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Applying CQ: Shaping Culturally Intelligent LibrariesPLA Webinar, April 11, 2019

Workshop Developer: Dr. Pennylyn Dykstra-PruimWorkshop Adapted for Libraries and Facilitated by: Marla J. Ehlers

Learner ManualCultural Intelligence or CQ refers to our ability to function effectively across national, ethnic, and even organizational cultural boundaries. Cultural Intelligence involves four concrete skill areas:

● Knowledge skills help us improve our understanding of ourselves and of those from other cultures by knowing about cultures and cultural differences.

● Motivation skills enable us to be honest in our communication and savvy in our interpretation of cross-cultural interactions as we persevere in crossing cultural boundaries.

● Interpretation and Behavior skills equip us to align what we wish to accomplish with how our actions and words will likely be interpreted by interpreting cues, managing situations, acting respectfully, and being flexible.

Driving principles ● CQ building is a life-long journey and all can improve their CQ over time. ● We can improve our CQ by focusing on the four concrete skills: Knowledge,

Motivation, Interpretation and Behavior.● Improving our CQ makes us better communicators and more gracious actors in

our diverse world.● Building our CQ enables us to embrace the other more fully, even as we

understand what it means for the other to embrace us.

Applying CQ: Shaping Culturally Intelligent Libraries / © Dr. Pennylyn Dykstra-Pruim 1


Overview

Workshop Goals and Activities

Learning Activity Page

Learning what Cultural Intelligence is CQ overview 1

Exploring cultural values and our own Ranking Values 3value systems

Products + Practices + Perspectives Linking the Three Ps 6

Understanding different cultural Cultural Orientations 7orientations Questionnaire

Kluckhohn Model of Culture 11

Analyzing what's core and what's not Library Preferences Wave 12

CQ when a host and CQ as a guest A Librarian Away from Home 17

Considering next steps Action Plan 18

spirituality openness equality relationship self-reliance group harmony freedom

List these cultural values in order from most important (at the top) to least (at the bottom). What is claimed to be the top cultural values? You may choose to add one value that is not listed.

of the dominant US culture of me or my family personally

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tCultural Values: All about home

Ranking Values


Cultural Values: All about home

Ranking Values

CQ Building: Fostering Our Cultural Intelligence / © Dr. Pennylyn Dykstra-Pruim 4

Japanese American Malaysian Russian Swedish French

relationship equality family security family security freedom self-reliance

group harmony freedom group harmony freedom relationship freedom

family security openness cooperation self-reliance cooperation openness

freedom self-reliance relationship openness family security relationship

cooperation cooperation spirituality material possessions openness time

group consensus family security freedom cooperation competition spirituality

privacy privacy self-reliance equality privacy equality

equality group harmony time time equality competition

formality reputation reputation relationship reputation group consensus

spirituality time group achievement reputation time risk-taking

competition competition equality authority group achievement authority

seniority group achievement authority formality material

possessions group harmony

material possessions spirituality material

possessions group harmony spirituality cooperation

self-reliance risk-taking competition group achievement risk-taking group harmony*

authority authority group consensus risk-taking group harmony privacy

time material possessions seniority seniority authority family security

openness formality privacy competition seniority seniority

risk-taking group consensus formality privacy group consensus formality

reputation seniority risk-taking group consensus formality reputation

*The double occurrence of group harmony in the French column is an error original to the Lane excerpt.

Excerpted and adapted from A Beginner’s Guide to Crossing Cultures: Making Friends in a Multicultural World by Patty Lane, Illinois: IVP Books. 2002.

There is general consensus about the highest ranked cultural values in our broader culture. YES---------------NO

There is general consensus about the lowest ranked cultural values.YES---------------NO

My highest ranked values match those of the broader culture.YES---------------NO

My lowest ranked values match those of the broader culture. YES---------------NO

My library's patrons highest and lowest ranked values match those of the broader culture.

YES---------------NO

Cultural Values: All about home

Ranking Values

Collecting InsightsAfter completing Ranking Values, reflect on the questions below, marking how strongly you agree/disagree with the statement.

How can we use information about cultural values to be more sensitive to newcomers in our communities?

