Category Archives: Press Release

Cultural Detective African-American Now Available!

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coverAfAmThe Cultural Detective team is very pleased to announce the release of one of our most requested and highly anticipated packages — Cultural Detective African American! It is now available both in Cultural Detective Online and via site license.

Cultural Detective® African American explores the complexities of the culture and examines the values and communication styles of this community in an effort to bridge cultural gaps and support more inclusive groups, communities, and workplaces. It joins other domestic diversity packages in the series, including Cultural Detective Generational Harmony, Cultural Detective Women and Men, Cultural Detective LGBT, and the soon-to-be-released, Cultural Detective Latino/Hispanic.

Below, a message from package co-author Kelli McLoud Schingen:

ALI 1I facilitated an Advanced Leadership Institute for the Southwestern Black Student Leadership Conference January 17-20th, and thought that this would be the perfect place to pilot the Cultural Detective African American package that I co-authored with Patricia M. Coleman. There were 25 male and female upper-level students from universities all over the U.S., prepared for an intensive three-day workshop with me on leadership skills and cultural self-awareness. I spent the first day building trust and laying the foundation for the weekend. I facilitated activities that took the students on an exploration of their leadership styles, emotional intelligence, personality types and finally, cultural self-awareness.

ALI 2On the last day I Introduced the Cultural Detective, the purpose and intent of it, and the extensive research and in-depth process that Patricia and I went through to develop the tool. Understandably, the students met the tool with a great deal of suspicion. To say they were skeptical would be a gross understatement. I implored the students to stay with me and trust the process. The students started by working on the critical incidents in the package. I then asked the small groups to present on their findings. They were surprised that there was so much to consider and really convinced that the only valid perspective was the perspective and values of the African American “character” in the incident. I spent a great deal of time sharing how we view things through our own cultural lens, and then I unveiled the African American Values Lens. It didn’t take long for the students to be sold on the process and the values as I walked them through the positive and negative interpretations of each value. They seemed to be having fun and were fully engaged. Many of them commented just how grateful they were to FINALLY have words to describe their feelings, experiences, and cultural norms that they’ve inherited. They laughed at themselves and each other as they peeled back the onion of culture, and were grateful for the opportunity to explore cultural difference in this way. When I asked if they felt that the tool was an authentic representation of African American values they said, “Absolutely Ms. Kelli!”  Then I thought, “I guess we’re ready for launch.”

SIETAR Florida will honor Black History Month 2013 with a dialogue entitled, “Am I Black or African American?” via teleconference.  Featuring co-authors of Cultural Detective African American, Kelli McLoud-Schingen, Immediate Past President of SIETAR USA, and Patricia Coleman, President of SIETAR Florida. Please join us on Wednesday February 13, 2013 at 13h Miami time (1pm EST/12 CST/11MST/10PST).
Please RSVP by February 11th.

Access the event via conference line:

Dial-in Number: (559) 726-1000
Participant Access Code: 857895

 

Happy 75th Birthday to George Simons!

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CDTurkeyCoverWe were very pleased a couple of weeks ago to celebrate the 75th birthday of one of our beloved team members, George Simons, the prolific co-author of seven packages in our CD series, lifelong diversity and cross-cultural professional, and devoted mentor to so many.

It struck me that you might enjoy seeing a couple of the ways in which he was celebrated. The first was in an entry in “Seven Billion Actions: a global movement for all humanity.” This is the site designed to showcase individuals who are actively working to make the UN Millennium Development Goals a reality. Cultural Detective is also honored to have a place on that site.

Another tribute to George that you might find interesting appeared in the Istanbul Post; a pdf version of that issue is available, with George’s profile on page 31. An English translation of the article is below:

Reflections on Culture and Human Communication

Istanbul Post, Nr. 47, January/February 2013, istanbulpost.net.

On 12 January 2013 George Simons celebrated his 75th birthday.  His life still bounces back and forth between the U.S.A. and France, and involves frequent trips elsewhere as a consultant and trainer. He also keeps himself busy developing networks.

Among those working to improve intercultural communication, George Simons is already a legend. He has participated in dozens of projects, written and contributed to many books and publications. One of these projects has been the Cultural Detective Turkey, a result of his collaboration with Dr. Perihan Ügeöz.

