Wilburn Sargunaraj, world traveller, musician, and now author, made a return to Humboldt for his book launch. Exploring CQ (an abbreviation for cultural intelligence) is Wilbur’s creation that interprets the framework of exploring elements of cultural intelligence by telling stories of his own encounters.
Sargunaraj met with an audience at the Humboldt and District Museum this past spring to talk about cultural intelligence. His experiences have come together in the book, available at the Humboldt and District Gallery, where he spoke on Friday night, October 4.
Sargunaraj has resided in India and in Canada at various points of his life. His love of travel and his fascination with cultures and people led to a student of interpersonal relations. During his travels, he encountered the social agency – the Cultural Intelligence Centre. He talked about the mandate of the Centre.
“Basically, it’s to bring people together. Culture Intelligence is how you work effectively with people from different cultures. It encourages you to make bonds and form relationships with people from different cultures.”
Sargunaraj posted videos that dealt with, oddly enough, the proper use of an Indian toilet or Eastern latrine. The idiosyncratic design of the toilet left Western visitors mystified, but Sargunaraj saw that confusion as an opportunity to spread knowledge and make connections.
Exploring CQ lays out the cognitive and behaviour framework of how to better promote understanding. It’s Sargunaraj’s anecdotes that weave the fabric for connection.
“I really felt that the CQ framework needed to be accessible for the common person. When you look at some of the books that are out there, some can be quite academic. But I wanted to take ideas like cultural values and make it so that a common person could understand. Using a story-based format, I felt, was the most meaningful way to do that.”
Sargunaraj maintains that when people share stories, people can relate and better absorb the ideas.
For example, the concept of high or low context communication was bridged by a story about Sargunaraj’s travels to low context countries like Switzerland or the UK. In those places, people tend to value direct communication using words that carry explicit meaning. Meanwhile high context countries like Japan have more subtle communication components, where people are expected to “read between the lines.” The difference in communication styles or values can sometimes create unintended tensions.
Sargunaraj told the story of an ominous voice over an inflight audio with an Australian accent admonishing travellers to “Declare (goods through customs) or beware!” The stern, clear, high context warning created a sense akin to fear for those on the Australia bound flight, especially for those whose forms of communication were not so direct or didactic.
The other extreme, he explained, was Japan, where mannerisms and decorum were as much a part of communication as were words. Sargunaraj hoped not to be interpreted as “one who cannot read the air.”
Throughout the book, which is filled with pictures chronicling his adventures, Sargunaraj navigates through Indigenous cultures like the Maori in New Zealand, eastern Arabic cultures, the complex and tense interactions between Hindus and Muslims in India and Pakistan, and even the Mennonite people from his hometown in rural Saskatchewan.
Sargunaraj is clearly passionate about his mission to bring people together, and he brings a variety of tools to do it. On Friday, he performed a concert for several hundred school children from Humboldt. Then on Saturday, he introduced a group to the nuances of crickets at the Humboldt Uniplex.
The book Exploring CQ is available at the Humboldt and District Gallery.