Book Review: How to Work with Different Cultures

The fundamental ideas of the book Cultural Intelligence: How to Work with Different Cultures is about learning how to appreciate different cultures, understanding the different ways other cultures than one’s own operate, and how to begin to develop the skills needed to conduct business and relationships with other cultures.

I did not see anything problematic with the book. However, if someone who is used to a more formal tone with learning materials may not like how informal the language of the book was. I personally enjoyed the laid-back format of the book. I learned a lot about other cultures from this book, which will help me in the future when I travel.

The most significant lesson I learned was what may be appropriate in one country could be considered disrespectful in another. It is always a good idea to learn about a country and its customs before traveling to lessen the chance of offending the people of the country visiting.

Learning the fact that not everyone goes by the same social rules across the world helped me become more aware of my own social programming, which enabled me to deprogram a few unhelpful ways of thinking. One of those default thinking patterns was that the business world all shared a similar language. When I read about how people from Asian cultures value relationships over business ventures, it opened my eyes to the different business styles cultures have.

As an American, I assumed other businesses wanted to get straight to the point, not build a relationship first, as it takes a lot of time. However, I see much value in this approach, even more so than my initial assumption. Building solid relationships before business creates a good bond. However, that goes to say that not all Asian cultures that put relationships and community first will always want to build solid relationships first.

Reading the book, I found myself wondering how much conflict has started due to cultural misunderstandings. This book has helped me better understand why it is essential to learn about different cultures. I believe this book could be helpful in all areas of life, especially in America, where there is a vast melting pot of different cultures. It could also be beneficial in the workplace by helping cultural conflict, compromising when two individuals do not see eye to eye due to cultural differences, and more.

This book is an excellent foundation for learning about cultural differences and why we need to learn about each other as a collective and as individuals. My advice for promoting this book would be to bring it to a function or an organizational event to pique the minds of the people attending the event. People will see it and ask about it, which can lead to a conversation about cultural differences and how to work together. It truly is a great book to start learning about how to work with different cultures and learning about one’s own cultural style. I will be recommending it to many people I come across.

Important Information:

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