How can we use awareness of cultural values to be more sensitive guests when we travel into or engage with other cultures?

spirituality openness equality relationship self-reliance group harmony freedom


Products + Practices + Perspectives

Levels of Culture

The Three PsThere are many ways to define culture, but a particularly useful one for our purposes is the Three Ps model: Culture is the system of products, practices, and perspectives that generally characterize a group. We can imagine the products as the tip of the iceberg, the heroes and holidays or types of things we notice or easily associate with a culture. Practices or behaviors include rules for being polite, standard procedures or expectations, and common practices for getting along together. The bottom or deepest level is summed up by perspectives, which include our deepest beliefs or assumptions about how the world works and why.

The Three Ps encompass many elements of culture. Here are some examples of what we might find at each level:

Products ● Burger King whoppers● 30-year mortgages● Rugby● The play MacBeth

Practices ● Wearing deodorant● Making charitable donations● Observing Sabbath● Covering your head to pray● Bowing in greetings

Perspectives ● As adult individuals, we have the right to decide who we marry● Maintaining the honor of the family is very important● Individual accomplishments or productivity are not important life goals● All human beings are created equal● “Traditional” is good

● Hijab● Phones● Christmas trees● Disposable diapers

● Dividing the restaurant bill● Avoiding eye contact● Eating fish on Fridays● Arriving at the clock time stated

on an invitation

Products

Practices

Perspectives

Collecting InsightsIn the table below, draw the links between some of the elements of culture at the top, in the middle, and at deeper levels of culture Can you describe a linked set of Product + Practice + Perspective from the lists above or from cultures you have experience with?


Environment: Control, constraint, or harmony

People can control the environment; it can be changed to fit human needs.

People should live in harmony with the world around them.

People are constrained by the world around them. Fate, luck and chance play a significant role.

7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Cultural Identities: Learning about key differences among cultures

Cultural Orientations

The following questionnaire invites us to consider a culture's orientation to the following:

● Environment● Time● Action● Thinking● Communication● The role of the individual● Space● Competitiveness● Structure

Step 1: For each of these points of orientation you will read descriptions of different ends and sometimes the middle of the spectrum. Circle the number on the scale from 7 to 1, which represents your take on how the majority of people from YOUR home culture think or feel on this issue. Where on the scale of 7 – 1 would an average person from your home culture place themselves?

Step 2: When you have completed Step 1, choose two or three bold orientation points where you personally feel that you are most different from the cultures in which you function most often. How does this mismatch in your personality or personal orientations and your culture’s orientations affect your life?

Bonus question: Consider examples of cultures or sub-cultures you are familiar with where that culture’s “answer” to a specific bold orientation point would differ significantly from the majority American culture “answer.” How might you adjust your expectations or behaviors when you are in that other culture?


Time A: Rigid or Fluid

Punctuality is important. A start time for an appointment or event should be taken literally and seriously.

7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Being punctual isn’t a high priority. Events and appointments are not expected to start at the literal time stated.

Time B: Past, present, or future orientation

Being labeled “traditional” is positive. Following family traditions is valued.

People look for quick results and a quick fix.

People are willing to trade short-term gain for long-term results.

7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Action A: Doing or being

Accomplishing a goal or achieving a result is important. Productivity is highly valued.

7 6 5 4 3 2 1

The process and experience are more important than a specific accomplishment or product. Relationships are highly valued.

Action B: Single minded, down-to-business or multi-tasking, socially-focused

People tend to concentrate on one task at a time. People generally live very scheduled lives and stick to their day planners.

7 6 5 4 3 2 1

People tend to concentrate on a lot of tasks at once. People are more concerned about relationships than deadlines.

Thinking A: Deductive or inductive

People value reasoning based on theory and logic.

7 6 5 4 3 2 1People value reasoning based on experience and experimentation.

Thinking B: Linear or systematic

People tend to think analytically and break problems into small components.

7 6 5 4 3 2 1

People tend to think holistically and focus on the big picture and the interrelationships between components.




Communication A: Low context or high context

People should be clear in exchanging facts and information.

7 6 5 4 3 2 1

People shouldn’t have to discuss everything explicitly. A lot of information is understood from the context.

Communication B: Direct or indirect

People prefer explicit one- or two-way communication, including identification, diagnosis and management of conflict.

7 6 5 4 3 2 1

People prefer implicit, intuitive communication and avoid conflict or direct confrontation.

