Dealing with the dual challenges of place and people
"Equipping people and organizations to thrive in an interculturally complex and global world". This is our mission statement, and this is what drives us.
If we unpack that statement, we notice at least two important assumptions that we believe should pervade our thinking: We live in a "global" world that is interculturally complex; and thriving in it is both possible and worth pursuing.
This is what we help people to do: ‘To thrive in a Global World’. Here's a typical scenario from the leadership team of a large international company:
Two of the higher level leaders of the team are from very different parts of the world and are working together to develop a new office in a third country that will act as a hub for the entire region. Both are struggling to thrive, and are bogged down with all sorts of issues that have little to do with their actual jobs.
They face these parallel problems:
i) The global nature of the task (making a new hub for a different region of the world); and
ii) The aspect of interacting with colleagues from different cultures, many of whom are themselves adjusting to a new environment.
This dual challenge presented by a global and interculturally complex world is becoming increasingly common in every industry.
The significance of living in a global and interculturally complex world
We use the terms "global" and "inter-culturally" complex, because they represent the two aspects of the challenges we all face: the geographic aspect and the interpersonal aspect. Increasingly, people and organizations truly do work in multiple geographies – they must, in order to survive and grow. It is likely that you are in a work environment where many of your colleagues or teams have different cultural backgrounds and worldviews.
Even if you don't personally work in multiple countries, this complexity is still present. You may work primarily in one large cosmopolitan area, or in one of the intercultural pockets that grew up around the confluence of opportunities presented by specific industries (for example, the oil and gas industry transforming the small city of Stavanger, Norway into a rich and complex cultural melting pot). Nevertheless, you still need to deal with clients and colleagues across multiple geographies, or the policies of multiple jurisdictions, and therefore the worldviews represented there.
The term ‘thrive’ is empowering and life-giving
Too often people just accept that they live in an environment where clashes are common, if not inevitable. We have learned that these clashes typically arise because of a misunderstanding of the cultural complexities behind everyday interactions. But we don't have to face these challenges through gritted teeth. By becoming more interculturally intelligent, we can learn to thrive in these environments.
We like to use the word "thrive", because the intercultural global space can be a place where we can quickly adapt even when pushed outside our comfort zone. It can be a place that is energizing and even fun. Yes, there is complexity there; but that complexity can actually become understandable and navigable through the ICI framework.
KnowledgeWorkx is uniquely suited to taking this journey with you
Our products and services were born in Dubai, perhaps one of the most cosmopolitan and interculturally complex cities in the world, making them exceptionally suitable for any city or environment. We equip our clients in one of two ways:
i) We directly provide you with our tools, overseeing their application to your teams and personnel; providing combinations of coaching, L&D workshops, and tailored facilitated processes. We can work alongside you to help determine the specific goals and metrics that you want or need to achieve; and help you achieve them by making that journey with you.
ii) We can certify one or more of your personnel in our ICI methodology, so that you have a fully-licensed and trained ICI Practitioner on site.
Our entire framework has been designed to ensure that everything we do works towards our aim of helping people 'to thrive in a global world'. Simply put, our framework allows us to accurately analyze any intercultural context, and to design solutions and adaptation strategies that work.
Discover more of what the KnowledgeWorkx framework and mission can do for you in a message from our international director Marco Blankenburgh.
To begin your intercultural learning journey, email us. We hope that through your engagement with KnowledgeWorkx, you will thrive in our global and interculturally complex world. We trust our article library will also aid in showing you how that can happen, and what that might look like for you.
Quickly becoming the global preferred choice for Inter-Cultural Intelligence development, KnowledgeWorkx promotes mutual understanding of other cultures and perspectives in the workplace, and helps teams to develop the intercultural capacity necessary to thrive in a globalized world.
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