Narrow Minded American
June 13, 2007 | by brett | Permalink
“I could line up two Africans, two Europeans, two Australians, two Asians, two South Americans, two Canadians, and one American, and still pick out the American,” a Canadian (but recently turned Phoenician) Amy stated to me during a poolside chat.
“No way!,” I said. “How would you determine that?”
“The American would be the one that’s narrow minded.”
This conversation stemmed from an earlier discussion of how Amy’s husband’s father single handedly took a Deloitte & Touche accounting firm in Russia from 30 employees to 300,000 employees in less than ten years. The spectacular growth was a result of the financial collapse of Russia in 1998 and the urgent need to legitimize business after years under mafia rule.
To attract top talent, Amy’s husband’s father head hunted the world for the most passionate accountants willing to take a risk (Author’s note: re-read the previous sentence and notice there are two things people don’t normally associate with accountants, proving just how daunting a task this was). He went to Africa, Australia, Europe, literally all around the world to recruit young accountants that were determined to make a difference in Russia’s downward spiraling economy.
Out of this hand picked, world class group, the end result would only have one American partner in the firm.
Now I’m sure that there are various reasons why there was only one American partner out of the sixty that were chosen, but the central reason Amy kept referring back to is that Americans are too narrow minded. This got me to thinking…
Are Americans, in the “land of opportunity,” too narrow minded when it comes to career choices?
To answer my own question, I looked at the path I’ve been on. I went to high school four years. I was fortunate enough to attend college for four years after that. Then I had a taste of what it was like to veer off the track with the 2006 PTP tour, but then got right back on it as I started my corporate accounting job. Had I stayed in that job, the house, kids, car, wife, and prestigious job title were next.
Are we too narrow minded?
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THERE ARE 8 RESPONSES TO THIS INTERVIEW
Steve Says:
June 13th, 2007
Another GREAT wake up call. It reminds me of that movie “Pleasantville” where everyone is walking around in black and white. You and your PTP tour are in full color. Way to go…
Kelly G Says:
June 13th, 2007
It seems americans have a hard time thinking outside the box. Your daily column encourages people to open their minds to the possibilities and pathways that they may have thought impossible. Your personal story is proof that taking risks in order to follow your passion can be extremely fulfilling, rewarding and successful. Keep living your dream!
Paul F. Says:
June 13th, 2007
I think that a lot of the tunnel vision is a result of concepts that are built-into the whole idea of American business. Americans are placed into the system and can either accept it, or reject it. I think that the narrow-minded aspect, in regards to careers anyway, is all a by-product of the systems that we find ourselves polaced in before we are even born. That is how you can have some one from a different country saying that we are narrow minded. It’s because a lot of the time we don’t know any other way. We’re just doing what we have been taught to do for the majority of our lives, which is to walk the path traveled and you’ll be rewarded for your obedience and patience.
carol Says:
June 14th, 2007
while I understand the responses here, I myself have lived in Europe many years and experienced the educational system there, and it was unbelievably stifling, rigid and narrow minded. At least in my experience, they did not encourage students to question and think for themselves, which is something I learned here in the U.S. While there is open mindedness there about certain things, there is also closed-mindedness. I experienced a lack of understanding towards that which was different from their own experience. That to me is narrow mindedness. The same sort of thing goes on here regarding different things. I have also lived in South America and am half Peruvian. There are certain things people are very narrow minded about over there…Bottom line there are both open and narrow minded people and trends all over the world. We are not the supreme rulers of it.
brett Says:
June 14th, 2007
Carol,
Thank you very much for your response. This topic has sat on my mind for most of the day today, and I was trying to pinpoint a moment in history where we shifted towards “narrow mindedness.”
I came up with the Industrial Revolution, although many historians date it back earlier than that.
I just wonder if there could be some kind of event that would take place in the future that would “open” the minds of Americans, and based on your response, the minds of those across the globe.
Dreaming BIG, I’d like for Pursue the Passion to be a resource that opens others minds to the possibilities that await. We will see if it has any effect.
Dave Says:
June 15th, 2007
I was born in Canada. My family moved to the US when I was very young. I have family in Canada, and they would agree that Americans are “narrow-minded.”
This begs the question, in what way? The world is a big place, no one can address every concept all the time. Thus one could argue that everyone is narrow-minded. I believe the rest of the world perceives the US as culturally narrow-minded.
Generally, US media does not spend much time on global events, when compared to most other international news media. Due in part to Europe’s geographical qualities, Europeans tend to deal with many people of many cultures on a daily basis. American cities tend to be more homogenous. Even metropolitan cities like New York and Los Angeles are deeply culturally American. In my personal opinion, modern American culture itself is not broadly welcoming to other cultural perspectives.
Of course, this is all just my opinion… 
brett Says:
June 15th, 2007
Blame it on the media. Blame it on the surroundings.
Two very important components in creating our culture. Very interesting to see how these two things can feed into the narrow mindedness of America.
Julia Goodwin Says:
June 17th, 2007
I just saw the movie “Freedom Writers” last night. The teacher was open-minded, including culturally, and her open-mindedness was one of her traits that helped her achieve the phenomenal teaching success with a culturally diverse and divisive classroom. The movie is also an excellent example of someone pursuing their passion.
Some of the greatest trailblazers in social change are from the US and were open-minded. Examples are Jane Addams in Chicago, and the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous.
I think the US has the most freedom and that freedom extends to the narrow minded thinkers.
Open your mind, nothing is going to fall out! is one of my favorite sayings.
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