Generating ideas in a meeting represented by many lightbulbs floating above the conference table

Like feedback?

Nov 19, 2020  · by

Giving feedback is a skill and demands trust between giver and receiver. Giving feedback between members of the CultureConnector community is now quick and easy.

Generating ideas in a meeting represented by many lightbulbs floating above the conference table

Like feedback?

Nov 19, 2020  · by

Giving feedback is a skill and demands trust between giver and receiver. Giving feedback between members of the CultureConnector community is now quick and easy.

A woman stands at a team meeting. While others have laptops, coffee and notebooks, she has a globe

An interculturalist in the coronvirus response team

Apr 14, 2020  · by

What contribution might an interculturalist bring to a top coronavirus crisis response team? Some of the best-prepared government bodies, NGOs and businesses have been adapting to the new situation equipped with cultural intelligence developed by intercultural professionals.

Manuela Marquis presenting with PowerPoint

Intercultural coaching for the leaders of 2025

Jun 16, 2019  · by

Manuela Marquis is an intercultural consultant focused on the future. Her work centres on helping leaders prepare for the fourth industrial revolution. Measurement helps to ensure that interventions like coaching achieve impact in the real world. Professional networks have played a big role in Manuela’s success, in a intercultural career which originated in delivering training in a highly-pressured, highly-diverse working environment.

Executives at a conference table surrounded by data

When HR puts culture onto CEO agendas

May 2, 2019  · by

Research by PriceWaterhouseCoopers shows a “Top Eight” of issues on the CEO agenda where intercultural skills can be the success factor unlocking business benefits. HR professionals who know how to design high-impact intercultural interventions can be the revenue-boosting heroes of their organisation.

Young man holding a tablet computer contemplates, starting into the middle distance

How mindfulness can transform intercultural training

Jul 2, 2018  · by

Mindfulness gives intercultural trainers a powerful tool for transferring intercultural skills from the classroom to the workplace and to everyday life. Traditional intercultural cultural training targets the mind and ideas while a new approach using mindfulness give access to deeper forces which determine people feelings, behaviour and endurance in challenging intercultural situations.

Intercultural training group

How to get started with mindfulness in your intercultural training

Jun 25, 2018  · by

Leading clients through a mindfulness exercise as part of intercultural training makes you, as trainer, the model for mindful practice. If you are early in your journey with mindfulness, our best tip is that you become deeply familiar with mindfulness in your own life. We offer five steps for getting started.

Man stands at large screen full of data

Making the case for mindfulness in intercultural training

May 9, 2018  · by

For a Learning and Development manager, the outcomes of intercultural training may be hard to sell internally. Mindfulness adds to the long list of benefits of intercultural training by facing the challenges of international working realistically, not idealistically. We share some tips on building your business case for a mindfulness-enhanced intercultural training programme.

Mindful woman with heightened cultural awareness

Mindfulness and intercultural training

Apr 12, 2018  · by

Transferring training into the workplace? Mindfulness enables something more ambitious Intercultural training is not like most other training. Getting a return on investment is hard. This is because we often need to apply our intercultural knowledge and skills in the most stressful and confusing of situations, when many people fall back into instinctive, familiar responses…

Mindfulness and culture

Mar 14, 2018  · by

Five mindful responses to cultural differences can reduce the stress when isolated from your own culture or when sensing conflict in a cross-cultural situation. Mindfulness helps us understand culture, and convert our understanding into practical action.

From classroom to virtual training

Intercultural training goes digital, a trainer’s perspective

Dec 13, 2017  · by

Digital learning will not make face-to-face training disappear, says Béatrice Rivas Siedel in this interview with Argonaut. She gives her view as a trainer deep in the digital learning revolution about what we can to do take every advantage. Her insights are relevant for trainers, training providers, client organisations and the learners themselves.

Kiev, Ukraine

OMG Ukraine

Nov 29, 2017  · by  · 1

From the Simpsons, through Sex and the City, TV medic House and historical figures such as Lech Walesa or Honoré de Balzac, many people have commented on Ukrainian culture. But now in CultureConnector there is a more reliable, up-to-date and in-depth source for practical guidance on Ukrainian culture. Cultural Correspondent Elena Shliakhovchuk introduces CultureConnector’s newest culture.

Brazil's Rio de Janeiro

Brazil myth-busting

Jun 15, 2017  · by

One of the myths about Brazil which Victor Batista and Ana Carolina Jacinto tackle every day, is that Brazil is a country like most countries, just bigger. In fact, the scale brings enormous diversity. In this interview, Victor and Ana Carolina tell how organisations which have a single “strategy for Brazil” need to get smarter about navigating the diversity and the particular challenges and opportunities operating in Brazil.

CultureConnector coaching

Free intercultural training tool

Mar 27, 2017  · by

The best things in life are free. But not in business. Usually, a higher price indicates a higher value. So why should we be interested in something that is free? And if that thing is intercultural training, when is the right time to go for the free option, and when is the right time to invest?

Insha’allah, Tawakkala and other surprises in Oman

Jan 31, 2017  · by

Taking on the role of Cultural Correspondent for Oman last year challenged me to relive the striking cultural differences of a European arriving in the country for the first time. Back in those early days, Oman was throwing surprises at me in almost every situation I got into.

Justin Trudeau

Fast change and slow change in Canadian culture

Oct 19, 2016  · by

A year ago today power passed from a Conservative government to a new administration under the Liberal politician Justin Trudeau in the Canadian Federal elections. How has the pace and direction of cultural change developed under Trudeau in this time?

