Becoming a creator team

Question 1

Multicultural teams come in three performance categories:

Answer 1

1. the destroyer, 2. the equaliser, 3. the creator

Question 2

Destroyer teams

Answer 2

ignore the value of diversity, instead criticize other values and negatively stereotype ‘‘otherness’’

Question 3

Equaliser teams

Answer 3

pretend that all differences are handles well, suppressing difference in order to smooth out processes (color-blind group, sameness is promoted)

Question 4

Creator teams

Answer 4

accept diversity, only works when matched with inclusion, ensuring nobody feels excluded and all feel values for what they can contribute from their own culture

Question 5

Step 1 to becoming a creator-team

Answer 5

mapping awareness of our own cultural orientation and the cultural orientation of others

Question 6

Step 2 to becoming a creator-team

Answer 6

Building bridges

Question 7

Step 3 to becoming a creator-team

Answer 7

establishing new ways of working as a creator team

Question 8

Cultural relativity

Answer 8

understand how different cultures in a team perceive each other and move from a cross-cultural space to a multi-cultural space

Question 9

multicultural teams are rich in

Answer 9

resources and if managed well can outperform homogenous groups

Question 10

Mapping involved the following activities:

Answer 10

describing cultural differences among team members, being aware of cultural differences, each team member mapping their own culture, sharing this information, discussing how differences relate to interaction within the team, considering which of these differences will raise barriers, discovering which differences can be leverages to help the team

Question 11

the team can build bridges if team members can adhere to the following points:

Answer 11

respect and value differences, suspend judgement and embrace otherness, agree on how they will interact as a team, resolve disagreements and create new perspectives, let go of individual idea ownership and work on behalf of the team, find a way to agree out loud that different members can operate under different norms

Question 12

the creator team will:

Answer 12

resist compromise and push for new ways of thinking, dare to take risks and initiatives, allow resources and room for experimenting, reflect on mistakes and learn from them, stimulate curiosity, ensure regular feedback, recognize and celebrate high performance in the team, use the richness of diversity to create new solutions, share best practices of the team with wider organization