Asking questions

George Simons has been involved with culture and intercultural communication for decades. As a consultant to international companies and organizations, he has garnered experience by working in more than 40 countries. One reservoir into which his experience has been pooled is the Society for intercultural Education Training and Research (SIETAR). Another is the aforementioned Cultural Detective series of training materials where questions about many different countries appear.

Somewhat like the famous TV series detective Colombo, with his eye for detail and, at first glance, seemingly simple questions, he has he steadily contributed to the sensitive treatment of people from different cultures.

“Excuse me, sir, sir, just one more question…” Colombo, the detective, with his unique brand of disarming charm, always manages, thanks to his keen eye for what’s going on and his meticulous style, to stumble on a solution to the case. Colombo’s proven method, before passing judgment is always to ask lots of questions, playing along with the game to set the stage…. The Cultural Detective method gives participants a hands-on experience of how to become “cultural detectives.”

Cultural Detective works with case studies. These cases are not about murder and manslaughter. They are the true stories of people from the business world, who coming from different cultures, must bring off the difficult task of working together. Cultural Detective’s method puts a magnifying glass in your hand, with which you can discover the key cultural values of another society. The detective is called upon to empathize with the story and, loupe in hand, track down the core values that shape the behaviors and motives of the actors in the case histories. Not infrequently it is this lens that leads one to cry out, “Aha, now I understand! ”

Reflecting on oneself

One of the basic principles here is that understanding others begins, first of all with better understanding one’s own self. This is evident not only in the contributions of George Simons to the intercultural profession and in his trainings sessions, but is apparent in his opinion pieces and essays, mainly published in English in US American journals. Here, sometimes ironically and sometimes in the tradition of Lieutenant Colombo, he calls into question developments in U.S. society and invites readers to see things with a fresh perspective.

Get in Intercultural Shape for the New Year!

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New Year Collage

Welcome to the New Year — at least for those of you following the Gregorian calendar! Are you ready? Is your organization poised and equipped to make significant positive contributions to this planet of ours? Do you have organizational traditions to kick-off the new year and encourage employees to strive towards new goals?

Most cultures of the world have very special traditions for sending out the old year and bringing in the new one. In Mexico where I live women wear special undergarments on New Year’s Eve — either red for love or yellow for gold or money — symbolizing what they most want to receive in the year ahead. Those who would like to travel carry a suitcase out into the street and around the block.

In Japan where I lived previously, the end of the year is a time to clean the house, purging it of things from the past that are no longer needed. We cook osechi foods, the beautiful make-ahead kinds of delicacies that will feed family and visitors through the first few days of the new year, and allow everyone — including the cook — to enjoy a respite.

What are your traditions for saying goodbye to the past year and greeting the future? Do you make resolutions, set goals, or make plans to learn something new?

My absolute favorite New Year’s was spent with good friends nearly two decades ago. On New Year’s Eve, we wrote down the hurts we’d experienced, the negative habits or memories we continued to carry and wanted to get rid of, the qualities about ourselves that no longer served us, the visions of ourselves, others or our businesses that were not constructive. We made a big bonfire, and we had a field day burning these no-longer-wanted items. Oh how liberating it was! We all felt so light, so energized!

On New Year’s morning we woke before sunrise. We had written, on paper we’d folded into origami boats, the qualities we wanted to receive and nurture in the new year. The positive habits and qualities we wanted to cultivate, relationships and moments we wanted to consciously treasure, and healthy visions of ourselves, others and our businesses that we wanted to hold close. We launched these items into the ocean, setting them into motion.

The beginning of a year is a good time to reflect on our cross-cultural successes (Cultural Effectives) as well as to learn from our mistakes and misunderstandings (Cultural Defectives) and decide what kind of year we want in 2013. Back in October we published a post about intercultural fitness. In November we reiterated why such fitness is so important, why organizations need intercultural fitness.

Maybe reading these posts has helped you to decide what to throw in the fire and what to set out into the water? If your fire is full of cultural missteps and your boat contains a desire to expand your intercultural competence, maybe it’s time you took action!

Cultural Detective wants to encourage you to get fit, too — interculturally fit! Much like committing to an exercise plan or a sensible nutrition plan, committing to prioritizing intercultural competence in the coming year will serve us well personally, in our families, as well as in our work lives. Also, just like a gym, it can be fun. We can spend as much time as we like and we might meet some really interesting people.

