Try to realise it's all within yourself. No one else can make you change (The Beatles)

Photo by Sonika Agarwal on Unsplash

According to social scientist David Livermore in his book The Cultural Intelligence Difference - “The number one predictor of your success in today’s borderless world is not your IQ, not your resume (CV), and not even your expertise. It’s your Cultural Intelligence (or CQ).”

I've lived and worked in The Middle East, China, England and New Zealand so I have a gut feel my CQ is relatively quite high.

But let's test that out with CQ's questions that assess four distinct components. 

The first is “CQ Drive” – the motivation to learn about other cultures. I think Jacky's and my inclination to head for places as an adventure ticks that box. I have loved living in those places and experiencing things more fully, rather than as a tourist who visits for a few days.

Which leads us to “CQ Knowledge”- an understanding of some of the general cultural differences you may face. We learnt as we went and had some enlightening experiences, particularly in Al Ain (UAE) and Doha (Qatar). The Arabic world is fascinating and we have a lot to learn from it.

“CQ Strategy”, examines how you make sense of those difficult confrontations and learn from them and we were definitely up for this in China and the Middle East. When living in countries like China and the Middle East I was a guest and not a citizen so the lessons I took from my experiences were tempered by that. 

Finally, “CQ Action" involves your behavioural flexibility – whether you are able to adapt your conduct like a cultural chameleon. And that box, based on the CQ strategy comments, is ticked as well.

So - as I first thought, my CQ is looking peachy keen, if I do say so myself.