Communication C: Instrumental or expressive

People value unemotional, impersonal communication styles. Objectivity is good.

7 6 5 4 3 2 1

People value emotional, personal communication styles. Subjectivity makes the message real.

Communication D: Formal or informal

It is important to follow protocol and social customs. Showing respect in how we speak is valued.

7 6 5 4 3 2 1

One can easily dispense with ceremony and rigid protocol. A casual style seems personable.

Individualism A: Individualistic or collectivistic

The “I” predominantes over the “We.” Independence is highly valued.

7 6 5 4 3 2 1

The individual interests are subordinate to group interests. Identity is based on the social network and loyalty is highly valued.

Individualism B: Particularistic or universalistic

It is important to consider changing circumstances and personal situations.

7 6 5 4 3 2 1

What is true, correct and appropriate can be identified and applied to everyone. Societal obligations are important.




Space A: Private or public

People value their personal space and prefer a bit of distance between themselves and others.

7 6 5 4 3 2 1

People have less attachment to personal space and close proximity to others seems friendly and normal.

Space B: Egalitarian or hierarchical

People value minimizing differences in level or power or status. Dwelling on status is elitism.

7 6 5 4 3 2 1

People value the status differences between individuals or groups. Maintaining clear differences contributes to an orderly society.

Competitiveness: Competitive or cooperative

People value achievement, assertiveness, and material success.

7 6 5 4 3 2 1People value quality of life, interdependence and relationships.

Structure: Order or flexibility

People value predictability and rules

7 6 5 4 3 2 1People are tolerant of unpredictability and ambiguity

Collecting Insights1. Skim through the descriptions associated with Communication A, B, C and D. Suppose

a person from a culture whose answers for these questions are very close to 7 is engaging with a culture whose answers are much closer to 1. What should s/he be prepared for? What tips would you give to him/her?

2. Review the descriptions under Time A and B. Suppose a person from a culture whose answers are close to 1 is engaging with a culture whose answers are close to 7. What tips might you give him/her for how to interpret the actions and expectations of the people he/she will interact with?

3. Share a story or experience crossing cultures, where the different cultural orientations led to frustration, a misunderstanding or embarrassment. Find tips in STORY.




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Analyzing: What's core and What's Negotiable?

Exploring Library Preferences

Our identities are comprised of a core set of cultural elements (products, practices, and perspectives) that we consider essential to our sense of identity or self. A helpful way to visualize our identity is as a set of three concentric circles. The innermost circle represents our Essential Core. Another set or layer of cultural elements is preferred by us but negotiable (the middle circle); in other words, if we have to, we can give them up or see them as not central to who we are. There is also an outer circle, a set of cultural elements we can easily categorize as additional options to who we are. We can be fairly flexible in how we do or do not integrate these elements into our lives.

Goals● Better understand what is core to our identities and what is negotiable.● Gain an appreciation for the many different ways of providing library service and

the elements of the total library experience.

What are your library preferences?Use the grid on the following page. Mark with an X the spot on each horizontal line that represents to what extent you prefer or appreciate the elements of library experience at either end.

● If you are equally comfortable with both, put the X in the middle where the vertical line meets the horizontal line.

● If you are more familiar or comfortable with one or the other, place your X closer to that end of the line.

● Please note: the two ends are not necessarily opposites, just different elements of the library experience

Example: You prefer a quiet library, but sometimes your library is noisy and you're OK with that. You have a slight preference for providing your community with a homework center over a maker space.

Catch your waveWhen you are done marking your Xs, draw a thick line connecting all the Xs on your Library Preferences grid from top to bottom. This is your Library Preferences Wave.

Whispers

Maker Space

Talking

Homework Help

rr




Movies in the Park

Marketing

Whispers

Maker Space

Print

Deep and Broad

Listening Stations

Fines

Small Study Spaces

Community Garden

Library Bill of Rights

Genealogy

Town Halls

I&R

Friends

Local History

Privacy

Talking

Homework Help

Digital

Bestsellers

Play Spaces

Amnesty

Grand Reading Rooms

Bikemobile

Local Values

Outreach

Book Clubs

Advocacy

Foundation




Collecting Insights1. Compare the wave, wiggle, or straightness of your drawn line with others, as well as its

placement left or right. Of particular interest might be the X’s which are closest to one end and farthest from the middle. Briefly explain your experiences which have resulted in your library preferences.

