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Why cultural strategic thinking is important?

Cultural Strategic Thinking:
            In some of the organizations I have worked, cultural strategic thinking has played a part in bringing harmony within these organizations, however unless you begin to think about it, may be it is because I have not worked in much culturally diverse organizations, but  cultural intelligence is not something that has always outrightly been at the forefront of the organizational operation, it seems to be left to individual employees to figure out how to relate with each other, having been brought-up from a culturally diverse environment, my cultural intelligence happens subconsciously.
            So far, I have observed at least some cultural strategic thinking techniques being used in one or two of these organizations, they include: -
Peer Learning:  Peer learning is a widely used strategy in cultural strategic thinking, however like I mentioned it seems to happen subconsciously, I am not sure if corporate events, like quarterly performance celebrations are partly organized for this purpose, since these offer a better and conducive opportunity for organizational employees to relate with each other, explore cultural interactions and resolve cultural problems.
Being an observer: learning to be an observer is the best way to develop cultural strategic thinking, through observation and active listening you pick up what you normally do not see, (cultural intelligence for leaders, 2012), personally I have developed cultural intelligence through this technique, my assumption is that many do the same, I have been approached by someone before and asked me why I did what I had done after she observed me making a greetings sign to a fellow African, and if it meant something within my culture, this is a clear indication for me that people are always watching to enrich their cultural intelligence. It takes a conscious decision to be open alert, paying attention to both verbal and nonverbal cues of various situations. (cultural intelligence for leaders, 2012).
I have observed in an organization, where people of the same race grouping together during shift breaks, I don’t think this helps to break cultural ties, and vague assumptions we make about each other, I would think that the willingness to adapt, learn, live and work with others from different cultures would increase anyone’s’ cultural intelligence, hence eliminating the vague assumptions we make about different cultures.
Reference:
Cultural Intelligence for leaders, 2012, Saylor Academy. Creative commons by-nc-sa 3.0,           retrieved September 14, 2018, from                                                                                    https://my.uopeople.edu/pluginfile.php/325629/mod_page/content/5/BUS5211Textbook.            pdf

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