Assessing the Strategic Impact of Service Culture on ...

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Cultural Mapping Exercise
Step 1: Identify an Issue <strong>of</strong> <strong>Strategic</strong> Interest
The first injunction <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Cultural Mapping method – to select an issue <strong>of</strong> strategic interest (see Figure
2.1), may seem a bit banal or obvious. It is not. In fact, in practice, honing an appropriate question
around which cultural research will be conducted is <strong>of</strong>ten a formidable hurdle. 101 Anthropological
research typically identifies a group to be studied as <strong>the</strong> first order <strong>of</strong> business and most cultural
enthusiasts find this a natural starting point. Our insistence that <strong>the</strong> security issue <strong>of</strong> concern be
identified first, and cultural research be built around it, is born <strong>of</strong> hard experience. 102 As noted in <strong>the</strong>
opening chapter, any culture <strong>of</strong> substantial size or complexity possesses internal contradictions, multiple
narratives, and sometimes an evolutionary history stretching over centuries. <strong>Assessing</strong> which aspects <strong>of</strong>
that cultural heritage matter now, for this particular context, on this particular issue, requires first, a
clear delineation <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> strategic problem at hand. Cultural pr<strong>of</strong>iles built without <strong>the</strong> framing <strong>of</strong> a
particular security question are <strong>of</strong> limited utility to
operational planners.
A researcher need not remain married to <strong>the</strong> initial
issue generated. As she wades into <strong>the</strong> data
collected she made find that her framing <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>
initial strategic issue needs narrowing (or
widening). She may find that a far more
compelling question emerges. Looping back to
refine and restructure <strong>the</strong> initial problem set is not
only welcome, it is recommended. This
“hermeneutical circle” entails “movement back
and forth between <strong>the</strong> particular and <strong>the</strong> general,
as <strong>the</strong> meaning and significance <strong>of</strong> specific actions,
practices, texts, etc., are judged in relation to a
conception <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> whole, and our ideas about <strong>the</strong>
whole are corrected and amplified by testing <strong>the</strong>m
against <strong>the</strong> ‘parts.’” 103
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Textbox 2.1
Core Components
Cultural Mapping Exercise
Step 1: Identify an Issue <strong>of</strong> <strong>Strategic</strong> Interest
Step 2: Select an Actor for Focused Study
Step 3: Amass a Range <strong>of</strong> Cultural Influences
Step 4: Employ Four Research Perspectives:
Identify, Norms, Values and Perceptual Lens
Step 5: Hone Critical Cultural Factors (CCFs)
Step 6: Map CCFs Across Cultural Influences
Step 7: Assess Results
101
Based on experience with scores <strong>of</strong> intelligence and military analysts initiating Cultural Topography projects
during training.
102
This author participated in a multi-year engagement which solicited strategic culture pr<strong>of</strong>iles from regional
experts in an attempt to better understand cultural inclinations surrounding weapons <strong>of</strong> mass destruction
acquisition and possible use. The primary take-away from this venture was a need to significantly reduce <strong>the</strong> scope
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> inquiry in order to yield cultural data applicable to contemporary scenarios. Continued practice <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> “issue
first” approach has resulted in some striking success within <strong>the</strong> intelligence field. See Jeannie l. Johnson and
Mat<strong>the</strong>w T. Berrett, “Cultural Topography: A New Research Tool for Intelligence,” Studies in Intelligence, Vol 55 No
2, June 2011, Center for <strong>the</strong> Study <strong>of</strong> Intelligence.
103
Moon, “The Logic <strong>of</strong> Political Inquiry: A Syn<strong>the</strong>sis <strong>of</strong> Opposed Perspectives,” 172.