Some things change… and some things stay the same

 - 20 Years of diverse mobile lives 

In March the Families in Global Transition conference was held in The Hague.  It was a celebration of 20 Years - a chance to look back at the beginnings of FIGT, to look at where we are today and reflect on where we want to go.

The speakers and presenters reviewed the past, considered problems and envisaged the future.  It struck me, from a Global Mobility perspective – when it comes to supporting families in global transition -  some things have massively changed and some things remain the same.

What has changed? 

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What are shared mental models and do your teams have them?

In the last newsletter I wrote about cultural integration.  I was preparing to speak at the Washington FIGT conference entitled Cultural Integration and the Illusion of Closeness.

At the same time I was working on a paper reviewing the research into teams, multi-cultural teams (MCT) and cultural intelligence as part of my professional development for the Australian College of Organisational Psychologists.

Both the MCT research and the FIGT conference have left me reflecting on mental models and the extent to which they are shared, or we assume they are shared, with those around us. 

The teams’ literature places a great deal of emphasis on shared mental models as one of the critical cognitive factors that influence a team’s effectiveness.  Team members who think alike about their work are more likely to be effective as they can anticipate the way each other will work and back each other up in critical situations.

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Cultural Integration

I’m traveling to Washington in March, to speak at the ‘Families in Global Transition’ conference.  This year the theme is Cultural Integration and the Illusion of Closeness.  I will be speaking about Cultural Intelligence and how it contributes to cultural integration – more details below.

In the lead up to the conference, I’ve been thinking about cultural integration; what it really means and whether or not we have it in the workplaces and the social groups I am involved with here in Sydney. 

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Positive Psychology has good news for expats

I recently attended a workshop with Dr Barbara Fredrickson. Her work in the area of positive emotions and her broaden and build theory have been cornerstones of positive psychology.

In case you haven't heard of her research; over the past twenty years it has revealed the powerful effects of positive emotions. Those emotions such as gratitude, hope, serenity, awe, humour, love and happiness have been found to have a number of positive effects.

They increase resilience, strengthen social bonds, enhance problem solving, undo the effects of stress, and reduce own-race bias. All things critical for expats!

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