Unique Sources

"How does cultural understanding help the military?"

WELCOME to join our DEEP DIVE on "Contributing through Intercultural Encounters" at SIETAR Europa congress in Lille
on Saturday June 8th from 14.00 to 15.30, room A126!

Maurice Snackers and I have been working together for more than 30 years at the Netherlands Defense Academy, with international military from all over the world, for example in Partnership for Peace programs as well as other international military courses, with a focus on increasing intercultural understanding. Maurice Snackers has also extensive experience running gender workshops for the military.

We will explore in the DEEP DIVE with you what the specifics are of military culture and how Intercultural Encounters can lead to dovetailing strengths, and our experiences and insights. For example how stereotypes have changed over the years about Europeans.

We are curious which prejudice or judgements people may have about military or which tools or concepts you would like to share with us, especially hoping to hear from you SIETAR Europa congress attendants!



©pictures: Collectie: Nederlands Instituut voor Militaire Historie.

We call it teamwork, when this small mystery of working together relatively smoothly takes place. When trying to unravel this mystery, negative aspects and destructive processes of teamwork are often found. Adequately described in the book The Eleventh Conspiracy, (translated in Dutch as the eleven conspirators). It describes the team dynamics of Department Five - a fictitious administrative department within a large organization -which threatens to slowly collapse as the work process within the group is seriously disrupted. Mutual power relations, designating scapegoats, peer pressure and rules that are never discussed play a major role in this.

Lencioni’s approach with the five levels of team dysfunctions also takes a negative approach at first, Unique Sources wants to have a positive focus: so Leadership needs to work on trust, having spirited dialogues, with a shared commitment, and increasing ownership, because this will lead to team results!