Culture Map

Developed by Erin Meyer (The Culture Map, 2014).

Places national business cultures on eight scales, from how people give feedback to how they schedule, showing where colleagues from two cultures are most likely to misread each other.

When to reach for it

When a team, negotiation, or merger spans cultures and the friction keeps being blamed on individuals.

How it runs

1. Name the cultures involved.
2. Place each on the eight scales.
3. Find the scales where they sit furthest apart.
4. Predict the concrete behaviors each gap will produce.
5. Agree on accommodations and name the differences openly.
6. Check against individuals, who may not fit their culture's default.

Where it sits in SOLVE eX

• 3.1 Finding the Current Facts
• 6.3 Implementing the Action Plan

Go to the source

• The Culture Map: Breaking Through the Invisible Boundaries of Global Business, PublicAffairs, 2014