The new year is full of special offers for gym memberships, exercise classes, and diet programs — ways to encourage you to get fit in 2013. Just as gyms and diet programs offer incentives this time of year, the Cultural Detective Online intercultural competence gym is offering complimentary three-day subscriptions to help get you focused and motivated!

Here is how to get yours:

  1. Log on to http://www.culturaldetective.com/cdonline/orders/trial before January 31, 2013.
  2. Enter your name, email address and the promotional code: NewYearFitness
  3. You will receive a verification email from cdonline@culturaldetective.com. Be sure to clear it in your spam filter! Click the link in the email, follow the instructions, and explore a new way to improve your intercultural fitness 24/7!

We hope you will take advantage of this special offer to learn how Cultural Detective Online can assist you at home and abroad, with colleagues and friends, in your community and in your organization! Feel free to share this offer with those you care about — we think the world could benefit from a little more intercultural competence on everyone’s part!

Best wishes for a peaceful year ahead from the Cultural Detective team!

Every Organization Needs Intercultural Competence

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Nearly every organization these days, even the smallest and most local, works with diverse customers, team members, vendors, and service providers. A corner grocery store serves people from different age groups, ethnicities, and spiritual traditions. So, which holiday greetings should the grocery store use, if any, so as not to offend or exclude? Why do some of the regular customers talk only to male employees? Could the store increase profits or attract new customers if it started offering halal meats or Latino grocery items?

What about the graphic designer who puts up a website or Facebook page designed to attract local clients, only to find that the first inquiries come in from overseas? The mere fact that you have an online presence can mean you offer your products and services worldwide. And what about the free clinic that finds itself dealing with patient care issues of recent immigrants from places halfway across the planet? Or disaster relief agencies attempting to coordinate aid from around the world, getting it to the places it needs to be, quickly?

Cross-cultural competence, the ability to communicate effectively across cultures, is a mandatory skill in today’s interconnected world. It will help you:
  • Service diverse customers in the ways they expect.
  • Attract, retain and make the most of the talented professionals your organization needs to succeed.
  • Sell more products or services, to the people who need them.
  • Achieve success in your negotiations.
  • Discern the “right” mergers and acquisitions for your purposes.
  • Get more productivity and satisfaction out of your local and virtual teams, projects, and vendors.
  • Jump start the outcomes of study abroad and international education, as well as expatriate assignments.
  • Ensure you get the most out of the time and money you invest in international, cross-country and regional business travel.
  • Develop mutually respectful relationships with clients, employees and other stakeholders.

Cross-cultural competence is a needed skill for all of us, and it helps improve our family and social lives as well as our work lives. But amidst all the competing priorities for our time and attention, how can we develop such competence? To most of us, going back to school or even taking a few days off work for a class isn’t doable. And besides, like physical fitness, cultural fitness requires ongoing, structured practice, not just one trip to a training room.

If only there were an online cross-cultural coach available to us anytime, anywhere, at low cost. One that didn’t make us memorize lists of dos and don’ts, that didn’t promote stereotypes but rather encouraged dialogue and critical thinking. An online coach that would provide a process for recognizing cultural differences, helping us to understand and leverage them as assets rather than as roadblocks. Better yet, an online coach that could help us make sense of our everyday experiences, learning how to transform obstacles into opportunities, and frustration into innovation. A tool we could navigate freely, according to our needs and interests, not some online talking heads or narrated slide show. A tool that would be available on our time — when and where we want it…

I am very excited to be able to share with you just such a solution, yours free for three days, no strings attached. It is a brand new online system based on the proven Cultural Detective Method used by governments, NGOs and for-profit organizations around the world.

Free 3-day trial to Cultural Detective Online!

“Cultural Detective is directly responsible for a 30% increase in our customer satisfaction ratings.”

“Cultural Detective sped up my learning curve; it allowed me to become a part of the team and have an impact on the business more quickly.”

“I have received kudos from my managers and the Vice President for having chosen the Cultural Detective. But the kudos should really go to you. Cultural Detective is a rock solid methodology.”

Pass this offer around; the 3-day-free trial offer is good from now through December 31, 2012.
To redeem:

  1. Log on to http://www.culturaldetective.com/cdonline/orders/trial
  2. Enter your name, email address and the code: Promo3
  3. You will receive a verification email from cdonline@culturaldetective.com. Click the link in the email, follow the instructions and you will be ready to go!

Enter your learning goals, explore 50+ fully integrated packages including full Values Lenses and 400 Critical Incidents, or upload and debrief your own real-life situations. Your customers, partners and employees, even your family members, will notice the difference!

