Customs of the World: Using Cultural Intelligence to Adapt, Wherever You Are

By: David Livermore, The Great Courses

Narrated by: David Livermore

Length: 11 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's summary

Taught by an international adviser to leaders of Fortune 500 companies, nonprofits, and governments, this eye-opening course reveals how you can actively improve your cultural intelligence in an increasingly globalized world.

Based on groundbreaking research, these 24 lectures address dynamics and customs related to working, socializing, dining, marriage and family - all the areas necessary to help you function with a greater level of respect and effectiveness wherever you go. You'll also encounter practical tips and crucial context for greeting, interacting with, and even managing people from other parts of the world.

In the first half, you'll analyze 10 cultural value dimensions that researchers have identified as helpful for comparing cultures; and you'll see how these "archetypes" play out in day-to-day lives. In the second half, you'll look at 10 cultural clusters around the world that - when combined with your understanding of the 10 cultural dimensions - provide strategic insight into how to be more effective as you live, work, and travel in our globalized world.

Why do people from certain cultures have little regard for time? Why might working overtime reflect poorly on you in Scandinavia? Why should you avoid using your left hand when interacting with someone from the Arab world? You'll find out the answers to these and other intriguing questions in Customs of the World.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.

©2013 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2013 The Great Courses

I'll listen to this one again

I have taken several graduate courses on cross-cultural communication, culture, and diversity; however, it has been a few years since I finished grad school, so I decided to listen to this course as a refresher. I was not disappointed. This is truly a "great course," and I learned so much. The course is well organized, and Dr. Livermore presented the material in a clear, engaging, story-telling manner with ample examples to support the data he shared. I highly recommend this course if you want to interact successfully with people from all over the world and improve your cultural intelligence.

Excellent Resource

My husband and I travel a lot internationally and very much enjoyed this book. We also entertain international college students in our home and will use some of this information we learned to understand them better and their struggles with American culture. David Livermore has a very pleasant speaking voice, nice inflection to keep the subject interesting and is easy to listen to. Highly recommend this audio book!

A new favorite

I love the material here and how is balances theory and practice. This has been one of the most relatable and practical Great Courses I've ever heard.

Valuable and informative

This set of lectures is well worth the listen for anyone who travels or wants to understand how differently all our various operating systems respond to the same inputs.

The overall messages and broad distinctions between cultures is well presented.

I did find some of the examples and specific advice wanting, but maybe that’s my own biases as someone who has traveled extensively and lived many years overseas.

I still recommend this highly for all. Understanding others better is a key to enriching our own lives.

Unexpectedly brilliant!

I didn't have any interest in listening to a lecture from the Great Course series. After all, I spent umpteen years attending college. I figured that part of my life was over. But here was a topic that greatly interested me and at a great price, too. I couldn't let it pass.

From the moment I started listening, I felt a deep nostalgia for my university days. I also knew I was going to really enjoy this listen. This course is so wonderful that I want to highly recommend it to anyone who has even the slightest interest in the subject of cultural intelligence. The format is so pleasant--a series of related but separate lectures, each one leading into the next one.

Even if you aren't planning overseas travel, you will find so much relevant information here that will explain behaviors that have puzzled or even irritated you in the past. And if you are planning on overseas travel, you will have a bunch of new information that will be immensely helpful to you. If you aren't able to interact with the "natives", you will still be equipped to look for various things that will tell you much about the culture you are visiting. Additionally, Professor Livermore gives you some do's and don't's to further enhance your knowledge and your travel. He is a wonderful lecturer, too.

I enjoyed this book so much that I know it will be a repeat listen for me. It has also inspired me to look for further Great Courses subjects that sound interesting. This experience has been as enjoyable as any of my favorite audiobooks.

Travel or not, this is exceptional!

Lucky some individuals discover their Calling. This is an exceptional presentation! Take a chance, I did!

Great Value

What made the experience of listening to Customs of the World: Using Cultural Intelligence to Adapt, Wherever You Are the most enjoyable?

This costs USD 129.95 to download on other sites - very interesting content material but audible has the same content for less cost

Great for working on your Cultural IQ

If you could sum up Customs of the World: Using Cultural Intelligence to Adapt, Wherever You Are in three words, what would they be?

