Saving Face in African Time While Bowing to the Boss

 David Livermore’s 3rd edition of Leading with Cultural Intelligence is being published. Livermore is an expert in the field of cultural intelligence and gives us an updated framework for assessing our cultural quotient (CQ). He describes four dimensions: Drive (motivation), Knowledge, Strategy and Action. Lots of other cross-cultural books and articles deal mainly with Knowledge. This part is easy to gain if you’re interested. And it’s this interest, this motivation that Livermore realized was missing from some of his early efforts; he assumed everyone in a cross-cultural situation would want to know more and figure out how to adopt/adapt and execute in someone else’s culture, in order to be the most effective. Sadly this turned out not to be the case with some of his clients.

Even if you’re not working in international endeavors (or traveling to other countries), we all interact with many sub-cultures (north vs. south, rural vs urban, 1st generation immigrant vs established family history, socioeconomic status, generational, levels of industry experience, single industry vs multi-industry exposure, etc. and obviously ethnicities). Livermore provides some solutions to any of the fear, paralysis, blundering, blustering, over-exuberant responses we may be tempted to have in our daily situations.

I highly recommend this book and am appreciative of the publisher for letting me see an advanced copy of this edition.

A Plethora of Business Hacks—abridged

 Roel de Graaf has compiled an impressive list of “hacks” in his new book 180 Business Hacks. Each is presented in groups and with short paragraph descriptions. Many come with a citation to the originator (author, book). As you read through them, you’ll need to discern which ones apply. Many overlap. The short descriptions whet your appetite but won’t allow you to execute the idea fully: for that, you’ll need to dive into the original source on those or look for other references. Some hacks overlap and seem redundant. Others are contradictory—but that’s okay at times. Business is full of contradictions, like there’s good friction (a slowing effect that keeps you from making a mistake) and bad friction (a slowing effect that hinders progress). Or adages like “never give up” but you want to also “fail fast and adapt.” The author doesn’t spend time to sort out the contradictions or the overlaps or describe what scenarios are appropriate for any particular hack. You’re on your own for that.

Still, this is a worthwhile collection if you need to learn from others’ experiences or thoughts or you need to drive your wheels out of a business rut.

I’m appreciative of the publisher for providing an advanced copy.