Expand Your Mind: Culture and Its Repercussions
by Miki Saxon
I frequently focus on creating and sustaining culture and link to articles about that. Today, we’re going to look at culture from other points of view.
What actions and attitudes does culture enable?
Can radically different actions stem from the same culture?
What about technology and culture?
South by Southwest, better known as SXSW, is a festival that celebrates music, film and all things interactive and social, is the last place you would expect to find people recommending unplugging and questioning the value/impact of social on culture—but they did.
GE is lauded for its culture and for its ongoing innovation renaissance and that creativity carries over to its tax department. How creative? It paid 7.4 percent on $5.1 billion worth of US profits as well as a tax benefit of $3.2 billion. How’s that for innovation?
Studies in the US indicate a pervasive culture of cheating at all levels in schools; our politicians cheat, business leaders cheat, many say that you can’t succeed in today’s world without occasional cheating. Consider the difference between that attitude and the German culture where a minister who plagiarized parts of his 2006 thesis was forced to resign.
Speaking of cheating and culture in schools, Harvard Business School is radically changing it’s curriculum, but the real question is whether it can change its culture to reflect that.
We started with what some would consider heretical attitudes at SWSX, so it seems fitting to end with a bit more heresy centering on the idea that technology can’t change culture.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Image credit: MykReeve on flickr
