About the Cultural Illuminator

The Cultural Illuminator was developed by a team of intercultural specialists who have decades of experience working in the field of cross-cultural studies and intercultural competence in the workplace. The culture model used in the tool is based on commonly used approaches for understanding cultural differences around the world, and has been adapted to be most useful in a workplace setting.

This tool focuses on the respondent's preferences, rather than their behaviors. This is important as many individuals will alter their true cultural preferences to adapt to a foreign setting, corporate culture, or even the predominant behaviors of one's team. This adaptation can be an easy one, or can come with unintended consequences. It is thus important to focus on one's true preferences in the workplace, and compare those to one's behaviors, as well as those of one's counterparts in the workplace.

The tool allows users to compare themselves to other individuals as well as to an entire team in which one works. Users can also compare their profile to country norms. As the tool grows, additional countries will be added over time. Please check back periodically for updates and additions to the tool.