By: Andrea Lathrop on January 31, 2019
Erin Meyer’s Culture Map offers great insights into the struggle and gifts of getting things done in a globalized context. She reminds us that not everyone thinks, acts, responds, and leads the same way we do. How helpful to understand better the ‘water’ I swim in and to see it plotted on a continuum alongside other…
By: Jenn Burnett on January 31, 2019
This post is lovingly dedicated to those who took the time to love me during my early cross cultural days. I am forever humbled and changed by your hospitality and friendship. There are so many posts I could write inspired by Erin Meyer’s The Culture Map. I could write about how when I read it…
By: Tammy Dunahoo on January 31, 2019
Several years ago, me and my husband visited London for the first time and were impressed by the efficiency we experienced on the tube system. It became our most enjoyable mode of transportation and felt quite proud of our ability to navigate the routes throughout our time in the city. We also quickly noticed that…
By: Mario Hood on January 31, 2019
The common thought is, we live a big world that has become small, through the progression of humanity on the tidal wave technology. Polanyi walks us through the history and progression towards a “free market” world that in turn connects humanity via the financial aspect.[1] Bebbington in his work, Evangelicalism in Modern Britain[2], shows not…
By: Rev Jacob Bolton on January 31, 2019
“And one more thing,” proclaimed Carla, our native Nicaraguan chaperone for the week, “you might as well put your watches away while you are here. You’re used to American time, but while you’re with us, you will be on Nica time. Trust me, just roll with it.” It was my first time to Nicaragua, leading…
By: Harry Edwards on January 31, 2019
This is a tough one. One one hand we see a newness in celebrating diversity and on the other it appears that the emergence of culture was a form of punishment by God when he confused people’s languages at the Tower of Babel. In the United States celebrating significant cultural events (Cinco de Mayo, St.…
By: Rhonda Davis on January 31, 2019
At times, it seems like a minefield when navigating cultural nuances in my own American context, much less those present when working with global stakeholders. Erin Meyer’s The Culture Map is an excellent tool for anyone desiring to increase cross-cultural effectiveness. She sets out to help leaders address this challenge. Meyer provides an eight-part framework…
By: Wallace Kamau on January 28, 2019
Heraclitus is quoted as saying that the only thing that is constant is change[1]. John F Kennedy is also quoted as saying, “Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future”[2]. While it is hard to keep up with every change, it…
By: John Muhanji on January 27, 2019
Polanyi has brought many issues of life’s concern which we are still facing today even after he addressed them in the mid-1900s. It disturbs me to find out that as far asthe 1780, when the significance of poverty was realized, the stage was set for the 19th century[1] to address this issue. I am confused…
By: Nancy VanderRoest on January 26, 2019
When my journey started into market place ministry (a Christian outreach into the secular world), I wanted to help the non-believers know more about Christ and his love. I believe that market place ministry is God’s strategic plan to reach our world for Jesus! What I found is that I needed to reach this world…
By: Tammy Dunahoo on January 25, 2019
There is an old arcade game, Pinball, in which the player stands at the machine and shoots a ball into the playing field which is filled with barriers, obstacle forces, and point giving opportunities. The idea is to keep the ball in play as long as possible while scoring the highest points achievable. This crude…
By: Mary Mims on January 25, 2019
One of the biggest stories of this week’s news was the story of the Covington Catholic High school MAGA wearing students and the Native American drummer. As a disclaimer, this blog is not about who is right and who is wrong or how the all the issues unfolded that created a media firestorm, but this…
By: Karen Rouggly on January 24, 2019
In 1982, John M. Perkins wrote With Justice for All: A Strategy for Community Development. In this seminal work which paved the way for Christian community development, Perkins reminds us that poverty is much more than just a lack of money but it is indeed a lack of options.[1] Perkins also reminded us that we…
By: Harry Fritzenschaft on January 24, 2019
To summarize the text, Polanyi writes this alleged classic about the industrialization of Europe leading to the collapse of civilization in the 19th century. The balance of powers failed to prevent a war between the great powers, the gold standard failed to maintain the world economies, the markets failed to self-regulate, and liberal states became…
By: Digby Wilkinson on January 24, 2019
“If all the economists were laid end to end, they’d never reach a conclusion.” George Bernard Shaw Until a few years ago, economics had as much interest to me as trainspotting; I knew such things happened and the people involved were interesting in their own way. Economists had a certain Harry Potteresque feel to them;…
By: Sean Dean on January 24, 2019
My brother-in-law is a very conservative guy – politically speaking. A while back several of us were having a discussion about the spike in homelessness that Tacoma is currently seeing. My brother-in-law interjected that homelessness was a result of laziness and a lack of creativity on the part of the homeless. There was a stunned…
By: Jenn Burnett on January 24, 2019
There is a moment in scripture that has been the cause of much ruminating for me; particularly when looking at issues of social or biblical justice. Jesus said “The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me.”[1] Given the context of this verse, there is certainly a hint of…
By: Harry Edwards on January 24, 2019
Karl Polanyi’s seminal work, The Great Transformation: Political and Economic Origins of Our Time is to be commended for pointing out the dire consequences of leaving market economies unchecked. During his time the role economy played in people’s everyday lives was taken for granted. The idea was simple then. How does one make a lot…
By: Andrea Lathrop on January 24, 2019
My dad and I are very close. Over the years, however, there is a topic that has become more difficult for us to engage in – that of American politics and economics. This is probably because I have less certainty and more questions these days and it can get awkward fast. I grew up believing…
By: Rev Jacob Bolton on January 24, 2019
While reading along with Polanyi I was pleased to find a very subversive thread in his work stemming from his idea of what is and is not a commodity. Polanyi lists three things as false commodities, those of land, labor and money: For Polanyi the definition of a commodity is something that has been produced…
