Culture influences all aspects of our lives. Everything from the work ethics that drives business to courtship and marriage are affected by culture. Here are some of the influences our culture has on us that we often over look:

• Environment: How individuals view and relate to the people, objects and issues in their sphere of influence.
• Time: How individuals perceive the nature of time and its use.
• Action: How individuals conceptualize actions and interactions.
• Communication: How individuals express themselves.
• Space: How individuals share their physical and psychological space.
• Power: How individuals view differential power relationships.
• Individualism: How individuals define their identity.
• Competitiveness: How individuals are motivated.
• Structure: How individuals approach change, risk, ambiguity and uncertainty.
• Thinking: How individuals conceptualize.

With all these influences on our minds, body and soul, is it any wonder we have to work so hard to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes?

In my travels around the world I learned more about cultures by simply shutting up, sitting quietly and observing all the differences I could notice. Of course those differences are hard to nail down and it is easy to label meditative as lazy or friendly as pushy. For example, the personal space needs for a coffee crazed Seattleite and a Bombay Indian tea drinker biking to work are usually quit different. However change the perspective and personal space similarities abound between an India traveler and a New York subway rider at rush hour. Are New York or Seattle commuters representative of the USA? With each having there claims to an American culture, who is right? I like to think they are not right or wrong. Each person, with their interpretation of their culture, is making a contribution to the melting pot that continues to simmer.

di·ver·si·ty – [di-vur-si-tee] The state or fact of being different; a point of difference

What does it mean to celebrate diversity? Celebrating diversity is not about assimilation. Instead, it is about valuing the differences. Diversity is about understanding, respecting, valuing, and accommodating human and cultural differences. It recognizes uniqueness without requiring assimilation. The celebration is intended to maximize the potential contribution of all of us. Together we can do more than any one of us can do alone to reach our ultimate goal of building a world without boundaries.

A new project has been started this year by Yann Arthus-Bertrand called “6 Billion Others“. There you will find others from around the world telling their story. The Last Great Road Trip will collect stories of others along the way to the Arctic Circle and post them here. With a little luck, soon the web will be filled with billions of stories and the term others will be synonymous with all of us. Tell us how you celebrate diversity.

Geico insurance has hit gold following the first rule of marketing: “make fun of yourself while showing off your product”. Geico’s “so simple a caveman can do it” campaign certainly falls into this category. But why is it funny.

The ad campaign appeals because Geico shows how foolish stereotyping can be. And they do it with irreverent, humorous elements and a little self deprecation. Their message that applying for Geico insurance is simple to apply for comes through as well while reiterating the dangers of stereotyping. Of course there are lazy, spiteful and mean people in the world. Just no one ethnic, sexual, religious, gender or age group has a monopoly on those people. Unfortunately all groups seem to have their share.

Of course these are only my thoughts on the caveman campaign. Surf the web and you’ll find a number of other opinions about the campaign including those who believe the commercials are anti-semitic. We see the world through our experiences in life. If we want to change the view we need to change the lenses we look through.

Yesterday a school family forwarded to my family an email that demonstrated a complete lack of respect for us and all people of diversity. The email centered around immigration with some tasteless comments about phone systems and pressing one for English. Clearly this family did not know or care that my own grandmother came north from Chihuahua so many decades ago.

My business travels have allowed me to travel around the world. On those trips I managed to successfully complete very complex assignments in India and Asia. The success I experienced in those business engagements was the direct result of others, who were able and willing to speak my language in their country. The folks oversees I was lucky enough to work with spoke several languages and compensated for the fact that I only speak English.

While I’m lucky that around the world English has become the language of business, in the USA the consumer is king. Businesses are always looking to make it easier for consumers to purchase their products and services. Making options available to each and every person to ensure they are comfortable doing business is what the free market is about. Press one for English, sounds like their is opportunity for smart folks to develop a phone system that will recognize your language preferences, product concerns and possible service needs before you connect and deliver a message catered specifically to you. The possibilities are endless for this application and represents millions to the one who delivers it.

So while it never ceases to amaze me the level of insecurity of those individuals who insist everyone else walk, talk and look like them, I firmly believe in the capacity of the human spirit to overcome all obstacles, including the irrational fear of those who are different.