Improve your ability to understand and collaborate across cultures, and help your friends, family members and colleagues to do the same! Let’s create a more inclusive, creative, collaborative and productive world out there! Get a clue!

Empower Leadership to Embrace and Leverage Differences

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“Your seminar was a beautiful illustration of the effect of the quality of cultural response in an executive’s decision process.  The interactive example was instructive and memorable—not a person in the room hadn’t been in situations precisely like those we experienced in the practical exercise. Yet, we had in this case an opportunity to “unpack” the experience and follow its likely conclusion. You fulfilled every expectation that I had for the seminar—my only regret is that we didn’t have more time!”
—Turner White, Executive Professor Helzberg School of Management

What processes and tools do your executives have at their fingertips to make those “game changing” decisions that affect important employee groups? Does culture play into their decision-making process? How do they adapt when working across cultures when we know that common sense is really culturally based?

In business today we almost all concede culture—at a minimum—has an increasing impact on real-world outcomes and ultimately the bottom-line. So developing the key skills necessary to make culturally informed decisions can mean the difference between profitability and losing loyalty of high potential employees.

Wouldn’t it be nice to learn a simple process that once learned can increase your leadership’s effectiveness in working across all cultural lines – from gender, national, ethnic, industry, functional role to even sexual orientation differences? A process so uniquely rich that, once internalized, it can be used for elevating a leader’s communication and decision-making effectiveness on a global scale?

It’s Cultural Detective. And for a special collaborative event we’ve teamed with KMA to offer you a taste of our Methodology and their web-based training focused on the LGBT culture. This facilitated online learning event led by industry expert, Rita Wuebbeler, teaches the core Cultural Detective Method and unveils the LGBT shared values which often motivate behavior—allowing you to focus on the differences that make a difference and promote inclusion and productivity.

Register for this virtual event to be held December 6th from 10am-11:30am Central USA Time, and bring this unique set of cross-cultural tools to your leadership today!

Facilitated Online Learning Sessions for Cross-Cultural Skills

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How can you quickly develop the skills necessary to lead your global team, manage your global project or prepare for expansion to emerging markets, without leaving your desk?

The Cultural Detective team presents a two-part series of Facilitated Online Learning Sessions that will provide you with the keys to a proven, industry-changing and industry-leading toolset for developing your individual and organizational global competence and to ultimately succeed where “culture conflicts” caused failed ventures.

  • Learn how to build trust in your global relationships.
  • Develop highly productive global teams.
  • Complete projects on time and under budget.
  • Determine how to best enter and succeed in your targeted international markets.
  • Know how to deliver superior client service, globally.
  • Get the most from your international assignees by equipping them with the skills necessary to excel in any culture.

Sessions will be held Wednesday and Friday, February 27 and March 1, 2013! Click here for more information or to reserve your spot. Seats are limited.

 

Cultural Detective Online is LIVE!!!!!!!!

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Cultural Detective is proud to announce the new product launch of Cultural Detective Online! This tool is like having a virtual coach in your back pocket, successfully guiding you through the all-too-common missteps of cross-cultural negotiations and communications. Please check out the four videos on the home page. Today only (15-16 October, depending where you are on the planet) there is a 25% launch discount; enter promo code:   CDO-blog25  during checkout.

Huge thanks goes out to each of you who have worked with and incorporated the Cultural Detective Method into work with your clients or employee populations globally, as over the past eight years this tool has become a significant contribution to the intercultural field. Because of our clients and team, Cultural Detective has become globally recognized as one of the premier developmental tools of our time. Now we are on the cusp of very exciting and broader use of the tool through Cultural Detective Online! This new product launch furthers our mission of encouraging communities globally to prosper through intercultural understanding and collaboration.

Cultural Detective Online is useful in a broad range of contexts including global business negotiations and multicultural team effectiveness, international assignments and study abroad, and for successfully communicating within our families and communities, and within and across faith traditions.

A subscription to Cultural Detective Online offers the opportunity to explore the concepts of “culture” and “values” and how they impact communication in everyday life. It provides access to dozens of culture-specific Values Lenses and topic-specific Challenges Lenses, hundreds of real world cross-cultural incidents, and the easy-to-use Cultural Detective process for improving the ability to collaborate successfully across cultures, both on individual and organizational levels.

