Culture (I tell participants) is like an iceberg. You see the part that sticks up about the water, but below the surface is the real bulk. The thing you are most likely to crash into is that unseen, unsuspected mass.
The aquatic metaphor is also apt. We swim in our culture, so like fish we do not notice it. It is the water that surrounds us, and we cease to analyze it. It is simply the environment in which we live.
The other common image of culture is the onion. Our daily lives are framed by layers upon layers of unseen assumptions and mind-sets. Because we have no other way of conceptualizing our world, we see it through our ‘normal’ perspective, seldom imagining different interpretations, until some rather dramatic event gives us new eyes. Or until we choose to study a subject like Anthropology, to help us see that many things are hiding, in plain sight, right in front of us.
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Tags: Add new tag, competitiveness, Culture, CultureGPS, ethics, Hofstede, new econnomy, Trompenaars, wealth
As GenY specialists, we have to comment on Mark Bauerlein’s new book, “The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future (Or, Don’t Trust Anyone Under 30)”.
The Emory University Professor presents his figures showing a decline in US adult literacy (40% of high-school grads in 1992; only 31% in 2003) and the many areas where young Americans lack knowledge, such as geographic, historical and political cluelessness.
Bauerlein is even more annoyed because his Gen-Yers are unapologetic about their ignorance. They dismiss the idea that they should have more facts in their heads, and call it a pre-Google and pre-wiki anachronism.
CPS’s position is that Bauerlein has a good case, and is also completely wrong. Gen Y has massive skills gaps in some areas, but is the smartest generation ever in others. Continue reading »
Tags: Add new tag, bauerlein, dumbest generation, fluid intelligence, Generation Y, internationally competitive
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