Blog Cultural Intelligence: From culture clash to cultural connection Last updated: December 7, 2025 Calculating… Among the first in the PR & Communications industry to be accredited as a Cultural Intelligence™ (CQ) facilitator, comms and CQ guru Sarah Black introduces us to the framework that can be one of the most powerful tools to ensure your messages resonate across all of your audiences, every time. How often have you worked with people who just don’t seem to see the world the way you do? Maybe your carefully crafted communications are not landing with part of the business or a certain group. It could be a culture clash. In this article, we’ll look at how Cultural Intelligence can help you overcome these disconnections, build trust and communicate more effectively. What do we mean by culture? Culture is simply “the way we do things around here”. It reflects our values, beliefs, behavioural preferences, customs and traditions. It is the behaviour and ideas that feel familiar and accepted. We often talk about national or regional culture, but teams, functions and locations inside the same organisation can all have very different “ways of doing things”. Different values and behaviours may be the norm. Culture also relates to other aspects of our identity – for example, religion, gender, generation, socio-economic status or political beliefs. Our cultural backgrounds shape how we see the world. They can make it harder for us to understand how individuals with different backgrounds and lived experiences see the world. And this can lead to our communication being less effective, undermining trust and psychological safety and creating conflict. Cultural Intelligence The good news is that decades of social science research and real-world practice show we can build the skills we need to move past cultural barriers and build stronger, more effective relationships. Cultural Intelligence (CQ) is the ability to work and engage effectively across differences. It includes four competencies that can help you build your CQ over time. Drive Drive is the extent to which you are motivated to communicate and work with people with different cultural backgrounds, lived experience and identities. If you have a high Cultural Intelligence Drive, then you are excited to work across difference and feel confident about it, enough that you keep learning and trying when it doesn’t immediately go perfectly. A quick self-assessment of your Drive can help you identify potential barriers and blocks to working with others so you can address these. Be aware that low Drive can sometimes be a result of burnout or not feeling safe to engage with someone. Make sure you pay attention to those feelings if they come up. Knowledge Knowledge is what you know about different cultural backgrounds and experiences. Before you rush to learn a new language or ask your LLM about culture, remember that this isn’t really about learning facts. People with high Cultural Intelligence are genuinely curious, acknowledge that there may be differences and are willing to learn from every meeting and encounter. Focus on asking respectful and open questions without judgement about individuals as well as your own research. Strategy Becoming more Culturally Intelligent is not only about learning about other people. We need to reflect more on our own thinking and the assumptions, beliefs and values that we bring into our communications and relationships. People with strong CQ Strategy pause to plan and think before engaging with others. They consider the outcomes they want and how they may need to show up to build trust and communicate effectively. They listen and check in to see how their communication is being heard and received. They also reflect on what has worked well and where they may need to learn more or modify their behaviour. Action CQ Action is our ability to adapt so we can connect more effectively. This does not mean compromising who you are. You need to bend, not break. It may mean asking questions less directly. It may mean pivoting your established communications channels to try something new. It might also mean using slightly different language or images. It is about focusing on what you can change to build engagement, trust and better conversations. What next? The next time you suspect there’s a culture clash happening, pause and work through your Drive, Knowledge, Strategy and Action. Then identify one small step you can take to take to turn the clash into connection. Dig a little deeper into your existing processes to understand if you can apply any of the CQ values to the work that you’re doing today, using Oak’s internal comms action plan. Stay tuned for Sarah’s next guest blog on perspective taking to dive deeper into the practice of Cultural Intelligence and explore further resources at Athru Communications.
Among the first in the PR & Communications industry to be accredited as a Cultural Intelligence™ (CQ) facilitator, comms and CQ guru Sarah Black introduces us to the framework that can be one of the most powerful tools to ensure your messages resonate across all of your audiences, every time.
How often have you worked with people who just don’t seem to see the world the way you do? Maybe your carefully crafted communications are not landing with part of the business or a certain group. It could be a culture clash. In this article, we’ll look at how Cultural Intelligence can help you overcome these disconnections, build trust and communicate more effectively.
What do we mean by culture? Culture is simply “the way we do things around here”. It reflects our values, beliefs, behavioural preferences, customs and traditions. It is the behaviour and ideas that feel familiar and accepted. We often talk about national or regional culture, but teams, functions and locations inside the same organisation can all have very different “ways of doing things”. Different values and behaviours may be the norm. Culture also relates to other aspects of our identity – for example, religion, gender, generation, socio-economic status or political beliefs. Our cultural backgrounds shape how we see the world. They can make it harder for us to understand how individuals with different backgrounds and lived experiences see the world. And this can lead to our communication being less effective, undermining trust and psychological safety and creating conflict.
Cultural Intelligence The good news is that decades of social science research and real-world practice show we can build the skills we need to move past cultural barriers and build stronger, more effective relationships. Cultural Intelligence (CQ) is the ability to work and engage effectively across differences. It includes four competencies that can help you build your CQ over time. Drive Drive is the extent to which you are motivated to communicate and work with people with different cultural backgrounds, lived experience and identities. If you have a high Cultural Intelligence Drive, then you are excited to work across difference and feel confident about it, enough that you keep learning and trying when it doesn’t immediately go perfectly. A quick self-assessment of your Drive can help you identify potential barriers and blocks to working with others so you can address these. Be aware that low Drive can sometimes be a result of burnout or not feeling safe to engage with someone. Make sure you pay attention to those feelings if they come up. Knowledge Knowledge is what you know about different cultural backgrounds and experiences. Before you rush to learn a new language or ask your LLM about culture, remember that this isn’t really about learning facts. People with high Cultural Intelligence are genuinely curious, acknowledge that there may be differences and are willing to learn from every meeting and encounter. Focus on asking respectful and open questions without judgement about individuals as well as your own research. Strategy Becoming more Culturally Intelligent is not only about learning about other people. We need to reflect more on our own thinking and the assumptions, beliefs and values that we bring into our communications and relationships. People with strong CQ Strategy pause to plan and think before engaging with others. They consider the outcomes they want and how they may need to show up to build trust and communicate effectively. They listen and check in to see how their communication is being heard and received. They also reflect on what has worked well and where they may need to learn more or modify their behaviour. Action CQ Action is our ability to adapt so we can connect more effectively. This does not mean compromising who you are. You need to bend, not break. It may mean asking questions less directly. It may mean pivoting your established communications channels to try something new. It might also mean using slightly different language or images. It is about focusing on what you can change to build engagement, trust and better conversations.
What next? The next time you suspect there’s a culture clash happening, pause and work through your Drive, Knowledge, Strategy and Action. Then identify one small step you can take to take to turn the clash into connection. Dig a little deeper into your existing processes to understand if you can apply any of the CQ values to the work that you’re doing today, using Oak’s internal comms action plan. Stay tuned for Sarah’s next guest blog on perspective taking to dive deeper into the practice of Cultural Intelligence and explore further resources at Athru Communications.
