Don’t be a H8er! Travel destroys prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness. It is hard to hate those you’ve actually met and shared time with on an adventure. Learn how we can all make the world better.
Just checked our Google Analytics and found it fascinating to see where in the world you are reading about our off-road adventures from. A quick look at the globe shows:
Wow it is a small world. Let us know where you’re visiting from and what you think of the off-road adventures. Tell us how you celebrate the differences that make us one big family. Tell us where your next adventure will take you.
The question posed to me today was: “How are two guys driving a truck to the Arctic Ocean a celebration of diversity?”
Help to increase awareness of the need for communication, understanding and respect among people of all ethnic, racial, sexual and age diverse backgrounds and join the conversation.
Every time we read comments left on our website or facebook page about the lives, beliefs and traumas of others we are moved. When all 6 billion voices in the world are valued regardless of race, creed, color, sexual preference, age or status we will have a big celebration where everyone is invited.
Like us Toyota recognizes the value of others and how coming together in celebration of our diversity is important for all of us. Take a look at the thoughts of Toyota’s Bruce C. Ertmann, Corporate Communications.
TOYOTA OPEN ROAD BLOG: “PRIDE at Toyota: Business Partnering Groups foster Respect for People”
Let us known how you feel about the other 8 billion voices in the world.
Update: Toyota has replaced it’s blog with a press room website. This is unfortunate since the Toyota story we had linked to left a great impression on us. Now that is it gone… you’ll just have to take our word for it.
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:
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.