Cultural Intelligence: Action

By Dr. Graham McKeague

How much do you like to adapt what you say and do based on the situation? Is it important that you stay the same at all times and don’t adapt at all, or is it good to sometimes adapt? Take a moment to think about how you communicate with your best friend – you probably have inside jokes, memories you share that you can remember and laugh about, specific words and phrases that make sense to you and nobody else, etc. Now think about how you communicate with a teacher, or perhaps your boss if you have one. Would you communicate with your teacher or boss in the exact same way as your best friend? For most people, the answer is “no.” We naturally tend to adapt the words we use and how we communicate based on the specific circumstances and people we are communicating with. This is often something we learn to do early in life, and we can easily not even notice that we are adapting like this every day based on the situation. 

There are also other times where we are more aware that we should perhaps adapt our behavior – meeting someone for the first time, or going to a new place, joining a new school or church, visiting the doctor, or going to your grandparents’ house. For each of these, you might consider how you’ll adapt your actions and communication to best fit the situation. This is exactly what CQ Action is all about – it’s being able to adapt our communication and interactions with others from different cultures in a way that makes our ability to connect with them even stronger. It’s something we see modeled in the New Testament in Paul’s life.

In 1 Corinthians 9:19-23, Paul outlines his approach to ministry in a fascinating summary by saying that he, “became all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some” (v.22). What is Paul getting at here? What he’s saying is that he recognized that in order to fully live out what God had called him to do, he would need to be able to communicate effectively with Jews and Gentiles, slaves and free people, the strong and the weak. This list represents different groups of people who lived in Paul’s day. He didn’t simply learn about these different groups, but he went further, becoming like them in his behavior and mindset in order to reach them with the Gospel. For the Jews, he adapted his behavior to match what they would need to hear, and for the Greeks, he adapted again in another way to meet their needs. This is CQ Action, knowing when and how to adapt our words and behavior to meet the specific moments we have with people from different cultures. 

Cultural Intelligence (CQ) is a research-based approach to becoming more effective in working with others who are different from us. It has four areas that can be developed over time so that you can become more effective in ministry. These areas are: 

• CQ Drive
• CQ Knowledge
• CQ Strategy
• CQ Action

So, how do we build our action using CQ? 

1. Action builds on Drive, Knowledge, and Strategy – having covered the other three parts of CQ, this fourth part works best when combined with the others so that you can know how best to adapt your behavior and communication. It takes the motivation and learning you’ve done, the planning you’ve put in place, and uses all of that background to help you know how to be effective. This can be as simple as speaking more slowly when communicating to people who don’t share your language so they can try to keep up with what you’re saying, or knowing when and how to speak a few words in their language, or being able to express gratitude in a more expressive way than you are used to in order to fit in with a more expressive culture, etc. There are many ways you can adapt to become more effective, and using your knowledge and strategy will guide you. 
2. The importance of practice and reflection – one of the best ways to learn something new is to practice, reflect on what you did, make any necessary adjustments, and try again. This builds patterns of learning that make it easier and more natural to adapt over time. During your trip, try and intentionally notice when you need to adapt your words or behavior, and don’t be afraid to lean into it! Even if it feels different or scary to adapt, this is helping you to grow and build CQ. Then, make sure to reflect on what you’ve learned, perhaps by journaling each night or as part of regular team meetings, or by talking with someone who can give you helpful input. 
3. Finally, seek to encourage and refine each other on your team as you seek to grow in CQ. Help each other to stay motivated, to keep learning, to plan well, and to adapt as needed throughout your trip. Speak out when you see specific moments that you can use to help encourage your teammates, and yes, find ways to gently help them refine where they can be even more effective next time. 

Growing in CQ takes being curious, staying humble as you learn and try new things, and practicing adapting so that it becomes more and more natural. Doing so will help you to become even more effective in mission and help you find deeper joy in serving God.

Discussion Questions

1. When do you tend to adapt your words and behavior based on who you are with? What are some specific examples of how you adapt? 
2. Based on what you’ve learned through CQ so far, what are some ways you think you might need to adapt your words and behaviors during the trip? 
3. Summarize Paul’s approach to ministry from 1 Corinthians 9. In what ways does his example speak to you? 
4. What’s one way you can commit to implementing CQ on your trip?