to the point! This is common sense!!
For this third question, we can explore the theme Communication and Interpersonal Relations. Again, some useful questions are proposed:
- How are ideas developed, how is a discussion planned, and what structure does it often take?
- In presenting an argument, is it common to start from theoretical premises and then proceed to action in a deductive approach, or is it common to start from concrete observations and then build up to theories which is an inductive approach?
- In the structure of a dialogue, is there a tendency to seek preliminary agreement on wider principles, or to treat specific matters directly to “move ahead”?
What uncomfortable situation could you meet with curiosity?
Seize this opportunity to experiment with the tool in your preferred language!