New Russia: Moscow business district

New Russia, new rules

Sep 27, 2016  · by

The new Russia has new rules. There are classic mistakes that foreigners in Russia make, and some new ones too. Western and Asian people could be doing great business with Russia, and some are. But many go through a painful learning process before achieving success. We’ve just finished renewing the advice in CultureConnector for working with…

Big differences in Culture overview profile

Intercultural competence for managers

Aug 30, 2016  · by

Techniques which succeeded in a monocultural working environment my fail when that environment becomes multicultural. The intercultural skills of a manager can help achieve results. Here’s how.

Beyond stereotypes - Mexico and Germany

Fear of Stereotypes

May 31, 2016  · by  · 1

Recently I was working with a designer, a new provider for us, on some graphic material for CultureConnector. The first drafts were tidy, clear, eye-catching and hopelessly stereotyping of some well-known cultures.

Cultural Correspondent Fast Writing

It’s what you know: 10 years as a cultural correspondent

Mar 11, 2016  · by

Irene Hotz Glanzmann has been a Cultural Correspondent in the Argonaut community since 2006. The role has continued to inspire her work as an interculturalist because the Cultural Correspondent assignments challenge her to research and reflect on different aspects of her culture, in a comparative context.

Olkiluoto nuclear plant

The world’s most expensive building

Jan 18, 2016  · by

Some people say that the world’s most expensive building is not the Taj Mahal in India nor any of the towering hotels of Dubai. Well, others say it is a nuclear power station under construction by a French company in Northern Finland. This mega project has been going for over a decade and has made…

Dry weather in Burkina Faso

An often forgotten intercultural competence

Nov 29, 2015  · by  · 2

I don´t know about you, but I get irritable at 110°F (43°C). To say the least, I am not my most patient. The weather – at first glance – is one of those “safe topics” you can bring up in almost any culture. However, the most experienced expat managers I know actively consider the impact…

Digital for intercultural professionals

Success factors for intercultural experts in a digital world

Nov 26, 2015  · by  · 1

Look on any interculturalist’s Kindle (or Kobo or other e-reader or even bookshelf) and you are likely to find the book “Getting to Yes”. It’s a classic of negotiation and conflict resolution and contains useful techniques that can work across many cultures. I say “yes” a lot. I like the word. It’s positive, affirmative, consensual.…

Richard Farkas, Argonaut CEO

Richard Farkas, new Argonaut CEO

Nov 2, 2015  · by

From today, Richard Farkas steps into the role of Argonaut CEO. He will work with the teams in different parts of the Argonaut business to drive our transformation programme: in product development, sales, marketing and customer experience, content generation and supply chain, as well as in data, technology and security. Richard steps up from his…

Register for Argonaut

Sep 14, 2015  · by

Get started learning to succeed across cultures: Argonaut login page, where you can register if you have an invitation link or access codes There are many other ways to continue your learning. Contact your trainer, if you are part of a course. Ask bold questions of the people on your course, in your organisation and…

Cultural attitudes to privacy online.

Who cares about privacy? Surprising facts from around the globe

Aug 27, 2015  · by

You’ve already heard how Germans have strict privacy laws, with Google Streetview blurring out more faces and places in Germany than anywhere else. And you know how differently people in the USA see things, giving up vast amounts of personal data to advertisers, so they can get better no-pay services online. Meanwhile Chinese internet users…

iPhone fist culture connector app ranslator Argonaut

The culture algorithm

Aug 16, 2015  · by

Next time you are in a foreign city, use a free translator app on your phone and hold the camera up to restaurant menus and street signs. You’ll get an instant translation. It may be better than the restaurant’s own “English menu”. So how long until we can do the same to interpret cultures? The…

Sparkling Mediterranean

A Day in the Life – France, April 6, 2015

Apr 16, 2015  · by  · 2

A Day in the Life is a series of blog posts describing the life of people within our community who live all around the world. Although the way of living may be different, the every day life and all its wonders fascinate us no matter where we are.   7:30 I wake up to the…

Je suis Charlie sign and candles

Observations about encountering a global crisis abroad

Jan 29, 2015  · by

I moved to the south of France four months ago and it has been fascinating so far. I’ve brushed up on my français a little, got to know new people and experienced the tingling feeling of living abroad. I know there are many of you out there who adapt to new environments quickly and I…

Two snowmen

Celebrating Christmas the Finnish style

Dec 14, 2014  · by

One year back there was an interesting discussion in the Argonaut Cultural Correspondents’ LinkedIn group about the meaning of Christmas in different working cultures. When and where is it not OK to say “happy Christmas”? Who buys presents for whom and what kind? How is normal working affected? What kinds of work Christmas parties are…

Marching band trumpetist

Calling on the community to connect

Sep 16, 2014  · by

Once upon a time there was a research project that became a training method that went online, and that became a tool and a resource for intercultural learning… Yes that’s us! We at Argonaut help people and organizations get better results when interacting with other cultures. The Argonaut Online tool is an amazing resource for…

Portrait of Alex Ma, Chinese cultural correspondent of Argonaut

Interview with Alex Ma, Chinese cultural correspondent

Mar 4, 2014  · by

Alex Ma is a researcher, consultant and teacher in the field of globalisation, economics and culture. His work with China’s Research Center for Economic Transition (Beijing University of Technology) makes him deeply involved with solving the challenges of cultural adaptation and international operations for a number of multinational organisations. He also advises individuals on cultural…