We are excited to announce that subscriptions are now available for individuals or groups, and we invite you to subscribe to Cultural Detective Online today by visiting http://www.culturaldetective.com/cdonline/ ! Subscriptions start at less than US$100/year, and are less for larger groups of subscribers. You will rarely find more value for your money.

Cultural Detective Online for International Teams

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You’ve already told us Cultural Detective is fabulous. That it’s helped your team achieve its deliverables. That it’s rocketed your performance to new levels. That’s why we are very excited to SOON be able to offer you the Cultural Detective product line as an integrated, online system rather than as stand-alone packages! And, better yet, it’s designed as a personal coach, encouraging you and your team members to track your goals, summarize and apply your learning, and upload, debrief and share with a facilitator, team lead or each other your daily life experiences (and make accurate meaning from them).

Be sure to stay tuned for our official launch. Or, enter to win a free subscription for you or your team!

If you are unable to view the video above (if you are on an iPad or other device that doesn’t play Flash), click here to view the video on YouTube.

Please feel free to share this video with others who might be seeking a virtual intercultural coach. Please let us know what you think! Thank you!

Incredible Cross-cultural Professional Development Opportunity in Cannes

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October 11-14, three full days of training in intercultural competence Friday-Sunday, and a welcome dinner on Thursday evening. Your fees are amazingly affordable, especially considering they can include lodging and three meals/day at the beautiful Cannes Mandelieu Holiday Village in Côte d’Azur, Mandelieu, France!

I think I might be joining you, George!

Your participation in this workshop also benefits SIETAR France, and if you wish to join the organization and don’t already, they are extending to you a discount on membership as well.

Download or view detailed information, or download registration and payment details. Should you desire more information please contact the facilitator, the inimitable George Simons.

By the way, any of you attending the Summer Institute for Intercultural Communication, there are still two seats available for the Cultural Detective Facilitator Certification workshop on July 21-22 at Reed College in Portland, OR. See details here.

Our final certification of 2012 will be held after the SIETAR USA conference, in Minneapolis, MN USA in late October. We look forward to having you join us!

If you’ve already attended, please share your experience with others in the Comments below.

Cultural Detective – First International Service Trade Under the New Colombia-USA Free Trade Agreement

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Fernando Parrado Herrera, gerente Global Minds, Dianne Hofner Saphiere, fundadora Cultural Detective y presidente Nipporica Associates LLC, Andrés Forero Medina, presidente Forero Medina & Abogados Asociados

PRIMERA EXPORTACION DE SERVICIOS TRANSFRONTERIZOS BAJO EL TLC DESDE BOGOTA (español sigue abajo)

We are very proud to announce that on May 14, 2012, during the international event “Intercultural Competencies for Negotiating under the Free Trade Agreements,” which was held in the Alumni Club of Andes University, we formalized the first export of cross-border services under the new Free Trade Agreement between Colombia and the USA. The export was for international legal and business consulting services and training in intercultural negotiation to develop free trade commerce under article 11 of the FTA.

We trust that this first export will provide Colombians and US Americans intercultural marketing support for long-term business success, and the specialized legal services required to develop commerce between Colombia and the USA. Businesses worldwide will have access to local consulting services in Bogotá, developed under the Cultural Detective brand, generating 15 more jobs in the areas of consulting, interculturalism and international negotiation.

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Mayo 15. Tenemos mucho gusto de participar a ustedes que en el día de ayer 14 de Mayo de 2012, en el marco del Curso Internacional sobre Competencias interculturales para negociar en los Tratados de Libre Comercio, realizado en Uniandinos, se formalizó la primera exportación de servicios transfronterizos de Colombia, dentro del Marco del TLC de Colombia con Estados Unidos de América para la exportación de servicios de consultoría legal en Comercio internacional y servicios de entrenamiento en negociación intercultural para los tratados de libre comercio en desarrollo del capítulo 11 del Tratado.

Se espera con esta primera exportación poner a disposición de empresarios Colombianos y norteamericanos un soporte de servicios en materia de mercadeo intercultural para negocios de largo plazo y de los servicios legales especializados que son requeridos para el desarrollo de negocios entre Colombia y los Estados Unidos. Numerosas empresas tendrán acceso en todo el mundo a los servicios de consultoría en Bogotá, desarrollados en el marco del Cultural Detective, generando actualmente mas de 15 empleos en las areas de consultoría, interculturalidad y negocios internacionales.