Why You Need To See Anew & Find Another Perspective
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Communication, Diversity & culture
Even though you know that today’s problems won’t get resolved by the same approaches you’ve taken in the past … Even though you know the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results (attributed to Albert Einstein) … Even though you know all this, […]
Tags: baggage, culture, gerd hofstede, perspective
Intercultural communication- When up is down & down is up
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Communication, Diversity & culture
Have you ever been in a situation where up seemed down & vice versa, where the ‘rules’ didn’t seem to apply? As I was waiting to upgrade my mobile phone chip recently I looked down at the ticket stub the agent had given me to indicate where I was in the queue – number 098. […]
Tags: communication, culture, intercultural, tips, tools
Perspectives on being a TCK (third culture kid)
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Diversity & culture
If you’re a regular reader you know I’m absolutely fascinated by perspective. And there’s nothing quite like the perspective of a TCK (third culture kid). Haven’t heard that term before? A third culture kid ‘is a person who has spent a significant part of his or her developmental years outside the parents’ culture’ according to […]
Oh Canada- this one’s for you
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Diversity & culture
Even though I’m about as far away as you can get from Canada, without leaving the planet, my heart lives in Canada. Thinking about home. Thinking about how the concept of home has changed since I’ve been living in Kenya. Thinking about what others think about my home. Thinking about culture. Oh Canada, this one’s […]
2000 years of cultural migration mapped in just over a minute
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Creativity & innovation, Training & development
How cool is this – 2000 years of culture mapped in just over a minute. Take a peak & marvel at the innovative way cultural movement is portrayed. Northeastern University researchers map 2,000 years of cultural migration: [The researchers] tracked the birth and death locations of more than 150,000 intellectuals (culled from several databases, including […]
Tags: culture, mapping, northeastern university
Expect the unexpected. African style.
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Diversity & culture, Humor & comedy
Expect the unexpected. African style. I’m working on an upcoming e-newsletter – about a Canadian (that’d be me) living abroad. This video captures what it’s like on more adventurous days.
Tags: canada, culture, diversity
The Rock.Paper.Scissors newsletter is out: a Canadian Abroad
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Change management & wellness, Diversity & culture
This month’s Rock.Paper.Scissors e-newsletter focuses on lessons I’ve learned as a Canadian living abroad. (Not on the monthly e-newsletter mailing list? Sign up for free here.) 1. Living in Africa has been a wild & wonderful adventure. Kind of like the traffic. It’s a big deal to navigate in a city with the 4th worst […]
Tags: culture, kenya, westgate
Warning: reflections in this mirror may be distorted by socially constructed ideas of beauty
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Diversity & culture
Our reflections, what we take in & process from our external world, are wildly distorted. Period. End stop. After all, in the Victorian era, plucking a woman’s upper hairline, in order to give one a large forehead, was considered beautiful. Our impressions are distorted by our culture, our sense of place, our geography, our time […]
Tags: beauty, culture, perception
Everyone smiles in the same language
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Communication, Diversity & culture
Life Lenses™ is all about building bridges across different perspectives. Bringing appreciation to ‘other,’ to ‘different.’ Frequently, when conflict is rife, when tempers are hot, when differences are many, when time is short and resources are low, differences can be the only thing on our radar. While differences are vital, in fact it’s what makes […]
Tags: communication, culture, differences, similarities
Home is a pregnant pause & expat ‘um’
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Diversity & culture, Travel
Kenya is my new home. I’ve moved here after living my entire life in Canada. I find myself asking people, on a regular basis, where’s home? If you’ve lived overseas for any length of time you’ll understand the pregnant pause that happens when you ask someone where’s home? A few ums are thrown in for […]