2. What library experiences have you had where you have felt surprised or even uncomfortable? What made you feel that way?

3. Can you identify which items on your wave are Products? Practices? Perspectives? How does this understanding help you recognize what is core to your identity as a professional, negotiable, or simply additional?

4. Use the second Library Preferences grid to analyze what you typically find at your library. Do this with a partner if you're with someone from the same library. If the two ends happen equally often, put the X in the middle. If one end happens more often than another, place the X closer to that end. When your X’s are done, draw a line connecting all the X’s on your joint library experience analysis.

5. Now compare the wave of this Library Preferences analysis with each of your personal waves.

Which of you has been working at your library the longest?

Which of your personal waves matches most closely in shape and placement to your library's wave?

What is it about your library in your community that you appreciate most and why?




Collecting Insights 6. Suppose a patron's Library Preferences Wave is a good match for a particular library.

What effect does a very good match have for the individual library user?

On the other hand, what effect does a poor match in a Library Experience Wave have for the individual library user?

7. There are a wide variety of libraries and library services, and given the opportunity, most patrons will gravitate towards libraries where their Library Preferences Wave aligns fairly well with that of the library.

How can we use these insights or the Library Preferences Wave generator to explore current issues regarding services in our libraries and communities? These issues might include:

● how to reach out to or retain teen patrons ● how to reach out to or attract a neighborhood or target group not

currently well-represented among our patrons ● how to make an impact through services to seniors, young children, an

immigrant group, or another demographic ● how to be welcoming to first-time users and to persons with disabilities ● how to communicate your library's culture to newcomers beyond the

experience of a single visit ● how the placement of and presence/lack of collections, furniture,

signage, or technology might affect library users ● what effects the inclusion or exclusion of materials, services, or

programs have ● how to heal rifts caused by different and strong library preferences

within your community ● how to encourage an appreciation for elements of library service which

are not common or preferred in your particular community

8. Share with your partner which, if any, of the above issues are particularly relevant in your library or community.

9. Work together to identify two concrete insights to share with someone (else) from your library or community.


CQ when a host and CQ as a guest

A Librarian Away from Home

As a next step, you and your library might choose to expand your outreach to a culture within your community whose Library Preferences Wave would look (very) different from your own. As you and your colleagues anticipate working across cultural lines, you'll want to prepare yourselves to engage with open minds, reflecting both on what it means to be a host (of library culture) and a guest (within the culture where you're focusing your outreach efforts). Even library staff who regularly engage in outreach can be helped by considering:

What elements of library outreach in your upcoming cross-cultural experiences do you suspect might make you uncomfortable?

What do you HOPE you will experience?

By default, as guests we represent or become ambassadors of the library and any other groups of which we are a part. What one impression do you hope to leave with this community and some of the individuals you encounter in your next outreach experience?

As librarians away from home, look for the gifts or blessing that we receive when we are guests in this community new to the library and when we experience librarianship in a different cultural setting from the ones with which we are most familiar. Consider these thoughts on reflective traveling abroad:

Ideally, travel broadens our perspectives personally, culturally, and politically. Suddenly, the palette with which we paint the story of our lives has more colors. We realize there are exciting alternatives to the social and community norms that our less-traveled neighbors may never consider. Imagine not knowing you could eat “ethnic.” Imagine suddenly realizing there were different genres of music. Imagine you loved books and one day the librarian mentioned there was an upstairs. // But you can only reap these rewards of travel if you’re open to them. Watching a dervish whirl can be a cruise-ship entertainment option … or a spiritual awakening.

– from Rick Steves Travel as a Political Act

Whether a librarian in our own library or away from home, we are hopefully not simply tourists but also sojourners on a journey with a purpose beyond serving a bullet point on the library's strategic plan. Consider how you might be making an impact in this community new to the library. What lingering and transformative ideas, words, associations, experiences, memories, or knowledge do we leave behind?


What are my next steps?

My Action Plan

myself

family, friends, or colleagues

community or organization

How might I, my family, my colleagues, my community, my state, my country, my world change because of the journey I am on and the next steps I hope to take?

My CQ goals for . . .


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