Informative
Interesting
Relateable

What did you like best about this story?

I just liked how the professor brought his own stories and experiences often into the course. Made it very casual; like an exchange with a well traveled friend.

Which character – as performed by Professor David Livermore – was your favorite?

N/A

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Not necessarily, but I finished it relatively quickly.

Learn before traveling!

What did you love best about Customs of the World: Using Cultural Intelligence to Adapt, Wherever You Are?

It help me undestand the differents contries I visit.

What did you like best about this story?

It goes in detail to have a good idea about differents cultures.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It make me aware why some people can be different from me.

Any additional comments?

I recommend learn about it before going on vacation.

This should be obligatory learning

Would you consider the audio edition of Customs of the World: Using Cultural Intelligence to Adapt, Wherever You Are to be better than the print version?

Not in the current format, as the course comes with a companion PDF book that I can use. I expect more from a written book than from a course, especially if the writer is academic.

Which scene was your favorite?

I am a traveller, travelled on my own to many different parts of the world and lived in other countries. Most of my wonderful wow experiences in life come from my travelling to cultures that aren't mine, and where I was on my own and I had to communicate and react with locals. Listening to the course brought back found memories and made me appreciate more how important is travelling with the right attitude, which unfortunately is not the case for most travellers I meet when I don't travel on my own.

What did you learn from Customs of the World: Using Cultural Intelligence to Adapt, Wherever You Are that you would use in your daily life?

~~ To look at the world with fresh eyes, less stereotypes, and clichés.
~~ The world is wonderful in its diversity, so we should embrace it instead of despise it.
~~ Food is a great indicator of the codes that a culture lives by.
~~ The fact that a person belongs to a certain culture doesn't eliminate their individuality, so we cannot judge a culture by the behaviour of an individual or vice versa.
~~ We all have prejudices, the more aware we are of ours the less will be projecting them out when we visit another country and culture.
~~ We don't need to love or agree with the customs or culture of a given region or country, we need to respect them.
~~ The book has put Livermore in my author radar. I liked a lot how he speaks, his attitude and the way he presents the material.

Any additional comments?

> I thought the part about the different elements to differentiate cultures was brilliant, and made me recognise and understand some things I always had problem understanding about other cultures behaviour. I would have loved that part enlarged with two things I missed and I think are very important: the structure of the family and the gender you were born with (female, male, gay, transgender).

> Although Livermore strives not to categorise and stereotype people and understanding them both as part of a culture and as individuals, the fact that choose a Brazilian to speak about people being late or the fact that says that there is bad customer rude service in the Eastern European block, even if explained, are still part of a stereotype.

> Including Greece, a Mediterranean country with Mediterranean culture within the Eastern European Cluster is utterly senseless. Livermore forgets historical facts that separate them from Mongolia or Russia, no matter Orthodox Christianity and the alphabet are shared. Greeks are way more Southern Europeans than Eastern Europeans. Yet, Livermore, has no problem including Israel into the Southern European Cluster. Whaaaaaat?!

> I would have liked more that Livermore avoided generalisations about History as he is not a historian, and at times he doesn't realise that he is making statements that are biased and can sound offensive to some people who aren't Anglo-Saxons.

> Although he mentions what and how we should approach other cultures, no matter it is within our country or abroad, he doesn't provide us with tools to deal with the prejudices and racism of those very people we want to understand. I have been an immigrant for many years, I have a high level of education, and in one of the countries where I lived the longest, I found a pervasive subtle culture that considers barbaric and uncivilised any culture that is not Anglo-Saxon, French or Nordic. I have had to learn to deal with that the hard way, so I would counterbalance the "attack" without falling in the trap of becoming what I dislike and, despite what you might expect, those attacks, usually passive-aggressive, didn't come from red-necks. I say this, because I was expecting Livermore to provide readers with some tools in that regard.

> Just because I am a woman and I've travelled on my own to many hot parts of the world,, I can tell you that there are two different attitudes to women in the world, and is not just based on religion as one might expect. I was expecting a lesson on that, because no matter how much we are attuned with the cultural differences of a country or culture, you cannot travel safely to some parts of the world on your own if you are a woman.