Middleton comments on the difference between visiting a place as a tourist and actually immersing yourself in the culture. While traveling does expose you to new ideas that you might never have come across otherwise, those ideas that we form about the world and cultures within it will be superficial unless we have taken the time to really plunge into the depths of the local culture. This was true for me when I compare my understanding of Spanish & Catalan culture when I was a study abroad student in Barcelona to my understanding of the culture now after living here for 5 years and marrying my Catalan partner.

By crossing the boundaries that Middleton refers to, we develop more human connection and understanding between diverse groups. For an organization, this is critical as collaboration and creativity will be deterred if there isn't a feeling of harmony among members.

It's interesting to note that Middleton had to actively seek these interactions. It's true that we tend to get stuck in our own little bubbles within our communities and it can be difficult to have meaningful interactions with people outside of our own socioeconomic status unless we choose to or our profession requires us to. Society is not set up for diverse interactions to naturally occur.

Middleton states that we all have core and flex behaviors, values, and beliefs that dictate who we truly are. If our "core" is weak compared to our flex, we may run into issues with our own identity or building relationships and trust with others. Someone with a weak core would be so willing to bend towards others behaviors, values, and beliefs, we might doubt that they have any of their own at all.

It can be easy to generalize a population, as Middleton points out, and accept a narrative about "them" and how "they" are so different from "us." We don't often pause to think about the various layers to an individual's identity and how we likely have many things in common.

Middleton points out that what might be flex for one person could be core for another person. It's not just about being equally flexible between one culture to another, it's about developing understanding and showing that you acknowledge others values and beliefs, even if they are different from your own.

We all hold prejudice, or "knots in our core." I love what she says about dealing with those knots on our own and not making them other people's problems. I imagine a world where political agendas are not tied up with people's personal "knots," where we all accept that people have varying needs, wants, values, etc. and that we don't need to dictate other people's lifestyle choices that don't effect us. We recognize the humanity in everyone and put our effort towards working on building a better society for all.

Middleton points out a paradox: those who seek cultural intelligence need to obtain it from someone who is willing to reveal themselves; those who might disclose their personal beliefs & values will only do so with someone who appears to have enough cultural intelligence to receive them.

Cultural intolerance: inability to hold flex or show any sort of openness towards values outside of your own.