Your ‘Cultural Profile Snapshot’ Is Like Your Cultural Fingerprint

When COVID-19 created the need to start of self-quarantining, many of my friends took up new hobbies and projects—everything from candle-making to landscaping. It seems that during times of heightened uncertainty, mastering a new skill can help us all feel calmer and more capable. Not only that, but virtual and intercultural skills have become extremely pertinent to the current global workplace. So, what better time to start (or continue) your cross-cultural journey?

At RW3, we understand the challenges that are amplified or brought on by the pandemic, and we believe cross-cultural learning should be accessible, intuitive, and fun for everyone. We know that we aren’t just helping organizations thrive in a dynamic, global business context—we’re also teaching life skills that inform the way people around the world interact on a daily basis, especially right now.

Our services and products are oriented around the CultureWizard Intercultural Model, which describes different aspects of culture in terms of eight unique cultural Dimensions. When you register with CultureWizard, the first thing you’ll do is set up your cultural profile by using the Culture Calculator to learn where you fall along the spectrum of each Dimension. For example, your results for the Formality Dimension will indicate whether you have a more or less formal style, how important dress and appearance is to you, and how likely you are to use honorifics and titles.

What’s New in CultureWizard?

If you’re already familiar with CultureWizard and the Intercultural Model, you’ll be happy to know that our updated Culture Calculator Suite has some new and improved features to enhance your experience as an end-user, and to make it more effective as an intercultural learning tool. These improvements include things like the implementation of a more nuanced 10-point scale for each Cultural Dimension instead of the old 5-point scale. Of course, this helps you see more subtle differences or similarities between yourself, other cultures, or fellow team members.

The new Suite also allows you to compare yourself with individuals who are not within a designated team. This means you can learn more about how you compare to others across departments or who work in a separate office, a different region, or another country.

So, What’s A Cultural Profile Snapshot?

A standout modification we made to the Culture Calculator Suite is what we call your “Cultural Profile Snapshot.” The Cultural Profile Snapshot offers a visual overview of the personal results you receive upon completing our self-assessment. You can see a screenshot of the chart on this page, showing each Dimension as a slice of pie. Your “ranking” in each Dimension is plotted on each slice to represent where you fall along each spectrum. For example, the screenshot below shows an individual who is strongly motivated by a work-life balance, is very egalitarian and informal, tends to be more individualistic, and generally values more direct communication. But they have a moderate view of time, interpersonal relationships, and are somewhat tolerant to change.

Why Add The Cultural Profile Snapshot Feature?

The Cultural Profile Snapshot is an important addition to the Culture Calculator for a few different reasons:

1. Visual Learning Styles are an important part of any online learning platform, and visual elements like color can be used to activate certain parts of the brain and improve learning. The colors of your Cultural Profile Snapshot can help your brain distinguish between different Dimensions of the Intercultural Model, making it easier to digest the information about each Dimension. In a broader sense, the Cultural Profile Snapshot can be helpful to visual learners, who may not retain written information as well as a visual display.
2. Continuous Learning. Cross-cultural learning is an ongoing process, no matter how long you have been in the game. As your tendencies and values evolve, you can re-take the Culture Calculator Assessment and literally watch your Cultural Profile Snapshot evolve. Try taking a screenshot of your initial results, and refer back to them as you re-test yourself. That way, you always have a point of comparison, and you will get a better sense of how and why your personal style evolves.
3. Instant Gratification. Your Cultural Profile Snapshot also provides an immediate summary of key information. This gives you a baseline understanding of your relation to each Cultural Dimension, and it helps frame the more detailed information that you can explore in other parts of the tool.
4. It’s Fun! Have you ever taken an online quiz to learn which politician you should vote for? Or to find out which Greek god or 1940s movie star you’re most like? It’s undeniably entertaining to learn about ourselves or imagine how our strengths and weaknesses can play out. For a similar—albeit less silly—reason, cross-cultural learning can and should be fun because it’s rooted in an exploration of your own ideas and values. Getting the results of your self-assessment in a dynamic, visually appealing format makes using the tool that much more engaging, which of course helps you learn from it more effectively.