Spring 11 MASTER.indd - Thunderbird Magazine

faculty focus
full bucket on our street, I
met a neighbor who was
taking her dog for a walk.
We exchanged pleasantries,
and she asked about our
adult children. She was
genuinely interested.
“Elizabeth is still living
and working in France,” I
said, “and we are about to
have a second American/
French grandchild.” I told
her that Sarah was working
in Taiwan, Molly was
in San Francisco working
for the Gap, Rebecca was
a volunteer bush pilot in
Tanzania flying medical
personnel to the Masai,
and Ben, our youngest, was
in West Africa finishing his
first year as a Peace Corps
volunteer.
Our neighbor looked at
me, and in a matter-of-fact
way responded, “Well, at
least you have one ‘normal’
one.”
We believe our five adult
children are all “normal,”
at least most of the time.
Working and living in San
Francisco — and working
in Taiwan — are equally
“normal” in today’s world.
YOU CAN’T TRUST
THE FRENCH
Many years before the
above encounter, about 20
years ago, I took a sabbatical
from Thunderbird. With
two stuffed duffel bags each,
my spouse and I left for
France with our five young
children. I was going to
teach at a grande école — a
French Ivy League university
— in the suburbs of Paris.
We wanted our children to
learn another language and
have a genuine experience
of another culture.
For several weeks, we had
not yet met any other foreigners
as we tried to find an
affordable used car, a house
to rent, and schools for our
children. We had only met
French people who, without
exception, helped us figure
out how things worked in
their sometimes bureaucratic
country.
Our youngest child, Ben,
however, who was 7 at the
time, had met an American
whose name was Jack, and
he asked if Jack could come
over and have dinner with
us. We immediately agreed.
As it was my turn to cook,
with the help of my eldest
daughter, we decided that
fish — four trout from the
local marché — would be
the entree.
As Jack was our guest,
I presented the fish on a
platter to him first. As I
did this, my daughter said,
from across the table, “Be
careful, everyone, there may
be some small bones in
the fish.” Jack, also seven
years old, looked at me and
responded, “Okay ... (sigh)
... You know, you just can’t
trust the French.”
Surprised at his comment,
I asked him where he had
first heard it. “My mother
says that all the time,” he
responded.
Later that night, when I
was dropping him off at his
home, I met Jack’s mother.
She told me that she wanted
to go home to the United
States. She was lonesome,
missed her friends, and
did not really like living in
France.
Of course, there is nothing
abnormal about being
lonely and finding a new
environment difficult to
adapt to. But her feelings
and attitudes clearly
influenced Jack, who might
have been less disparaging
and closed to his new
environment had she felt
differently.
THE ALL-AMERICAN
GIRL
Last spring, as my work at
Thunderbird slowed down,
my spouse and I were able
to spend a little more time
together, and we were ready
for a new adventure. So we
rented a small house in the
French countryside, thinking
we would spend our
time studying French, the
first language of two of our
grandchildren.
When my spouse told
one of her friends that we
were leaving for several
weeks, her friend responded,
“That’s not for me —
I’m an all-American girl!”
But what is a global
person? People with global
perspective do not believe
their nation is the best
at everything and that
everyone else wants to be
just like them. Rather, they
understand that people
from other cultures have
lives and viewpoints different
from their own.
People with a global
perspective might not speak
more than one language
or have experience in other
countries. They might not
even own a passport. However,
they are aware of and
interested in the issues of
people around the world.
They are empathetic and
sensitive, and have skills
in interacting with people
who might not look like,
talk like, smell like or act
like themselves.
About 500 years ago,
after it was discovered the
Earth rotates around the
sun, humanity had to give
up the then-held belief that
the Earth was at the center
of the universe. It simply
wasn’t. Giving up old ideas
or ideas that don’t work, or
ideas that are inaccurate, is
difficult.
When students or working
professionals come
to Thunderbird, we try as
faculty to influence them.
We certainly want them to
become sophisticated in
understanding key aspects
of global business today.
But we also hope to
convince them it is OK to
be American, Canadian,
Brazilian, German or Saudi.
Like Einstein said, they can
be internationalists and
still be loyal to their own
tribe. A manager from the
United States can be an
“all-American girl” with
passion for diversity, quest
for adventure and selfassurance
in cross-cultural
encounters.
Helping global managers
find this balance has been
part of our mission for
many years, and the success
of our graduates in complex
global environments
is a good indicator we are
succeeding.
Robert T. Moran, Ph.D.,
is an organizational and
management consultant with
specialties in cross-cultural
training, organizational development
and international
human resource management.
He is an emeritus
professor of international
management and former
interim chair of the International
Studies Department
at Thunderbird. Moran
received his graduate degrees
from the University of Minnesota.
He was also a coach
and adviser of the Japanese
National Hockey Team and,
as an adviser, attended the
1968 Winter Olympics in
Grenoble, France, and the
1972 Games in Sapporo,
Japan. He is the co-author of
“Managing Global Differences”
and “Leading Global
Projects.”
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