Why Americans Aren't Very Good At Collaborating
Culturally, Americans have a handicap when it comes to collaborating (online or in person). And unless we do something to identify and address this problem, we’ll come in to every international opportunity at a severe disadvantage.
Blame it on our forefathers – the original settlers to the New World were, in many ways, a bunch of malcontents who didn’t fit in and couldn’t get along with those they left behind. In later years, immigrants to America came with their own dreams of glory, riches, freedom, etc. But rarely was it a dream to “work with other people.”
No, collaboration – as a value – is not necessarily inherent in the American DNA. Just look at several of the icons that symbolize America and American values: the stoic outsider, the religious Puritan, the lone cowboy, the rugged farmer, the resourceful entrepreneur. Each of these images celebrate the individual as much as his or her accomplishments.
The values represented by these symbols aren’t bad. In fact, the American historical experience that has made ideals like creativity, honesty and hard work valuable tends to reward the output of collaboration particularly well – innovation. Look at all the firsts coming from this culture over the past 250+ years and you see a steady stream of innovations that were an interesting blend of one person’s idea mixed with the resourcefulness and passion of others.
You see, when we put our mind to it, Americans can be very good at collaborating. My point is that it has to be an intentional thing. Collaboration is not second nature to us. Not yet, anyway.
Keeping that in mind, it’s easy to see why our political leadership can get cross-wise with peers from other parts of the world. Claims of American hegemony are painful but understandable (whether they’re true or not is, and always will be, a subject of debate) and are a direct result from our initial desires to “do our own thing” rather than to collaborate with other partners.
There are two other aspects of American social culture that play into this discussion. The first is our tendency towards self-segregation and, on a much larger scale, isolation. The historical roots behind this run deep. Physical barriers separated the first colonists of our continent and, as a result, it was commonly accepted practice to favor those with whom you were raised. Cultural biases from the old world were carried across the Atlantic, as well. Just because everyone was in the Americas did not mean their dislike for one another had been left in Europe.
Segregation was never directly addressed until the 1950’s – and even then, the causes of civil liberties and civil rights have had a rocky history. A good bit of this arises from the tendencies of those in power to want to retain that power – both political and economic. Add to that a myriad of opinions and accusations all made under the protection of the 1st Amendment to the Constitution and you have a dynamic situation that is still generations away from being solved. (More on that another time.)
The second aspect of American culture that works against the need to collaborate is our physical size and location in the world. For hundreds of years, it was hard to get here. America operated alone and in isolation. This country wasn’t even considered to be a world power until the Imperial Era of the late 19th Century – and even then, our approach tended to be more laissez-faire than England, France, Spain and the other Western European powers that be.
Our tendency towards isolation was probably most notable in the run-up to World War II. But there are still shards of this attitude left today. Our country’s reaction to 9/11 is a direct result of this underlying tendency towards isolationism.
So successful collaboration between Americans and others in the world is possible, just not automatic. It takes work – possibly even more work from the American in the group or committee – to be successful. But given our history of creativity, our passion to succeed and an honest, American curiosity to see how good things can be, collaboration can be a winning strategy.
Technorati Tags: Marketing, Branding, Collaboration, Partnership, Hawthorne Effect, Customer Relationships, Vendor Relations, Leadership, Culture
(c) 2006 - Brand Central Station, all rights reserved. For more information on Brand Central Station, please visit our website.
Blame it on our forefathers – the original settlers to the New World were, in many ways, a bunch of malcontents who didn’t fit in and couldn’t get along with those they left behind. In later years, immigrants to America came with their own dreams of glory, riches, freedom, etc. But rarely was it a dream to “work with other people.”
No, collaboration – as a value – is not necessarily inherent in the American DNA. Just look at several of the icons that symbolize America and American values: the stoic outsider, the religious Puritan, the lone cowboy, the rugged farmer, the resourceful entrepreneur. Each of these images celebrate the individual as much as his or her accomplishments.
The values represented by these symbols aren’t bad. In fact, the American historical experience that has made ideals like creativity, honesty and hard work valuable tends to reward the output of collaboration particularly well – innovation. Look at all the firsts coming from this culture over the past 250+ years and you see a steady stream of innovations that were an interesting blend of one person’s idea mixed with the resourcefulness and passion of others.
You see, when we put our mind to it, Americans can be very good at collaborating. My point is that it has to be an intentional thing. Collaboration is not second nature to us. Not yet, anyway.
Keeping that in mind, it’s easy to see why our political leadership can get cross-wise with peers from other parts of the world. Claims of American hegemony are painful but understandable (whether they’re true or not is, and always will be, a subject of debate) and are a direct result from our initial desires to “do our own thing” rather than to collaborate with other partners.
There are two other aspects of American social culture that play into this discussion. The first is our tendency towards self-segregation and, on a much larger scale, isolation. The historical roots behind this run deep. Physical barriers separated the first colonists of our continent and, as a result, it was commonly accepted practice to favor those with whom you were raised. Cultural biases from the old world were carried across the Atlantic, as well. Just because everyone was in the Americas did not mean their dislike for one another had been left in Europe.
Segregation was never directly addressed until the 1950’s – and even then, the causes of civil liberties and civil rights have had a rocky history. A good bit of this arises from the tendencies of those in power to want to retain that power – both political and economic. Add to that a myriad of opinions and accusations all made under the protection of the 1st Amendment to the Constitution and you have a dynamic situation that is still generations away from being solved. (More on that another time.)
The second aspect of American culture that works against the need to collaborate is our physical size and location in the world. For hundreds of years, it was hard to get here. America operated alone and in isolation. This country wasn’t even considered to be a world power until the Imperial Era of the late 19th Century – and even then, our approach tended to be more laissez-faire than England, France, Spain and the other Western European powers that be.
Our tendency towards isolation was probably most notable in the run-up to World War II. But there are still shards of this attitude left today. Our country’s reaction to 9/11 is a direct result of this underlying tendency towards isolationism.
So successful collaboration between Americans and others in the world is possible, just not automatic. It takes work – possibly even more work from the American in the group or committee – to be successful. But given our history of creativity, our passion to succeed and an honest, American curiosity to see how good things can be, collaboration can be a winning strategy.
Technorati Tags: Marketing, Branding, Collaboration, Partnership, Hawthorne Effect, Customer Relationships, Vendor Relations, Leadership, Culture
(c) 2006 - Brand Central Station, all rights reserved. For more information on Brand Central Station, please visit our website.
posted by Mike Bawden at 12:51 PM
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