Soft Skill: Geocultural Literacy

American isolationism (remember the Monroe Doctrine from 1823?) was something I learned about in high school history. Politically, the US government, during key periods in history, effectively turned its back on problems beyond US borders. Both world wars were considered “European problems” which many Americans did not want to bother with, until the country was pulled into the conflicts nonetheless.

In today’s world with US companies leading the march towards increased globalization, (without even mentioning US political involvement around the globe – this is a business blog, check somewhere else for political blogs), it is more difficult to see how the word “isolation”could still apply. The issue today is more subtle, but I believe it has its roots in 19th century political doctrine.

A study completed in 2006 for “Business for Diplomatic Action (BDA)” shows a strong connection between the negative image the US has within the international community and the little knowledge Americans have of other countries. In other words, Americans have a reputation of being “geoculturally illiterate” and the rest of the world doesn’t take kindly to it.

Now, you could say, “what do I care about America’s image in the world; it is mostly caused by US foreign policy anyway?” If you work for an American company involved in any kind of international business, you should care. Globalization is requiring all of us to “think globally, act locally”. In order to successfully sell products around the globe, we need to understand the markets we are selling to. And compared to Europeans and Asians, Americans understand little about other countries and cultures.

Tom Edwards has written an excellent 2-part article on the connection between business success in the global economy and knowledge of customs, cultures and geography. Tom’s arguments don’t need any support from me; instead my next blogs will look at what geocultural literacy is and what we can all do to become more literate.

(Postscript: Tom Edwards of Englobe, a “Seattle-based consultancy for geostrategic content management”, wrote a 2-part article called “Global Literacy” which appeared in MultiLingual. )