Americans worship choice.
The freedom to choose seems to be one of its highest cultural values. Consider:
* 302 breakfast cereals
* 94 shampoos
* 100+ types of dog food
* Democracy
* A tall decafe extra shot skinny vanilla latte
* 3 worship services, each with a different style of music, sermon length, and dress code
Many cultural contexts around the world allow for little independent decision making, unless you are a senior ranking person.
Expatriates, including coaches, are sometimes unaware of how this dynamic effects them and their clients. Becoming aware of and working through social environments can maximize results.
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4 comments:
Good word Keith. My hunch is that most of us who grew up in middle-to-upper class America and who then have traveled abroad, have experienced the shift from autonomous decision-making to community decision-making that you've flagged in this post. But I think we'll face a similar dynamic as we move down the economic ladder right here in the Land of Opportunity. The poor simply don't have the plethora of blue-sky opportunities or choices available to them that the rest of us have, and they will be more dependent on their communities and the decisions of their communities than those of us enjoying our freedom of choice.
You're exactly right Rob. My experience in Indonesia was that those without much money had fewer options. Choice has a price-tag attached. More choices = more money. You've hit on another dimension of personal autonomy.
For me, I struggled with how to help people move forward when they had little autonomy and little money. My solutions required money and autonomy. That's one reason I pressed hard into non-directive coaching. It was much better to draw out do-able answers from those I coached.
And now the world has moved to America. They have brought with them the same decision making patterns and struggle with the new system.
Thanks for the reminder!
Keith:
I have recently spent time with over 120 mid-level mission leaders, and I don't think I have every spent time with a less-empowered group. Here are North American m's working around the room, yet they feel disempowered by the organizational culture and leadership style of their own leaders.
You can imagine how well they do in empowering national leaders. It's as if they have no awareness of their own options, and their ability to "challenge the process" as Kouzes and Posner would suggest.
Thanks for your May'08 essay on choices. We who have them, need to both be aware of and thankful for the options we have, and from that perspective enabler others to discover what genuine options they have around them as opportunities.
Keep up the good work.
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