Cultural Intelligence: Knowledge

By Dr. Graham McKeague

Think about a time when you needed to learn something new. Perhaps it was a problem you needed to solve, or trying to fix something that was broken. Whatever the specific solution, what steps did you take to learn what you needed to know? 

There’s more information available to us today than at any point in human history – we will quickly grab our phones to look up the information we need, watch a YouTube explainer video, or ask AI to help us. What if the information we need isn’t so easy to find as watching a YouTube video or a quick Google search? What happens when we aren’t even sure what knowledge we need to find to begin with? When we go out on mission, this is often a challenge we face. What should we learn in order to prepare? How will we know if we are on track with what we’re learning or if we should focus on other information? This is especially difficult when we are going to a new place and meeting people we don’t know. 

From the earliest days of the church, Christians have needed to learn how to communicate the message of the Gospel in new places and among people they didn’t know. This included knowing something about the cultures they were reaching. Where should we start in learning how to share the Gospel with others we don’t know from different communities?  

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

This blog post covers Knowledge, which focuses on learning about aspects of people and cultures so that we are better prepared for mission. Developing CQ means that we begin to notice things about other cultures that are similar to what we are familiar with, but also things that are different. Focusing too much on similarities between cultures means that we can miss out on experiencing all of the wonderful diversity of people and places God has created, but if we go too far and only focus on differences, then we can have a more difficult time connecting with others in a meaningful way. Finding a balance is a great approach where we can find points of connection with others who are different from us, but we remain open to learning about new aspects of culture.  

So, how do we build our knowledge using CQ? 

Using a CQ approach takes learning about culture a step further by also focusing on cultural patterns. Research has shown that cultures can be understood by observing patterns of how people think and behave. Understanding patterns of how cultures function can unlock even deeper learning. What are a couple of examples? Some cultures are very precise about when things should happen (clock time) – if the meeting is supposed to start at 9 am, then it should start at 9 am and no later than 9:05 am. Other cultures will not focus on starting at a specific time, but are more flexible (event time), and prefer to start once people have arrived, even if it is well past 9 am. This is a cultural pattern to do with time orientation. Another example is that some cultures value very direct and clear communication styles – the emphasis is on saying things as precisely and directly as possible to avoid misunderstanding (direct communication). Other cultures prefer to use storytelling or communicate less directly – this is often done to avoid offending someone or maintaining harmony in a relationship or group (indirect communication). Again, this is a cultural pattern, this time around communication preferences. Knowing that these are likely to be cultural patterns, rather than people being intentionally late or rude, is a form of deeper CQ learning. 

As you prepare to go and serve, begin by brainstorming or listing all of the things you think you might need to learn, or things you’re interested in knowing about where you’ll be serving. These can be big things or small details, but the key is beginning to envision being on mission in a new place and asking yourself what you might need to know as you prepare. This can be done individually, but is also a great team activity – hearing what other people want to learn can spark new ideas, and together you can come up with a shared list of things to learn. Being curious to learn is the best place to start!

It’s helpful to learn some of the most “obvious” parts of a different culture – these are things like what language or specific words people use, how people dress, the food people eat, etc. You might also learn about things to avoid doing or saying that could be considered offensive or rude. This kind of information can help you prepare in very practical ways and gives you a sense of what behaviors and interactions you might expect to have with other people you’ll meet. 

Discussion Questions

1. How would you describe your overall level of knowledge for serving on mission? 
2. What questions do you have as you prepare to go on mission? What things are you curious about or wish you knew more about? 
3. What do you hope to learn more about as you participate on mission? 
4. Think about the two cultural patterns listed above – do you prefer to be precise on clock time, or like event time? Do you prefer a direct or indirect communication style?